Are there there any actually good mobile games? - Boomer complaints incoming

[Spunt]

All I want is to pay some money and in return get a game. A whole game. That I can play on my phone. I don't want a pay-to-win Skinner box, I don't want something advertised on Youtube by people who can't read a script, and I don't want something with stolen Age of Empires II graphics that's advertised with anime waifu boobs.

Am I too old to want such a game? Or does this magical game actually exist?

In this thread, can we recommend good mobile games. Preferably games with a pay-up-front business model, but maybe some F2P games if their business model isn't overly exploitative. Personally my preference is for turn-based strategy, roguelikes and JRPGs, but let's not limit ourselves to just my preferences because I'm sure many of us want something fun to do with our phones that isn't reading Dynastia posts.

So please Kiwis, what mobile games are actually good?

 

[Doc Cassidy]

If you like SimCity games try Pocket City, it's great. Devil's Attorney is another good game when a decent combat system.

 

[vertexwindi]

the Sonic ports

and with that I mean Sonic 2

 

[YourMommasBackstory]

I'm fond of Rayark games, they make really good rythm games for mobile phones. They are mostly pay-upfront, you wont get any annoying ads and you can spend some extra cash only on additional song packs.

 

[dreamworks face]

square enix ported a lot of the old final fantasy games / chrono trigger/ final fantasy tactics to android, and frankly it's one of the best mobile publishers for not trying to jew you with gacha (there are even new full length games with no microtransactions, imagine that).

 

[Kulee Baba]

Delta Touch ($2.50) is a paid Android Port of Doom, there's also a free Android Port but I think Delta Touch is worth the money as its wel made.

Just turn off freelook (which FYI wasn't a feature in Classic Doom) and the touch controls become bearable. Also you can use your phone's Gyro feature to aim.

 

[Eryngium]

Haven't played it for years but plague inc was pretty cool, also the bloons td series, 4 is the best.
The rusty lake cube escape series is pretty good too and mostly free.

 

[Bread Fetishist]

Plants vs. Zombies is pretty cool. Also Punch Quest, which is a fun auto-running side-scrolling beat ‘em up.

 

[FeverGlitch]

I can recommend Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia for JRPG. Its is a nice one. Plays like any traditional turn-based FF game with the addition of the Dissidia Battle system. There is a form of a gatcha feature in it but its only with looting better weapons. Most of the premium currency for getting high-class weapons, you get from gameplay alone, as daily bonus and earning some as gift in events. It's also quick getting enough to get some extra things. Aside from that, everything from unlocking characters, earning or boosting skills to story advancement, you can do it free on your own pace without any ads or force to pay for things.

 

[Jeanne d'Arc]

Granblue Fantasy.

Basically a mobile MMOJRPG with raids, a campaign, etc. You don't have to pay a dime if you don't want to. It's addictive like heroin as a result though- the "recharge" system is basically non-existent and you can play for hours on end if you have fuck all to do.

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

The only good games on mobile are games that did not originally come out on mobile, because they're typically not infected by the garbage race-to-the-bottom aspects of the mobile gaming market (free to play, aggressive monetization, addictive skinner box aspects).

Sad but true and is unlikely to change because the entire mobile gaming sphere is already in a certain place. It's impossible to sell your well-made non-free-to-play game for $15 when all other games on the platform are either "free to play" or cost 99 cents.

 

[Kaede Did Nothing Wrong]

The only good games on mobile are games that did not originally come out on mobile, because they're typically not infected by the garbage race-to-the-bottom aspects of the mobile gaming market (free to play, aggressive monetization, addictive skinner box aspects).

Sad but true and is unlikely to change because the entire mobile gaming sphere is already in a certain place. It's impossible to sell your well-made non-free-to-play game for $15 when all other games on the platform are either "free to play" or cost 99 cents.

yeah ports to mobile might be the best bet for real games. I've heard FTL and xcom enemy unknown work well for what they are

 

[Spunt]

Thanks all, looks like ports of "real" games are the way to go. Is the FFVI Android port any good? That's something I've had my eye on.

 

[Gustav Schuchardt]

I like Flow Free when I'm on the train. It gave my autism even more autism though, so bear that in mind.

 

[Zeke Von Genbu]

I second the Granblue Fantasy recommendation if you like JRPGs personally, assuming you don't automatically hate gacha obviously, though it is very grindy like an inbetween the 90s-early 2000s MMO and a modern MMO sort of grind. The "you'll die grinding" reputation around GBF I think is overhyped, it is as grindy as you want it to be honestly. It is super anime in a lot of ways, but it also has a old school FF look to it mostly the FFTactics art style (The head artist is the same guy) with a blend of the more modern anime look. It also has a bitching soundtrack that has some compositions by Uematsu if you like his work.

I could write a detailed spergy guide on how much the p2w elements (aka the gacha) don't really matter and why, unless you want to be ultra mega autistic competitive, but in short if you don't mind grind GBF is plenty f2p friendly and if you love grindy jrpgs you'll probably love the GBF honestly. You can also play the game on Chrome for all that is worth, it actually runs better that way even if you're using Chrome on your phone.

Thanks all, looks like ports of "real" games are the way to go. Is the FFVI Android port any good? That's something I've had my eye on.

I normally hear most the FF ports are fine, though a quick google search told me that the FFVI port controls like ass that you might as well emulate a GBA.

 

[Crocketron]

Like people mention there is always square if you want RNG or Gacha. Some good (Often more overrated) are the "Waifu" collection games. You have Another Eden, it was a fairly recent IOS game and was written and composed by a few people who worked on Xenogears and Chrono trigger, Dragalia lost is often thrown around an Isometric hack-and-slash made by folks who worked on Princonne and Granblue. Though Dragalia gets real stale as there is only Co-Op and the grind(The castle part, not the characters) is the worst, the events are generally boring but people went back to it after they fixed their main issue.

Granblue is one people recommend entirely but... While it was highly praised, it also had it's share of controversy, like the time someone went full retard trying to get Three SSR character and sand $6,025 dollars to get while. Yoko Taro has an IOS game coming out in July but people have an Issue with it's publisher.

 

[Zeke Von Genbu]

Granblue is one people recommend entirely but... While it was highly praised, it also had it's share of controversy, like the time someone went full exceptional individual trying to get Three SSR character and sand $6,025 dollars to get while.

To be entirely fair Granblue added the spark system, tl;dr for everyone is: if you pull 300 times in one "banner" you get to handpick a character on rate up with no strings attached as long as you meet those conditions and you can do this as a f2p. Which if we wanted to break it down to USD that is slightly over 800 USD I believe which to most people is laughable amounts of money for a waifu png, but that is pretty dirt cheap for gacha autism, FGO hits 5 figures multiple times I believe.

The spark system was added after a producer change to counteract this very issue, though I believe this incident is what got the Japanese government to actually make laws to force pull rates to be shown in gachas in Japan. So arguably Granblue fixed that entire issue despite starting it in the first place, and refunded that person with its monopoly money for all that is worth. But yeah gacha autism is real, all of them have stories like this to be honest if you look hard enough Granblue just was one of the first headlines. Why Dragalia lost doesn't have the spark system at all despite being made by the same company is beyond me.

 

[Crichax]

The only good games on mobile are games that did not originally come out on mobile, because they're typically not infected by the garbage race-to-the-bottom aspects of the mobile gaming market (free to play, aggressive monetization, addictive skinner box aspects).

Sad but true and is unlikely to change because the entire mobile gaming sphere is already in a certain place. It's impossible to sell your well-made non-free-to-play game for $15 when all other games on the platform are either "free to play" or cost 99 cents.

Winner. Sentinels of the Multiverse is a great game for this reason.

 

[Bread Fetishist]

The only good games on mobile are games that did not originally come out on mobile, because they're typically not infected by the garbage race-to-the-bottom aspects of the mobile gaming market (free to play, aggressive monetization, addictive skinner box aspects).

Sad but true and is unlikely to change because the entire mobile gaming sphere is already in a certain place. It's impossible to sell your well-made non-free-to-play game for $15 when all other games on the platform are either "free to play" or cost 99 cents.

What about Monument Valley?

 

[Sammy]

I can tell you which isn't a good mobile game, Warriors of Waterdeep.

Its got every kind of bullshit monetization I can think of in a single, convenient package. Seriously its almost like distilled example of what people hate about these games. Its turbo-bullshit on parade.

You want paywalls that technically don't exist but practically do because you can, in theory, grind for two months to get up one tiny rung? Done. You want two types of currency, gold and gems, both you can pay actual cash for? Done. You want random loot drops? Happening man. You want treasure chests that require anywhere from EIGHT TO TWELVE hours to open? That you can pay gems (and therefore real cash) to open faster? Done. If something kills you, you can use gems to get another chance right away to keep playing? Consider it done. Want a VIP monthly subscription option that costs TEN FUCKING DOLLARS A MONTH ON A MOBILE GAME THAT APPARENTLY THINKS IT HOLDS THE SAME SUBSCRIBE-ABLE VALUE AS FUCKING WORLD OF WARCRAFT OR A REAL MMO? One that taunts you at the end of dungeons offering 320 gold coin drops instead of the paultry 12 you earned normally? This game has it all!!