The terrain is varied (you’ll see shanty towns, cruel deserts lined with abandoned tracks, harsh mountain passages, stagnant swamps and more as you push forward) and every environment is a sight to behold. It’s like The Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy VI had a baby. I found myself dedicating quite a few sessions to PvP, and The Abyss allows you to obtain legendary items that can be carried over into the main game. As a welcome bonus, there’s not a “Hey, listen!” to be heard.įrom the main menu you’re able to manage your equipment, gold, experience points, and skill tree, as well as check on your current quests and jump into the game’s fantastic bonus modes. She follows you around, buffing you with spells she gains when you extract the essence of special stones, and you can level her as well. Finally, a map is located in the upper right corner that expands when touched.Īnother neat little touch is the Fairy you run into early in the game. Also on the left center of the screen are your pause button (which also brings up your menu screen) and your quick save button. The smaller buttons surrounding it can be filled with skills or items you come across for quick access. You press this to attack, talk, pick up items, etc. The big one is your context-sensitive button. On the left is one giant button surrounded by eight smaller ones. To sprint, simply double tap and you’re off. You move your thumb along its edges, and your character follows. On the left of the screen you have a virtual joypad. After selecting your character/class you can add a bit of a personal touch by changing their hair type and skin tone. That hero is your player character, and he comes in four distinct flavors: Abel the Berserker is your blade-wielding brute, Evan the Mechanic is your rifleman, Ryan is the Paladin equipped with sword and shield, and Neil is the Wizard of the group. But a hero has come to restore order to the world – a hero with a mysterious past and a head full of visions that answer a sacred prophecy. The rich and powerful lord over the suffering masses and from out of the wild-lands a devil tribe has risen to terrorize the populous. The peace that once blessed the realm was broken when the hearts of good men failed. Our story begins as so many other epic journeys do – during a time of discord and corruption.

Instead I was quickly mauled to death by a gang of fuzzy little critters. I envisioned myself a pistol-packing Indiana Jones in a world of scimitar-swinging swordsmen, blasting baddies back to the Stone Age with a single shot. I’m the type of guy that brings a gun to a knife fight, so when I first switched on Gamevil’s new action/RPG Zenonia 5, I was instantly drawn to the character of Evan – the game’s steam-punk gunslinger.

Zenonia 5 zen