Preview: ngmoco's newest RPG, Skyfall

Plus, we've got 500 beta codes!

There aren’t many truly successful free-to-play RPGs out there for mobile. As a WoW addict, Spacetime Studios certainly holds my interest with mobile MMORPGs Pocket Legends and Star Legends, but I’ll admit there are time issues involved like any other MMORPG. You just can’t get things done without a larger chunk of time, and dungeon crawls require the muscle of at least 2-3 other people. That’s why I was so excited to check out a preview of Skyfall, ngmoco’s newest “social F2P RPG” that’s headed for the Android Market.

Let's take a walkthrough, shall we?

Instead of relying on a massive central hub from which to take missions, Skyfall is exploration- and discovery-based: your map appears as a grid, and you tap on squares to unveil the environment under it. You can discover cities, caves, resources, enemies, and more, making it an interesting way to propel a character through the game. You expend energy exploring the map, though, and when you run out, you must replenish it, which can be done in a variety of ways (IAP, waiting to recharge, or using potions you’ll loot/discover during your travels).

The demo I was allowed to play looked beautiful, and I enjoyed the art style of the game, especially during the turn-based battle mode. When you enter a battle, you see portraits of yourself and the enemy you’re currently fighting, and Skyfall makes that a bit easier on the eyes by adding a simulated 3D element to the images. It’s a detail that makes battle “pop” a bit more, and definitely adds to the polish of the game overall.

One of the elements of Skyfall I found interesting is that you can quest with a friend, but that friend isn’t actually playing alongside you; rather, you’re taking their character out for a spin to help you complete quests in a passive manner. It reminded me of Guild Wars, where you’d be able to hire an NPC to come fight alongside you -- and while this is an excellent feature for someone looking to solo a difficult area (or play the game without aforementioned dungeon crawl recruiting timesinks), I do wonder how “social” Skyfall will actually be when it’s released later this year. Regardless, it looks to be a lot of fun for the RPG-lover out there searching for something different to play, and ngmoco is definitely headed in the right direction in terms of bringing Android users richly populated content and fun gameplay to our phones.

Want to check out Skyfall’s beta? The first 500 Android Central readers who sign up at SkyfallRPG.com and enter the code “ANDROIDCENTRAL” get an invite!