Seller: Minoraxis, Inc.
Size: 186 MB
Age Rating: 9+
Exitium In-Depth Review
Sidequest City, Here We Come!
Per hallowed Korean RPG tradition, a gigantic war has given lots of heroic types an excuse to take up swords and wave around magic wands. This time it’s happening in the world of Vardonia, where seedy Arkan and holier-than-thou Abylon vie for control of a fiercely contested border region. Four would-be heroes have been summoned up to the front, two fighting on behalf of each faction. Kiron, a veteran who’s already completed one tour of duty, is all too happy to fight again for Arkan now that the opposing kingdom has torched his hometown. Soon he’ll be trading suspicious glances with the novice mage Galen, who’s arrived at the same outpost to assist his wounded master in some pretty far-out arcane shenanigans. Moseying into the opposite camp are the evangelist Alia, who’s eager to convert Arkanian heathen or send their souls straight to Hades if they fail to comply, and the goody-two-shoes paladin Jasen, who’s arrived to fulfill his role as a dutiful Abylonian knight.
That makes for four viewpoints in Exitium (Out Now, $1.99), doubling the number of player characters we’ve seen in some of the best genre offerings on iOS so far. The team at Minoraxis deserve serious kudos for knowing how to play up this fundamental strength, devising the save system to end all save systems so players can switch scenarios practically on a whim. Rest assured that this means Exitium is also the meatiest KRPG in its price range; having spent ten hours spread across all four scenarios, I don’t feel that I’ve even scratched the surface of the mysteries driving its backstab-heavy plot. With the technical quality seen in Fantastic Knight reaffirmed and even improved upon here, this is probably all diehard KRPG fans need to know before reaching for that “buy” button.
Alas, quantity doesn’t necessarily make up for quality when it comes to RPG storytelling, and real quality is what the KRPG subgenre desperately needs to hang on to veterans who’ve tired of the formula, and attract curious RPG fans who might be new to this style. In my estimation, Fantastic Knight‘s narrative suffered from the problem of rushing plot points too quickly; Exitium ironically suffers from just the opposite extreme. None of the player characters are movers and shakers in their world, rather acting as glorified go-fers for shadowy superiors. This means the much-dreaded “fetch quest,” typically bearable in KRPGs where they’re relegated to sideshow status, form the very core of each character’s story. Plot points and characterization are furnished piecemeal and at an achingly slow pace as they fulfill order after order, zooming between battlefields and their respective bases.
That its story falls entirely flat isn’t a fault of Exitium‘s translation as much as it is a fault of the game’s basic structure; you can only pack in so much character development when the stars are constantly gusting in and out of their home bases like overworked pizza deliverymen. The writers and translators at least toyed with the situation as best they could, letting the characters bemoan their constricted fate — a rare opportunity for players to commiserate perfectly with their onscreen avatars. That said, Minoraxis still has the occasional script typo to fix in updates too.
Longtime KRPG vets might be sad to see Level Up points and multi-branch skill trees go by the wayside in favor of linear progression here, but in most other ways Exitium is a genre fan’s dream. Its user interface feels largely inherited from Fantastic Knight, which means the characters do a great job navigating around rough ledges and the virtual D-pad is perfectly responsive — though it’s worth noting that the player must tap at its edges to use it as intended, and avoid holding at the center as he or she would a virtual joystick. I was so highly impressed with the system Minoraxis developed for adjusting the UI that it edged my review score up half a notch all on its own – everything from virtual button placement to the size of the virtual D-pad is completely under the player’s control via the in-game options menu. Developers, please copy Minoraxis when it comes to things like this!
In addition to their hotlinked skills, each character can make use of a regular attack chain and a charge attack if the player holds the attack button for about a second. There are an eye-popping number of options for upgrading and fabricating equipment, and navigation is a breeze thanks to an area minimap, quest list system, and simple world map that mesh well together as guides.
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Would love an expansion bag if you have one!
My in game name is Arashi541
Sure thing! You should now have a nice 16-slot inventory expansion bag waiting in your base’s mailbox. Let us know if you got it!
I guess most are still unsure about the Game. Maybe posting my HD Gameplay Trailer would help a little bit the Community to see how good this Game is. Specially since it is a Universial Build.
Here’s some linkage action for ya Sanuku; gonna leave the official trailer in the article because it shows off loads of cool special attacks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJLWTZ4VN4M
This is a good video for getting a sense of what the story’s like though.
In game name is….Doom ;D got any toys left? Unfortunately I did not get to test this game much due to technical (crappy phone) difficulties..but what I saw was great! Think I made it to level 15 or so..I love the multiple characters..makes for a big, big game!
Spot on review, nice job!
I’ve got some inventory expansion bags left! But the game isn’t responding when I try to send to “Doom”. Is the smiley part of your in-game username, perchance?
i would like to know , how can i find herrusin silk ?? i need a 20 slot empty bag by the magic roll ~~!!!
Hmm, I’ve got an extra 16-slot bag, if that would suffice? Let me know what your in-game mailbox account name is and I’ll send it over!
Hey, can you tell me wherento find the herrusian silk? I’m hitting lots of tall post but couldn’t manage to find one. I would like to make bigger bag. My inbox name is KIYOHIME
The Japanese knowledge of English-speaking RPG players nowadays never ceases to amaze me! You’ve should have another 16-slot bag waiting in your inbox at any rate, Andy. There’s a few more to go around, too!
Anyone know where I can get herrusian silk ?need em for 16slot bag
ID name dreyeon
Hey dreyeon, the game’s telling me your in-game mailbox ID doesn’t exist. Have you tried sending items to yourself yet, just to double-check that it has you listed in the item trade system?
[...] Sean Koch: Hey dreyeon, the game’s telling me your in-game mailbox ID doesn’t exist. Have you tried… [...]
Hey, I need the Herrusian Silk too. Can u tell me how to get it? Thank you!!
ID: ANDREWVLUI
I hope you’ll settle for a 16-slot bag Andrew
Should be in your in-game item inbox now.
Did not get it yet. T-T
Darn, that’s too bad — it went through on my end and now I’m all out of inventory expansion bags. I sent you a Medium HP potion just now, to test if there’s something wrong with the item trade function. Let me know if you got that, and if not maybe we can haggle with Minoraxis to get some more items.
I got the HP potion now. Hahahaha
Hey Andrew, try going into Coin > Coin Bank in your character’s pause menu. I tried transferring these to you — this is the game’s secondary currency you get for achievements and stuff, and lets you buy special items in the “coin” menu. If it went through, you should have an extra 260 waiting for you in your “Online Account.” If you make a withdrawal against that, you might be able to buy a 16-slot bag in that Coin shop menu. It’s the next best thing I can give away at the moment, all I’ve got after that are a ton of potions. I’m curious to see whether this works.
I am trying to get the silk as well, can someone tell me how in game? my id is neenjuh
Hey, everyone looking for Herrusian Silk — here’s an answer from Alex on the Minoraxis Facebook page:
“When you get to the island with the devil god there are vases taller then the others that you destroy and sometimes you get the silk happy vandalizing
”
Hope this helps you guys!
[...] of a few days ago, Exitium: Saviors of Vardonia represents one of the more interesting price model experiments in the App Store. If you opt for the [...]
[...] week we reported that Minoraxis is trying an interesting price model with Exitium: Saviors of Vardonia, releasing a pay-per-scenario version, with each costing $0.99. Now, for a limited time, your inner [...]
Yea, let’s just all make a fully configurable UI, after all it’s the most important part of the game.
No seriously, after months trying to design and implement decent controls, #1 I’m not absolutely convinced it’s that uber-important after all, #2 remember all the time we spend in configurability could be used coding interesting gameplay
I found Fantastic Knight a very disappointing ‘HD’ release, saved by smooth game/RPG mechanics, fun and usable, somehow defining ‘pleasant grind’. On to this one then…
[...] Shadowgun; Dead Space (iPhone and iPad editions); Pocket Academy; Fantastic Knight; Real Steel; Exitium; Pocket RPG; Gears; Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light; and Aralon: Sword and [...]
Looking for herrusian silk anyone know where To find it.? Thanks ID KenjoPrea
[...] enjoyed home runs on the App Store with Fantastic Knight and especially Exitium: Saviors of Vardonia in 2011, so kicking off 2012 with another top shelf KRPG seems like a no-brainer. As with the [...]
How do I get herrusian silk? Or can anyone send me? Game ID XUANHAO. Thanks!
I need enough Herrusian silk to make 2 bags I think 20 is the number… Inbox name is DJOKER777 please and thank you