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Honestly, if you really disliked the first game, you probably won’t feel differently about Zenonia 2.
ZENONIA 2 DS UPDATE
I did some lurking in our forums and found that other users have been experiencing the problem as well, so I hope that Gamevil addresses the issue with an update soon. The cutscenes are generally well-done, but the opening cutscene in particular is way too long, even to the point of being tedious. A couple of times I ran into a glitch where it seems that items I picked up failed to show up in my inventory. Having to repair items sucks, plain and simple, and the item combination system is pretty boring. The auto-turn-to-face-enemies feature and easily accessible skills gives everything a clean, fast-paced feel, and fans of RPGs know what I’m talking about when I say that there’s just something fun about dashing around leveling up and increasing a character’s stats. The best part of the game is still the battle system. The game has some of the most customizable controls I’ve ever seen, so maybe that combined with the new touch-controlled menu system is what makes the difference. The core of Zenonia 2 is largely the same, but for some reason it just feels bettter than before. I was a bit disappointed that it isn’t “real" PvP (the computer controls a downloaded version of your opponent’s character) but it’s cool that Gamevil included the option. One feature that has been showing up more commonly in App Store RPGs is online PvP matches. That’s a feature that rarely makes its way into 2D games, but certainly should more often. I still can’t believe that your equipped armor and weapons show in-game on your character. The hunger system is back, but in a much more manageable fashion that doesn’t grind on one’s nerves. The game still uses SNES-era-inspired graphics, so it looks good for a mobile port.
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The menu system in particular is leagues better than the previous game’s (although it does still need some work combining items and dealing with duplicate items is a big pain in the bum). While the story in Zenonia 2 might not be especially better, numerous other elements are. Spelling and grammar errors, a clunky menu system, and an annoying hunger system held the first Zenonia back from greatness, but its enjoyable real-time battle system made it into a game that many loved. I wasn’t extremely impressed by the quality of the game’s story as a whole, but I can say with some confidence that it’s an improvement over the one in the original game. Choosing one character over another won’t change the story in any significant ways, but each character does come with some side-quests specific to them. A half-naked swordsman, gun-toting blonde, animal-man hybrid melee guy, and generic, emo magician make up the cast, and each play quite differently. This sequel traces a new story in the same universe with one of four selectable characters as the stars. The plot of the first game followed a young boy named Regret in the midst of a war between the Holy Knights of the land and a clan of dragons. The conclusion that I’ve come to is that while this isn’t markedly better than any game before it, it is a massive improvement over the original game and stands among the best RPGs on the App Store. Zenonia 2 has been out for a few days now, and I’ve finally been able to put it to the test. When I wrote the closing thoughts of my four-star review of Across Age a couple of months ago, I commented on the fact that the game marked a continuing increase in the quality of App Store RPGs, and I wondered if Zenonia 2 would be able to keep the pace.