Finally.  Finally, I have a turn-based strategy fantasy game to play on my iPhone.  I’ve been looking for this for a long time.  I would have been happy with any acceptable, average entry into the genre as long as it was available for the iPhone.  But Reign of Swords is more than just average…it’s excellent.  This is it - the real deal.

If you’re used to this type of game (and I am a huge fan of this genre), there is nothing new or revolutionary here that is going to blow your mind.  But it’s playable on the iPhone and it’s just a truly well done game with very few negative issues.  And this is not some strategy-”lite” title…there is a surprising amount of complexity and detail in Reign of Swords.

I won’t spend a lot of time on the general set-up/synopsis.  If you’ve played games like FF Tactics, Fantasy General, Wesnoth, Fire Emblem, Disgaea or Shining Force (ah the memories!)…you get the general idea.  Or think Advance Wars but in the fantasy genre.  You’re in a fantasy realm in charge of a group of soldiers, knights, catapults, wizards, etc.  You are fighting the bad guys in a turn-based strategy format.  You know…hex combat and all that jazz.

This type of game was sorely needed on the iPhone (by me at least).  And as I stated, this is a very nice production.  The single player campaign is quite deep and involved and I really enjoyed many of the well-crafted scenarios.  There are a large number of these excellent missions and you can even gain titles and banners.  For the most part, things work very well and there is a nice autosave feature and a tutorial.  Okay, so the graphics are nothing amazing, but they are good enough to get the job done.  They are clear and colorful with varied animations.  The sound effects and music are likewise solid.

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