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Final Fantasy Dimensions II ($14.99) by Square Enix is a brand new chapter in the Final Fantasy universe. If you're a fan of the franchise or just seeking a great adventure, then FFDII is a worthy addition.

While the Final Fantasy franchise has been around for a long time (30 years this December), I joined the party a bit late. I didn't get really into the series until I was in high school, when I got more invested into video games in general. My first Final Fantasy game was the Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls bundle on the Game Boy Advance, and from that moment forward, I knew I fell in love. Japanese RPGs (JRPGs) became a big part of my life since then, as I was intrigued by plenty of new titles and poured dozens to hundreds of hours into them when I could.

While many of the older Final Fantasy games have been ported to iOS in the past few years, I didn't feel the need to get them since I had most of them on other consoles. But I was excited for FFDII, as it's a game that hasn't been released before. I had to get my hands on it.

$7.99

FINAL FANTASY II

SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.

$15.99

FINAL FANTASY VII

SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.

$14.99

FINAL FANTASY V

SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.

$20.99

FINAL FANTASY Ⅸ

SQUARE ENIX Co., Ltd.

Visually, FFDII is gorgeous and a faithful rendition of what you'd expect from a Final Fantasy game on iOS. Those who have played older titles will feel right at home with the 16-bit pixelated character sprites and lush environments. Character portraits for dialogue boxes is beautifully drawn, and the blue text boxes are familiar. The colors in FFDII are a nice range of bold and vibrant hues to dark and muted tones. Animations are smooth and fluid on my iPhone 8 Plus, with no lag or choppiness whatsoever. The game also has the typical Final Fantasy music and retro sound effects, so old-school gamers get a sense of nostalgia when playing this.

Unlike traditional Final Fantasy games with an over-world map, you're not able to freely walk around and explore in FFDII. I was disappointed when I discovered this, but I suppose that's to be expected from a Final Fantasy game designed for mobile devices. Instead, players get a world map with points of interest marked as destinations, and multiple stages in each. These levels consist of waves of enemies, where players engage in turn-based battles with them. You'll earn rewards and experience points for your party members for successfully completing these stages. And with no towns and inns to rest in, all party members' HP and MP are restored after every level.

The combat system is turn-based like the old-school Final Fantasy games. On the left side of the screen is a gauge that shows you the turn order between your party members and enemies. On the right, you'll see the menu of actions that your currently selected party member can do. This consists of the basic "Attack" with their equipped weapon, "Ability," and "Summon."

The abilities that each party member has varies, and they can learn new ones as they level up with their Signet Stones. These stones are earned by defeating Eidolons, who are bosses that you must face off against in trials that test whether you're worthy. Using abilities costs MP to use, with more potent skills costing more. However, they can do much more damage than a regular physical attack, so make sure to take advantage of them when you can, especially since your HP and MP get refilled after battle.

Summon allows party members to summon powerful creatures onto the battlefield to help you out. But like previous Final Fantasy titles, you must find and earn these summons by defeating the creatures in battle first. They'll be tough foes to face, but owning their power to use at your command is well worth it.

The cast of characters in FFDII are completely new and span across different races and eras. Eventually, you'll find items to equip, and can spend the gil you earn to buy more gear for battle. The storyline is your standard Final Fantasy fare, where a great disaster is caused by human error and destroys everything as we know it. Then it's up to you, as a young boy who seeks adventure, to save the world by traveling back and forth between the past, present, future, and even beyond.

The latest Final Fantasy addition to the App Store.

The Good

FFDII is a nice, streamlined Final Fantasy adventure for mobile devices. The art style is true to the older games with the pixel art sprites and settings. The music and sound is a fantastic throwback to the classic games too, and gave me a bit of nostalgia when I hear it. The turn-based combat is simple and intuitive, so even Final Fantasy newbies won't have issues with it, especially with the tutorial in the beginning. The game has plenty of content to go through, so this is one that will take up some time.

The Bad

Even though it can be quite a lengthy adventure, this is still a watered-down version of Final Fantasy. There are no towns to check out, you can't interact with other NPCs, and you can't explore the world freely. If you're used to this from older Final Fantasy games and come in expecting this, you'll be disappointed.

I also think that the price for FFDII is a bit high, considering it doesn't play like a true Final Fantasy game. For almost the same price (give or take a few bucks), you can get other classic Final Fantasy titles like FFV, FFVII, FFIX, and more. Personally, for this kind of money, the real games are a better pick.

The verdict

Overall, I'm liking Final Fantasy Dimensions II, but not sure if it's worth the high price tag compared to other Final Fantasy games on iOS. The art style is lovely, the music and sound brings back memories, and the turn-based battle system is easy to follow. I'm a bit annoyed that it takes away the free-roaming exploration aspect of the long-established franchise, as that was one of my favorite elements. The game itself is good, but I'm not sure if it's worth $15. Perhaps if this was a bit lower, considering that it's a watered-down Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy Dimensions II is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for $14.99. There are no in-app purchases.

8.6

OVERALL

Game Controls 9

Graphics 9

Replayability 8.5

Sound/Music 8.5

Gameplay 8

$14.99

FINAL FANTASY DIMENSIONS II

SQUARE ENIX

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Million Onion Hotel ($3.99) by ONION GAMES is a unique action puzzle game that's truly unlike anything you've played before. Yes, we know that this is a claim made by many, but this is one game that will really make you go "WTF?" after your first round. It's weird, wacky, and special, kind of like Grapple Gum.

Ever since I've been here at AppAdvice covering mobile games, I feel like I've gone through everything (at least most) that the App Store could offer me. While I love finding new games in my favorite genres, I can't help but feel that everything's been done twice over. So when there are games out there that strive to be completely unique and never done before, I'm definitely interested. When I came across Million Onion Hotel, I knew that this was something special.

$1.99

Grapple Gum

Ali Mehrez

Visually, Million Onion Hotel has a retro pixel art style that is absolutely lovely. As someone who grew up in the golden age of gaming with 8-bit and 16-bit graphics, I appreciate any game that pulls it off well. Everything in Million Onion Hotel is rendered in 2D, but there's a bit of depth to everything thanks to the dynamic lighting effects that take place. Despite the pixel art, Million Onion Hotel still has fairly detailed textures in the environments and character sprites. The colors in the game are a nice mix of dark and gloomy shades with bright, earthy tones, which contrast nicely. Animations are smooth and fluid with no lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. The soundtrack is a quirky jazz track, and the sound effects are delightful. For their first release on the App Store, the developers did an excellent job with the game's visual and audio design.

There's only one game mode in Million Onion Hotel, but there's a lot of content to unlock in the form of cards. These cards dictate what show up during your game, and each one of these unique characters are worth a different amount of points, which affect your final score.

In the Million Onion Hotel, the specialty is a "magical onion soup," though no one who's had it can describe its flavor to anyone else. The soup has a hidden power, obviously, which makes it magical. But one night, some highly-esteemed hotel guests having the soup find themselves sucked away into a far-off galaxy. Is it a result of drinking too much of that magical onion soup? No one knows, but one thing's for sure: you need more magic onions to make more magical soup.

The gameplay in Million Onion Hotel is fast-paced and challenging. Players get a 5×5 grid, and there are onions sprouting up from the ground in the board. You'll have to get as many onions as you can before time runs out.

As soon as the onions are ripe and ready to be picked, they'll come up from the ground. Some onions give you more time. To collect them, just tap on them — the space they occupied becomes red after to make it more clear. Once you make a line vertically, horizontally, or even diagonally, you'll advance a level. You can make single or even double lines, which are worth more points. When you move on to the next level, things pop up faster, and more character cards get introduced as well. These other characters include bells, paintbrushes, and more, and they require more than one tap to get rid of.

At some point, you'll get the cutscene that shows the hotel guests whisked away to a completely different dimension. After this point, you'll eventually reach boss fights, which can be rather difficult and a welcome challenge. The boss fights show their health bar at the top, and you'll have to quickly collect onions and other characters to dish out damage. If you can't defeat the boss in the remaining time, then it's game over.

An action puzzle game mixed with a strange storyline.

The Good

Million Onion Hotel is definitely a game that's unlike any other action puzzle that you've played before. It gets high marks for its uniqueness, and the gameplay is downright fun and addictive, even though the boss fights are fairly challenging. The pixel art graphics are top notch, and the music and sound is done incredibly well. This game is packed full of charm and even though it may have you going "what the heck is going on?" after the first round, it's hard to put down once you get going.

The Bad

While Million Onion Hotel has a lot of good stuff going for it, there's a flaw as well. The game can get a bit repetitive, at least until you unlock the other character cards. Still, it can be a bit repetitive since you're just tapping quickly on the screen to collect onions and other things before facing off against a boss. But this is standard with high score chasers, so you should know what you're getting yourself into ahead of time.

The verdict

When I first saw Million Onion Hotel, I was intrigued by the screenshots, but didn't know what to expect from it in terms of gameplay. Now that I've spent my morning playing the game, I have to say that I'm impressed. As someone who grew up with classic pixel art games, the visuals bring back a sense of nostalgia with me, and the sounds are rather satisfying. After my first round in the game, I seriously said "what is going on in this game?" out loud. Not many games make me say that, so kudos. But I still find myself returning, because it's just fun. This is one of those games that I'll be returning to time and time again, for sure.

I recommend giving Million Onion Hotel a try if you are looking for a bizarre but fun and challenging action puzzle game. Million Onion Hotel is available on the App Store as a universal download for $3.99. There are no in-app purchases.

9.2

OVERALL

Replayability 9.5

Game Controls 9

Graphics 9.5

Sound/Music 9

Gameplay 9

$3.99

Million Onion Hotel

ONION GAMES, K.K.

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