In monster-ridden areas exploration transitions into battle by way of a very cool “Ambush” system. Eschewing random encounters, the game allows the player to see foes from afar and avoid them if desired. Sneaking up on them when they have their backs turned causes Killian’s party to score a powerful combined attack on the enemy party as soon as battle starts, wiping weaker enemies out entirely and grabbing their loot with nary an ounce of effort. Caution is warranted; if an enemy notices the player’s movement there’s a good chance the enemy party will enjoy just as powerful an initiative! On-the-fly saving plays a pivotal role in minimizing player frustration here, since enemy ambushes in the game’s last few dungeons are powerful enough to wipe out Killian’s team if they lack the latest and greatest defensive equipment. Evading alerted enemies while exploring becomes a delightfully heart-pounding experience, requiring the player to rely on environmental obstacles to block enemy chases early on. Thorough exploration will net the player an accessory that boosts Killian’s running speed about a third of the way through the game, allowing him to easily outrun alerted foes — a real gift for those who would prefer not to take their chances but also lack the patience to lie in wait for ambush opportunities.
The battle system itself is largely standard menu-driven fare, featuring wonderfully expressive character sprites and the usual assortment of elemental spells and powerful skills — some accessible by multiple party members, others unique to specific characters. Party members can execute combination attacks provided they have learned appropriate skills and have a contiguous turn order, which displays toward the top-right of the battle screen and allows the player to plan ahead. Unfortunately what you see on the turn order is exactly what you get unless a combatant is knocked out; I found no skills or items capable of altering the timing of character and enemy turns, which would have been a welcome strategic complication. Battles are definitely snappy and fast-paced, and voice samples played during attacks rotate enough to avoid grinding on the player’s nerves even if the exact same actions happen to be executed repeatedly.
Players who fondly remember the more experimental console RPGs of old – especially Final Fantasy 8, Super Mario RPG and Legend of Dragoon – will be excited to know that one aspect of Crimson Gem Saga‘s battle system increases player interactivity beyond traditional menu-driven commands. When a member of Killian’s party scores a critical hit on a foe via normal physical attack, there’s a certain probability that the “A” (“Action”) virtual button will appear for a split second. If the player manages to tap that virtual button the character’s attack will continue, and successive opportunities can be chained to form impressive combos that really show off just how well animated the characters are. While I found this aspect of the game very difficult to master at first, I felt absolutely rewarded when I did, and through it I found new use for the dusty old regular attack option. A character’s likelihood of pulling off these attack strings depends on his or her “Will” rating, which falls very much under the player’s control via items called “Joker Cards” that can be applied to equipment.  Bump up that stat to a value of 160 or so and a character can chain normal attacks reliably, which essentially constitutes an expansion of the battle system should the player wish to customize one or two characters to take full advantage of it. This fact is tragically hidden from players by virtue of it never being commented on in-game. I suspect this among other subjects appeared in the PSP version’s instruction manual, obviously a conundrum for an iPhone port.
As suggested above, lack of an instruction manual or thorough in-game tutorial will leave players scratching their heads at first when navigating Crimson Gem Saga‘s powerful character management and equipment upgrade menus. Skill points awarded in battle have to be allocated by the player in a Skill Tree before party members learn new techniques, something I didn’t realize until I literally stumbled upon it two hours into the game. Unlocking skills is a two-stage process, one skill point injection being required to reveal what a skill is and does, the second to activate it. Once the skill has been revealed it can be bypassed in favor of revealing the next skill further up its branch of the tree, so the player can learn skills out of order if desired. Skill points are so generously lavished on the party toward the end of the game that revealing and activating all character skills is well within the player’s grasp during one playthrough.
Like the Skill Tree, equipment menus are navigated by swipes at the touchscreen rather than a virtual D-pad, and it’s a process that will take some time and experimentation to fully master even after Nate Games’ upgrade to touch accuracy. Once the player becomes accustomed to it, however, he or she will find a complex and rewarding upgrade system that makes one think twice before selling old pieces of equipment, as one can breathe new life into them by assigning elemental affiliation or properties that enhance character stats.
Aesthetically the game is an absolute dream, with crisp and lively sprites, flashy battle skills, and beautiful artwork accompanying each important character’s dialogue. Minor visual quirks did make it into the iPhone release, the environments appearing as if they’re pieced together from smaller images that aren’t quite contiguously aligned. While iPhone gamers are well used to controlling a game’s background music they won’t find any such capability here, and nor is it likely to be missed since the music quality ranges from agreeable to quite catchy, always with a suitably medieval flare.
To note, Crimson Gem Saga did lose end-game bonus content – art galleries and a New Game Plus option – during the port process. On the upside, it also lost “Now Loading” screens the PSP version shooped in before battles, so those interested can be sure that not a single second of Killian’s 30 to 40 hour iPhone adventure is wasted on such unseemly waiting.
iFanzine Verdict: While it misses a few opportunities and just barely carries its own heft in the story department, Crimson Gem Saga is arguably the meatiest and most rewarding JRPG available on the iPhone at the moment and it’s unlikely to be eclipsed any time soon. Even at $9.99 it’s a safe bet for RPG veterans looking for something to invest lots of time in, and its sheer beauty and overall solid design may very well score converts from gamers who don’t know they’re RPG fans yet. Casual gamers should be warned, however, that its complex equipment and character management systems will take some time and experimentation to get used to, and lack of tutorials will make these especially imposing to gamers who aren’t already used to the genre.