Chaos Rings II Review

Who knew sacrificing friends could look so good?

The Chaos Rings franchise is the RPG equivalent of the Saw movies. Chaos Rings II begins with a guy named Darwin magically kidnapped and sent to a trippy mansion where he is forced into a series of battles. While Chaos Rings involved teams fighting to the death, this sequel instead follows Darwin as he is asked to sacrifice a group of people from his past, ostensibly to save the world. 

Chaos Rings II has the same basic mechanics as the original. Battles are turn-based with parties of just two. Random encounters initiate battles in the wild and, like other recentSquare Enix RPGs, the end of each battle fully refills HP and cancels any status ailments. The Genes of the first game have now been replaced by magic skills called Sopia, as well as Advent abilities, which are essentially typical RPG summons. Characters can also fill a meter during battle for their own unique Awake skills, which allow for massive attack damage or rapid healing. Each character earns additional Awake abilities as they level up.

Chaos Rings II is far more fully-featured than the original. It’s visually stunning, the battle system has been expanded, and there’s more to see and do. Switching between the new types of abilities adds a much-needed amount of variation to battles, and combining different Sopia to offset enemy strengths and weaknesses brings a whole new layer of strategy. 

While gameplay has been refined, the story never quite reaches its potential. It’s interesting following Darwin’s quest, learning about his involvement with each of the people he must sacrifice, but the tale is told almost entirely through clunky expository dialogue. Chaos Rings II features voice acting, but only in Japanese, and not being able to understand conversations prevents the game from having any kind of major emotional impact. 

Still, exploring the game world more than makes up for any story deficits. The environments are absolutely gorgeous and completely distinct from one another. From forests to Japanese villages to dilapidated cities, the levels are varied and complicated enough to make exploring feel like absolutely anything could be around the next corner. Characters each have their own unique traversal abilities (breaking down walls, moving platforms, jumping across large gaps, etc.), increasing replayability by encouraging players to return to each area to access previously unreachable sections. 

Chaos Rings II is priced aggressively at $17.99. While that’s undeniably high for the App Store, the game is robust enough to justify the price tag. This is easily one of the best JRPGs available on iOS, on par with similarly priced offerings on Sony or Nintendo handhelds. That said, it’s still a steep price point, and whether or not that purchase is worth it will depend on how much you enjoy traditional turn-based battles.

 

CLOSING COMMENTS

Chaos Rings II is a beautiful, full-featured RPG that highlights what Square Enix can do on iOS. Clunky storytelling and a high price prevent the game from reaching its full potential, but gorgeous environments and an expanded battle system more than make up for it.