To be honest, when I first saw the name of this game, I almost thought it was a crude skin-changing match-3 game. After all, from playing in the Saipan era to now, I have seen all kinds of games that follow the trend, and it is inevitable that I feel a little conflicted. But after playing for an afternoon, I decided to write a serious review, not to brag or to criticize, but to talk about my real feelings.
Let's talk about the advantages first. The biggest highlight of this game is that it cleverly combines the match-3 gameplay with RPG combat. It is not a simple elimination + value, but each elimination action can directly trigger hero skills - for example, if you eliminate the fire element, the fire hero will immediately release the Flame Slash. This sense of instant feedback makes the originally casual match-3 game become very rhythmic, a bit like the refreshing feeling of "elimination = attack" when playing "Dragon Quest" back then. 😌
In addition, the hero development system is quite solid. Although it is a card game, each character has an independent skill tree and elemental restraint relationship, so it is not a mindless pile of combat power. You even need to temporarily adjust the lineup based on the attributes of the enemies in the level. For example, when encountering water monsters, bring more ground heroes. This kind of strategy is very common in old-school games, but it is very valuable on the mobile side.
In terms of graphics, I can only say that it is quite satisfactory. The art style is cartoonish, and the character drawings have a bit of a Japanese RPG feel, but the details are not exquisite, especially the combat special effects are a bit cheap. However, considering that this is a free game and the optimization is well done, my old phone (Android 5.0) runs without lag, which is worthy of recognition. 👌
Let's talk about the shortcomings. In terms of plot, although the world view is set in the continent of Singletary Towers, with lizard mentors and four-element artifacts, the plot actually advances very slowly and relies entirely on text, lacking branching options or animation performances. This is a bit disappointing for players like me who like to read stories - after all, from "Final Fantasy" to "Zelda", plot has always been the soul of RPG. In addition, the probability of drawing cards is a bit confusing. It took me an entire afternoon to get a complete set of Fire Team together. Non-Emirati players are advised to be mentally prepared first.
Finally, I would like to talk about industry observations. Nowadays, many mobile games follow the stitching route of "Match 3 + Combat", but many of them have become numerical traps - forcing you to spend money to skip failure. At least Crush Heroes is very restrained in the paid mode, and you can play it slowly with zero krypton, which is better than many so-called "conscientious games". But having said that, if you don't update in-depth dungeons or PVP modes in the future, you may get bored of it soon.
Overall, this is a sketch that can bring a sense of freshness to veteran players. It is suitable for players who can play a game between work and experience the fun of development in their spare time. If you miss the days of playing Bejeweled and Order & Chaos on your Nokia, give it a try. 🎮