Symphony of Eternity (for Android)

If you liked 1980s and early 1990s RPGs or early Final Fantasy games, you'll love Symphony of Eternity ($2.99). There's a clear plot: Two adventurers meet the princess of a fallen kingdom, and all three go hunting for a mythical wish-granting weapon to set everything right.?

Graphics are very simple, with three scales: a very zoomed-out world map, a very 1980s-style town layout, and combat sequences with larger monsters. Combat, as in all the Kemco games I've played, is turn-based, although there's an "auto-fight" button to get you through more tedious battles. You can control the characters through an on-screen control pad or, alternately, a simple "click to go here" touch interface.

Unlike in other Kemco games (this is critical), in Symphony, you can see all the wandering monsters on the map, so you can ambush or avoid them. This is a heck of a lot better than in other games where random encounters appear out of nowhere. Character advancement is also just complex enough to be fun. Characters gain various skills through different class-based "tablets," which contain lists of skills and spells you acquire by winning experience points. You can also add and subtract merit points from various abilities at will. While you can't always pick your party, you can pick your tablet- and merit-point combinations, and that keeps things fresh.

Yes, I know I'm giving an Editors' Choice to a year-old game, but it's the best Android RPG I've seen so far.?Both my kid and I enjoyed Symphony of Eternity immensely, and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves old-school fantasy gaming. I can't wait for the sequel, Symphony of the Origin, due out later this year.

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