Parents' Guide to Iron Blade: Medieval Legends RPG

With its medieval settings and interesting storyline, this could have been a truly great RPG if not for the tedium built into it. Instead, the developers chose to make players pay for progress rather than things they might actually enjoy, and the result is a feeling of resentment that gets stronger each time you play. Having invited you into the Campaign with its noble main character and well-handled combat, Iron Blade: Medieval Legneds RPG pulls up the drawbridge, refusing to let you in 'til you've upgraded your gear umpteen times. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to collect gold and resources by repeatedly replaying battles you've already won. Battle rewards are random, which means it takes a long time to get exactly what you need for the upgrade, and even when you do, you might not have enough gold to make it happen. That means after an hour or so, you're stuck, unable to move the story along or do anything new. You can of course, spend a hefty amount of money to force things along, but it's hard to say just how long it'll be before you run into another raised drawbridge. The app tries to alleviate the boredom with resource-collecting "events" (where you fight the same monsters again and again) and the chance to attack other players and steal their resources, but it's just not enough. In the end, it goes back on its promise to deliver anything legendary, and you're left with a sad iron blade in need of an upgrade.