Parents' Guide to Raid: Shadow Legends

This fantasy action role-playing game (RPG) packs a visual appeal and overall presentation that's almost on par with many console offerings. Make no mistake about it, Raid: Shadow Legends is a gorgeous game. Its story lays down a classic, though almost cliched, fantasy foundation, but that tale sort of gets glossed over in the campaign mode, outside of a few quick narratives between stages. There are also bits that leave players scratching their heads too, like how demons and orcs play nice with high elves and sacred knights, outside of a few throwaway lines about being under the contract of the Arbiter. It's not necessarily that the game needs a strong story to move it forward, but it feels like a sorely missed opportunity.

No matter how impressive the game looks or how engaging (or disengaging) its plot may be, none of that matters much if it isn't actually fun to play. And thankfully, by and large, Raid: Shadow Legends is fun. Moving through waves of enemies and playing with your characters' skills is a blast. When it all comes together like a well-oiled machine, you can genuinely feel like a force to be reckoned with. The problem is getting that well-oiled machine pieced together. Although the game has hundreds of characters to recruit, the hard truth is that many lower-tier characters aren't worth anything more than sacrifices for experience to improve your better characters. Getting higher-tier characters takes a lot of luck, or some heavy spending in the in-game store. Meanwhile, between gear, skills, ranking, and other elements requiring constant upgrades, it's easy to burn through resources, forcing players into a repetitive grind or yet another pricey trip to the Shop. If you look past the constant draw on your wallet or the repetitive grind to build up your characters, though, you'll find a lot to like in Raid: Shadow Legends.