Hey folks, Valkor here. I'm a huge fan of RPGs; been that way since I first laid eyes and hands on the first Final Fantasy. Since then I've plowed through my share, both the good and the bad. But I've never played a title such as the one I'm about to review – Battle Slots, brought to you by Phantom EFX. It's definitely a unique experience, though I won't say its for everyone.
In Battle Slots you play as the hero (male or female), who just happens to find a ancient device. And with such device he'll use it to fight and save the world of Tellus from evil; monsters have started to overtake the land and it's your job to restore peace. And here's where the game takes an interesting "spin". You'll use a slot machine – something like a line slot, where you have five rows and you only have to match symbols either straight across or in a certain pattern. Any experience or money you gain, damage you take or inflict, mana or anger points you earn, will all be done through the slot machines. Unfortunately the bad guys have a slot machine as well and anything you can do, they can do. But it gets even more interesting as the enemies also earn gold and experience that you'll earn should you win. If you lose, you get nothing. Thankfully you don't lose everything and have to start over, but you'll definitely have to redo the fight.
There's no character to control, rather you'll guide a token that represents your character - simply point and click the location you wish to go. At the offset the land is quite small, but as you complete tasks or defeat enemies, more of the land will open up to you. And as you progress further through the land, so does the enemies become more difficult. You'll run into townsfolk or gain new quest at taverns. Some are a part of the main story, while others are side journeys. And there are even quest that can be repeated.
So let's talk more about that slot machine and battle scenarios, which you'll become quite familiar with after a few rounds. When you first enter a battle you'll notice that you have two empty bars – the bar on the right is for magic points and the bar on the left is for attack points. Gaining AP and MP all depends on the slot machine and if the symbols match up in a pattern. In one shot you can gain a TON of AP and quite possible no MP, and vice versa. You'll use AP and MP to activate spells, which are located under your character profile pic on the battle screen. Doing so allows you to use stronger attacks and you'll gain new spells as you defeat your enemies. The same can be said for the slot machine; again as you defeat enemies (especially boss creatures) you'll gain new symbols, which will automatically be added into the device. You can then go back to the Slot caretaker, where you can adjust the frequency of which item appears more so than others.
To round things out, you will also find allies who will join you on your quest (after you've helped them) and will make use of their abilities. Another type of allies are the creatures themselves. There are some in particular that you can capture, keep in a zoo, and make use of their skills. The zoo where they are kept can be updated so you'll be able to use the abilities of much stronger creatures.
Overall Battle Slots RPG is a very simple RPG with a unique twist. So after some serious play time, let's dig in with the TOV Breakdown and see what works and what doesn't.
The Good:
First off I wanna give credit to Phantom EFX for taking a chance and trying out the slot machine mechanism for use in this RPG. It's fun in that you can level really quickly and gain a lot of money without having to grind too much. Plus I'm a Vegas whore and any chance I get to play slots is always a good time. Sometimes the battles can run longer than need be, but you can gain quite a lot (experience and money), especially when you get to the harder areas. It took me some time getting used to the idea of using a slot machine in a battle; my biggest fear was that the battles would go on for far too long. But once I settled in with customizing my slot machine, the fights went by a lot faster. Though a bit drawn out, it's not as bad as I thought it would be. Is it addicting? Most definitely! To round things out the graphics are simple, the music is repetitive but fitting, and the gameplay is spot on, which doesn't say much since the game is mostly point and click.
The Bad:
The slot machine isn't exactly as customizable as you might think. My thinking is that I can pop out and replace whatever symbol I want. That's not exactly the case; you'll use a dial to adjust which items you want displayed. Also you're limited to how many spells you can use – a total of 8 at any given time. There are many spells to choose from, I just wish you could use one or two more.
The Ugly:
N/A
Battle Slots RPG, I'll admit I started out not liking it. But then I caught my groove and it grew on me. It's a lot of fun and quite addicting, especially when you get the hang of it. And for the low price of 20 bucks, you can't go wrong. So why not take a chance and pick up a copy today. So out of TOV 5 stars, I'm giving Battle Slots RPG 3.5 and it's been Valkor tested and TOV Approved.