Imbroglio Reviews – Page 5
5/5 rating based on 62 reviews. Read all reviews for Imbroglio for iPhone.
Imbroglio is paid iOS app published by Michael Brough
Needs Improvement (Author: please read)
RedSquirrel0249
Ok. I like this game. But it has a lot of wasted potential in my opinion. I've also played and love Zaga-33, also by the artist here, and I feel similarly about it, but not as strongly. Zaga is intended to be a random adventure, but it has a reachable goal. The unbalanced weapon upgrade goals remove a "sense of accomplishment" in Imbroglio due to the flaws I'll hereafter mention. First and foremost, there are mechanics that make this an exasperating game that just need to be changed: 1) when you're in a corner and on a ranged space, aiming at two enemies, sometimes the better choice is to move out of the corner, but the game only allows you to shoot; 2) If you can only unlock board changing for a character after you get a certain number of gems, you need to make the default board accessibly completable. These flaws inhibit straight playability for anyone and everyone. Not even looking at these problems, there are just some annoying aspects of the game itself that could be changed. First, the randomness of the game turns all aspects of strategy into a facade. Think you're a pro? Nope, just lucky one shots, gem spawns, and mazes. Not very good? Maybe you're just getting screwed by corner generation, spawns, and fixed difficulty ramping. Of course strategy games can be semi-random. That's most RPGs. But when you depend on the randomness to succeed for the majority of your journey to 100 gems, that's silly. Second are the screw-you-over movement mechanics. In Zaga, you have enough health for this to make the game interesting. It also feels somewhat realistic: you get trapped, you have to take a hit. However, in Imbroglio, you have 4 hits and an incredibly small map with walls. If an enemy spawns on an off turn, you have to take a hit. If you're a certain character against a certain enemy, that can mean you literally can't kill it. Even at full health. And if you run to a gem (if you can), another enemy will spawn in, creating a cycle of death. Imbroglio deserves a circumvention to this mechanic, like a pass option. That would require strategy, and would maintain the game's intended difficulty. I'll stop there with the problems and say that this is a noteworthy game: it just needs developer attention and a couple of buffs. To anyone considering purchase, try it out, it's worth the money. However, I would recommend Zaga-33 as a substitute, though.
Perfect
UltimateWalrus
This is everything I want from a mobile game (fun, challenging, easy to pick up/put down, relaxing) without everything I don't (freemium, IAPs that aren't expansion packs). It's held my attention an order of magnitude longer than most mobile games. The sound design is very nice and relaxing. The art is... not well drawn, per se, but done with consistency and a cute aesthetic that makes the whole thing very charming. Beautiful game design from Michael Brough as always. Anyone who likes this should also get 868-hack. It's a crime this doesn't have more reviews.
So much fun...
Drelbs2345
More puzzle than roguelike, this turn-based game is equal parts frustration and joy. Move around randomly-generated mazes trying to up your score and keep alive. Then, after you've gotten the hang of things (or you think you have...) build your own tile layout and start building things up in addition to staying alive. There's plenty of unlockables in this fantastic game, there's nothing quite like it anywere...
Fantastic game. The add-on is worth it
KGZEV
One of the most addictive games I have played. A perfect mix of up front strategy and planning and turn based tactics. The add-on with the new game mode is all I play. I love the weapon limits and 4 day tournament feel. Great work!
My all-time favorite mobile game
Eric_cc
It really is a brilliant game. If you're considering picking this up - do it.
Brilliant
HotChex
Been playing off and on for a year now, I really think it's up there (yet nothing like) Tetris.
"And when you die - and die you shall..."
Amused but confused
Imbroglio is a really good game, with a few flaws that keep it below the developer's previous awesome successes. The game has Brough's usual sense of minimal style and emphasis on "here are the rules, here are the ways you can bend them." The action goes from breezy to intense moments where you're suddenly counting spaces, or trying to figure out how to get back in 'sync' with an enemy. As puzzlers go, way above average. So why knock off a star? There are some design choices here that take the game from hard to masochist, and not the good kind: * The game is best from about the 20% complete to about 80% - outside of that it's hard hard hard. Which might be okay if not for... * The board is a tight 4x4 - so tight that even the most inconsequential movement (or worse, slip of the thumb) sends a good game spinning out of control. * There are too many weapon choices - it's fun to bend the rules some, but tedium-to-insanity wading through all of them. * This makes rebalancing updates *awful* - you finally get the hang of one thing that kind of works, and then you're pushed back to "here try all these other options again" (the readmes will make you groan with anger, and quick to note of any upgraded weapons - which you'll still skip because if they got upgraded they must have been really awful to start with.) ** (as an alternative, it would be nice if it let you elect an earlier ruleset, then reported any progress _and_ which ruleset version was used.) * Even the most perfect run will leave you easily trapped and enemy-spammed to death above 210 stars or so. Put it all together - and you'll see why you wonder what the W/L ratio is, given the extremely sparse "completed game" rankings. Is it 1 in 10K games played to success? 1 in 100K? Neither would surprise me. I don't mind hard, or sometimes even frustrating. When it works, it's great (probably why I'm writing so much) but the letdown over the most minor random roll, slip, or mis-step is brutal (also why I'm writing this much.) I'm still intrigued for what Michael Brough will come up with next, so this is still money -very well- spent. You'll still play another round - you'll just probably curse yourself, and him, while you do.