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| You play as one of the Young Six |
This is a most unaccustomed feeling for me. I
never complete games. I'm renowned for being a really, really useless gamer. Yet here I am, receiving the congratulations of Princess Twilight Sparkle herself. I have to say, I've had more fun with Pocket Ponies than with any mobile game for a long time. Even the required grinding (assuming you don't want to pay) isn't as ridiculous as with most similar titles.
It's possible I'll get round to writing a proper (albeit probably quite short) review of Pocket Ponies at some point, but for now you just get me bouncing around with happiness. I'm still playing, though, as I still haven't managed to get Fluttershy as one of my mystery box ponies!
Interesting observations, Logan. And well done! Your post the other day reminded me this game existed. I've not jumped on it yet as I tend to be wary of freemium-style games, as I personally HAVE to finish a game I start, and I also never spend money on those games out of principle (been playing Pokemon Go regularly since a month after it came out, and I've yet to drop a cent on it). But your post reminded me it existed, and I thought "what the heck, I'll give it a go."
ReplyDeleteI am liking it, its gameplay has enough uniqueness to stand out from the countless similar franchised puzzle games on the app store. Right now I'm one battle off of facing Applejack, but that battle against Big Mac can only take a green pony (don't have one), a level 10 (my three max out at level 9) and a purple pony. Poor Sunburst can't handle it alone. Currently waiting on either enough gems for the highest random pony box, or until the daily rare box chance. I hear the max levels make common ponies pretty useless quick enough as the game progresses, and then rare ones, and so forth, which kind of blows.
Ah well, its sins aren't as grievous as many freemium games out there. And it's fun and stands out. As well as serving as School of Friendship promotion. Yay. I'll defo finish it, no doubt about that, even if I've barely started.
I hear, though, that even if you spend gems (even gems obtained from real money) on the chance boxes, you can still can duplicate ponies. That's just scabby, even if you get a level upgrade and 1/4 of your gems back.
Yes, the "must have specified colour" challenges are annoying. I'm currently stuck on one of the... side quests, let's call them, because I need three pink ponies and only have two.
DeleteAlso, agreed with your final comment. If I do get round to reviewing this game, it's one thing I want to remember to criticise.
Ha, yeah. For nearly a whole day I was stuck on Cadence's 6th challenge, because the only Pocket Pony I had that I could use for it was Smolder. Even at the max level of 19 and using a Power Boost, I'd get so close but fail every time. Finally, I beat it.
DeleteThat duplicate Pony thing happened to me shortly after that too, getting a second Rainbow Dash. Don't care it it's an extra level and 15,000 free coins, that's 75 Gems I'm never getting back. Bugger.
I have that side quest myself now too. No pink ponies though (I have 14 so far). I hear it's possible to get blocked on some of them - apparently there's one for levelling up common ponies or something, so what if you've already obtained and maxed out them all? Unlikely, as by that point they're dead weight, but still.
I have a thing where with any freemium game, I do a mental analysis and see whether it would work as a proper game that you just paid to buy upfront, and how much changes it would require. With this, it could be done, and would make it better. I bought a Legendary Pony as soon as I could, and blitzed through most of the game since - only now around the second round against Pinkie is a challenge emerging again. So a non-freemium version would not let you get to the high tier ponies until you're supposed to have access to them, I think. Well, maybe. That, and you'd just unlock the ponies naturally in the course of the game, none of this random purchasing with the chance of duplicates nonsense.
Unrelated: I've never played the Gameloft Pony game, even though I've heard of it. I understand it's one of those village building-type games. Is its freemium pushing really THAT bad? Every time there's an EqD post on updates for it, people talk about it like it's the plague.
SortS answer: yes. It used to be about on a par with the Pocket Ponies game, but the requirements to do more or less anything at all are now absurd, requiring literally weeks of you don't want to pay in some cases. I don't regret uninstalling it.
DeleteThere's only one question I want answered in your hypothetical review:
ReplyDeleteCan you obtain/play as Carrot Top?
I'm afraid not. There's probably an expansion on the way at some point—but for now, no.
DeleteNever say never! Some characters have been added in updates. Though the game's initial rollout began last July or August or so, extra characters were added in December, according to its Apple update history. Those were Friends of the Empire (Trixie, Sunburst, Thorax and Flurry Heart) and Winter Collection (Winter-themed CMC and Muffins).
DeleteDon't know if more updates with more characters are coming, but it's not impossible. Even if the odds of a character as minor as Carrot Top being added are very low. It's not like the Collectible Card Game, where they need to make so many cards even the most minor of characters can get a card, anyway.