Monochrome Order (Android)

You are a newly-appointed Arbiter (albeit one who’s been having memory problems), sent to keep the peace in a minor kingdom. There are clearly major events afoot, as Lord Jystice of the Order is plotting to control the world, the Divine Enemies created a miasma that creates monsters, and a woman called the Calamity Witch is fleeing through the countryside. But at the moment, you just need to handle the minor affairs of the townspeople.

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Overall: This is something different, and I think it really works for that. The free-roaming/exploration aspect of the world map has a SaGa sort of feel; the Judgment system mixes in a lot of Visual Novel elements; the difficulty is a little rocky but manageable; and a single play-through only takes around 8 hours. Upper-tier!

Blood of Calamity (Android)

In a Japan-flavored setting, Kenshiro is the prince of one of the four clans, and he’s a dunderhead who cares more about chasing women (badly, he’s a perv and obvious about it) than actually managing his country’s problems. His trusty retainer is the only reason he seems to stay on track with anything at all. Fortunately, he’s a half-decent fighter, so when yokai attack the village and steal his father’s blood, he’s willing to go out into the world to stop it from becoming a calamity.

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Overall: Alas, KEMCO/Magitec flubbed this one. I gave this three hours in several segments, the last after having played a few other KEMCO games in the interim and that just made the slow systems and annoying characters stand out even more. It’s a very “routine” jrpg with lousy characters, the innovations didn’t really work, and they didn’t do a good enough job making it pleasant to play.