Hey Meatlings! Can You Pluck Spirits Clean And Complete Your Vegi-Magical Degree In Lili?
Lili™ ($4.99) by BitMonster, Inc. is the first game from developer Bitmonster, which, according to the game's info, is actually a group of six guys working from their basement. With that in mind, Lili is one impressive game - so impressive, in fact, that it was used on stage at an Apple event.
Since it made its Apple keynote debut, Lili has been highly anticipated by fans. This game, which is an RPG adventure, has some of the best graphics you'll see in a current iOS title.
The main character, Lili, resembles a nerdier Lara Croft, and will lead you on an incredible journey of exploration and puzzle solving.
Lili is working on her vegi-magical degree, so she's in search of flowers. You'll have a range of quests to complete, from finding flowers to finding other items requested by the robotic townspeople, who are on a mission to get rid of the unkind spirits.
There's always something to do in Lili, and exploring the gorgeous world of the Island of Geos is a total delight.
To move Lili, you will tap once on the screen, which causes her to walk forward. Steering is done by moving your finger around (as you would to look) and you can make Lili run by double tapping.
Opening chests and barrels is done with a tap, and pulling up flowers just takes a tap and slide. All in all, this control scheme works well. It's painless to navigate around the world.
Lili is a non-combat game, but you will encounter entities that are less than kind, known as spirits. Some of the best flowers grow on spirits, though, so you can chase them down, leap on them, and grab those rare specimens.
Stealing flowers is an experience in itself. When you leap onto a spirit, you'll need to act quickly, plucking up the flowers (by pulling, aka sliding your finger).
Different color flowers grow on the spirit, and you'll need to pluck the ones that you need. For example, if you begin losing your grip, you'll need to pluck a green flower, and to defeat a spirit, you need to grab the red soul flower.
Flowers continually pop up on the spirit, so pay close attention.
Gathering flowers will help you level up, and when you do reach a new level, you can improve three stats: run speed, grip, and stealthiness.
Grip means you can hold on to a spirit for a longer period of time before falling, and stealthiness allows you to sneak up on those pesky spirits without being noticed.
After defeating a spirit, you get between one and three stars. If you want to do better, you can challenge a spirit to a rematch to try again. Spirits will run away from you, so it is best to take them by surprise.
As in most RPGs, there are plenty of areas to explore, treasures to find, quests to complete, and items to buy in the shops. Lili has all of those great RPG elements but it adds a lot of unique gameplay characteristics, like the non-combat flower hunting, which is quite a bit of fun, and a wonderfully whimsical storyline.
Lili is truly a one-of-a-kind game. It's one of those titles that you just have to have, and though it's on the higher end of iOS game pricing at $4.99, it's well worth the cost. If you only buy one game this week, make it Lili.
