Visually engaging and adorned with a bright, friendly palette, Lili may at first seem like a children's game - but it is so only in the sense that Roald Dahl was a children's author. Cheeky, anarchic, and quite aware of its own conceits, the game has the kind of good natured subversive whimsy which would not be out of place in a Miyazaki film. The world is beautifully realised, and the characters are surprisingly engaging and witty. I find myself chuckling and smiling regularly - the uniformly excellent writing is a breath of fresh air, particularly in the iOS game space.
Lilli is the titular protagonist - a doctoral student in botany who has been sent by her supervisor to a mysterious island, to explore the various species of magic flora it is said to contain. On the island she encounters a world inhabited by mean forest-spirits and likeable wooden "Constructs" - the spirits' slaves (of sorts), who are keen on subverting the order. Lili's botanical aspirations soon align with the interests of the oft-bullied Constructs when she discovers that the rarest flowers must be plucked from the backs of the unwilling and vexatious spirits. This sets off an adventure of exploration, conversation, and yes, fetch-quests, which gradually reveals more about the island and its mysterious "Mayor".
Gameplay is a mix of third person adventuring - akin to Beyond Good & Evil or Legend of Zelda, with environmental interaction seamlessly achieved by well tuned touch mechanics. At my relatively early stage of completion, I have only encountered one mode of "combat", which zooms to a mini game of sorts involving plucking flowers from the backs of ill tempered wood spirits (their complaints upon your victory are particularly amusing). This game mode is brief, tactile and dovetails well with the overall world via a free-roaming chase required to begin. The flower picking is challenging, but not overly so - performance is scored, and rematching to best your scores is encouraged. Rewards consist of both collectible flowers and coins for the item shop. The overall tone of the game is more of inquisitive exploration and interaction than stat grinding, but the scored and rated mini games help to side-step the lack of tangible achievement which can be problematic in games of this style.
The much maligned in-app purchase mechanic is present here - but as with all good implementations I have encountered it is not required in any way to enjoy the game, and is only present if you want to treat yourself to a leg up via some helpful but expensive items - or as a means to customise Lili's outfit. Self control is all that is required for this system not to bother you.
The graphical grunt provided by the Unreal engine that powers this game is put to great use - the smooth complex 3D environments are stunning, high resolution, and are complemented by great visual design. The island teems with life and impressive architecture, the characters are rich in polygons and are well animated. Widescreen support on the iPhone 5 really shows off what this game has to offer, and it deserves to be the Infinity Blade of the latest Apple launch - the go-to show off piece for your new phone. It also looks sensational on the retina-display iPad.
The controls are actually some of the best I have come across for a 3rd person adventure game on iOS. They are responsive and intuitive, but also don't necessitate obscuring most of the screen with your thumbs. Movement is activated with a tap (double tap to run), and dragging anywhere on screen moves the camera. Two finger pinching zooms for a closer inspection of your surrounds, and items are interacted with simply by pulling and poking at them with your finger. The result is a fluid touch-native experience that makes me wonder why this has not been done so simply, and so well, before. Much of the time the controls achieve the holy grail of touch user interface: I forget they are there and simply play the game.
Speaking of forgetting, it would be easy to omit mention of the game's soundtrack, as it so seamlessly backgrounds the entire experience. Environmental ambience combined with lush orchestral plucks and swells admirably immerse you in the game's off-beat world. Such cohesive sound design should, however, be commended - as should the endearing vocal burblings of the characters, which fondly evoke the style of Rayman, Banjo-Kazooie and other quirky platforming successes. The sound is well mixed for stereo, and so a 3-D wireless speaker (such as the Jawbone Jambox) or a nice pair of headphones will yield great results.
Finally I should mention that the creation of a non-sexualised, non-stereotyped female protagonist is to be lauded in any game, and this is a stellar example. Lili is presented as an inquisitive and intelligent young woman, and her comments are always charming, never cliched or inane. The kind of gaming tropes which we are happy on most occasions to accept as part of the culture start to seem very tired when a quality game makes a concerted effort to step past them.
I will wrap up this review by saying that it is only by supporting games of this quality, and making them a success that we have any hope of elevating iOS, as a game platform, to the level of sophistication and quality of which I'm sure many suspect it is capable. Lili is an absolute delight to play - easily matching some of my fondest mobile gaming experiences. The tiny amount of money being asked to experience it is absolutely worth spending, and you should not hesitate to give it a chance. The witty dialogue alone is worth the price of admission.
I award this game a rare Unconditional Recommendation, and greatly look forward to this talented developer's future work.
Samuel Millett
Review Hardware: iPhone 5; iPad (3rd Gen)
Lilli is the titular protagonist - a doctoral student in botany who has been sent by her supervisor to a mysterious island, to explore the various species of magic flora it is said to contain. On the island she encounters a world inhabited by mean forest-spirits and likeable wooden "Constructs" - the spirits' slaves (of sorts), who are keen on subverting the order. Lili's botanical aspirations soon align with the interests of the oft-bullied Constructs when she discovers that the rarest flowers must be plucked from the backs of the unwilling and vexatious spirits. This sets off an adventure of exploration, conversation, and yes, fetch-quests, which gradually reveals more about the island and its mysterious "Mayor".
Gameplay is a mix of third person adventuring - akin to Beyond Good & Evil or Legend of Zelda, with environmental interaction seamlessly achieved by well tuned touch mechanics. At my relatively early stage of completion, I have only encountered one mode of "combat", which zooms to a mini game of sorts involving plucking flowers from the backs of ill tempered wood spirits (their complaints upon your victory are particularly amusing). This game mode is brief, tactile and dovetails well with the overall world via a free-roaming chase required to begin. The flower picking is challenging, but not overly so - performance is scored, and rematching to best your scores is encouraged. Rewards consist of both collectible flowers and coins for the item shop. The overall tone of the game is more of inquisitive exploration and interaction than stat grinding, but the scored and rated mini games help to side-step the lack of tangible achievement which can be problematic in games of this style.
The much maligned in-app purchase mechanic is present here - but as with all good implementations I have encountered it is not required in any way to enjoy the game, and is only present if you want to treat yourself to a leg up via some helpful but expensive items - or as a means to customise Lili's outfit. Self control is all that is required for this system not to bother you.
The graphical grunt provided by the Unreal engine that powers this game is put to great use - the smooth complex 3D environments are stunning, high resolution, and are complemented by great visual design. The island teems with life and impressive architecture, the characters are rich in polygons and are well animated. Widescreen support on the iPhone 5 really shows off what this game has to offer, and it deserves to be the Infinity Blade of the latest Apple launch - the go-to show off piece for your new phone. It also looks sensational on the retina-display iPad.
The controls are actually some of the best I have come across for a 3rd person adventure game on iOS. They are responsive and intuitive, but also don't necessitate obscuring most of the screen with your thumbs. Movement is activated with a tap (double tap to run), and dragging anywhere on screen moves the camera. Two finger pinching zooms for a closer inspection of your surrounds, and items are interacted with simply by pulling and poking at them with your finger. The result is a fluid touch-native experience that makes me wonder why this has not been done so simply, and so well, before. Much of the time the controls achieve the holy grail of touch user interface: I forget they are there and simply play the game.
Speaking of forgetting, it would be easy to omit mention of the game's soundtrack, as it so seamlessly backgrounds the entire experience. Environmental ambience combined with lush orchestral plucks and swells admirably immerse you in the game's off-beat world. Such cohesive sound design should, however, be commended - as should the endearing vocal burblings of the characters, which fondly evoke the style of Rayman, Banjo-Kazooie and other quirky platforming successes. The sound is well mixed for stereo, and so a 3-D wireless speaker (such as the Jawbone Jambox) or a nice pair of headphones will yield great results.
Finally I should mention that the creation of a non-sexualised, non-stereotyped female protagonist is to be lauded in any game, and this is a stellar example. Lili is presented as an inquisitive and intelligent young woman, and her comments are always charming, never cliched or inane. The kind of gaming tropes which we are happy on most occasions to accept as part of the culture start to seem very tired when a quality game makes a concerted effort to step past them.
I will wrap up this review by saying that it is only by supporting games of this quality, and making them a success that we have any hope of elevating iOS, as a game platform, to the level of sophistication and quality of which I'm sure many suspect it is capable. Lili is an absolute delight to play - easily matching some of my fondest mobile gaming experiences. The tiny amount of money being asked to experience it is absolutely worth spending, and you should not hesitate to give it a chance. The witty dialogue alone is worth the price of admission.
I award this game a rare Unconditional Recommendation, and greatly look forward to this talented developer's future work.
Samuel Millett
Review Hardware: iPhone 5; iPad (3rd Gen)