Knight of the Earthends

Kemco's amazing workrate when it comes to pumping out Japanese RPGs on Android is so astonishing that we almost suspect the company has taken on all of the disenfranchised game designers left over from the 16-bit period and them chained to their desks, relentlessly coding every hour of the day.

Whatever the reason for this prolific stream of titles, those Android owners with a soft spot for role-playing epics are being well-served. However, as we've seen from previous Kemco efforts, the results aren't always up to the standards set during the SNES era.

Knight of the Earthends at least tries to be unusual: the eerily detached female lead Reiya is a tough nut to crack, and her companions are equally off-the-wall.

Raud is - and we quote from the official Google Play listing: "a golem in the form of a human, who is being tested in real-life situations", while the bubbly Yuinika is a girl with a horn in the middle of her head. Enough said.

Turn by turn

The conversations that take place between this mismatched trio of heroes are often unintentionally hilarious, peppered with some very awkwardly translated dialogue.

This is nothing new to Kemco's output, and it's unrealistic to expect the company to pour thousands of dollars into getting a really professional localisation done for a mobile phone release, but it impacts your enjoyment regardless.

Once you're out of the dialogue screens and into the game proper, Knight of the Earthends settles into that well-worn JRPG blueprint. You explore various locations at the behest of certain characters, only to fall foul of random encounters that lead to turn-based combat situations.

There's nothing really new here to speak of, but Knight of the Earthends does a neat job of replicating the feel of numerous Final Fantasy titles from yesteryear.

One thing that is slightly unwelcome is the Japanese speech during battle scenes - characters shout during each attack, and this soon proves to be intensely irritating. Thankfully, you can turn these off.

Despite its generic nature, poor script, and hyperactive voice overs, Knight of the Earthends is a solid RPG for your Android phone. Xperia Play support is just as robust as it has been in previous Kemco efforts: the game is fully optimised for the phone's physical controls, making it much easier to play than relying solely on the touchscreen.

If you've sampled Kemco's other RPG titles on the Google Play store and found them entertaining, then there's little reason to suspect that you won't feel the same way about Knight of the Earthends. While it's a slightly shaky tribute to the 16-bit classics of the '90s, it still manages to capture just enough of the magic to be worthwhile.