The Land Of the Free (Part 1)

Gameplay - 9/10

Storyline - 8/10

Graphics - 7/10

Game Score : 24/30

Hey there gamers and non-gamers alike; been a while, well technically two weeks since I brought you some video-game goodness. Well i'm here to rectify this in a big way, for the month of August we will be reviewing and featuring free games available to any and everyone  since its been a while I did a review for a free game. Coupled with that i'm going to have a another video-game giveaway for Steam again; so much freeness you would think money never existed. Ok maybe not that much freeness but you get the point, there is going to be a bunch of freeness to take advantage of. So enough dillydallying lets jump into todays review; today we play Pockie Ninja II Social.

Now after seeing that I don't even feel like I need to hype this game up anymore. How could you not want to play something with a premise like this, then couple that with the fact that we are talking about ninja's here, then to top it all off you get to see all this take place from the ease and comfort of a browser. No heavy duty machinery or console required? Tell me how awesome I am for bringing you this game today...Go on....i'm waiting. Now granted I said this game is free and technically it is, it is modeled on something called the free-to-play model. In a perfect world all aspects and features of the game would be free but sadly we do not live in such a world as the programmers and development team behind the game have families to feed and bills to pay. So let me just break down what that equates to for the new or non gaming readers out there:

Free-to-play (F2P) refers to any video game or social or mobile application that has the option of allowing its players/users to play/download without paying. The model was first popularly used in early massively multiplayer online games (MMO) targeted towards casual gamers, before finding wider adoption among games released by major video game publishers to combat video game piracy and high system requirements. Since games using the concept are available at no cost to players, they use other means to gather revenue, such as charging money for certain in-game items (like powerful bonuses which are usually available for real money only) or integrating advertisements into the game. Free-to-play can be compared to pay-to-play, in which payment is required before using a service. Pay-to-play games usually offer equal gaming experience for all players while free-to-play games give advantage to premium players. Now that we have explained that lets talk about the actual game; here is what it looks like...

Pockie Ninja II Social is a browser-based, innovative tactic game. Based on the storyline of Naruto, the game combines village building and battling to create a brand new ninja world. Players can find 84 ninjas from Naruto, employ favorite ones to construct a fancy village, or send these ninjas to the battlefield and build a formidable ninja army. You begin the game by choosing a ninja of your liking from six ninjas (3 Male/3 Female) based on the three types of classes in the game; Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Weapon. The game's damage system operates on a similar system to the game of Janken (rock, paper, sicssors) where Ninjutsu beats Taijutsu, Taijutsu beats Weapon, and Weapon beats Ninjutsu. Always pay close attention to your opponents class type as it plays a vital role in all upcoming battles and can severely turn the tide in your favor.

After entering the game with your newly chosen character you find yourself in a vast open space; this is to be the site of your ninja village as you build it from the ground up. You can decorate your village to raise its prosperity level and keep your fellow ninja happy as well as granting you access to more expensive and more profitable buildings to sustain the economy of your village. The game has a very easy to use and follow graphics user interface (GUI) which clearly shows all the commands and instructions in plain view; add to that a brief tutorial to get you started on each new aspect of the game as it comes into play. The game essentially takes you through the story arc of the popular Japanese anime Naruto on which it is based in the guise of levels in which you battle other ninja type enemies to clear challenges. These challenges reward you with Ryo (the game main currency) and assorted materials useful in upgrading/constructing buildings in your village. As I make mention of battling lets take a look at the in-game battling system...

So battle takes place on a grid layout that determines your field of battle; sometimes it is level other times you may find obstacles obstructing your path such as trees or boulders just to name a few. Players can move their ninja strategically so as to get them in range of their opponent to fire off an attack or conversely move them away to delay the opponents attack pattern. I made mention of the varying class types earlier this also affects movement of individual ninjas: 

1. Taijutsu based ninjas have the most mobility on the field being able to move the furthest distances; this is counterbalanced by giving them the shortest reach leaving them only able to attack an opponent that is in the square directly beside them.

2. Weapon based ninja have the medium ground in terms of mobility on the field being able to move a sizable distance without sacrificing their ability to attack from a distance.

3. Ninjutsu based ninjas have the least amount of mobility on the field being able to move about only 2-3 squares from their initial positions but they are blessed with the most range on their attacks.

Each ninja you gain has one attack skill available to him/her by default there is a second slot for another attack skill but this has to be unlock by paying 30,000 Ryo. There is also a main skill that can be taught through the use of a skill book you can acquire through varying means in-game. These two skills in addition to the primary physical attack each ninja has are what you use to battle against the opponent until you have essentially depleted the life points of all the enemy ninja. Battles can be done manually where you dictate the movement and attack patterns of the ninja's in your control or battles can be auto piloted where the ninja move and attack for themselves as best they see fit. So even if you don't fully get the battle system you can use auto-combat until you do.

Well guys I think I have explained all I can without spoiling too much of the game at least this review should provide you with enough information as always to get you interested and wanting to play the game. So what are you waiting for; all you need is a Facebook account and you are good to go join the awesome world of Pockie Ninja II Social. So click the link and get started, you got some catching up to do...(b'.')b