Same But Better: Ninjas Kyoto Review

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Update

The new PlayMesh trend toward maintaining the same game in a “different” city better not be a vision in the crystal ball of things to come. First, iMafia was repackaged in iMafia Lost Angeles and iMafia New York. That was quickly paired with iRacing Miami, which did even less to change things up. These games were exact replicas of the originals, including names and interface graphics. The only thing that changed was the supposed location, which was immaterial anyway. At the very least, PlayMesh had the respect to let both iMafia and iRacing linger in the public consciousness before coming out with their mock sequels.

Ninjas Kyoto, on the other hand, is the repositioning of the very recently released Ninjas free iPhone game. The only thing new that Ninjas Kyoto brings to the table is the switch view dynamic began by iMafia II and continued by iPirates and Wild West. This means that if you position the iPhone vertically you get a stacked display in Ninjas Kyoto, and when you turn it on its side you get the standard cartoon visage of the medieval Japanese landscape.

Kyoto

The basic terms of the PlayMesh text based iPhone RPG are in place with Ninjas Kyoto. You can go to the store to buy weapons and items, move on to a background structure for weapons, but properties near the river, and even head to the outskirts of town for organized battle with other Ninjas Kyoto players. Every essential thing that made Ninjas successful is in place here in Kyoto, including the classic PlayMesh pattern of begin forced to purchase Clan members instead of getting them by adding other Ninjas Kyoto players.

An Improvement

Instead of thinking about Ninjas Kyoto as a new game, consider it the updated version, though it would require you to start a new account. It is hard to judge this in normal terms because its unoriginality is toxic, yet it takes the original Ninjas and makes it better. Instead of trying to condemn it for lacking anything new, I am going to give it a slight commendation for coming in and adding a new feature to Ninjas. Six out of ten stars.