End of Aspiration

Kemco's attempt to resurrect the RPG-laden glory days of the 16-bit era continues apace with End of Aspiration, a 2D role-player packed with random encounters, turn-based battles, and, of course, busty anime babes.

Like so many of the company's previous efforts on mobile, End of Aspiration never really comes close to surpassing what has gone before, but it's an effective tribute all the same.

As usual, the world of End of Aspiration is plagued by malevolent forces, so it's down to a small team of heroes to restore balance and peace.

Unfortunately for all concerned, the storyline is totally bereft of originality, while the script is undermined by poor English (a problem which has adversely affected Kemco's entire suite of RPGs).

Once the swords start flying, however, little of this really matters, for End of Aspiration is powered by a pretty robust battle engine. It's shamelessly old skool - with both sides taking turns to beat the living daylights out of each other - but with familiarity comes comfort. Fans of the genre will, therefore, appreciate the solid, no-nonsense approach.

During battle, you can use special attacks and items, and you can summon "familiar" helpers to deliver powerful offensive and defensive spells. These guys are incredibly effective - in fact, they're a little too potent. When you use them correctly, they can turn the tide of battle completely in your favour.

This serves to unbalance the game a little, and means boss battles are a relative formality. All you need to do to guarantee victory is ensure each character has enough "BP" points to summon its beastly helpers. The BP gauge gets charged up as you both dish out and receive damage, so keeping it topped up isn't particularly tricky.

End of Aspiration comes in two flavours: freemium and premium. The former features adverts which run during gameplay, while the latter, well, doesn't.

Even so, the game still contains in-app purchases. Throughout your quest, you'll encounter special dungeons to which you can only gain access by paying additional cash. They're totally optional, but you miss out on items that make the whole experience much easier if you ignore them.

If you're forever wishing that you could play another Secret of Mana or Chrono Trigger and continually lament the fact that this type of game never gets made any more, then End of Aspiration is well worth a look. Kemco may not quite scale the heights of those genre classics here, but End of Aspiration makes for a pretty convincing tribute act.