Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden

This is a full-scale RPG adventure, and at the moment there isn't anything on the App Store that can compare to it. Zelda is what they aimed for, and Zelda is what they did.

Sacred Odyssey uses Zelda's formula as a starting point, but innovates with some exceptionally smart puzzles and level design.

There will still be those who complain that this game is a Zelda Rip-off and that it has no new ideas, but to me Gameloft have created a perfect new adventure based loosely on the ideas of a much loved franchise. Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden is a treasure among a heap of average adventure games, a mix of great characters, fascinating story and gorgeous graphics.

Despite the fact that we finally have a great Zelda-esque adventure on an iOS device, the most talked about aspect of this game is Gameloft's use of IAP to unlock the full experience.

As a Zelda fan myself; it was hard to go through Sacred Odyssey at times knowing that if Zelda were on the iPhone it would be a richer experience. I don't want to take too much away from Gameloft, as they did a fine job, but Sacred Odyssey doesn't do enough to make me not long for some kind of Apple/Nintendo partnership.

Exploration, puzzles and battles are the main points of a Zelda-style action-adventure. Sacred Odyssey manages to succeed at least in the puzzles, works well with the exploration and results a little flat in combat. Overall, we're far away from Zelda but this is a good action-adventure for the iPhone.

I had a ton of fun with Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden, and highly recommend any Zelda fan give it a try. You'll have a great idea of whether or not you want to continue by the time you hit the pay wall, and hopefully you're somewhere with connectivity so you can proceed past it.

Gameloft didn't beat Zelda, not even close, but Sacred Odyssey has the necessary ingredients for a hit, including tons of action, a plethora of missions and some likeable characters, even if they sound like dopes.

This is essentially a 3D Zelda for your iPhone. It lacks some of the infectious personality of Zelda, but offers some great adventuring and set pieces. The combat is simple without being simplistic.

Fans of dungeon-exploring adventure titles will get a kick out of Sacred Odyssey, but it lacks the spark of vitality of its source material.

Sacred Odyssey skilfully balances action and exploration for an adventure that's defined by its high quality as much as its variety and scale.

A fun third-person action/RPG that isn't as original as it'd like players to think it is. It's got some kinks that need to be ironed out, but it's definitely something that most action RPG fans will like while it remains simple enough to appeal to genre newcomers.