Prepare to be amazed.
That's all i can say to anyone who hasn't played Animus: Stand Alone yet. This is the game that proves that the android system CAN have serious games on it. The unholy combination of Dark Souls and Monster Hunter, this game brings you DS's signature harsh combat, full character control, epic music and dark storyline. Combine that with the MH style boss fights and drop system, and you have one hell of a combo.
Graphically, the game is amazing. It also comes with the options of lowering graphics and resolution so it works on lower end devices. I myself use a Moto G4 Play, which only allows 1GB of RAM. While the Hitboxes for certain weapons get wonky on higher resolutions, i set it down to the minimum and loved the silky smooth gameplay i got.
The price tag, $4.99, may be off-putting to some who don't want to shell out that mush for a mobile game. But i took the chance, and happily immersed myself for close to 60 hours. The game ha a continuous storyline, where every playthrough changes the story, revealing more and more. This actually coincides with the game's actual story, which for a mobile game, manages to be pretty good.
The armour options are cool as all hell, with both aesthetics and properties changing with every piece of armour and weapon you equip. Levels are usually about five minutes long, with weaker enemies leading up to a boss fight. Note that i don't mean fodder, just weaker, as these can still easily kill you if you try to just bash your way through. Like DS, every monster has a unique moveset and patterns.
Speaking of which, the monsters in SA are superbly designed, throwing away old fantasy tropes and coming up with new ( twisted ) creatures. These keep things fresh after even after four playthroughs. The best part, however, is the bosses. Varied, dangerous, hard without being cheaters and most of all, fun to battle.
This sin't going to turn into a full-on review, so i'll just end it here. Animus: Stand Alone has some flaws, but are vastly overshadowed by what the games achieves. But more importantly, the standard it sets for Android games.
