Chaos Rings 3 [$19.99] is hauling a lot of baggage with it. It carries the hopes of a series that seems to be hanging on by a thread, the expectations of a fanbase who were heavily engaged by the storytelling chops of the series to date, and potentially the future of original, premium mobile RPGs from Square Enix. Like the protagonists of the previous games, it’s a creation pulled out of its context, struggling to find relevance in a changed world that offers little mercy. The entire game feels like it was heading down a particular path only to get yanked in an entirely different direction just before it was finished. This whole situation likely explains why this game has a lot of cruft and loose ends hanging from it. It feels like they threw in everything, the kitchen sink, and the whole housewares department while they were at it. As a result, I think this game has a little something for everyone, but few people are going to indulge in everything. It’s just the sort of messy RPG that Square Enix used to fill our bellies with on a regular basis when they weren’t quite so risk-averse, and I personally love it for that.

No other original RPG IP released by Square Enix on iOS has been able to match the success of Chaos Rings, and it seems like the publisher has stopped trying. I suppose it’s hard to blame anyone involved for that. These games are somewhat costly to produce and are priced appropriately with that budget in mind. At the same time, by App Store standards it’s a high price for a customer to pay for an unknown quantity. Then there’s the nature of the market itself, which has changed greatly in the half-decade since the first game in the series debuted. In the face of that shift, the very existence of Chaos Rings 3 is a little bit surprising. Particularly since it seems to have kicked the unreleased free-to-play Chaos Rings Sigma to the side on its way out the door. I feel like today’s mobile gamer is more used to seeing the opposite of that situation occur.

When I first started playing Chaos Rings 3, the cynic in me couldn’t help but smell a couple of rats. While this is a turn-based, single-player RPG that uses familiar spell and item names, with a familiar mission-based structure and emphasis on rounding out a collection of special gene attacks, it’s a massive tonal shift from the rather unique flavor of the Chaos Rings games prior to this one. Cold, immaculate spaces give way to lush, vibrant vistas. Grizzled, aged protagonists have handed off to a pack of veritable high school kids. While it has its moments, it never quite hits the sort of oppressive tension the older games did. Is this really Chaos Rings, or did Square Enix think the only way to sell an original RPG on iOS was to stick the familiar branding on it?

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