Emberfall Saga

Emberfall Saga is the kind of RPG you start on a lunch break and then find yourself still theorycrafting builds three days later. You lead a party of four through a fractured kingdom, and combat is turn-based with a clean initiative bar at the top of the screen. Positioning matters — a lot — so it rewards players who like to plan two moves ahead.

The crafting system is where it really opens up. You can break down loot into materials and rebuild gear around specific damage types, and by mid-game I had a mage tuned entirely around chained lightning. Menus are dense but never confusing once you spend an hour with them. Auto-battle exists for grinding, which I appreciated during the slower stretches.

My one gripe is the early pacing, which throws a lot of tutorials at you. Push past the first two hours and it becomes one of the best mobile RPGs I've touched this year.

What we liked

• Tactical combat with real positioning
• Deep, satisfying crafting
• Auto-battle for when you just need to grind