The Return of the Avatar
From its rich cast of characters to its courage to tackle dark themes and mature storylines, the Avatar franchise is known by many as one of the greatest animated shows ever produced. Sadly, while Avatar Generations has the potential to be something awesome, it does not live up to the show’s legacy quite yet.
Developed by CDE Entertainment, Avatar Generations is a tactical RPG title that takes you through the story of Avatar: The Last Airbender to the Legend of Korra. Your team comprises Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Zuko, with Appa and Momo as support characters. For Toph fans out there, you can relax; she will be available to add to your team as you progress through the story. Moreover, you can summon Toph and other characters to join your team early if you have enough materials to spend.
A Favorable Start
Getting the positives out of the way first, the game’s graphics, music and animations are remarkable for a mobile game. When animated, the cutscenes are beautiful to look at, and it feels like you’re watching a scene from the cartoon. CDE Entertainment also did an excellent job capturing the show’s art style, as all the characters look great in the menus, cutscenes and gameplay.
Furthermore, the music is pleasant and fits the atmosphere of Avatar nicely. The core gameplay of Avatar Generations is your typical RPG. You attack with your team first and your enemies attack once your turn ends. Nothing to write home about, but it’s pretty fun and does the job nonetheless.
An Underwhelming End
Unfortunately, this is where my positive experience with the game ends and the negative points pick up. Generations is not optimized well at all. Throughout the several days I spent with the game, I encountered numerous crashes and freezes that prevented me from playing through the game. In fact, on the day I downloaded Avatar Generations, it crashed four times on the title screen as I was trying to create an account to start the game.
This was incredibly frustrating, especially because I was eager to jump into the game and see what it was all about. CDE is listening to feedback and continuously making updates to resolve these issues, so hopefully, this won’t be a prevalent problem in the future. However, as things currently stand these issues make the game feel nearly unplayable, which is highly disappointing.
