When comparing Detective Grimoire vs Hoplite, the Slant community recommends Hoplite for most people. In the question“What are the best iOS games without in-app purchases?” Hoplite is ranked 12th while Detective Grimoire is ranked 21st. The most important reason people chose Hoplite is:
You must plan your movements and attacks, paying attention to all enemy positions and their attacks. This makes for a game that the player can pore over their options, for as long as they like, which can be pretty enveloping.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Easy to navigate
The whole game is laid out in an intuitive manner, from the menus to traversing each level. What's more the player is able to easily see where they need to go through highlighted objects on the map as well as receive hints when stuck.
Pro Well written and acted
The characters are fleshed out well through good writing and great voice acting, which makes for an immersive experience that feels believable even though the games story is a bit outlandish.
Pro Deep gameplay that harkens back to chess or other grid based games, where planning and strategy take a front seat
You must plan your movements and attacks, paying attention to all enemy positions and their attacks. This makes for a game that the player can pore over their options, for as long as they like, which can be pretty enveloping.
Pro Easy to understand the rules as any pertinent info is relayed before a move decision is needed
Someone called it "Chess, the roguelike". You have all the information before you move, every time. Enemies follow a simple ruleset, with no variation. There is almost no randomness. You know that you will die the turn before you do, and you will die because you painted yourself into a corner.
Pro Great replay value thanks to the roguelike random generation
There is a good list of achievements, which creates a high replay value. It encourages the user to play very differently in subsequent replays. Which is great for keeping the game fresh.
Pro Can be played at your own pace thanks to the turn based nature of the title
Hoplite is a turn based game, making for something that people can take their time with, deciding on their strategy for each move.
Pro Extended gameplay when you finish the title, with the fun but difficult game+ gameplay mode
Starting on level 16, the altars get replaced by a portal. The player has the choice to "win" the game by exiting through the portal, or to ignore the portal on that level and venture deeper, aiming for higher scores on progressively more difficult floors. This is great for those that enjoy more challenge and extra content past the regular ending.
Pro Well-balanced
Other, more popular, mobile roguelikes are far too random. A lot of people associate roguelikes with randomness, but a lot of effort goes into making sure that they provide consistently winnable games. When you lose a game it should be because you did something dumb, not because the RNG didn't deign it today. Hoplite nails this.
Pro Large assortment of enemies keeps the gameplay and strategies required fresh
There is a wide array of enemies to encounter and fight, which keeps encounters fresh as well as the strategies needed.
Cons
Con Could be more challenging
Traditionally point and click adventure games have a difficult edge to their puzzles but sadly Detective Grimoire contains puzzles that are often easy, making for not much of a challenge for those that are fans of the genre.
Con Poor mix of easy children aimed content and an adult theme of murder
The games looks may appeal to children but sadly the content contained withing revolves around murder, which is not much of a kid friendly topic.
Con Short game
Hoplite does not take that long to complete as it can be finished in an average playthrough in around an hour.