Yesterday, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (the remaster) (Free) hit iOS and Android worldwide following its release on PC and consoles last year. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective isn’t the first time the game has been on iOS. In fact, aside from the original Nintendo DS release, the only way to play Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective officially was on iOS. Read our review from back in the day here. That iOS version was delisted this month to make room for a remaster simply titled Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. I’ve loved this game for a long time and I never pass up a chance to recommend it, but there’s a lot to cover in this mobile version. How has Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective aged? Does it play nice on modern iOS devices? Is it worth buying if you already own the original? I’m going to answer all of that in my review and also compare the mobile version with Switch (read Shaun’s review of that here) and Steam Deck as usual.

If you’ve not played Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective before, just go download the iOS version or demo on any platform. Stop reading this and do it. I promise it will be worth it. If you’re still here, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is a puzzle adventure game from Capcom directed and designed by Shu Takumi who is most known for the Ace Attorney franchise. As the name suggests, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective has you playing as a ghost (Sissel) with special powers. As Sissel, you can swap between the real world and the ghost world as you “trick” and interact with certain objects to change specific outcomes and try to get to the bottom of your murder. After a short introduction that not only lays the foundation for the story and also gives you a tutorial, the real game begins. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is so good with its narrative that you most certainly will revisit the story after beating it with your new perspective.

I mentioned interacting with objects and the environment, and this is basically the gameplay in Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective. You solve puzzles with your ghost tricks, go through telephone lines to find more victims who you want to save, and more. The cast in Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is more legendary than even the Ace Attorney ones, but I want to make a special mention for Missile and Lynne. More than a decade after it debuted on DS and iOS, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective remains timeless and is essential if you like adventure games.

When it comes to this specific remaster, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective has higher resolution visuals, a smoother frame rate across the board, and a gallery. The gallery includes both artwork and music that are unlocked as you progress through the main game. On consoles and PC, there was a pre-order or early purchase bonus, and that seems to be included on mobile and available once you buy the full game unlock. This specific early purchase bonus is available on PC and consoles for $1.99 for those who missed the early purchase or pre-order period. It includes a few songs and borders. Speaking of borders, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on mobile has the same 16:9 aspect ratio with the game running within that at its older aspect ratio. This results in a mobile-specific border that has a subtle animated design and the various borders included.

One more highlight of the Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective remaster is the new 2023 arrangement option for the soundtrack. If you are a fan of the original and want that music, it is available as a toggle in-game. Said original soundtrack Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective was always amazing, but I can’t get over how good the new version ended up being. For this remaster, everything sounds better. In fact, if you haven’t heard the original music since the DS days or since the original iOS version released, the new remaster soundtrack will probably sound like the good memories you have of the original. Yasumasa Kitagawa handled this remaster of Masakazu Sugimori’s original score, and it is incredible.

When it comes to platform differences, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on iOS and Android is based on the PC and console version from last year. In fact, it basically feels like that running in a new wrapper to take into account the different aspect ratios on mobile. It feels basically the same as playing on Switch or Steam Deck outside the aspect ratio/border differences and load times. Load times are great on iOS and faster than on Switch. Back when I played Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on Steam Deck, Xbox, and Switch last year, the Switch version on the OLED model was my favorite way to experience the game using touch controls. Now, I’d say the iOS version is better with the caveat about the borders.

While it isn’t needed given the superb touch controls, controller support on iOS is not present at all right now. I tested this with my Xbox, PS5, and 8BitDo controllers and none of them worked in-game. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective has the same touch controls as the Switch version with no changes to button sizes or anything. The touch controls worked as they should, but some of the buttons could’ve been bigger or have better touch targets on smaller screens.

The biggest issue is the lack of cloud saves. Capcom’s description even mentions save data will be deleted if you delete the app. I found no way to sync my saves across devices and had to basically play the game again on my iPad after the time I put into it on iPhone. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve played the opening hours of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective by now across all platforms. If you do plan on getting the game on mobile, I would recommend sticking to one platform for your main playthrough.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is priced at $29.99 on PC and consoles. A lot of people scoffed at this price considering the first Ace Attorney Trilogy with three full games costs as much, but I’d say Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is more worth it. On iOS, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective lets you sample the first two chapters for free. You can then use the single in app purchase to basically buy the rest of the game. That purchase is discounted to $19.99 right now. I assume it will go up to $24.99 once the April 3rd early purchase period ends. This try before buying is a great system specifically for Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective not only because all consoles and PC have a demo, but also because this lets existing owners of the old (now delisted) version download this and see if the visual upgrade and extra content offered is worth the asking price for an upgrade. Check out the image below to see how the game looks on my iPhone 15 Pro compared to the older version on the same device.

I hope Capcom adds better border options that actually use the full display on modern iOS devices, cloud save support, and controller support in potential future updates. Those are my only complaints with this release. Controller support isn’t really needed but since Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective has controller and touch support on Switch, why remove a feature for iOS? iCloud save support would really be good since I usually like playing these games across both my iPhone and iPad. The borders are probably the most disappointing thing about this release. While the 16:9 display on consoles already had to deal with borders, Capcom adding extra borders on mobile instead of opting to use larger versions of the existing borders is confusing.

If you already own the prior game and finished it, I don’t think this release is worth buying just for the extra content. If you want to play Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective for the first time on mobile, this one is definitely worth your time and money. If you already own Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on another platform, there isn’t anything new here. If you, like me, love Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective and want to just buy it to support the game on another platform, you probably already did that and didn’t need to read this review.

I love Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective far too much. I’ve bought every single version of it over the years including multiple copies of the DS game. It was always a 5/5 game with its superb story, characters, puzzles, and music, so it is unfortunate that this new version from Capcom is a bit lacking when it comes to how it handles modern mobile screen sizes and its lack of cloud saves. I’m glad we have a version of Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on mobile that supports modern devices and operating systems, but Capcom should’ve done a bit better in some areas.

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective Remaster iOS review score: 4.5/5

It sure has been wild watching Suika Game ($2.99) and its growth over time. Its roots are apparently in some kind of game made for a projector, with a Switch port released exclusively on the Japanese eShop languishing for a couple of years without getting much attention at all. Then halfway through last year some Japanese streamers started playing and it absolutely exploded. It didn’t take too long for that wave to reach the West, but it did take a while for its developer, Aladdin X, to get a native app onto mobile devices. Well, here we are! How does it fare?

For those who have somehow avoided Suika Game so far, here’s the run-down on what you can expect. It’s a puzzle game where you drop fruits from the top of the play area into a jar, one by one. If two fruits of the same kind touch each other, they’ll merge into the next bigger fruit type. Your goal is to try to create the biggest fruit type, the watermelon (‘suika‘ is the Japanese word for ‘watermelon’, so there’s your title). Doing so will earn you the most possible points, as two watermelons who merge will simply disappear. Watermelons are also the biggest fruit type, which means they occupy the most space in the jar.

The space in the jar is going to be one of your main concerns as you play. If any of the fruits pop out of the top of the jar, that’s the game. As you make matches, you’ll naturally have more large fruits in the jar, and if you aren’t careful it’s easy to end up with small fruits keeping the bigger ones from touching each other. You’ll almost certainly run out of space sooner or later, especially if you end up with a couple of watermelons you can’t get to touch each other. Your aim is to get as high a score as you can before something pops out the top.

And pop things will, at times. One of the interesting things about Suika Game is how the fruits can interact with each other. The physics in the game can be awfully bouncy at times, and sometimes fruits you think are properly settled will squeeze out or merge with other fruits, throwing everything into chaos. This will sometimes save you, but it can also bury you if an apple gets launched into the air all of a sudden. That lack of predictability is part of the secret sauce of Suika Game, and it works just as well here as it did in the Switch version of the game.

Just like in that version, there’s an online leaderboard that you’ll be ranked on. the game will also keep track of your best score for the day, week, and overall. This mobile version matches the presentation of the Switch game, with the fruits sharing their cute and charming appearance and the jaunty little earworm tune playing the whole time. You can play the game in portrait mode or landscape, so you can enjoy it however you like. There isn’t much more to it than that. This game has always been a bit on the spartan side, and the mobile version doesn’t change that aspect. There are no meta-goals to aim for, no stages to clear, no unlockables to seek out. Just keep shooting for a higher score. You know, like the good old days.

Suika Game is an easy game to get into with a relatively high ceiling for scoring, and it’s incredibly hard to put down. Its pick-up-and-play nature makes it perfectly suited for mobile, and I’m glad I don’t have to pull out my Switch anytime I want to play it now. While we had a browser-based version to play before, it lacked much of the charm of the original, and while there have been a ton of knock-offs, none of them have played quite right. It’s nice to have the real thing here on iOS, looking, sounding, and playing exactly as it should, with no ads or IAPs to mess with the enjoyment. Worth the price? You bet it is.

Ten years. Ten danged years. That’s how long it has been, minus a couple of months, since I reviewed the very first Adventure to Fate game, Quest to the Core. It was a game with a humble scope, but what it did it did well. While not without its share of rough edges, it was a compelling little turn-based RPG. When the time came for a full-on follow-up, Adventure to Fate: Quest to the Future cleaned up most of the issues I had with the original game. It’s been around eight years since that game came out, and while the series hasn’t been in the deep freeze the entire time (Adventure to Fate: Future Arena came out a few years back), we’re finally seeing another full-blown follow-up in the form of Adventure to Fate Lost Island ($4.99).

So what has changed? You know, not as much as you might think. We’ve got a whole new quest here, of course. Lots of new enemies to battle, lots of places to explore, lots of new loot to find, and plenty of interesting combinations of races, classes, and abilities to tinker around with. A big box of new toys, and new reasons to play with those toys. For many of us, that’s more than enough. Particularly given we don’t really see many games of this nature anymore. A single, reasonable, upfront price. No IAP. No ads. Pay your five bucks, enjoy your game. Ten years ago that was only a little uncommon. Today it feels as rare as hen’s teeth, especially for a mobile-exclusive release.

The story of the game, such as it is, is that you’ve crashed on some kind of weird island. You need to find four goobers to get off the island, and each of those goobers is located in a different location. You can’t just Uber over to them, either. Each of them is waiting at the end of a veritable dungeon’s worth of exploration and battling, and if that isn’t enough, they’re also protected by a bunch of dorks who won’t hand them over without a fight. Luckily, fighting is the one thing you’re really good at. Well, I hope you are, anyway. You’re going to be doing a lot of it.

Like in previous games, the exploration part of Adventure to Fate Lost Island is relatively trivial. There are secrets to find and objects to interact with, but the path to your goal is generally linear and merely requires you to move from bite-sized screen to bite-sized screen until you reach it. It’s not boring or anything, but you won’t need to worry about mapping things out or anything like that. Finding treasure is always a good time, and running into NPCs and objects like Weapon Forges keep things from getting too monotonous. Still, the meat of this game lies elsewhere and I think it’s well aware of that.

Battles! Turn-based battles! That’s what Adventure to Fate has always been about at its core, and that’s where all the magic happens. Broadly speaking, the appealing aspects of this series and this game come from three components. You’ll need to learn the ropes of all of them if you want to have a smoother ride through the game, though you can to an extent brute force your way through a good chunk of the game by grinding if you’re pig-headed about it. I strongly recommend not being pig-headed. The first Dragon Quest game is right over there if you’re looking for that kind of battle system. There are a lot of random encounters in this game, but there are also a lot of fixed ones and it’s those that will give you serious trouble if you try to power through. Anyway, those three bits you need to manage.

First, your character build. Each installment of the series has given the player different kinds of options to build their character with. Lost Island essentially gives you the kitchen sink experience. You get ten races, twelve classes, six crafting specialties, a couple dozen pets, plenty of gear slots and tons of cool gear to fill them with, and a massive number of skills that you’ll earn as you gain levels. It goes without saying when you have this many variables at play, balance goes out the window to an extent. But finding those broken builds is a big part of the fun, and there’s always something new to challenge yourself with if you’re seeking more thrills. You have lots of character slots you can make use of, and I recommend experimenting to see which ones fit your needs best.

Next, preparation. This has been a major part of Adventure to Fate right from the start, and it’s no less vital here. You can only use items and skills that you have equipped, and you’re generally tightly limited as to how many of each you can have available to you in combat. Items are mainly consumable, too. If you forget to refill your pockets after using what was in them before your next fight, you can easily get caught out. Bringing the right mix of skills to take on a tough battle can make a seemingly impossible situation more than manageable. You’ll also want to keep on eye on what gear you have equipped. Pure defense and attack might be the order of the day in most fights, but you’ll also want to take advantage of various special effects and resistances for certain encounters. You’ll also want to keep on top of your shopping, and of course manage your health and ability points as you make your way through each area.

Finally, execution. The battles in Adventure to Fate are turn-based affairs, with you and your pet on one side and up to three enemies on the other. You’ll have a limited amount of stamina points you can make use of on each turn to take actions with, and so will your pet. You take your turn, then the enemies take theirs. Continue until either they’re all dead or you are. And that does mean your character. Your pet can’t keep the fight going on its own. Do not let your health drop to zero or you’ll fall unconscious and wake up back at the start of the area. In a straight blow for blow fight, you will generally be at a disadvantage. You have to make a plan, use your skills as best as you can, and gain the upper hand with your strategy. Basic battles don’t drag on too long, but you’ll have to watch your ability points carefully when things go on longer.

Frankly, this game is incredibly deep in these respects. I’m probably making it sound like it’s complicated, but the reality is that it’s pretty easy to get started in this game. It doesn’t give you too many options at the start, allowing you to get used to the proverbial water before it starts gradually turning up the heat. The UI makes a lot of sense and is perfectly suited to mobile, too. Want something you can play one-handed in portrait mode? This game has you more than covered. Since it’s all about besting each battle, one by one, it’s easy to dip in and out of. Those linear dungeon designs mean that even if you have to take a long break between sessions, you won’t be lost. And the blessed game auto-saves constantly, so if you need to pop out at a moment’s notice you won’t lose much, if anything at all.

Presentation-wise, it’s all quite familiar. The Oryx sprites make a return, but they’re not only quite scarce these days but actually pretty nostalgic. The UI does its job and give you all the information you need while making it very easy to do what you want to do. The game also sports full VoiceOver support so that visually-impaired players can have just as much fun as everyone else. No, it’s not going to challenge Final Fantasy XVI in terms of its production values. But it gets across what it needs to, and there’s certainly a charm to its no-nonsense approach to the RPG genre.

If you’re an RPG fan who likes a good battle system or character customization systems, you’ll find a wealth of enjoyment in Adventure to Fate Lost Island. If you’re looking for an intricate story, hot graphics, or a fancy world to explore, this might not be your cup of tea. You could certainly levy the accusation at Lost Island that it perhaps doesn’t push its design in new directions enough when compared to its predecessor, but what might have felt like going to the well one too many times in 2018 instead comes across as rather refreshing in 2024. Easily worth the asking price, and a game that will do a nice job of filling the RPG lover’s time for hours upon end.

Given how busy the release season is leading into the end of March before things calm down a bit, it is hard to find time to replay many older games when there’s so much new stuff coming out each week across platforms. With Supergiant Games’ amazing rogue-like Hades finally coming to mobile through Netflix, I now had an excuse to get back to one of my most-played games in the last few years. When Hades debuted on PC and Nintendo Switch, I played it a ton and loved it. The team had somehow managed to make a game that impressed me more than its classic Transistor that I consider one of the best games ever. I still don’t know which one I rank higher because they are both sublime, but Hades was the best one of the lot when it comes to gameplay. I hoped Hades would be great on iOS, and it is better than I expected, but there are two small issues I’d love to see fixed. In this Hades iOS review, I’m also going to cover how it compares to every other current platform because I’ve played Hades on just about everything.

If you’re new to Hades, it is quite different to Supergiant Games’ most recent releases: Transistor and Pyre. Hades is an action roguelike that managed to meticulously blend in its excellent narrative, characters, and progression with a gameplay loop that has you begging for more. All of this is complemented by its stunning visuals and mind blowing music. You might think I’m exaggerating about the music, but this is easily Supergiant Games’ best audio work ever in a game, and a game that should be studied for years with how it handled its narrative, music, and voice acting.

The core gameplay of Hades is one of the best examples of “one more run” in modern times. It never gets old as you slowly progress through the levels, working your way further into the game, defeating new bosses, meeting more NPCs, getting permanent upgrades, and learning more about the world and narrative as you understand the ins and outs of survival in the dangerous levels.

When it comes to roguelikes, you can have the most varied enemies, bosses, and the best visuals, but what sets Hades apart from the rest of the genre even more, is its slick fast-paced gameplay while dungeon crawling. Weapons, upgrades, strategizing on the go for how to build your character for that run, and more all play a part in how far you will reach.

Most games in the genre have enough of a narrative or story to get the job done. Hades isn’t just any game though. Supergiant Games always goes above and beyond with everything, and we see that in how the narrative plays out, the character interactions, and the voice acting. Hades is a once in a generation gaming experience that’s now also on mobile.

I have zero complaints with the actual game on PC and modern consoles, and basically consider it perfect. It even has an accessibility mode that gives you a slight health boost on each death to make your progression easier through multiple runs. But how does it feel and look on mobile? I know the team has mentioned things like 60fps gameplay, customizable controls, controller support, and an uncompromised experience, but I needed to see it for myself.

Hades on iOS is mostly perfect. I say mostly because there are two things holding it back, but one of them will likely not matter to most players. Regardless of your iOS device, Hades is a 16:9 aspect ratio game, and while that isn’t a dealbreaker, I wish the team added some artwork on each side so it doesn’t have black bars. Barring that, I was surprised to see the customizable controls do not allow you to move buttons outside the 16:9 gameplay. I’d have loved to have the controls on each side so the actual gameplay has less clutter in the way. You can move the buttons within the 16:9 gameplay window and resize them with a floating or fixed stick for movement as well.

I knew Hades would be great with a controller, but I specifically focused on playing it with touch controls. As with many games I cover, I found myself enjoying it with touch on the iPhone, but preferring a physical controller wirelessly on iPad. I used my Xbox Series X wireless controller and the 8BitDo I use to test and both worked perfectly. The game displays Xbox button prompts for both. With touch controls, I was surprised at how good they felt on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 14 Plus. I recommend resizing the interaction button though because the default is a bit too small.

Visually, Hades looks stunning on iPhone 15 Pro and runs flawlessly. On my iPad Pro (2020), the visuals take a hit but the performance is good. I couldn’t test on an older iPad for this review. I know the team prioritized 60fps even on PS5 and Xbox Series X, but I was hoping to see a bit more frame rate options on modern iOS devices.

Hades does have cloud saves on Netflix and I tested this over 12 times back and forth while playing Hades on my iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPad Pro. I only had one issue where there was a save conflict popup that got resolved by selecting the correct data. The syncing worked flawlessly outside that. I am disappointed to not be able to bring my Steam and Switch saves over since I play with syncing on both of those. Hopefully this can be considered for the future.

The screenshot below shows how the controller mapping works for the game and also the God Mode that you can enable if you’re having a rough time. This isn’t just a cheat that makes the game easy, but one that lessens how punishing it is with each death. The God Mode icon is the second icon on the left side.

Since its debut on PC and Switch, Hades hit PS5 and Xbox consoles and I replayed it on both of them. I’ve never deleted the game from any platform, but the launch of the Steam Deck had me find my new favorite version of Hades. You see Hades on Switch wasn’t perfect, and it struggled to hit its 60fps target in many parts and didn’t look amazing docked. It was a good handheld experience, and a perfect companion to the PC version with cross save though. On Steam Deck, Hades was perfect and it even supported much higher frame rates when I used the Dock on my 144hz monitor. It is now best on Steam Deck OLED with that vibrant screen delivering gorgeous visuals at 90fps.

When it comes to Hades on PS5 and Xbox Series X, it has 4K 60fps support and a decent DualSense implementation. On Xbox it supported Quick Resume and had save syncing with the Windows version (non Steam) making it a good option for those who use that store. I ended up playing a lot more Hades on Xbox Series X with Quick Resume support though. None of them having cross save with Switch or Steam was disappointing.

Right now, my favorite version of Hades is on Steam Deck OLED followed by the iOS version on a newer iOS device. The best portable version is Steam Deck OLED with its higher resolution and flawless 90fps support. I’d definitely rate the iOS version above the Switch port with how good it looks and runs here. But in the end, Hades is basically an essential regardless of your platform. I hope this section helped people who own multiple platforms decide which version they should get.

As with other Netflix or Apple Arcade game reviews, the big caveat to the recommendation is that you need an active subscription to play the game in question. Just like with the GTA Trilogy, Hades is a killer app for Netflix, and one that is likely going to push people to subscribe to the service.

Hades on iOS is incredible. While it has two things I’d love to see fixed in updates, I have no hesitation in recommending it for anyone with a Netflix subscription. The wait for Hades on mobile has been long, but Supergiant Games delivered an excellent version of one of the best games in years with no compromises on iOS here.

Warframe(Free) finally launched worldwide on iOS last month after being revealed for mobile a few years ago. Due for Android later, Warframe for iOS has launched with full cross platform progression and cross play support, and it is the full game complete with all expansions, updates, mobile-exclusive features, and more. Having played Warframe on Switch before, a bit on Xbox One, and more recently on Steam Deck, I was curious about how it would scale on my iPhone and iPad. Before getting to the rest of this feature, I want to be clear that this Warframe iOS review is going to focus on the mobile port and not the actual game’s story and expansions because there is too much on that front given the game’s age and amount of content.

If you’ve literally never heard of or played Warframe before, it is a free to play fast paced action looter shooter with a sci-fi setting. It excels in its gameplay, customization, lore, and art. Even when I played it on Nintendo Switch, the gameplay was superb despite the technical cutbacks. Since then, the game has gotten many content and feature updates, with the newest major update hitting as recently as a few months ago. With full cross progression and cross play now in the game, the time for releasing on mobile had finally arrived, and I don’t have too many complaints with the port right now, but there is work to be done.

When you launch Warframe on iOS, you are prompted to login with Apple. Warframe is an online-only game, and you are required to login each time you boot up the game. This is also the case on Steam where you need to enter your Warframe password. On console you don’t need to enter your password each time, thankfully. If you plan on linking your existing Warframe account to iOS to continue playing, I’d recommend making sure you’ve set up cross save by linking whatever console versions you play so everything goes well when you link your iOS account.

With that done, you will be prompted to either download the tutorial part or the full game. As of March 4th, Warframe uses up 14.36GB on my iPhone 15 Pro with everything installed. For reference, Warframe takes up 17GB on Switch and 36.34GB on Steam. This is still a lot smaller than other live service games that approach 100GB. Warframe is very well optimized across the board, and I actually waited for a few mobile updates to cover the port. That paid off because Warframe on iOS is in a much better place right now than it was at launch with various improvements and fixes already like a 60fps option.

If you’ve ever watched Warframe gameplay before, it is very fast. You’re probably wondering how that is even playable on a touchscreen, but I think the team at Digital Extremes has done a great job translating the controls over with some mobile-exclusive options. Like Dead Cells, Warframe has automated attacks by default. You can disable this, but Warframe feels great with this enabled on a touchscreen. When it comes to shooting, moving your crosshair onto an enemy will make your weapons fire automatically. This also applies to melee.

In addition to the automatic attack options, there’s a new sensor that hints at things happening around you. This is especially useful if you are playing without headphones or sound so you can keep track of things near you. The sensor is color coded for white being non hostile things and red being hostile.

Warframe on iOS has controller support. I tested this with my 8BitDo and DualSense controllers. Both worked fine on my iPad. On iPhone, I wanted to play with touch controls, and they needed a bit of work. You can adjust the scale and transparency for most buttons here. The touch targets for some interactions were a bit too small by default, so I tweaked them. Some of the menus you use outside gameplay need to be larger though. Even some of the toggle switches are tiny on the iPhone screen. I’m not sure if these feel better on the Max size phones, but on my iPhone 15 Pro, some menus are a bit too small.

If you use a controller you can have Warframe auto detect buttons or force a specific set of controller button prompts. This includes Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch options. One thing I’d like to see added is gyro support. There’s a vibration setting, but Warframe also has haptics on iPhone, which is always good to see.

On the visual side, the default configuration was a bit too conservative on my iPhone 15 Pro. A recent update finally added higher frame rate support. At launch, Warframe was capped at 30hz on every iOS device. You can now increase this to up to 60hz, and it makes a huge difference even if the 60hz target isn’t met perfectly. Keep in mind that your phone will heat up with this unless you turn some more settings down. In addition to frame rate, you can adjust field of view all the way up to 111, use any quality preset, or adjust settings manually. These include motion blur (which is a bit too strong), film grain, distortion, depth of field, effects, shadows, dynamic resolution (with resolution scale), and more.

One thing to note is the iPad version on my iPad Pro (2020) has a lot of menu elements that are blurry like button prompts. I hope this can be improved in updates. While the game itself can look very good even on this older iPad, the menus looking bad is surprising. I don’t have an M1 or later iPad to see if things are better there.

A lot has already improved with Warframe on iOS since launch, and things will likely only get better. Having spent time with it on iPhone 15 Pro, iPad Pro (2020), Switch, Switch Lite, Steam Deck, and Xbox before, I’d put Warframe on iOS a bit above the Switch version right now if you use touch controls, and well above it if you use a controller. I only really recommend playing the Switch version if you don’t have access to a newer iOS device and don’t have a controller to use on said iOS device. The best portable version is on Steam Deck from the platforms I own for sure with much better visuals and performance across the board compared to even iPhone 15 Pro I’ll be playing it through the year seeing how the iOS version and others evolve.

Warframe is a free to play game, and while I can’t say how things might be in a few months from now, the team has proven itself over the years to deliver a non pay to win experience. Warframe is always considered one of the best examples of free to play live service done right, and you can experience that on your phone fully right now. I know free games are more about whether they are worth your time or not, and Warframe justifies it. If you’d rather not play it on your phone, give it a shot because it is available on every current platform as well as on iOS.

In its current state, Warframe is an impressive port of an excellent game. While I was hoping it was better in some aspects, Warframe is worth trying out on iOS for sure. It remains one of the best examples of free to play done right, and the complete game with no major compromises is now playable on iOS with cross play and cross save support. I can’t wait to see how Digital Extremes enhances the mobile version through the year leading into the Android version.

Warframe iOS port review score: 4.5/5