Is there actually a good reference of iOS changes available now somewhere? I'm interested in digging through if there is.
A guide on CaveOfNarshe lists many of the differences. I'll just post the changes here.
Apart from updates graphics and all that jazz, there are several minor gameplay
changes compared to the GBA game. I've also seen some changes in damage; given
the same situation, it seems certain attacks deal more damage or have a
different hit rate. In general, certain magic attacks seem to do more damage
and blockable magical attacks seem to miss more often. Since I do not have the
same data I have for the Super Famicom and GBA games, and cannot say with the
same amount of certainty what is going on. Information would be appreciated.
- Attacks and Action Abilities:
The Geomancer's !Gaia ability is now able to conjure all four terrain-bound
attacks regardless of the caster's level. The exact mechanics of this new
new feature is unknown. Some testing gave me the theory that rather then
choose a random number between 0 and the caster's level to determine what
attack to perform, it choose a random number between 0 and 99. The new
incarnation of !Gaia seems to heavily favor the attacks your previously
The Samurai's !Mineuchi now works correctly, setting Paralyze while dealing
50% !Attack damage.
The Beastmaster's !Calm functions correctly in that in works against Magic
Beasts.
The Monk's !Kick now ignores Row, both target Row and attacker's Row. This
makes it better. It is however not boosted by Kaiser Knuckles, so that balances
it out somewhat.
Vampire correctly deals ((max HP - current HP) / 2) damage like it did in
the Super Famicom game. It will now miss versus Heavy targets, an illogical
change that is likely a bug.
The Bee Swarm attack that may be used with the Ranger's !Animals ability now
sets Poison to the targets it hits.
Power Drink functions correctly.
Dragoon's !Jump only takes 10 ABP to learn rather than 50 like it does in
the GBA and Super Famicom games.
Several previously unblockable attacks are now no longer unblockable.
Examples include Breath Wing, Blaze, Lightning, Surge Beam, Death Potion and
Dark Sigh.
- Monsters:
The ArcheoAevis fight gives you all five dropped items at the end, not
only one like it did in the GBA game.
Exdeath and Dragon Pod now correclty have Regen set during your boss battles
with them.
Lamia no longer singles out male characters with her Entice attack in the
Flying Ruins.
Tyrannosaur now counters all spells with Poison Breath.
- Items:
Twin Lance now deals damage twice with !Jump, !Focus, !Mineuchi, Sword Dance
and possibly !Rapid Fire. This makes the weapon that much more awesome.
since it already deals doubly damage with !Jump, this thing will deal
tremendous damage with a Jumping Thief or Ninja.
The Dancing Dagger, when paired with Dual-Wield, does not replace the normal
strike of the weapon in the other hand, meaning that a character with both the
Dancing Dagger and another weapon equipped can use any of the four Dances,
followed or preceded by a normal Attack. In the case of Sword Dance, that
means that the weapon can strike twice; once with the 400% damage and once
normally. If a monster is killed with the Jitterbug Dance but subsequently
struck by the second weapon, this can result in a harmless graphic glitch.
The Thief Knife, when using !Capture, will strike with both weapons. Combined
with Dual-Wield, that can mean the off-hand weapon will strike twice; once
as part of !Capture, once with !Fight.
The Defender Knightsword can no longer be used as an item to cast Protect.
The Mirage Vest no longer re-applies Image (1) when you swap equipment mid-
battle.
The Lilith Rod now either makes the user use !Flirt or casts Osmose, rather
then apply a !Flirt-like effect upon a hit, then possibly casting Osmose in
addition to that effect.
The Magic Lamp will can now summon Fat Chocobo when it summons Chocobo's, and
whenever Catoblepas is summoned, it's petrifying gaze targets all monsters.
Egg Chop still displays no graphics...
Battle System:
The ATB Bar no longer resets when Confuse or Berserk is set, and Haste and
Slow no longer affect the starting position of the ATB bar. Instead, these
speed-altering statuses affect how fast the ATB bar will fill. The effect feels
as is Haste and Slow are equally as effective as they were.
MP damage and healing is colour-coded for your convenience; MP damage is
purple, MP healing is blue.
You can tap any character with a full ATB bar and have his or her turn come
up, allowing you to skip characters.
Status ailments and magical status have an effect on enemy sprites, allowing
you to clearly identify if a monster has been afflicted with a certain status
or not.
Resist (elemental) Potions, Dragon Shield and Elemental Power no longer reset
when you touch equipment in-battle.
Berserk status, including innate abilities taught and sported by the Berserker,
will have the character attack enemies from front to back rather than entirely
random.
There's some more undocumented changes though that I found out when playing the game.
1: Aegis Shield isn't as amazing as it used to be. It doesn't block as often, and a number of moves it seems to no longer block, like Shinryu's Tidal Wave.
2: Exdeath's White Hole attack needs to be blocked on both the Petrification side and the Instant Death side to block. No longer can you just block it using an Aegis Shield
3: Neo Exdeath's Grand Cross will always inflict a status ailment on you based around the ones you're not immune to. So if you're wearing a Ribbon, Bone Mail, and Hermes Sandals, expect to be hit by something that can't just be blocked. Like HP Leak.
4: Weapons that cast spells while attacking, like Death Sickle, can still have the spell activate if the attack itself misses. The spell can still hit
5: Spell animations, even when blocked/missing, will still play out.
6: [The Best Change] SANDWORM IS NOT IN THE BACK ROW ANYMORE!!! [At least in the Front Hole. Can't speak for the other 2]
7: This one might just be me, but I noticed that Dancing Dagger uses Sword Dance more often now.
8: A number of the counters to Omega's counter [1 damage target with 3 Reflect Rings for Thundaga, Reflecting Search back onto Omega and attacking him during it, etc] no longer work, and he will counter your party. HAVE FUN!!
