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Epic, to be certain

  • myersguy
  • 04/08/2008 11:09 PM
  • 1622 views
Old school gaming has been brought back to life with the release of Dragon Fantasy on RMN. The game uses wonderful 8-bit graphics to rebirth the realm of back-in-the-day rpgs. The game starts off almost immediately, with not much but a few lines of backstory. Unlike many other games, this does not take away from it's fun or playability at all. The beginning dungeon isn't much, but it is very well balanced. Even at the beginning of the game players may feel challenged by the small hordes of enemies who need to be fought. The storyline begins quite smoothly when the first crystal is found. After a potion leeching boss fight, the crystal speaks to you, and quickly explains how the game shall play out. I found this particulairly well done, as it did not require a huge scene that took fifteen minutes of precious attention from the gamer playing the game. This is not to say long intros are bad, but a short one was especially successful here.

Enough of the backstory of the game, reviewing time needs to begin. Graphics wise, Dragon Fantasy made great use of 8-bit graphics. The game looked old school, just as it was meant to. The Tilesets and character sets fit very well together, as if though they were made by the same people. The battle system also looked like it was meant to be played on an old NES or something to such effect. Overall, the graphics were great.

Systematically, the game fit it's looks. The shops were not maps themselves, but instead, a quick scene showing the shopkeeper, following the shop dialogue. This was very fitting to the game, especially as the cheery shop music was applied. The numbers used in the game were refreshing as well. No more dealing with all these numbers of over one hundred, but instead it was all in the single or double digits. The weapon descriptions were nice too, becase they let you know if you were getting enough bang for your buck, instead of you having to just hope that the item was worth it. Dialogue was brief, which would have been slightly depressing had this game not been the game it was. The same effect lies with character development.

Balance, a term often heard in RPG making, was quite good in this game. There were parts I found were overpowering the player, and did make me turn away for a while, but this is still better than a game where no effort is required. Other than a few rough edges, the balance was beautiful. Players actually have to think about what to do in order not to lose.

Overall, the game was quite a play. I enjoyed most moments I spent playing it, minus a few times here and there. I hope to see more games released by Ephiam in the near future. Let's keep the old school in the here and now. 4.5/5

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Two reviews? Man...that's great. it's beyond great, actually...because I didn't expect to revieve a review AT ALL. And then...they both rate the game 4.5/5? Holy shit. I would have PM'd you with thanks, but my stupid browser screws up.
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