Be The Hero You Want To See In The World
HIGH Deeply customizable builds.
LOW A grueling number of enemies.
WTF All that text on a single piece of equipment
Despite its title, Dragon is Dead is a lively experience.
Clearing a floor in this 2D hack-and-slash roguelite will see a player mash buttons to dodge, stab, and cast elemental spells in a delirious cavalcade of pixels that can be equal parts spectacular and overwhelming.
Roguelites are a crowded genre but, if for no other reason, the presentation of Dragon is Dead demands attention. Developer TeamSuneat brings their depiction of a world corrupted by dark magic to life with sublime pixel art and animation in every skill, foe and location.
The aforementioned combat has a strong frenetic flow, requiring a good amount of focus, timing and skill. Players have a basic slash, double jump, and dodge along with slots for spells and techniques as they climb the skill tree. Those techniques also require mana, which slowly recharges on its own, but is boosted whenever the player lands a hit with a basic attack. As an onslaught of enemies fill the screen, an engagement becomes a careful dance of timing and technique to count cooldowns and refill mana.
The skill tree resets with each run and the starting town offers little in lasting upgrades besides potion effectiveness. Contrary to many other roguelites out there, progression in Dragon is Dead is primarily built on collecting equipment that doesn’t disappear at death.
This facet of play is obviously inspired by Diablo, as if the red health and blue mana pools that adorn the screen weren’t enough to give it away. Whether dropped by enemies or in the chests that appear at the end of a stage, players will gather a ton of loot with randomized buffs to sort through. Certain NPCs back in town will also help tweak gear, although always with a degree of randomness.
As such, choosing equipment is determinative of the player’s build. For instance, I’m currently rocking the Glacier Crusher axe as my main weapon. It’s level 16 gear that does 21 Damage and proffers +0.95 Weapon Speed, +18 Dexterity, +1% Mastery Skill Damage, +27% Projectile Damage. It also buffs the Glacial Split technique by casting an additional shockwave that deals 170% damage. I’ve paired it with a talisman that buffs the Cold Amplification skill. So yes, I’ve tailored my gear towards climbing up the ice elemental tree.
It’s a system that offers the player extreme customizability, if at an incremental rate — and here’s where I have to say that, as a reviewer, I personally prefer progression to be a simpler and more streamlined affair. However, for the type of player that digs this kind of cumulative min-maxing, Dragon is Dead will likely hit all the right buttons.
As a death-die-repeat roguelite, it’s not particularly punishing. Yes, a player will die, but deaths always feel fair and progression is easily demonstrated as early-stage enemies and bosses get easier to breeze through. There is a weakness in this, though.
To clear a stage, a player is required to kill a certain number of enemies of increasing difficulty and number. There’s no ability to simply skip past or fast travel further down the line (or none that I have yet to find, anyway) making some of those early stages a chore when I can one-hit KO most early enemies. After a certain point, this easy steamrolling of early enemies left me feeling more exhausted than elated.
I think there’s also a missed opportunity in the platforming. Despite being blessed with a double jump from the start, the stages and boss battles don’t require much cleverness in traversal, perhaps a result of the procedural generation. And maybe it just isn’t that kind of experience, sure, but even aerial combat is weak – with only a few ranged spells, controlling the character in mid-air can feel clunky and frustrating.
These are relatively minor gripes, though. Dragon is Dead is a solid hack-and-slash roguelite elevated by the attractive pixel-art presentation and a plethora of options for customization. Players willing to invest in its dearth of systems will be rewarded with a hero all their own.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed by TeamSuneat and published by PM Studios, inc. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 8 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the main storyline was not completed. There are no multiplayer modes.
Parents: This game has not been rated by the ESRB. However, it does contains violence, blood, and some gruesome imagery. It is not recommended for children.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. There are no audio cues or effects necessary to play. The game is fully accessible.
Remappable Controls:
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