MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: Win, Mac, Linux, PS3, PS4, PS Vita
Release: 11/3/15
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that one of the first things that inspired me to fire up Dragon Fin Soup was the graphics. No pixel art here, there are actual honest-to-goodness graphics. But a good looking game is no guarantee of an enjoyable game, while there are some really amazing 8bit and 16bit indie games around these days.
Personally, I’m really enjoying it, but it’s definitely a game that folks either love or hate, without much space in the middle. It’s a top down turn-based game, a first title from a small developer, and it is absolutely guilty of trying to do too much. It claims to be both an RPG and a rogue-like, and while strictly speaking this is true, it really doesn’t succeed at being both simultaneously. The story mode is kind of slow-paced, and although there is a hardcore mode available, the idea of slogging through that content over and over doesn’t appeal. Survival mode gets you closer to that rogue-like / rouge-lite experience, and I was surprised to find that the game seemed a whole lot more fun (although not a whole lot more intuitive) in that mode.
I felt like Survival mode gave you a fair start, while I practically started with a negative cash flow in the story mode. When I say that, I mean it was almost from the beginning, the cash flow was indeed negative because I incurred property damage penalties on my very first quest! My first survival mode game ended fairly quickly (one day is 2000 turns – I didn’t make it to 100), before I realized how much I would grow to love the gun. Seriously. Shoot things early and often.
For folks looking for a good RPG, I’d give this one a pass – the rogue-lite elements are too deeply ingrained to make a satisfying story-based adventure. However, if you’re interested in the rogue-lite aspects, well, you’re likely to get as much out of it as you put into it. Some things, like the crafting system, will send you looking for an online guide, but the game can also be played extremely casually and be a lot of fun (even if individual runs might not last as long). I’m not sure that I’d recommend this at full price, even with a large update on the horizon, but I expect that the deeper I dig into it, the more I’m going to enjoy myself.
366 Days of Gaming 