'Dragon Fantasy: The Black Tome Of Ice' Review – Ogden's Back, Bigger Than Ever

The first Dragon Fantasy ($vii.99) game had a few things going for it when it released on iOS back in the summer of 2011. It was similar enough to archetype JRPGs to feel like condolement food while simultaneously presenting a solidly-constructed, original run a risk. Information technology had a great humour, and since the game was originally written in English, there was none of the awkwardness that could be found in many similar games. It received pretty substantial support after its release, getting a few new capacity at no boosted toll. The game itself had a pretty heartwarming story behind its development, with the hero patterned subsequently the designer's late father. It'due south also worth pointing out that at that time on the App Store, there were no Dragon Quest games and about 40 fewer Kemco JRPG releases. Thus, even though Dragon Fantasy was a pretty humble game in many ways, it still found an audition amongst mobile RPG fans.

That audience has waited very patiently for the release of the sequel, or at least, I hope they have. For diverse reasons, the sequel released first on Sony'due south PlayStation Network near two years ago, with PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita versions on offer. Hero Ogden was now in the big leagues, rubbing elbows with Deject, Adol, and all the residual. Unfortunately, the big leagues didn't seem to hold with Ogden and his plucky gang, with nigh reviews of the PSN version of the sequel coming down on the game pretty hard. I only mention this because those bad reviews are why mobile players have had to wait so long for our version of Dragon Fantasy: The Black Tome Of Ice ($nine.99). The developers took the feedback pretty seriously, and spent the concluding couple of years of their free time trying to fix the game upwards for its return to the platform where the series was born.

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I think the work has paid off, in general. My principle criticisms of the Vita version I played a couple of years ago hung around two aspects. First, the game was incredibly buggy. It would crash seemingly randomly, information technology was possible to become into game-breaking situations surprisingly frequently, and then on. This was my main problem with the game, and it'south largely been addressed in the iOS version. There are still some bugs, to be sure. I've had a couple of hard crashes, for instance, prompted by zero more than exiting the condition screen. The crafting system definitely has some weird things going on with information technology. But it's vastly improved compared to the PSN version, to the betoken that yous can actually enjoy the game without being nervous that something is going to go wrong.

My other effect with the game was one that really carried over from the first Dragon Fantasy. Namely, the encounters were almost completely toothless. It was a petty problem in the first game, but its relatively short running time made it a lot easier to swallow. The second game runs almost iii times as long, then having numerous battles that require virtually no strategy made for a pretty dull experience. What made this failing tragic was that all the pieces were there for the game to be interesting. It has lots of skills including some that take reward of positioning, recruitable enemies, an equipment crafting system, and so on. The potential for interesting, strategic battles just sat at that place on a shelf, unable to exist realized because jamming the circle button would suffice. That, also, has been addressed in the iOS version. The default difficulty is college, and if it'due south non where you desire information technology to be, yous tin adjust it using a slider in the options.

Those are pretty big changes for the game, and perhaps why we've got a brand new championship for the sequel. Previously known every bit Dragon Fantasy Book 2, the iOS version is dubbed Dragon Fantasy: The Black Tome Of Ice instead. Think of information technology every bit a director's cut, the sequel it was meant to exist until budget and deadline realities reared their ugly heads. Nosotros take hold of up with Ogden, Prince Anders, Woodsy the Woodsman, and the stowaway ninja child Ramona as they've left Sandheim City. Ogden has a flashback which serves the dual purpose of teaching you the new gameplay mechanics and helping anyone who missed the first game get upward to speed with the story. In spite of a major change to the look of the game, the nuts and bolts oasis't inverse a great deal, particularly if you kept up with all of the capacity of the first game. This is still a past-the-numbers homage to JRPGs wrapped up in an endearingly humorous package, it's just that it'due south at present paying homage to Chrono Trigger ($9.99) instead of Dragon Quest.

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It's a challenge surprisingly few games attempt, if you recollect about information technology. I guess it'southward non hard to see why, especially given Chrono Trigger's lofty place in the RPG catechism. Putting together a 16-bit style RPG is likewise a lot more intensive from an fine art and design standpoint than an eight-chip RPG. While I'm non going to go every bit far equally saying Dragon Fantasy manages what Square'southward second artists pulled off at their height, it at least lands well enough in the ballpark to sell what it's going for. The characters are big and detailed, with a handful of charming animations and expressions that help bring them to life. The backgrounds are vibrant and packed with little flourishes that make them feel like more than than a collection of tiles snapped into identify. The soundtrack holds up its end of the deal, as well, with a variety of tunes that seem just as ripped out of the 16-flake era equally the graphics practice.

The biggest mechanical change is that enemies are visible on the maps now. Yes, there are no more random encounters with invisible foes jumping yous every few steps. You tin actually avoid encounters here a little easier than y'all tin can in Chrono Trigger. Enemies will come afterwards you if they spot you, but it'due south not hard to keep out of the way of many of them. If you do choose to battle, you'll notice a pretty standard plow-based battle system here. You choose actions for all of your characters, and then watch the turn play out. You'll have to listen positioning in battles now, since it's non a simple first-person view. Some attacks will hitting in a line or a radius of some sort, and it can exist harder to heal your whole party at once if someone's on the far side of the screen. Unfortunately, equally in Chrono Trigger, you take very little control over where your characters will stand. They kind of move into a particular position at the start of boxing and for the most function, there they stay. The enemies will frequently shuffle around quite a bit, though, so you'll desire to choice your targets advisedly to try to anticipate who will be the best ane to focus on.

The monster-capturing element from the Episode Chiliad bonus chapter in the first game makes a return in The Black Tome Of Ice. Using either a special item or a particular move, you can try to recruit enemy characters to your team. This is essential for times when your main squad splits up, but it's never a happy occasion. The monsters are kind of slow to apply compared to your regular party members, and they're simply not different enough from each other in terms of movement sets. That said, they tin take and deliver hits, then it'due south meliorate than simply having Ogden get solo the way he did in his chapter of the first game. Information technology doesn't hurt that the sprites for the enemies await pretty cool, either. They'll all chill out back at the pub when they're non in your party, so you can go a pretty funny scene going one time you've captured some of the game'south more bizarre enemies.

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The new default difficulty is reasonably tough, so you'll actually have to brand use of a lot of those fancy moves you learn. Of course, this ways that your plunges into dungeons final approximately as long as your MP holds out, but the MP restoring item is a lot easier to come up by in this game than it was in the first, then I suppose i paw washes the other here. Bosses tin be especially unsafe if you're in a weak state. Fortunately, the dungeons are well-designed, so there's almost always a place to restore your health and save before you take to fight annihilation truly nasty. The dungeons are too really big, with hugger-mugger passages and routes that let you lot past-pass certain sections entirely. Enemies don't respawn unless you lot leave the dungeon, so if you're persistent, it'due south not too much problem to clear out all the baddies so you can freely explore.

It's all very meat-and-potatoes, but there's a certain joy in it, especially since and then few retro-style RPGs opt to tackle this era. The main attraction hither, equally it was in the starting time, is the game'south unusual tone. It's a chip funny, a bit sweet, and sometimes trying a scrap too hard, but there's a certain charm to Dragon Fantasy'due south writing that I rarely see anywhere else. There are times where I want to grab it past the shoulders, requite information technology a firm milk shake, and tell information technology that information technology doesn't accept to endeavor to brand me laugh all the time, only even if I could pull off such an abstract thing, the game would merely reply with a terrible pun, so I suppose it'due south all-time to only bow to absurdity here and enjoy it. And information technology is indeed enjoyable, enough to provide plenty of fuel for an otherwise very straightforward take a chance.

The developers have also taken care to tailor the game to the mobile platform in most regards. Dragon Fantasy: The Black Tome Of Water ice supports iCloud saving and Game Center achievements, offers multiple control options, and has a well-designed user interface for touch controls. You can play the game in landscape or portrait orientation, with the latter making the game wait very much like information technology's running on a Nintendo DS. My chief gripe with this port is that, as in the other versions, you can't save anytime you'd like. I know it's a blueprint pick, and yous can ever save and quit if you lot really need to go, but with few exceptions, portable RPGs really ought to have that feature. Information technology's particularly bad here since the auto-salve only does its matter every few screen changes or so. If y'all meet a crash, get distracted, or get a call, it's very possible you'll find yourself having to redo several minutes of the game. Information technology's not a bargain-breaker, but it's pretty odd to have to worry nigh that in a modern iOS release, retro or no.

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With all of the improvements made for the iOS version of Dragon Fantasy: The Black Tome Of Ice, information technology's a much easier game to recommend. Simply keep in mind that in that location are still a few glitches here and there at the moment, and that the game itself is pretty content to colour inside the lines of the genre and period it's aping. This isn't the game to play if you're looking for the next exciting thing in RPG design, but if you're looking for a solid, funny fifteen or so hours of classic-style adventuring, Dragon Fantasy volition be all as well happy to serve your needs.