Final Fantasy has always been the most popular rpg series out there. But there was another series from Square that was pretty popular in Japan and somewhat popular here. I am, of course, talking about Dragon Quest. Originally, Square released Dragon Quest in the U.S. under the title Dragon Warrior. The first game appeared on the NES. I have to admit I wasn’t a fan of Dragon Warrior or any of the early Dragon Quest games. It wasn’t till later on when I played Dragon Quest 8 that I became a fan of the series. Dragon Quest 9, for DS, is my favorite of the series so far.
Why do I bring this up? I bring it up because of Dragon Fantasy: the Volumes of Westeria. This new game takes direct inspiration from Dragon Quest and some inspiration from Final Fantasy also. But the question is, how much inspiration and does the title stand on its own?
(note: this review is a review of the Wii U version of Dragon Fantasy. I did not get to play the 3DS one)
Dragon Fantasy: The Volumes of Westeria has four unique chapters that players can play at any time. You don’t have to play the story in order if you don’t want to. Of course, if you don’t play it in order, the story won’t make sense. Actually, the story won’t make complete sense even if you do play it in order. The first chapter seems very complete and satisfying but as you continue to play the game, the chapters become shorter and less satisfying. In the end, Dragon Fantasy’s story doesn’t feel complete at all. It feels like there is a chapter or two missing from the game. I was very unhappy with the final chapter’s “ending”. And despite each chapter saving after the credits, there doesn’t seem to be any New Game+ to any of the chapters. That said, I do like Dragon Fantasy’s characters, its humor, and I enjoyed the first chapter’s story a lot. I just wish that the other chapters were complete stories.
The best part of Dragon Fantasy is the gameplay. While you couldn’t call the gameplay completely original, it does have an addictive quality that I’ve been missing. The battle system harkens back to Dragon Quest and its all first person. You do not see your team fighting. The enemies are all very unique and interesting. I especially love how in the first chapter you can capture monsters and have them join your team. The final chapter has a capture option too but I never took advantage of it. Chapters two and three actually give you human partners that actually level up. I wish the monster partners in chapter one leveled up too, that would have been really cool. Dragon Fantasy’s gameplay is fun if you love classic role playing games. There are a lot of random battles but I love those (for the most part). Although, it was great how you actually saw the enemies roaming around in the dungeons and sometimes could avoid them. If you want a pure classic rpg experience, you can make the enemies invisible! It is a shame that not everything about Dragon Fantasy is perfect though.
Dragon Fantasy does have a few glitches. The main ones that I ran into were enemies or towns people getting stuck and in the final chapter, the shop sometimes got stuck but if you press the touch screen, you could get out of it. I also think that the quest log had some kind of glitch because sometimes it would say I had done something that I hadn’t really done yet. I did hear there would be an update for this game, so hopefully the game will get even better. I don’t think any of these glitches ruin Dragon Fantasy but you can‘t help wishing that the game was perfect from the start. Thankfully, the game‘s controls work good for the most part.
Dragon Fantasy can be controlled via analog/d-pad/buttons or the touch screen. I liked using the analog and buttons but the d-pad + buttons may be bit more precise. The analog controls did have a tendency to slow the character down at times. The touch screen isn’t great for walking around, but the battle system and menu navigation is pretty great with the touch screen. Despite the game‘s problems, I like Dragon Fantasy a lot.
Dragon Fantasy might not be the most original rpg, but for someone who has been wanting a new turn-based rpg to play, I had a lot of fun. If you love this genre, you’ll probably love this game too.
There are two types of graphics in Dragon Fantasy: an 8-bit retro style and a more modern 16-bitish style. Both graphics look extremely nice, although I definitely preferred playing the game in the more modern style. Its great how you can easily switch between the two graphics at any time.
The game’s music is really good. It actually has two types of music: 8-bit chip tunes and a more modern style music. I liked the chip tunes better because they didn’t loop as much as the modern style. That said, both are well done and you can switch between them at any time just like the graphics!
Dragon Fantasy is a fun turn-based rpg. While I was disappointed with the stories lack of completion, I had a lot of fun with the gameplay, the humor, and really loved the sound and graphics. This is not a perfect rpg but it is a very good one. Plus when you buy it, you get two copies of the game: one for the Wii U and one for the 3DS. I only got to play the Wii U version because cross-buy was unavailable for my review copy. I have to admit I am a bit tempted to buy the 3DS one but that’ll have to wait awhile. In the meantime, I may go back and play more Dragon Fantasy soon. I looked at the game’s Miiverse and noticed people posting about some things I missed in the game. Plus, I think that Miiverse’s new Play Journal function will suit this game well. Dragon Fantasy could be better, but I still think its one of the best rpgs on the Wii U right now.
My Score: 8/10
The publisher, Totally Choice, provided a copy of the game for this review!
All of the above pictures come from the Totally Choice website.
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