izigame.me

I sincerely wish it was possible to leave "Maybe" recommendation. Dragon is Dead is a very cool game, that simply should not have been put into Early Access for $17.99. I believe the game has great potential, but in its current state its not worthwhile.
At this price tag it would be very hard for me to recommend it to a friend. The first problem with Dragon is Dead is that many aspects of the game are simply dysfunctional, dont respond properly, or fundamentally just dont work. The menu's in this game need serious redesigns that emphasize ease of access to information.
Many aspects of the game are not clarified and lead the player to making unecessary innocent mistakes, such as the food shop in between stages. It is not clarified that you cannot stack food, and so it will allow you to keep buying new food while erasing the benefits of the previously bought item.
The final NPC the Dragon Blacksmith his Crafting obtained after completing the game is totally broken and does not work at all, or it is put together so haphazardly that you can tell none of the staff bothered to even beat the game once. It doesnt explain what the blacksmith does, nor does it explain the purpose of putting an item in either of the two slots. Browsing the items in the storage box is abysmal, as you cant see all the information for the equipment, so you cant tell whats what. It doesnt work at all.
It feels as though theres no reason to replay this game after completing it once, and thats so sad for a rogue. Every run feels exactly the same because the skill tree is really very linear once you realize whats good and whats not. Additionally, synergies are a great addition to the game, but they dont fundamentally change the gameplay, they massively increase your characters stats which basically just comes down to I do damage faster or I take less damage or I earn money faster. The synergies would be far more compelling if they effected your actual abilities in some visible way. The best comparison I can think of for this is the roguelite Revita. In this game you can create literal hundreds of gun types and it feels fresh for far longer. In this game its just the numbers that leave your sword.
Dont get me started on the story, the text feels like it was written by a 15 year old who wanted to write some Dark Souls fanfiction. Maybe the story is actually cool? I wouldnt know because the script feels more like every NPC just info dumping excessive amounts of worthless lore. It isnt well written so it doesnt intrigue you, its not emotional at all so it doesnt grab you, and theres too much of it so you dont value it at all.
The Biomes have no RNG associated with monsters or zone structure, and so the runs look the same.
You're only allowed to take 9 artifacts, but by the time your halfway through the early access portion of the game you're full. If you were smart while doing it, you did so according to Synergies. This means by the second half of Early Access you're using your vast sums of money to either by up skills you likely wont use, or youre playing the RNG game hoping you can find an artifact with the same synergies that you like more. It also means the stage rewards largely become useless unless you get a soul gem. I suppose the proper choice would be to priortize taking soul gems every chance you get and only buy artifacts with the gold you earn killing enemies.
The health and Mana bar is in a frustrating location. I realize why the typical cooldowns bar works in other games. But in a platformer it would help to see whats below you instead of constantly having it blocked from your view.
The music is boring, not memorable or interesting in the slightest.
In general, I liked Dragon is Dead but it needs serious work if it wants to be anything more than a game people play for 16 hours and then never touch again. I sincerely hope the developers keep it in early access now for an extended period of time, or take it down and relaunch it complete with some of the funding theyve acquired. This game has serious potential and it scratches an itch no other rogues hit for me, it simply boils down to two problems.
The in game functions require more explanation, or an easier UI to understand them.
The gameplay needs serious improvements to variety; weapon animations, skills in the tree, different elements in different zones, perhaps a reworked synergies system that focuses on changing gameplay a bit more.