Final Fight, Knights of the Round, The Punisher, The Simpsons, Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men, Golden Axe, Double Dragon, and of course,
Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara . . . any of these titles
bring back memories-preferably fond ones? The beat'em up, as it's so
aptly referred to, is a genre that had its heyday in the '90s, when
arcades were still a thing, TGIF was the best damn night in television,
and Star Wars: Episode I had yet to ruin everything. It was a genre,
along with fighters, that dominated my childhood, and while the past few
years have been kind to fighting fans, fans of beat'em ups have had to
sift through digital offerings for some of that mind-numbing,
side-scrolling action.
Vanillaware, a purveyor of 2D games, such
as GrimGrimoire, Odin Sphere, and Muramasa: The Demon Blade, has taken
it upon themselves to fill the retail release void with Dragon's Crown
(hereafter DC), a stately entry in the beat'em up genre, that also
features a heaping of role-playing game elements, making the
aforementioned Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow over Mystara its biggest
influence.
DC opens at Dragon's Haven Inn, a tavern you'll
frequent during your adventures. It's here where you'll choose a
character, set your party, and report your progress. The characters
available are all visually, and mechanically, distinct: an ironclad
Fighter, who's a sword and shield favoring behemoth; the Sorceress, a
witch who prefers to support the party, not so much her back; a Wizard,
very much interested in melting faces; the Dwarf, a duel-wielding,
goblin-chucking ball beard; the Elf, who's fey, swift, and a rumored
Hunger Games fan; and finally, the Amazon, a warrior that consists
exclusively of brawn, butt, and boobs. She's also adept at sundering
skulls with her ax.
A few color schemes are available for each
character, and you can change their name as you see fit. Japanese voices
are also available if that's your thing, but only for your character.
The remaining voicework is strictly in English.
After you've
settled on your character, a tutorial awaits (which can be skipped for
the subsequent playthroughs), and it does an adequate job of walking you
through the basics. You'll also meet Rannie, a rogue; he'll accompany
you throughout the game, and you can direct him to unlock chests or
doors, while you focus on combat.
Leaving the tavern, you'll have
a town to explore, though its faculties, such as the Temple, Magic Item
shop, and Stable, aren't all available at the start. Locations open as
you progress the story, and additional tasks are doled out at the
Adventure's Guild, where you can learn skills (class specific and
common) and accept quests.
The main story focuses on the
eponymous Dragon's Crown, which allows its wearer to control dragons (of
course). It all comes across a bit boilerplate, and it never strives
for anything more. A narrator with an earnest delivery breathes some
life into the tried and true material, though the narration is limited
to the main quest only, so if you find yourself focusing on side-quests,
you'll hear a particular phrase uttered repeatedly during your comings
and goings in town, until you move onto the next story segment.
Fortunately,
your comings and goings are consistently in gorgeous environments,
populated with detailed secondary characters, and great interpretations
of classical monsters, all with a multitude of influences sweeping
throughout. DC references everything from The Nude Maja to Tinker Bell;
Renaissance portraiture to Frank Frazetta's paintings; Jason and the
Argonauts to Monty Python and the Holy Grail; and more. George Kamitani,
Director, takes what should be an incongruous mixture of styles and
creates something cohesive. It's pretty impressive stuff.
They're
nine stages to conquer, and each has a branching path that becomes
accessible after reaching a certain point in the story. Along with the
two paths, you'll uncover secret passages and various quest specific
situations as well. The locations vary from moss enveloped sanctuaries
to desolated catacombs.
It's great the stages are engaging and
fun to play through, because you'll revisit them, a lot, either for
quests, or because the main story requires it. And, you won't have to do
it alone. DC allows for four player simultaneous play, both local and
online, although online play is initially locked. You'll have to unlock
the stables to access the network, which is going to take around five
hours.
Unfortunately, if you're playing on Vita, ad hoc mode
isn't considered "local" play, and you'll have to unlock the stables to
access any sort of multiplayer. Not a big deal if you don't have any
friends; a big deal if you do.
Though, perhaps you have friends,
but they're lame and don't like beat'em ups. Thankfully, you still don't
have to go it alone. You can set the three player slots to AI
controlled companions, and they're competent, for the most part. It may
become a bit maddening to see them stroll into traps, or not effectively
use items in their possession, but I've seen my friends do this too, so
I'll cut my artificial ones some slack.
To keep the AI
companionship fresh, you'll find piles of bones in the dungeons, which
you can bury at the temple, or pay a fee, and resurrect instead. The
resurrected characters will then wait for you at the tavern, all with
varying gear. Even better, players you encounter online may be
resurrected as well, meaning you can play offline with your friend's
toon. It's also cool to know that someone may have resurrected you, and
are questing with your character while you're at work thinking of
playing Dragon's Crown.
It'll take around 15 hours to complete
the game on normal, and after doing so, you'll unlock hard mode, which
increases the level cap to 65; after you complete hard mode, you'll
unlock the final difficulty level, and raise the cap to 99.
What's
the point of grinding a character to level 99, when you can start the
adventure anew with different class? Loot. What else? When it is all
said and done, DC's draw is loot. Chests are scattered about the levels,
and contain treasure which vary from E, the worst, to S, the best.
Completing stages and defeating bosses not only yields experience
points, but more loot as well.
Multiple bags can be purchased,
meaning you can create different loadouts, which you'll need, since
having gear with the proper attributes is important as difficulty
increases; plus, gear breaks down with usage, and if you don't have
back-up bags available, your S-Rank ax may be in no condition for
another round, meaning you'll have to return to town, annoy your
friends, and miss out on an amusing cooking game.
If you're on
the fence which version to buy, I wish I could say there's a clear
winner, but there isn't. Graphically, they're virtually identical, with
the Vita version susceptible to noticeable slowdown when the action
heats up with four players. The OLED screen makes a pretty game even
prettier, but it's also small, so losing track of your character is
going to happen.
But, the Vita version benefits greatly from the
touchscreen. There's additional treasure hidden in the game, identified
by glints; if you're playing the Vita version, you just tap the glint,
and the treasure pops out. Runes eventually become available, and their
magical properties can only be tapped by, that's right, tapping them.
Also, if a player dies, and they're out of life points, you can spend
gold to reanimate them, but you have to tap their portrait to do so.
How
does the PlayStation 3 version compensate without touch controls? A
cursor, which you manipulate with the right thumbstick. It is cumbersome
to use, even when there isn't any action unfolding. But, having to
fiddle with the right thumbstick, mid-battle, to bring your partner back
to life? Urgh. Casting rune magic by moving it over three separate
runes, spaced apart, while skeletons are hammering you? Double urgh.
In that sense, the game feels designed for Vita, or at least a controller with a touchpad (come on DualShock 4).
Of
course, you can't play local co-op on a Vita, and if you have a
roommate that's into these games, I'd deal with the cursor, and play it
on PlayStation 3. Also, slowdown isn't an issue on PlayStation 3, and if
you're sensitive to frame drops, the Vita version may be too much to
bear.
If money isn't a concern, you'll be happy to know the games
support cross-saving, though you'll be unhappy to know the games don't
support cross-play.
Dragon's Crown is a rarity: a 2D
side-scrolling beat'em up, with an unabashed artstyle, that's long. It
isn't concerned that it'll take dozens of hours to complete with a
single character if you wish to tackle all the difficulties; it doesn't
care that you may be offended by the art; and it certainly isn't going
to apologize if you don't see the appeal of grinding levels until it's
simply time to go to bed. And it's all the better for it
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