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I don't think Dragon's Crown is very good.

ZangBa

Member
I have to say, I find it amazing that fans of beat-em-ups claim Dragon's Crown is "too repetitive". I mean... I can't think of any brawler that's less repetitive than DC. I can understand not caring for the RPG elements but the repetitive argument only works if you aren't already a fan of brawlers to begin with.

For me, it's like this, after a certain point I was grinding out quests I was given and most of them had me go to the same area over and over again to complete them before I could do more. To me, that's a lot more reptetive than just playing stage by stage.

Streets of Rage Remake is great because it has a ton of branching paths and endings which I prefer a lot more than just grinding a certain stage for gear or doing quests.
 
To be honest, while playing DC I saw some of your concerns when it comes to combat, and I can agree, but I felt like those concerns were so small and felt petty to the grand amount of things DC does get 'right'. Just because its different from previous experiences or doesn't get incredibly harder with multiple players doesn't make it all a bad game. If anything, I can kind of appreciate how the experience doesn't change with 4p.

This is how I feel as well. Played the game for over 100 hours and loved it. Elf is just so much fun to play once you master her. God-tier art and OST as well. 2013 GotY imo.
 
I agree with the OP here in that I didn't think the game was very good. The movement systems feel sluggish and double tap to sprint just doesn't work that well, in my opinion. Not only that but you can't sprint and move across the Y axis. It's annoying. That and your constantly attempting to get characters 'in line' with yours so that your attacks actually hit, it has smaller hitboxes than other, similar brawlers and that can be annoying in my opinion. Additionally, many characters (Mages, Archers, etc.) feel really repetitive to play.

That and the quest structure is very repetitive. Repeating quests for bonuses isn't my idea of fun, I would much rather a larger game. Castle Crashers and Zombie Viking's have a lot more level content than this game.
 

lantus

Member
I never finished the game with any characters. I progressed pretty far into the game too. I think what stopped me was collecting the stones. I liked the combat, even though it got kind of repetitive.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
True.
Most brawler are repetitive, but most of them are pretty short.
DC looting and skill system make it better than most beat em up since i can make different build.
Yup, same. Making a new character was exciting because of how different the playstyles are between each class and it was fun to customize them and the looting was fairly addictive. They really nailed that. In most brawlers I feel the difference of gameplay between characters to be mild or superficial at best.
 
"Castle Crashers and Zombie Viking's have a lot more level content than this game."


Castle Crashers suffers from having a lot of shitty and boring padded out levels just for the sake of having "more content." I, personally, don't find that approach interesting. Played once, put down for eternity. The combat in that game is also *exceptionally* simplistic and repetitive, even by beat-em-up standards.

The biggest failing of Dragon's Crown is not having an arcade mode. Feels like they really missed a trick, there.
 
"Castle Crashers and Zombie Viking's have a lot more level content than this game."


Castle Crashers suffers from having a lot of shitty and boring padded out levels just for the sake of having "more content." I, personally, don't find that approach interesting. Played once, put down for eternity. The combat in that game is also *exceptionally* simplistic and repetitive, even by beat-em-up standards.

The biggest failing of Dragon's Crown is not having an arcade mode. Feels like they really missed a trick, there.

My point was though that those games are $10-15, Vanillaware launched this as a full retail game and it lasts a very short period of time. I don't think Castle Crashers problem was padding, I think it's problem is its simplicity, although that's also what a lot of people enjoy about it. It's really super accessible, but is a little (albeit, a little) depth to the mechanics in regards to how you can bounce and combo enemies etc.

I'm not saying it's a better game. I did enjoy it more personally, but I think I would have preferred a simpler, but more stage based structure to Dragon's Crown, with a few more stages.

Also I find the story itself really dull in Dragons Crown. I don't mind games that take themselves seriously, but I prefer that they're not a bore in the process.
 

Pachinko

Member
I consider Dragons Crown to be a spiritual successor to capcoms DnD games (tower of doom / shadow over mysteria ) but even I can admit that like Teknopathetic(man I'm old and have been here too long , I still remember when you went by Tre) I feel DC would benefit greatly from a straight up arcade mode. Sure you can do something similar about halfway through the game with the random journey feature where you just keep playing through stages back to back and get ever better loot but it's not quite the same ?

I guess it's the creeping loot aspects in this game that change it's atmosphere a bit , you don't simply have a straight progression. It's more like Diablo , level up and constantly re-equip better and better stuff. Not to mention that it's also split into 3 distinct sections - the first is almost aimed at single player and lets you play through 6 stages (I think it was 6 anyway), at this point the game structure evolves to encourage either random playthroughs or online multiplayer. You gain access to the B sections of all of the stages, each with their own separate boss and path but in order to proceed to the true ending of the game you need to find a bunch of rune stones which allow you to take on the dragon that gives the game it's name. The final section of the game turns into a straight up dungeon hack , you gain access to the rogue like style super long random dungeon and you can basically just keep on keeping on endlessly min/maxing your chosen class.

I had some fun with it but the OP has valid complaints that could make or break the experience for anyone , the same sorts of problems that befall any dungeon hack style game. You either like the endless hunt for loot or you don't and if you don't , half of this games appeal is kind of lost. Is the combat a bit shallow ? definitively but then so is something like borderlands or Diablo or hell, any standard beat 'em up for that matter.
 
I have to say, I find it amazing that fans of beat-em-ups claim Dragon's Crown is "too repetitive". I mean... I can't think of any brawler that's less repetitive than DC. I can understand not caring for the RPG elements but the repetitive argument only works if you aren't already a fan of brawlers to begin with.

It's a grindfest and honestly outstays its welcome by the end. Other brawlers like Final Fight, Streets of Rage etc are short, sweet and sublime. Heck, Muramasa has better pacing and people says that's "repetitive". Still, DC is a good game but not the best brawler ever like some of you make it out to be.
 
"My point was though that those games are $10-15, Vanillaware launched this as a full retail game and it lasts a very short period of time. "


50$ isn't full retail. And, personally, I don't judge how much a game should cost by just "it's a 1-2 hour game." I put 50 hours into Outrun 2 and that game lasts 5 minutes.
 

Quixzlizx

Member
If you're just standing there as the Elf and relying on hitstop not to get hit, you're doing it wrong.

If you're playing with a party of AIs, you're doing it wrong.
 
I'm playing on Vita at the moment, but yeah by two gripes are that the screen gets cluttered as fuck and I can't tell who's who and the combat feels so floaty. Feel like I'm fighting clouds with long health bar, there's no visceral feed back like you'd expect in a brawler.
 

msdstc

Incredibly Naive
I don't understand the love for this game. Maybe I was playing it wrong, but it just felt you kept mindlessly going into the levels beating up groups of people while your teammates also beat the shit out of everyone. The levels were really easy and repetetive. The whole game felt like one huge grind.
 

Stoze

Member
Yeah I got it on PS+ and stopped playing after an hour or two. I may try again later, but combat wasn't satisfying to me. To be fair though the sidescrolling brawler/beat-em-up is a genre that's really hit and miss for me. I loved Castle Crashers and Scott Pilgrim was fun, but I got bored of Streets of Rage and Double Dragon even faster than I did with Dragon's Crown. I'll have to give them a shot again later.

I do like the art though.
 

bobawesome

Member
I don't understand the love for this game. Maybe I was playing it wrong, but it just felt you kept mindlessly going into the levels beating up groups of people while your teammates also beat the shit out of everyone. The levels were really easy and repetetive. The whole game felt like one huge grind.

That's kinda the point of these sorts of games.
 

Serick

Married Member
@OP

Me and my husband fell into the same disappointments you did. I don't think we played more than our first session of a few hours..

It's a shame too because the game is beautiful to look at.
 
I played mostly despite the gameplay.... I never found it's combat or loot in the least bit compelling or addictive.

Main reason I played it a solid... 75 hours was actual the art and sort of... theme, I guess. I loved the level set-up, the cooking between levels, the different art of the characters.

Ogre Battle and Yoshida (FF Tactics) actually, oddly enough, was a big reason I played the game.... I kept feeling like I was in a sort of Ogre/Tactics world. The sorceress or witch or whoever even looks like Deneb.

So a big reason I played was because my witch was named Deneb, my wizard Raistlin, my dwarf Gotrek... felt like the classes were cool and I enjoyed hunting with them. But the gameplay, namely combat and itemization, really never gave me much reason to care. It was mostly just 'this character is cool' so I want to 'level up' and soon as that sort of simple motivation died, I burnt out on the game rather abruptly.
 
It's not quite like that, no. But I don't know if it'll be up to your standards still.

I'd say the level design is a small step up. Not significant, though.

My standards are not that high, it's just that OS feels like a 2 hour game that was padded to 20. And the inventory management that is there to to break up the action is absolutely terrible as well. The only reason I forced myself to finish it is because a friend lent it to me and I really liked its story. I don't enjoy their graphical style but that's for another post.

I do like brawlers a lot, so I'm always up for trying more of them. I thank you guys for your replies, and I guess I'll try other Vanillaware games and see how it goes. Hopefully I can wash off the terrible taste OS left.
 
played it for many hours 2p on couch. just need to finish with others characters and hunt for trophies next. this game is vastly superior to odin sphere vanilla game. i hope nobody wants to compare those games. they're very different.

graphics + music = true art. playing with friends and family = true fun.
 

CHC

Member
I absolutely loved the aesthetic of this game. All the controversy about breasts and muscle-butts totally missed the point - it's an extremely exaggerated version of Frank Frazetta style fantasy art, and it's a perfect match with the music, voice acting, setting, and overall design of the game.

That said I really did not enjoy the game itself for more than a couple of hours. It was extremely repetitive and, as others have said, it feels slow and stiff to play (as opposed to fast and fluid, like many others in the same genre). It's a classic case of a game I wanted to love but couldn't.

I'll probably give it another shot at some point in the future though, it's really quite beautiful especially on Vita - and if anything, its repitive gameplay is a good fit for a portable.

(Also LOL @ the double bans for the first posts.... sayonara fellas, won't be missed.)
 

Zafir

Member
I absolutely loved the aesthetic of this game. All the controversy about breasts and muscle-butts totally missed the point - it's an extremely exaggerated version of Frank Frazetta style fantasy art, and it's a perfect match with the music, voice acting, setting, and overall design of the game.

Well, just because there's a reason for it, doesn't mean everyone has to like it.

Frankly I don't like the art style at all. I think all of the characters(Not just the women) look utterly ridiculous and I just don't see any appeal in it. *shrug*

(Note I realise the tone of the game is probably going for ridiculous, but meh)
 

RedSonja

Banned
I really enjoyed this game, online or solo. The AI is decent and I could take my time and level up. I played alone for most it ( the game forces you to play the first part alone with each character) and it is was a lot of fun. The only downside I found to playing alone is that could level up much faster online because I could go further and play longer without dying. But I think a decent player can achieve most of that alone. I'd recommend it to others.
 
I mean I loved this game. This is easily the best modern beat em up. Played it mostly with my girlfriend and we both had fun. Art style is glorious and Vanillaware need to make a cooking game already.
Playing as Dwarf was a blast, with all those grappler combos and Amazon's just general combos, getting a parry and then going into a berserk mode felt great.

Easily one of my favourite games of last gen. And the only reason I haven't 100%'d it is because me and my girlfriend just don't have time anymore.
I'd feel bad if I finished it without her.
 

CHC

Member
Well, just because there's a reason for it, doesn't mean everyone has to like it.

Frankly I don't like the art style at all. I think all of the characters(Not just the women) look utterly ridiculous and I just don't see any appeal in it. *shrug*

(Note I realise the tone of the game is probably going for ridiculous, but meh)

It's perfectly fine to dislike it. What I'm referring to are the people who saw it as some perverted and sexed-up anime derived creepshow. That's definitely not the main inspiration or intention of the art. But yeah, the look of the game is hyper-cheesy and very polarizing, so I wouldn't fault anyone for being put off by it.
 

nded

Member
I thought it was alright. I would've liked a straightforward arcade mode so friends who don't want to sit through the full campaign can just jump in and start playing.
 
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