Publisher: Gravity Interactive
Developer: Barunson Interactive
System requirements: 800 MHz Pentium III or equivalent CPU, 256 MB RAM, GeForce 2 or better graphics card, 2 GB hard-drive space
Genre: MMORPG
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available Now
Review by Remy Ransom

The free-to-play MMO scene has two extremes for me; a game either hits hard or fails harder. With so many F2P games, it’s no surprise that I’ve never played a side-scrolling MMORPG. Another big surprise is that, in some circles, these chibi-riffic action games actually have a decent fan base, something that was previously unknown to me. I decided to get my hands dirty with Dragon Saga, another addition to publisher Gravity Interactive’s lineup. How long would a seasoned MMO veteran last in a world that was created to be cute?

The world was in turmoil during the events of the Dragon War. After its close, there was a period of peace between humans and dragons, until a dragon named Elga began to whisper words of revolt amongst his followers, leading to the inevitable death of the Dragon Lord. The world of humans became a target for Elga, who invaded a realm once sought out by the race of dragons. Five heroes rose to defeat Elga, imprisoning him in a labyrinth known as the Shadow Cabinet. One thousand years later, agents of darkness began to stir throughout the land, threatening the release of the dark dragon, and heroes were called upon to save the realm once more.

Dragon Saga features four main classes: fighter, mage, thief and archer. Character customization is simple enough and, in the end, they look as cute as they’re intended to be. Find yourself an unused name and click that “next” key to enter the tutorial. Joining you in your endeavors is a flying cat-looking creature that teaches you movement and how to attack. The easiest thing to remember when starting is to keep both your hands on the keyboard; you won’t really have to worry about targeting. After the tutorial, you enter your first town, a seaport, which leads you to adventure in the realm.

Dragon Saga is visually pleasant enough; even if you’re not a fan of the cute graphics, it manages to retain a certain charm. One thing I’ve always hated having to do in other games is “grouping” creatures together to slay them. Dragon Saga makes it easy; the creatures come to you. With multiple strokes of your attack key, you can cut through many creatures at once, bringing up a combo count. This feature comes into play when you’re in an instanced dungeon; it’s a part of your score card. After defeating the boss of these dungeons, you get a score based on multiple factors that designate what loot you receive. This is much better than rolling for loot, and to me it’s brilliant.

Graphically, Dragon Saga tends to be a tad on the lacking side. I went into this game knowing that it’s supposed to look this way; there’s no fixing the graphics with a higher-resolution mode. One big thing to mention is that, much like having both hands on a steering wheel when driving, playing Dragon Saga keeps them both on the keys. I managed to adapt to this, but auto-attack has spoiled me in the past, so my wrists hurt after awhile in non-stop combat with the default keymap. Different usually isn’t bad unless it comes with a side of pain; this fact ruined a lot of the fun for me. If I had a controller, I could see the combat being a tad more fun. When doing different instances and difficulty modes, you can find yourself thrown off by how it’s the same song and dance, making the game seem pretty linear.

Dragon Saga appeals to my inner child while the adult side of me found it hard to enjoy. I found myself conflicted with the good and bad aspects of the game. I wouldn’t say to dismiss this game completely; some players will honestly enjoy it while waiting for another game to be released. You’ll find more of these niche games online and they do keep their popularity in a few circles, but Dragon Saga just isn’t my pint of ale.

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