Dragon Sinker – Review

Review by Wewillrocku

Reviewed: 04/10/19

A JRPG that doesn't disappoint.

This is a retro styled JRPG made by Kemco with up to four party members. I would dare to call this Kemco's best recent game (I believe they've been around for a long time), especially if you prefer to get into the action immediately and if you prefer manageable amounts of dialogue. You have to use your weapons, skills, and magic, as human characters, to take down the enemy monsters.

In this game even the cleric character can pull off good physical attacks, and because of that you know he's not totally worthless. There are random encounters, as you'd expect in this kind of game.

You have a minimap of the whole floor of a dungeon even if you haven't explored it all yet, unless you turn it off under settings. When you enter a new area the name of the location appears on screen. The graphics are retro with a distinctly 16 bit (SNES) vibe. It's possible to disable battle animations to make battles occur faster. There is an auto battle system if you want to use it.

You can move characters from the rear to the front of the lineup to adjust who takes the most damage, just as you can in the Final Fantasy series. The game's fantasy setting, which is evocative but not as epic as possible (because this game thankfully doesn't try to overreach itself) makes you feel the developers had specific goals in mind when they planned the game out. This game draws you in with its attention to detail and its sensible gaming mentality: "don't fix it if it isn't broken."

You can view the quest you're currently on by using the menu. You can save in most places from the menu. Some items can be sold from shops and some items, as with most Kemco games, can be purchased from the menu. Under options before you begin a game, you can change the encounter rate from normal to half or doubled if you like. This is a very nice feature which I greatly enjoy having.

This is in many respects a typical JRPG in a good way, even a really good way, with some changes under the hood.

If you like this Vita game you might also like The Longest Five Minutes, a game about a hero who gets amnesia and has to recover his memories. It's a straightforward JRPG that takes some inspiration from retro games. Then there is the superb game Dragon Fantasy Book I which is as thoroughly a retro JRPG as they make them.

Rating:   4.5 - Outstanding

Product Release: Dragon Sinker (US, 02/06/18)