IAHGames’ latest masterpiece, Dragonica, has eluded most of us non-CB players for quite some time now. We’ve read numerous newsflashes and reports about Dragonica’s obstinate bugs and critical flaws. Some of us expectant players may have been disappointed, impatient or frustrated at the pace the beta is taking. But IAHGames recently made a move to alleviate everyone’s frustrations and prove suspicions wrong, by opening the servers for four days to players outside closed beta.

This review will be as condensed as possible; to give justice to the game’s brief experience they gave to the players. Please take note that Dragonica is still in the beta phase, and as such, many changes can and will take place. This review is a record of experiences during the 4-day stint I had with the game. I will give a full review once this game goes commercial.

First Dragon Flight

The preview client has no updater to run, and instead takes you directly to the login screen. It was nice to see Dragonica having around 5-6 server slots reserved, with a maximum of 12 channels per server. During that period, only one server was opened with 4 active channels. Players can create around 4-5 characters per account. The character creation is very simple too. You get to choose from a limited number of hair colors, hair styles and face templates. Plus, you get to choose your desired job from the get go.  


 

IAHGames also gave players an added treat. Raise a character to level 10 and you can retain the name of that character once it goes open beta. You don’t get to keep your level or items though, just a level 1 character with the name on it.

Riding with Dragons

At the start of your epic journey, you are given the choice of undertaking a tutorial stage or not. The tutorial teaches you the basic controls, offers a short training battle and an introduction to quests. As you encounter more game features and systems for the first time, your trusty Pororing guide will introduce and give you a detailed explanation about it, a very thankful welcome for first time players.

Controls are very much responsive, and it was very easy to create combos using a flurry of attacks and skills. Aerial combos were also smooth to implement. EXP bonus incentives were also given based on the number of combos you have made. More importantly, the keyboard controls were fully customizable to suit your tastes. Quests were definitely aplenty and often came in chains. These quests are easy to locate through quest markers in the map, and were also easy to track because of the automatic popping up of the quest tracker.  

Character growth is partly predetermined. Character stats are automatically distributed as you gain levels. You, however, gain skill points per level to distribute to your class skills. The first job skills are easy to master, given the abundant skill points gained per level.

Of “Dungeons” and Dragons

Dragonica’s maps actually vary in size and appearance. There are a lot of places to explore and a lot of objects to interact with. A nice touch was the hyper jump springboards that enable you to transfer from one section of the map to another. Monsters are abundant, although having predictable respawn points. In a crowded area, many players would camp at a certain area for a monster to appear, usually those involved in quests. Perhaps a change of channels will do you good, but from what I see, there might be potential kill-stealing and quest completion delay problems due to the scarcity of monsters on a crowded day.

Aside from the field and town maps, instanced dungeons were also present and abundant. The instances are divided into different levels, unlockable by completing the prior levels. The mobs and the boss get stronger as you progress to higher levels. Similar to Lunia, your performance in an instanced dungeon is calculated and ranked. You will be duly rewarded with bonus Exp and items too.

Dragonica’s Baby Steps?

Dragonica’s cute super deformed characters, lively environments, and compelling quests make for a very fulfilling experience. The game isn’t purely a sidescrolling beat ‘em up MMORPG, since you can still move in all four directions (north, south, east and west), it’s just the camera angle fixed and locked on one side. Do take note that despite the amazing exterior ambience, there’s nothing revolutionary about Dragonica. You’re still playing a game with a tried and tested MMO formula, a quest-filled game with numerous maps to explore. At this stage, Dragonica seems to be on the right track. If you’re looking for something aesthetically and experientially pleasing, or looking for a game between casual and serious, give Dragonica a spin once it opens. It will be well worth the wait.  

 

Other Screenshots

Please Digg if you liked / loved the article! Thanks! 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Only MMOsite has permission to redistribute or give minor edits to this article.