Android Games Reviews: Amazon Underground “Actually Free” Games #4 - Dead Dragons

Dragons once ruled the world, but humans defeated them 100 years ago. Now, there’s a rumor one has been seen again. When Will hunts down that dragon, he’s scarred with a cursed dragonmark that will give him awesome powers but then kill him. But were the dragons really evil, and was their slaughter really justified?

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Overall: I couldn’t get into it, which was surprising and disappointing after Soul Historica. I suspect I should wait a bit before I try the next KEMCO game, just to go into it fresh.

An Assortment of RPGMaker Games

Dragon Quest: Legacy of the Lost - This is a love song to Dragon Quest 7, done in the style of the GBA remakes of the first three games in the series. The plot is roughly the same as DQ7, as you’re on a small island that appears to be the only land in the world, and there’s a shrine that you can use to time travel via collected shards of maps. Each area you travel back to has a new town, a new dungeon or two, and a problem you need to solve. Classic DQ equipment, spells and monsters feature heavily; the combat system is fairly smooth and fast; and there are TinyMedals to collect and secrets to find. The creator did an excellent job of recreating the feel of a true era-appropriate DQ game. The problem is, DQ7 was my least favorite of the games (it’s too long with too much grinding and too little plot) and the GBA games were my least favorite style of DQ game. I think when I next feel the urge for some DQ grinding goodness, I’ll just buy myself a copy of the new 3DS remake of DQ7 and get the full experience.

Final Fantasy: Blackmoon Prophecy Plus - Speaking of love letters, this one is to the SNES-era Final Fantasy games, particularly FF4, which was the source of both the tileset and much of the music. The plot flows like one of those games, with a constantly-shifting party made up of the classic classes; issues with the elemental crystals; increasing monster problems; etc. The game balance is a little wonky, especially when you only have one character in your party. The plot is the sort of highly derivative thing you’d expect from the premise, which on one hand is totally cool and on the other is all things I’ve seen before.

Final Fantasy: Legend of Balance - A FF6-style game that heavily references the online entries of the Final Fantasy series (along with some of the author’s inside jokes from his online gaming circle). This is not “for” me, as I have described things in the past. The online FF games are the only ones I haven’t played, but that’s enough that the references are lost on me, and the game isn’t strong enough to carry without them.

Overall: I don’t think any of these are bad games, and I applaud them for achieving their stated goals of recreating a certain gaming experience. I’m just not interested in more than a couple of hours of any of those gaming experiences.