The I of the Dragon Review

I had only a few relatively minor gripes with the way I of the Dragon plays. They include the vague and unclear mission objectives, the somewhat restricted feel of some of the maps and the rather clumsy auto-targeting system, which may switch targets on you in the most inopportune moments (but there is a way of getting around this issue).

The unclear objectives left me wandering around the terrain like an idiot and often scratching my head (something my dragon couldn't do, so I did it instead). In addition, roaming the countryside like a dragon feels awesome, but some of the maps feel claustrophobic. I'm guessing it would've been hard (or it would've taken a lot longer) for the developers to balance out the game properly with bigger maps and more enemies scattered about. What's important to note here is that these drawbacks didn't discourage me from playing on, and more importantly, liking the whole experience.

The game's 3D engine is fairly robust and certainly good enough to please Action RPG fans. The dragon model looks nice and detailed, with fluid animation and nicely drawn textures of its scaly skin. The camera is easy to operate as well as intuitive and the 3D code is capable of extreme close-ups that show off all the minute details in the countryside. The enemy units are nice and varied, with plenty of frames of animation, and the many layers of sky add a special touch to the game when you see your dragon flying high enough to pierce the thin, low clouds. Other things worth of note are the shiny and effective looking spells (both enemy and dragon spells), as well as the highly moody real-time day and night cycles that really make you feel like you're a part of the game world. The frame rate was rock solid for the most part, although the test rig I played it on (AMD 64 3000+, ATI Radeon 9800XT, 512MB DDR RAM) did struggle with scenes where there were lots of enemies and spells being cast on screen all at once. I suspect though that had something to do with the fact I only had 512MB of RAM in the machine.

The epic musical score works very well with the on screen action and is nothing like the terrible voice acting and some of the rather forgetful sound effects.

In any case, those of you looking for an Action RPG to play that has smooth and addictive game play and a unique twist to it should definitely pick up I of the Dragon. It's one of those rare titles that; although lacking more polish and proper funding; manage to captivate you with the sheer creative talent and enthusiasm that their authors bring to the table. After all, gameplay is the core to any game, and any game that has good gameplay is certainly worth a look.