If 7 th Dragon III has a weak point, it might be that the story isn’t anything to write home about. The art style is also totally on-point, and with a soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro, there’s nothing to complain about in regard to the audio. Weapon choices are reflected on the character models, each attack and skill has a different animation, and monsters have fluid, exaggerated personality. Unlike many titles in the dungeon crawler genre, 7 th Dragon III understands the importance of seeing action onscreen. In terms of aesthetics, the game is top notch. The only place where the game misses a trick is that some cut-scenes before bosses aren’t skippable, but since the bosses are fairly infrequent it’s not hard to forgive this hiccup in lieu of what it gets right. While all of these factors create some of the best turn-based combat design I’ve seen in quite some time, the developers also looked at the more mundane functions and made sure that those were perfectly polished as well-amenities like clearly highlighting the stats of armor and weapons and making it a snap to equip them, enabling fast travel nearly anywhere in the game, clearly marking important items and characters on the map, keeping a quest log with step-by-step instructions on what to do next, and a dozen other quality-of-life choices that make 7 th Dragon III a totally hassle-free experience. It’s amazing, and adds a nice, chewy layer to extended battles. Summoning one will break through a monster’s defense, three will activate a series of buffs, and tagging all six is a super-attack where every member fires off a power for no cost. The inactive members build up readiness at different rates, and some (or all!) may be called to assist in a pinch. While only three party members will be initially available, the team soon grows to six, and then nine-three on the front line and six in reserve. Besides being highly functional, they give battles a bit of a “slot machine” feeling-a free action is never guaranteed, so when one pops up it’s like winning a small jackpot.ħ th Dragon III also offers a new take on team structure. Characters will launch free attacks before enemies can act, spent magic points will be regained in the middle of a battle, dead characters will be brought back to life, and so on-there are a slew of effects, each with their own trigger. Every character has at least a few, and they become huge advantages if invested in. Every type of character has some innovative interpretation, and I loved exploring the practical applications.Īdded to the mix are a great number of skills that are passive or automatic. Players can choose to focus on either side of their personality, or mix it up as they see fit. The God Hand is another interesting class, focusing on hand-to-hand attacks while also being a healer. He or she may seem like a standard sword-user, but the class is able to choose between single or dual-wield, and can also shift between sheathed and unsheathed stances. Creating this sort of complexity is a difficult thing and few dungeon crawlers get it right, but Sega not only has it dialed in, they add dimensions I’ve never seen.ħth Dragon offers eight and a half (yes, a half) different classes, and each one feels fresh and different. However, the focus isn’t on the frequency of random encounters, but in how the skills of the characters work and play off of each other. Once a group of three has been composed, some story kicks things off and gets the player into dungeons where there’s a heavy focus on turn-based, menu-driven combat. Like many of its contemporaries, players are able to create their own party, customizing both appearance and class. Sega’s 7th Dragon III: Code VFD made me sit up and pay attention.Īlthough I wouldn’t call it a strict dungeon crawler since it’s got too much story and too varied a world for such pat classification, 7th Dragon has much in common with the genre. So, when I come across a title that not only delivers several new ideas but also nails them, I sit up and pay attention. Of course that’s not to say a game has to be unique to be good, but it takes more than a quirky art style or slight twist to catch my attention. I see many of the same things over and over and over again-the same ideas, the same mechanics, the same tricks. WTF Eight and a half classes? Why not nine?!?Īs a critic, I play a lot of games. LOW Getting stuck at the instant-death dragon for way too long. HIGH Outstanding combat and character designs.
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