I was supposed to be playing Rune Factory 4 now but, uhh, I lost the 3DS. Now now don’t panic, it’s in this house somewhere. I just don’t know exactly where. I started some impromptu spring cleaning in hopes of finding it… and unearthed my PS2 instead. So that’s where I stashed it. So, uh, well, it sure would be nice if I found that 3DS someday. In the meantime, on with Dragon Shadow Spell!

Unfortunately there’s not much going on with DSS, even after 16 hours. It’s still as mediocre as ever in terms of gameplay. Character MP is still so limited and MP refill items are still so expensive that I just whack everything with physical attacks instead of going for flashier (but not that much more powerful) magic attacks. Due the way the game world works, every character uses the same weapon throughout the game and they all have access to the same pool of special attacks, which means even the usual fun of equipping party members or training characters isn’t there. It’s not a bad game, but it doesn’t really set my heart on fire. I’m playing it more out of a sense of duty right now than anything else.

Story-wise no progress has been made towards finding the magical door that everyone’s trying to get their hands on. Oh okay, the dangerous forbidden technique Kaito wasn’t supposed to use was revealed to be not so dangerous or forbidden after all. In fact he’s supposed to use it a lot so he can get used to it then he’ll be fine. Also the pet dragon came out of the bag but no one really cared and that was that. So they made progress on that score, but that’s about it.

On the negative side, the writers made the mistake of thinking more characters = more epic story, so they just keep introducing more and more people in every chapter while previously important characters vanish for so long that when they show up you’re like “…Who?” And since I can only field 6 characters in battle it’s kind of a bother when they throw all these new members at me with nothing to distinguish them except raw stats. I prefer fixed parties for more limited games like this.

Another flaw: they also talk so much that they make me sleepy. A slow story + a lot of dialogue that does nothing to further the story is a killer combination. What’s worse, today I was almost late for an appointment because first a battle just wouldn’t end and then they just kept talking and talking using voice acting that was supposed to be good but wasn’t in a skit that was supposed to be funny but wasn’t. I almost quit the game right there and then.

I feel sorry for Flight Plan because I can tell they put a lot of money and effort into this game, but Dragon Shadow Spell just isn’t a very good game. It’s not bad enough to be classic either. It’s just kinda there. I’m not even sure I’ll finish it at this point. It all depends on whether I can find that 3DS or not. *sigh* Where did I put that thing? 7th Dragon III is coming out soon… 🙁

Related posts:

Summon Night 3 – Fine game, but a little too long Elvandia Story – Light route completed! Dragon Shadow Spell – Very ordinary so far Dropped Dragon Shadow Spell. Life is too short.