Rarely a day seems to go by these days without the denizens of the games industry being outraged about something. Whether it's over Twitter, YouTube or in a lengthy ranting article, there's always something the moral guardians feel the need to condemn, lest it corrupt another innocent mind. But regardless of if it's a potential 'rape' scene in a new Tomb Raider, Duke Nukem's 'Capture the Babe' online multiplayer mode or a lack of female presenters at a Sony conference, the one hot button that seems to get everyone going as of late is the representation of women in games. Which brings us to Dragon's Crown - a game which prides itself on its realistic portrayal of the human anatomy.
More ripped than Arnie at his Conan peak.
Essentially a hack-and-slash role-playing game, Dragon's Crown plays out in a similar way to games like Diablo, but with all the action taking place on a flat, 2D plane instead. The latest title from Japanese studio Vanillaware, Dragon's Crown tells the tale of - you guessed it - the mysterious Dragon's Crown, an ancient artefact which gives the wearer the ability to command powerful dragons - and as such, is in hot demand in the kingdom. Setting off in search of a missing king, who was last seen toddling off on his own ill-guided attempt to find the treasure, so begins a game that relies not so much on its story, as the powerful pull of the feeling that comes with venturing into dungeons, beating things up, and making off with your pockets bursting with loot with a few of your friends in tow.
Your adventure begins in the town tavern, where you can chose your character from the six classes on offer. For those of you that prefer close-quarters combat, there's a choice between your fairly bog-standard damage-sponge Fighter, a bearded Dwarf able to wield two weapons at once; and an Amazon who does some serious damage with her heavy weapons but is somewhat lacking in defence, perhaps down to the fact that her outfit of choice is a flimsy chainmail bikini. The final three fall more into the ranged category, with a sprightly Elf capable of firing arrows at her foes from across the screen, a Wizard with a wide range of damage-dealing spells at his disposal, and a Sorceresses who tends to focus more on buffing her allies and summoning health-restoring food than on dealing damage - although she can turn her enemies into frogs or raise an army of skeletons should the need arise. Making sure you have a good mix of characters in your party of four is the best strategy for adventures, whether you're recruiting some real-life friends to fight alongside you, or reanimating the remains of adventurers found during your travels to lend you a hand as computer-controlled companions.
No matter which you choose to slot into your team, you'll have a formidable enough bunch of characters at your disposal, each with their own varied range of abilities and playing style. As you move from screen to screen through dungeon ruins, forests and caves, waves and waves of enemies will move into attack - with fighting back being a simple matter of pressing different directions in combo with either the square or circle button. But each character has their own little idiosyncrasies to learn that can be either a help or a hindrance, whether it's the Elf's limited stock of arrows that requires you to run into the chaos to pick the spent ones up again, the Sorceress' finite spell power that has to replenish before you can cast any more, or the Dwarf's tendency to leave his hammers stuck in the floor post ground pound. As you finish each dungeon you'll be rewarded with XP, which can be put to use levelling your character, in turn unlocking a number of skill points to be spent on unlocking, or upgrading new skills and abilities.
Things can quickly become a bit of a blur...
But for a game that touts it's four player local co-op, it's a shame that it seems to be fairly awkwardly implemented. Getting everyone into the game is fairly easy, but going off on adventures is where things start to come unstuck. While it's easy to take everyone along on a quest, and there's no problem keeping everyone on the same screen, it's keeping them on the same page that's the problem. You progress through the game by accepting and completing quests, with a list you can pick and choose from at the Guild - which is logical enough. The only problem is, there's no "quest leader" that can accept the quests on behalf of your whole team - instead, each person has to head into the Guild and accept the quest for themselves, which seems to take forever when you're playing with more than a couple of people. And then, once you've all completed a request, you each need to debrief in the Guild individually to get your rewards. Ditto for repairing your weapons and items - seemingly Morgan's magical repair shop has a 'one adventurer at a time' policy, with no option to mend your entire party's gear in one go.
While most of the game is fairly standard fare, Dragon's Crown does have an interesting addition though, as the scenery isn't just for show. Perhaps revealed by a little glimmer or an intricately drawn rune on the wall, or perhaps just noticing something looks kind of different, you can interact with the background by moving a little hand around the screen with the right analogue stick (or using the touch screen on the Vita), often leading to the discovery of more cash, useful items or treasure. Clicking on locked items - such as doors or chests - sends out your thief companion Rannie, who can pick his way into anything in a jiffy. It's well worth keeping an eye out for hidden chests too, as they often contain new, more powerful equipment for your characters - and in much the same way as in games like Diablo, loot makes the world go round.
Perhaps the most noticeable aspect of Dragon's Crown is it's unique art-style - particularly the designs of the characters. The Sorceress' chest is so large it seems she can't find a bra big enough to contain them - so seemingly decides to go without, despite running and leaping all over the screen. We're much less amply proportioned, and we've been in pain while running for the bus before, so we dread to think how she feels, especially with the constant threat of black eyes. The Amazon, meanwhile, as you'd likely expect has some rather impressive thighs that could easily crush a bus, whilst the men are just as ludicrously built, with humongous shoulders and rippling muscles galore. But given that there's not a 'normal' looking character throughout the entire game, the designs don't seem especially out of place, and instead add to the over-the-top fantasy feeling, where a talking wizard's apprentice called Rickey Mouse seems to be an everyday occurrence.
Ouch.
In all, then, Dragon's Crown is in no way a bad game - it's just one that's a tad clumsy when it comes to co-op, forcing each player to accept each quest themselves, lest they earn nothing for their effort. For fans of the genre needing an excuse to get friends over to bash their way through a few dungeons, it delivers, and it's unique and varied character classes ensure everyone should be able to forge their perfect character. Things can get a bit chaotic and confusing at times, but bashing some bad guys about and looting the place is as fun as ever.
Format Reviewed: Playstation 3
