My word, if you are looking for a small and short RPG style game that can turn into the thing that eats your entire afternoon, then Dragon Boy is for you... this thing can get so long, I doubt I would EVER finish it.

This review will encompass more then just the game play or the graphics. Here I will try and break down both how to play the game, as well as a few tips I have, and the point at which you should just stop playing the game because it gets ridiculous.

I suppose to start my general feeling with game would be one that is pretty good. Overall the game delivers a touch of graphics with a smidgen of creativity, and enough ripped audio to actually make me think I was playing Diablo 2...

That's right people, the only thing my first impression told me after 30 seconds was... wtf Diablo 2 ?!?1!?¿¿!one!?

This game sounds like it is trying to emulate Diablo 2, with the sound effects and the portal to each level, the shop; buying and selling from... At least I didn't see a boss named Andariel...

Anyway, the game is fairly self descriptive in how it works, but briefly it goes something like this: You are a warrior in a kingdom plagued by monsters and bandits (aren't they always evil), however this time with a twist. You, being a 'Dragon Boy' have to raise a pet dragon from the time it is a small egg, up until the time it hatches, and, well ... deals more damage and is way more bad-ass then you ever will be.

You also have another member in your 'party' who of course is a Mage of some sorts... well the character casts stuff so I think it was a Mage.

To be quite honest, I skipped past nearly the entire tutorial, it was WAY to long for my taste, but if you are looking for lots of information that's the place to be.

So essentially the game is broken down into 2 main sections, combat and shopping.

You first begin in a small circular city, with the walled in structure telling you something else is to be done besides run in a circle because you are amused at the fact that the game can combine both x and y axis movement to get a multi-axis vector! (Yeah I can use big words when the time suits) Once you discover you need to click the carpet you will soon find yourself clicking, and teleporting to the second section, combat.

This is primarily where you will spend all of your time, beating the baddies, slaying the innocent, and ... basically grinding for those nasty bosses you can't beat. This flash game ACTUALLY HAS A GRINDING ELEMENT, it isn't just the same action repeated over and over again, wait, that's what grinding is...

Your main hero upgrades when you gain a level, or can afford new equipment from the shop owner who CLEARLY doesn't understand we are in a depression, like, jeez. You regain health instantly when you finish a stage as far as I can tell, and the stages aren't very long.

Each battle area is subdivided depending on the level. They are essentially all the same, with the monsters being different, some are really easy some are really hard. Different stages required different approaches, be it just tank the boss, or let your insane area of effect (AOE) damage from your party help you destroy things REALLY fast.

You only really gain stats from items and levels, but your caster is a different story.

Firstly, all of their abilities are on auto cast, so you never need to worry about clicking another button. When you gain a level you have the option of leveling certain caster abilities ranging from an overall improvement on the spell abilities, to the individual spells themselves. To run them down quickly, there is an AOE nova ability (ripped straight from Diablo 2) a freeze, a weird orb thing that does damage, a heal, and then the general improvement. I would say leveling the AOE at the start proves the best, but closer towards the end of the game maxing the freeze and the heal become to most important.

The last of your party, a dragon egg, seems useless at first; and well it simply is. This little thing bounces around behind you and doesn't do anything. However it is your job to grow it, and the method in which you do that is simpler then raising a Tamagotchi. All you need to do is feed the little guy some type of plants... or any item that has a 'grow' stat included in the description. This will beef up your dragon who not only ends up having a nice melee attack, but also AOE splash damage for those huge waves of monsters later.

Eventually, after all the monsters have been destroyed you discover (quite naturally of course) that the king is the one who has become evil and must now be destroyed. This is a grueling stage in which much grinding is required before hand.

Actually to be truthful, the game had to glitch slightly before I could beat the final boss, it really is that tough.

Speaking of glitches, lets move on to the mechanics. The game is fairly smooth, however I would highly suggest reducing the overall quality simply by hitting the 'Q' button on your keyboard. Some levels later on have so much going on that you will notice the frames just drop off, and the game will give you some serious lag. Second, while the attack engine is decent, the game itself has a few minor glitches. Nothing major to mention, however if some enemies are off screen, they won't see you but your dragon can still attack them... that was my solution to the final boss. Also if your party is far away, and you pause and wait they will eventually appear next to you even tho the enemies did not continue moving towards you.

Now if you do manage to beat the final boss, caution, your game is not over. If anything the game only begins at this point. You enter into what is called 'hard mode'. This mode is essentially ever previous level, but like 10x harder.

The thing is, it isn't really harder at all. You see by now your heal ability is so high that you can heal through most fights, or you just learn to run around until you are full health, and if your caster dies don't worry you will continue getting healed. What this means practically is that you should win every fight given enough time.

Well this is when I quit. I don't enjoy that model of gaming very much so I just quit...

Now the game has a lot of built in functionality including an auto save menu, as well as several options for disabling music and changing quality.

Overall I was pleased with the experience, and would recommend everyone play through till the end... but hard mode is a waste of time.

Rating:

Longevity: 4.0/5
Interface: 4.0/5
Addictiveness: 3.0/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Simplicity: 3.0/5

Overall: 3.5/5

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