Dragon Spira Review

As soon as I see a description for a game that includes pixel art, fantasy, and RPG, you know it is going to pique my interest. Dragon Spira is a game that has all these keywords, along with some other unique gameplay elements that I am really curious to try out, such as spinning a roulette wheel to decide the hero’s fate. It also incorporates board game battles, which may give it a unique feel compared to other RPGs.

Dragon Spira tells the story told in the Dorwin Creation Chronicles. The Divine first created land, followed by six special eggs that were infused with Divine Power and hatched, becoming Spirit Beasts. Each was sent to a different location, including a volcano, mountain, desert, forest, clear spring, and the blue sea.

As time passed, the Spirit Beasts that hatched from these special eggs had “incurred the wrath” of the Divine (aka, pissed off their creator) and, as punishment, were forced back into their egg form. All but one of them were sealed in the Anam Volcano, located in the centre of the surface world. To correct this mistake, the beasts were replaced with humans, and along with them, a Divine Sword and the Seed of Hope were left behind as the Divine vanished from this world.

This event was known as the Spirit Beast Rebellion, and the humans developed the surface world for the next 1,000 years. Suddenly, the volcano erupts, and we see three eggs shoot out and fall into the Kurai Forest, located at its base. An eruption like this had happened before, 30 years prior, which was also when monsters started to appear around the world. Is this because an evil being named Kaslaan has shown up, claiming that he is the Child of the Divine and threatening to take over, wiping out anyone who gets in his way?

When we begin, you take on the role of the silent protagonist, Fal, who is a member of the guild run by Guildmaster Mian. He has just returned from an escort mission, but now two guild members who were sent to Kurai Forest to investigate monster sightings have not returned, so he is asked to go out and rescue them.

This turn-based RPG has multiple difficulty settings available to choose from: Easy features weak enemies and no surprise attacks; Normal is the default option; Hard features stronger enemies with a higher rate of rare item drops; and Very Hard has even stronger enemies, along with a better chance of enemies dropping rare items.

Besides the difficulty settings, Dragon Spira also has a variety of features you can activate to make levelling up easier, such as increasing all character growth by 200%, doubling the amount of damage dealt, and earning twice the amount of job points. You can customise it exactly how you want, and at any point, you can go in and change the settings to suit your needs.

Dragon Spira also has a setting you can enable to change how battles work. If you select Battle Shortcut, when you run into enemies that are at a much lower level than you, you are automatically victorious and taken straight to the results screen. This option is normally disabled, but you can turn it on if you wish. It is great for when you have to grind and level up in the game; this feature makes the process far quicker.

Each character in the game has a specific job assigned to them. However, Fal is not stuck as a Warrior; he can switch to any job you like at the Job Guild. You can choose to be a Mage, Priest, or Hunter, among others. Swapping jobs changes which passive abilities and skills are available in battle, and your outfit will also change based on the job you select. This job system applies to all characters who join your party.

Dragon Spira features some of the most unique items I have seen sold in in-game shops. The Opticool Lens makes secret passages visible for a short period of time, while Treasure Maps reveal all unopened chests in an area. The game is very generous with chests; often, you will receive not just one item, but multiple copies, which is great for filling your inventory.

On your journey, you find three eggs that hold Spirit Beasts in the forest at the base of the volcano. Two of the eggs hatch, revealing two women who have a special connection to Fal. One of them shows Mian a special item found alongside the eggs: a Sugoroku Board. These are considered relics of the Divine and are extremely rare. If mastered, they can grant mysterious powers.

The Sugoroku Board has two types of awards. Completion Awards require you to land on every Target Space on the board and reach the Goal Space. You will earn Roulette Points (RP) after battles, which are spent on the roulette to gain effects that strengthen Fal and your party. Your piece moves across the board based on the number rolled, and if you are in a dungeon when playing, enemies may interfere by taking board effects for themselves. You can use the board at any time, as long as you have Roulette Points available. This system is an incredibly unique way to power up your characters, and I have never seen anything like it in an RPG before.

When you enter a battle, the enemies you face are positioned on a three-by-three grid. Each job skill targets a specific number of enemies; some hit a single foe, while others strike an entire line. Once the battle ends, and whenever your character levels up or their job rank increases, their health and magic bars are fully restored. This is fantastic, as you will not waste healing items just to prepare for the next encounter.

The pixel art looks great, with every sprite animated and featuring moving hair and clothing. It must be incredibly windy in this world, because even when standing still inside a house, the characters continue to sway, either way, it looks stylish and makes everyone more visually engaging than static sprites.

Dragon Spira’s soundtrack fits the game perfectly. The chiptune tracks are catchy and mirror the action wonderfully. There were no songs that I found annoying or repetitive, which is always a plus, especially during longer play sessions.

If you enjoy turn-based, retro-style RPGs, Dragon Spira is a game you will want to check out. I have been having a fantastic time with a game that keeps pulling me back for more. My only real issue is that I wish the map displayed the names of towns; with only dots shown, it can be difficult to remember exact locations when backtracking. With numerous accessibility options and multiple ways to power up your characters, Dragon Spira feels fresh, rather than just another retread of familiar ideas.