View Full Version : Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire
botticus
06-20-2007, 10:14 PM
I'm sure this game will end up being underwhelming (though the development studio apparently worked on the Panzer Dragoon games), but hey, it's a new action-adventure game!
http://wii.ign.com/articles/798/798118p1.html
As with any Wii-exclusive design, the real make-or-break aspects lie in the control. With Dragon Blade, it's all about using the Wii remote and nunchuk as your two hands, teamed with the B button for lock-on and the traditional jump and dash actions intertwined. Basic sword control (your main form of combat) is handled with specific motion swipes, so attacking left or right is as simple as swinging left or right, and uppercuts or slams are done with a simple stroke up or down. Also included is a thrust attack similar to Twilight Princess, executed with a simple jab forward.
Where the game earns its stripes, however, is in the actual dragon attacks, unlocked after each boss has been defeated. Included in the list are dragon head, arm, tail, and double arm. Each of these attacks - activated by d-pad - engage huge fire powers in their specific body area. When dragon head is activated, a gigantic fire-breathing noggin appears above your fighter. A simple jab forward fires one (or multiple, if powered up) fireball projectile. In the case of arm and double arm, your hands become gigantic fire claws, and either the Wii remote or combination of nunchuk and remote (in double arm) is used to pull off gigantic, sweeping attacks. Clap the two controllers together and your character smashes his arms out in front of him. Lift up and slam down with your arms and you'll pull off a gigantic fire slam.
As for the dragon tail - our favorite of the power-ups by a long shot - your character's sword actually engulfs in flames and drops lazily to his side, acting as a Castlevania-like whip. Large sweeping movements and overhead slams make for intricate spinning and flailing attacks as the hero literally rips through enemies from remarkable distances. Of course any of these attacks can be made into a custom combo by switching powers on the fly and using precise Wii-mote actions, and by the end of the 21 level adventure you can pull off some simply stunning attacks on enemies.
Trailer as well. No clue how that's going to make it out for September, given its very rough appearance. But maybe they'll surprise me.
PyroGamer
06-20-2007, 10:35 PM
Looks promising. Another chance to finally come out with a really perfected Wii-control layout.
Tebunker
06-20-2007, 10:46 PM
Definitely piqued my interest. Especially the part about the developer having worked on the Panzer Dragoon series.
prisonerac
06-21-2007, 12:24 AM
The motion controls sound good, but man do the graphics look dreamcast or late nintendo 64 era to anyone else? I mean talk about sparse. Hopefully because it is pre-alpha things will look better before its release.
Scrubking
06-21-2007, 05:45 PM
Nice. Hope it's good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9USQqmqwDc
The graphics do look a little eh but this is what ign said about it:
The general look and feel of Dragon Blade is already very promising, even though the game is still in its preliminary state. The graphics could be a bit more vibrant, and characters seem a tad bit low poly for Wii, but once the game gets moving the action and effects kick into gear quite nicely.
So it might not be too bad. In any event its not a mini-game and if the gameplay turns out good it could be a decent game. I like the Dragon's Lair like announcer's voice in the video.
PyroGamer
06-21-2007, 07:31 PM
Nice. Hope it's good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9USQqmqwDc
If that announcer actually does voice-over in the game, this will be a day one purchase.
Vinny
06-21-2007, 08:00 PM
Some of the gameplay segments look cool while others remind me of scenes from games like Gauntlet.
bmulligan
06-22-2007, 01:17 AM
I'm game for this. I've been waiting for a dungeon crawler type hack & slash since I finished Zelda so long ago.
Ikohn4ever
06-22-2007, 01:28 AM
good to see some original IPs
Snake2715
06-22-2007, 11:13 AM
Cool info. I like the use of the blade that i have seen.
http://www.gametrailers.com/game/5045.html
Here's some new videos including a developer's walkthrough. It looks like at least they were attempting to come up with some unique controls and actually had the Wii in mind. This is looking pretty good to me. It's still on the bland side graphically but if the gameplay holds up it could be a lot of fun.
WiiGame
08-23-2007, 01:35 PM
this game looks interesting. i really want to try it out
jbuck138
08-23-2007, 02:14 PM
I'm gonna have to agree with everyone. Looks very interesting, but graphics do look kinda lame.
fyffem
08-26-2007, 11:43 AM
Joystiq described it as being pretty fun so I wouldnt' count it out just yet.
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/25/pax-07-hands-on-dragon-blade-wrath-of-fire/
ihadFG
08-26-2007, 11:50 AM
I'm really looking forward to this game, I just wish it didn't come out the same time as Dewy's Adventure and Halo 3...
The Crotch
08-26-2007, 03:16 PM
...
Elebits?
fyffem
08-26-2007, 04:20 PM
Maybe he meant Dewy's Adventure?
ihadFG
08-26-2007, 06:03 PM
...
Elebits?
Maybe he meant Dewy's Adventure?
Yeah, fixed it. I really hope this game gets delayed though because it will be hard to compete with Halo 3 and all the other big games coming out this year. (I would still get it anyway though)
Purple Flames
08-26-2007, 06:40 PM
Game looks like it could be very fun, and it's obvious that the motion controls weren't an afterthought.
Maybe not a day one purchase, but a definitely purchase at some point along the road.
fyffem
08-26-2007, 08:08 PM
Dragon Blade would be a good game to come out in the thirty dollar price range. Made by an indie developer if I remember right, it might be a way to separate itself from the crowd better and convince more hardcore gamers to make the purchase.
StealthNinjaScyther
08-27-2007, 01:44 AM
Eh, I played it at PAX and was severely underwhelmed by it. First of all, the picture quality sucked, looked like they were running it through composite. I don't know what was up with that. The graphics sucked, not only did they not look up to the level of decent GC graphics, but they were dull from a design perspective as well.
It was hard to get a hold of the controls, mostly because the remote was on a very short cord. I'm not sure if that was to blame for my control troubles, I kept getting horizontal slashes registered from vertical movements.
I didn't bother playing for very long, but from what I saw it wasn't worth a second look, at least in its current form.
vherub
09-24-2007, 12:14 PM
this game is flying under the radar, haven't heard anything but it is supposed to come out tomorrow
ihadFG
09-27-2007, 06:22 PM
So did anyone get this?
botticus
09-27-2007, 07:59 PM
No buy from me with no reviews, but I'm looking to rent it with Dewy next week.
SNAKE EYES EX
09-27-2007, 09:46 PM
Looks very cool. Who knows, by the end of next year I might own 5-6 Wii games!
EXStrike
09-30-2007, 11:19 AM
So, did anyone get it? The lack of reviews really hurts.
The Crotch
09-30-2007, 02:34 PM
Reception
No official reviews by IGN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IGN) or GameSpot (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameSpot) have been given , but most reader reviews rate 8.0 - 8.5. Mexican (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico) game magazine Club Nintendo's reviewers rated the game 8.0 - 8.0 -8.5No source for the reader reviews, but they're probably spread across the internet. Nothing at GameFaqs user reviews.
Two reviews (http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/941527.asp) in now. Not good - average rating 56%.
Anyone else kinda sad this game got terrible reviews? :cry:
Purple Flames
10-04-2007, 10:49 PM
Despite the reviews, I'm willing to give the game a shot when it hits the bargain bin.
I just rented this yesterday. I'm only on the 3rd stage but this game is probably not worth more than a bargin bin purchase or a rental. It all comes down to the controls which just don't seem responsive enough for me. You can adjust the sensitivity but I still have times where I'm moving the wiimote and it doesn't respond or register the correct movement onscreen. There are even times where I press the jump button and the character doesn't respond right away. It kind of stinks because otherwise I kind of like the game. I got one dragon power so far which is a big dragon arm which is fun to use. I'm also curious about later boss fights and other dragon powers. I think it could have been pretty sweet if it was executed a bit better.
botticus
10-05-2007, 03:44 PM
Did Blockbuster get it in, jkam? I need to use my rental coupons on something and I'll be there tonight, so I might as well grab this if it's there.
Did Blockbuster get it in, jkam? I need to use my rental coupons on something and I'll be there tonight, so I might as well grab this if it's there.
Yep that is where I got it.
I've had a little more play time with this and I have to say I'm warming up to it a bit. I set the controls back to their defaults and I notice if I use more precise movements I can pull off most of the moves I want to. The enemies are definitely repetitive but the combat is fun. If you block an enemy just as they are about to attack you get some health back. The dragon arm is a lot of fun to use and can be used to swat a bunch of enemies at once. I'm looking foward to trying out some of the other dragon powers.
I am now fairly acclimated to the controls and they really work well...you just have to adjust to them...this game is getting bad reviews but I'm really thinking it's easily in the 7.5 to 8.0 range now.
WiiGame
10-07-2007, 02:57 PM
IGN didn't give it such a hot review
Scrubking
10-12-2007, 12:25 PM
I am now fairly acclimated to the controls and they really work well...you just have to adjust to them...this game is getting bad reviews but I'm really thinking it's easily in the 7.5 to 8.0 range now.
Actually a lot of people are enjoying this game in spite of the horrible "pro" reviews. I'll probably get it when it comes down or used.
botticus
10-12-2007, 01:10 PM
The game is okay, could be better. The graphics aren't worth mentioning in that they aren't great, don't really get in the way. But while enjoyable, the motion controls definitely could have used some tightening up. It's heavily skewed towards interpreting everything as a left to right slash. Up and down slashes only work about a third of the time, right to left works about half the time. Everything else is interpreted as left to right. Unfortunate that it wasn't as polished as it could be.
The game is okay, could be better. The graphics aren't worth mentioning in that they aren't great, don't really get in the way. But while enjoyable, the motion controls definitely could have used some tightening up. It's heavily skewed towards interpreting everything as a left to right slash. Up and down slashes only work about a third of the time, right to left works about half the time. Everything else is interpreted as left to right. Unfortunate that it wasn't as polished as it could be.
I'm not sure how far from the TV you are but I noticed when I moved slightly closer than I would normally sit I could pull off up and down slashes without a hitch. I will be picking this up once it gets a little cheaper...unfortunately I had to bring the rental back.
rgd2blck
10-26-2007, 10:41 PM
i enjoyed renting this game. it's like zelda lite both in terms of graphics (except for the sword fire powerups - those fiery effects were very nice), story and boss fights. the trash fights to get to the boss fights were mostly a waste of time, and unfortunately the boss fights and promise of cooler powerups were not enough to keep me slugging through the trash.
i did not have a problem getting the remote/nunchuck to interpret my movements, but that's because i consciously changed the way i would move the remote up/down once i knew what the game was looking for in interpreting that movement.
i really wish the game reflected a 1:1 movement of remote to on-screen action. even though dragon blade is a step below 1:1, it is a step above zelda's waggle; it is satisfying to clap the remote/nunchuck together and see two fiery arms clap together on screen to kill a bunch of guys. i also enjoyed the speed boost powerup after combos.
guess i'm still waiting for 1:1. it would have been so cool to idly swing the remote and see the lightsaber fiery sword/dragon arm(s) swing in the same way, like the bat in wii sports baseball or arms in wii sports boxing. oh well...maybe rygar?