Review Reset_Tears 3/5 · Dec 13, 2020
Marked for Death on Arrival?
(Note: The game is just called Dragon Marked for Death. If the "Advanced Attackers/Frontline Fighters" could be removed from the title here, that'd be great!)
This is a bit of a tough one for me to rate. In Dragon Marked for Death, you pick one of four characters, join with up to three friends online, and tackle RPG-like quests together …
(Note: The game is just called Dragon Marked for Death. If the "Advanced Attackers/Frontline Fighters" could be removed from the title here, that'd be great!)
This is a bit of a tough one for me to rate. In Dragon Marked for Death, you pick one of four characters, join with up to three friends online, and tackle RPG-like quests together in 2D action platformer stages. It's a game that I don't think is much fun if you're playing by yourself -- but if you're playing with three friends like I did (as is clearly intended by the game) it can be a pretty good time. It's rather repetitive hack-and-slash, and stages get re-used a ton. But it all controls well enough, and the characters do all play quite differently from each other. On one hand I feel the game is something of an underrated "hidden gem." But on the other hand I also feel it's understandable why online seems to be a barren wasteland for the most part.
If you have some friends who all pick up the game and can coordinate times to all play the game with you online together, you could do much worse than Dragon Marked for Death. I haven't quite pinned down what it is though that keeps the game from feeling great. It's missing its "spark" I guess. Perhaps the setting could've been something more unique and interesting? Perhaps the story and the lore could've been better-written? Perhaps the characters could've been better-balanced? (Ninja boy is OP as hell. Fighter girl and tank boy are okay-ish. And while I like witch girl's unique combo-based magic system, prepare for insta-death if you're not constantly being protected by your friends.) Perhaps the levels could've been better-designed, the missions more varied and engaging? Perhaps the RPG elements could've been implemented and streamlined a lot better? Perhaps the action gameplay itself could've been more satisfying? (It's no Vanillaware action platformer, I can tell you that.)
I guess the bottom line is that everything is just decent enough, and the game never quite excels at any of things it sets out to do. Pass on this one if you'll be playing solo. But if the genre is up your alley and you have friends (preferably 2 or 3) who are eager for a new game to co-op through, it's at least worth a look in that case.