Dragons are certainly not a new concept to KEMCO games. Previous titles either used them for a small portion of the game or as a continuing theme for all of it. Dragon Spira uses the winged creatures known as spirit beasts throughout the tale and also boasts a new mechanic for levelling up skills, resembling a board game. Is it simply a useless gimmick or does it add great value to this RPG?
Part of the joy of a new KEMCO adventure is the happy anticipation of what type of characters join the hero on their adventure. The way Fal unites with the talkative duo Tina and Wiska is clever and filled with lots of laughs, which never get old, as his childhood friend Mian joins the crew, along with one extra special companion whose ability growth provides great support in battle. The exact story details are unpredictable and rather intriguing. Like so many before it, there is a strong sense of good and evil, although this stands out in Dragon Spira because while there are frequently traitors in other RPGs, many genuinely wish to help Fal on his heroic quest.
On land, by sea and in the air there is never a dull moment. The dungeons do use similar scenery, and although this can be explained by the way those dungeons are accessed, some may find themselves wishing for more variety from the places that involve teleportation. It is hard to be specific without spoiling the plot. Thankfully many of the areas, while not groundbreaking in design, are easy and fun to traverse, with plentiful treasure and the much loved secret passageways leading to fairly decent equipment acquisition.
Shops hold more armour and weapons, but the best is acquired using in-game currency earned through battles – kaishin stones, not the standard gold used in shops. Saving the stones is highly recommended so that a full set of ten attempts at gaining rare weapons can be used, which are displayed on screen as eggs. Items gained from early on remain the best gear almost until the end. There is great joy at getting a rainbow-coloured shell containing an ultra rare item in this fashion, but nothing is guaranteed, and it is a slight risk to try for better weapons because the currency can be used to improve game mechanics like healing MP after every battle or gaining extra gold.
Dragon Spira adopts a method of using its own currency of kaishin stones instead of forcing real world money to be spent in the form of DLC. This is very much preferred as those who want to grind to get yet more gold or EXP can do so. It is very possible to play the game without tweaking these settings, which have a significant impact on gameplay, leaving the choice to each individual, although the option to use magic almost infinitely for each fight is a fine one.
The plot is fairly linear, with plenty of options for exploring. Overeager adventurers will find themselves literally turned around if they attempt to sneak into areas that are meant for later exploration, so it doesn’t pay to investigate absolutely everywhere until the story naturally progresses. There are inevitable side quests that let completionists merrily slay monsters and hunt lost items in exchange for treasure. These can be ignored, but given the reward from additional battles it is advisable not to skip out on the amusing jaunts. Later methods of transportation make zipping all around the not-too-big world a cinch, with or without teleportation. These might include riding winged lizard-like creatures too!
Dragon Spira benefits from not one but two intriguing game mechanics. Rather than randomly acquiring skills, both magic and physical as each character levels up, there are several jobs each character can take on. Levelling them up leads to stronger skills. Furthermore, once what appears to be the max job level is reached, each role evolves into a new superior career path. Not only this, but each job leads to a cute outfit change, making battles more appealing for fashionistas.
Unfortunately it seems impossible to evolve a role and carry those skills over when they switch jobs to, say, a thief. It was a massive disappointment having all the skills suddenly vanish and be left with just the stealing skills. Aside from completionists, there seems to be little motivation to swap roles assigned from the beginning, apart from being able to use certain weapons that are restricted by job class.
This isn’t the sole unfortunate part of Dragon Spira. Part of its charm relies in being a pixel game, something familiar to other KEMCO games. For the most part, it looks cute, but the quality of the character pixel art on the stats screen could be improved. The image clarity was severely lacking and looked like a mess of dots rather than an actual person, which, given how much time is spent in the menu system, is a let-down.
Not judging a book by its cover is a famous saying and one very true to Dragon Spira for the second major feature. Instead of levelling up normally at the end of battle, a board-like game is played when enough points are tallied up from battle, or the in-game roulette wheel. Choosing advancement of a single turn or multiple ones, the hero is moved along the board according to the number spun. Direction can be changed with items or permanent arrows. Each board has a prize for finishing it, and usually a better prize for landing on all the special squares. Luck plays a part, but items can be used to advance a set number of spaces. Danger is added by the automatic movement of a monster, which usually has to be fought eventually.
At the very beginning the sugoroku boards felt like a useless gimmick. Before the first board was completed, aside from a few extra points, there didn’t appear to be much point to this new element. However, that all changed when Fal landed on the skill upgrade space for the first time. Here points can be distributed evenly to the entire team, or all channelled into a chosen character. For the most part, it’s advisable to do equal skill sharing as there is little point to having just one person be overpowered. However, by the end of the game, some character stats looked a bit anaemic, especially in the HP department, which really matters with certain bosses, so being able to channel all skill points to a specific individual made the difference between annihilation and surviving a crucial fight.
As is usually the case with KEMCO RPGs, there are multiple ends to Dragon Spira. Usually the normal end felt a really good one, so in this instance it felt there was no need to replay for a different ending, a feat only completionists will persevere with. It is a decent enough story to replay for fun one day, with wonderfully nostalgic melodies that felt reminiscent of Game Boy title Mickey Mouse, which amusingly was produced by KEMCO too! The trip down memory lane to childhood playing on car journeys made the very unfamiliar RPG feel more personal.
