Attack of the “Retro” RPG: A Preview of Dragon Sinker for 3DS

Back in the NES days, I wasn’t an rpg fan. It wasn’t till years later with Final Fantasy 7 that became an rpg fan. And after I really got into rpgs, I went back and was able to appreciate and like the older rpgs. So whenever an indie developer, say KEMCO for instance, puts together a game in the “retro” rpg style I’m excited. Dragon Sinker for the 3DS (Developed by KEMCO) came out last week. It is a new “retro” rpg. What makes it so retro and has anything non-retro been added to the game?

If you like pixelated graphics, a turn-based battle system, and plenty of random battles, then you will feel right at home with Dragon Sinker for 3DS.

Dragon Sinker’s graphics may seem simple to most modern gamers, but old school rpg gamers grew up with games like this and still love the style.

The character and enemy designs in this game are very nice. I do wish there was a bit more variety in the town and dungeon designs, but if you look back at a lot of the NES/SNES games, there really wasn’t that much variety in the dungeons and towns. What counts in these old school rpgs are the story and how good the battle system is.

I’ll be keeping any story talk for my review (no spoilers!), but I can confirm that Dragon Sinker has an excellent turn-based battle system. Everything you would expect is included in this battle system: special powers, spells, attacking, and defending. Plus Dragon Sinker brings in an unexpected twist. In this game, you can have two extra teams of four people and swap between them during battle!

Dragon Sinker has some pretty tough battles, so you find yourself using these other teams especially during boss fights. Even on easy mode, Dragon Sinker’s boss battles can be challenging! Thankfully, Dragon Sinker gives you various ways to continue the fight when you die. There are also plenty of smaller battles in this game too.

Rpg fans who don’t like random battles (what?!) should be warned: there are a lot of random battles in this game. Dragon Sinker prescribes to the old “walk a few steps and get hit with a random battle” motto. The only place you won’t find a random battle is in a town. The world map, the dungeons, and the high seas all have random battles. But Dragon Sinker includes another thing that old school rpgs did not have: you can save anywhere! This helps a lot.

Yes, Dragon Sinker has some things that the classic rpgs of yore did not have, but at its core, Dragon Sinker is a “retro” rpg. I am enjoying the game a lot so far.

I hope to have a full review of Dragon Sinker next week. Dragon Sinker is currently available on the 3DS eshop.