Dragon Lapis Review

Dragon Lapis

Release: May 31, 2018
Publisher: Kemco
Developer: Kemco
Genre: Adventure, Nintendo 3DS Reviews, Role-playing
PEGI: R
Comments:

 

Comment

I’ve been enjoying Dragon Lapis for the 3DS a lot. Check out my preview of the game here. And now its time for my review of Dragon Lapis. Is this a 3DS rpg that you’ll want to download?

I like how Dragon Lapis starts with a cutscene that gives us background into its world. As the game continues, we get a lot more world building and interesting plot twists. All of the characters in this game are unique and fun too. I like the dialogue in the game, especially the dialogue choices. I admit I always want to choose the sarcastic dialogue choice in order to see what reaction the other characters will have! Its always pretty amusing.

As good as the story is though, the gameplay is even better.

There is so much to love about Dragon Lapis, especially if you’re a fan of old school rpgs like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. The turn-based battles will remind you a lot of those early DQ and FF games and so will the overworld and the towns that you visit. Thankfully though, Dragon Lapis does have some modern conveniences.

Its great that you can save anywhere in Dragon Lapis: in a dungeon, on the world map, in a town, anywhere. This is very handy if you want to just play a short time and quit or if you are find that you have to do something else but don’t want to lose your place in the game. I also like how the dungeons have quick warps that’ll get you out of the dungeon fast if you need to.

Dragon Lapis also has a good twist on the skill system with growth plates and a nice job system! The battle system, on the hand, is very traditional turn-based gameplay, but I love that kind of rpg. If you love it, then I think you’ll enjoy Dragon Lapis combat. I do think it has a nice upgrade to the traditional turn-based play in that it gives you a heads up as to who will get a turn next in the battles.

This game has excellent controls too. Everything in the game works as well as you’d think. Dragon Lapis uses the top screen for gameplay and the bottom screen for menus. The buttons in the menus are big enough that you’d think that the game had touch screen controls, but you’d be wrong. Dragon Lapis only has analog/button controls. And while those work well, its too bad touch screen controls are not an option for those who would want it.

Overall, Dragon Lapis is a really fun game. Its very old school, but has some wonderful upgrades like saving anywhere. If you love turn-based rpgs, then you’ll love Dragon Lapis. It even looks like a retro rpg!

Dragon Lapis has really nice retro style graphics. The graphics are similar to KEMCO’s Dragon Sinker and very similar to the early Dragon Quest games. I like the design of the allies, enemies, and places you visit in this game a lot.

The game also has a very retro soundtrack. Its pretty good for the most part. I like how upbeat it is. If it ever gets annoying, you can just turn the sound down. The sound effects in this game are basic but work well.

Dragon Lapis is definitely an rpg for retro fans who want to revisit how rpgs use to be but also want to see upgrades to make the genre more fun and convenient for portable play.

I like Dragon Lapis a lot. Its just as good as KEMCO’s previous retro-inspired effort, Dragon Sinker. If you enjoyed that game, you’ll enjoy Dragon Lapis too. If you’ve never played either and you love turn-based retro rpgs, then you need both of these games. I can see myself playing both of these again in the future. I love this genre. There are lot of people who do. And they should be paying attention to KEMCO’s rpgs, especially these retro-inspired ones! Its also nice to see another must download game for the 3DS.

Thanks to KEMCO for providing a review copy of this game. Dragon Lapis is now available on the 3DS eshop.

Trailer