ONE MORE TIME! I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!! “Ro- Roleplaying game…” Japanese Roleplaying game…. I gotta say… I’m a bit disappointed, but hey they can’t ALL be roguelikes. Heroes of Drakemire (which I’ll now refer to as HoD) is a classic turn based JRPG that reminded me most of the Breath of Fire series, chock-full of your classic tropes. Random encounters out the wazoo, grid-based “dungeon” layouts with twisting paths to explore, city to city landmarks to stock up on new equipment from the shopkeep… But when I compare this to similar games releasing currently that reference classic games, such as Sea of Stars (inspired by Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG), I can’t help but feel like HoD is woefully mediocre. Perhaps even a relic of the amateurist’s first RPGmaker game that never quite made its breakout debut.

To be perfectly clear, I Think HoD is serviceable: it seems like it meets the basic requirements of being a JRPG with a perfunctory party system, skills, level curve, crafting/shopping prices, etc. I think the biggest turn-off for me is its presentation; the entire game just looks sterile and stiff. There’s next to no animations, at best the few that exist are repetitive and lifeless, and UI/UX feels all function with none of the form. And even that’s generous because navigating in this game *menus or overworld) feels so archaic and clunky. As a person who is really invested in voice acting/voiceover, the “performances” in this game make me want to die a little inside. It like moves past the “so bad, it’s good” into just straight…. sad? 

In a bizarre deviation from the norm, shop prices mix currency with other monster drops to make an incredibly esoteric market evaluation. Now yes, every item uses silver or gold, but who knows if I’ll be able to get anything if I don’t have the seemingly arbitrary monster parts and other miscellaneous drops. The game is pretty linear from my first few outings (I’ll openly admit I stopped playing after the first 10 hours as the game didn’t keep my interest), but that on its own isn’t necessarily a problem. It just made the game feel incredibly repetitive and stiff. Without skipping a beat every new juncture of the game I’d clunkily move around a dungeon grid trying to pick up various goods scattered randomly across the map, fight some random encounters, maybe a boss… Reach the next town MAYBE get a few upgrades…. Be told that there’s several dead ends and needing to talk to every single NPC until the game finally opened the right path… Rinse and Repeat. 

Yeah I really don’t want to waste your guys’ time with this one. This is a really uninspired game that doesn’t command your attention. The only recommendation I could possibly give is for especially younger players getting into RPGs for the first time, but even then this game is so incredibly boring. I think kids deserve much better… It’s a shame because some of the promotional art and graphics looked inviting, but I did not enjoy my stay. 

Heroes of Drakemire is developed by Clockwatchers

Available on Steam for $19.99

Provided free reviewer copy from dev

Hellfirebam has not awarded Heroes of Drakemire the Indie Gamer Seal of Approval