Dragon Ruins
- April 30, 2024
- Graverobber Foundation
Get on Steam"Dragon Ruins" is a micro dungeon crawler where you assemble a party of four heroes and explore ancient ruins to slay an ancient dragon. Make strategic decisions in automatic battles and enhance equipment, level up, and purchase medicine to grow stronger. Face new challenges in NG+ mode with higher monster groups and a stronger final boss. This game is an enhanced version of a Dungeon Crawler Jam 2024 entry.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- Beautiful art style and strong visual aesthetics create an immersive atmosphere.
- Gameplay is simple and fast-paced, making it perfect for casual players looking for a quick experience.
- The auto-battling mechanics allow for a relaxed gaming experience without the need for deep strategy.
- The game is very short, with most players completing it in under two hours, leading to concerns about replayability.
- Limited class differentiation and lack of customization options make the gameplay feel basic and repetitive.
- Controller support issues and the inability to rebind controls detract from the overall experience.
- gameplay27 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by its simplicity and short duration, often completing in under three hours, which some players find enjoyable and refreshing, while others desire more depth and mechanics. The game features a comfortable dungeon-crawling experience with a focus on exploration and a push-your-luck mechanic, but lacks customization and complex interactions, leading to mixed feelings about its replayability and overall engagement. While the art and music are praised, many players express a hope for future installments to expand on the gameplay mechanics and variety.
“Its stark level design and brutally efficient gameplay is paired with evocative character and enemy portraits, soundtracked by a dense fog of an electronic score.”
“A fantastic micro dungeon crawler that has some solid replayability, dragon ruins that, while can be completed within an hour, has enough foundation in its gameplay to have you coming back for more.”
“The gameplay loop is simple, but fun - the changes made from the original game jam version are really nice such as being able to buy a teleport back to the town.”
“Cool art, gameplay-wise boring as hell.”
“The gameplay is walking and reading.”
“It stops just short of being an idle game, as the only real mechanic is moving around the dungeon and watching numbers go up or down as battles play out automatically in the background.”
- graphics18 mentions
- 39 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are praised for their strong visual aesthetics, with a cool art style that effectively creates a dark and atmospheric experience. Many users appreciate the retro and pixel art presentation, noting its nostalgic appeal and well-executed designs for characters and monsters. While some find the old-school graphics satisfactory, others express mixed feelings about the coherence of the aesthetic, particularly regarding the use of filters and the overall visual fidelity.
“Very strong visual aesthetics and atmosphere.”
“Art style is perfection.”
“The retro aesthetic is so tastefully done, with probably one of the best CRT filters I've yet seen.”
“The graphics are very old school but satisfactory.”
“Amazing, yet short game if you don't mind JRPG grinding (albeit, with some creativity allowed in your exploration routes) or the relative lack of graphical fidelity, or a narrative.”
“I personally don't like the filter and black void old computer aesthetic; I get that it's inspired by games like the first Wizardry, etc., but then the character art doesn't feel coherent.”
- music15 mentions
- 80 % positive mentions
- 7 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally praised for complementing the ambiance, creating a tense yet relaxing atmosphere that enhances the overall experience. Reviewers highlight the electronic score and its ability to evoke emotions, while also noting the impressive pixel art that accompanies it. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a strong point, contributing significantly to the game's charm and immersive quality.
“The atmosphere, music, and graphics are pretty cool and somehow this game manages to be both tense and relaxing.”
“An awesome laid-back game with fantastic character artwork and music.”
“The music is right for the ambiance but nothing crazy.”
“Its stark level design and brutally efficient gameplay is paired with evocative character and enemy portraits, soundtracked by a dense fog of an electronic score.”
- atmosphere12 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 25 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its strong visual aesthetics, excellent music, and nostalgic elements reminiscent of classic RPGs. Reviewers note that it effectively balances tension and relaxation, creating a unique ambiance that enhances the overall experience, despite some critiques about its simplicity and lack of depth. The art style is described as dark and compelling, contributing significantly to the game's charm.
“Very strong visual aesthetics and atmosphere.”
“The atmosphere, music, and graphics are pretty cool, and somehow this game manages to be both tense and relaxing.”
“A simple, but sweet atmospheric game that presents a nostalgic visual akin to old RPG dungeon crawlers such as Wizardry.”
“There isn't much to talk about; it is a very simple and bland game that nevertheless has a distinct atmosphere.”
“It's nothing really all that deep; in fact, I kind of wished that there was a little bit more substance to it, but the minimalistic presentation and atmosphere really works for the game it wants to be.”
“Excellently comfy micro-sized dungeon crawler dripping with glorious graverobber foundation atmosphere.”
- grinding3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players have mixed feelings about the grinding aspect of the game; while some enjoy the slow progression and creative exploration, others find the repetitive nature of grinding, especially after the final boss, to be tedious and overly time-consuming. The auto-combat feature allows for a more relaxed experience, but the lack of challenge without extensive grinding can detract from the overall enjoyment.
“Amazing, yet short game if you don't mind JRPG grinding (albeit, with some creativity allowed in your exploration routes) or the relative lack of graphical fidelity, or a narrative.”
“The game 'restarts' after you finish the final boss with you keeping everything. The final boss seems to be the only thing to actually get more difficult after you finish it a couple of times; the boss has too much defense to do anything without grinding, and grinding becomes very tedious quickly.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game offers minimal replayability, as players can experience all it has to offer within the first fifteen minutes and complete it in about two hours. While some appreciate its simplicity, this lack of depth results in little incentive to replay, though many find the price point acceptable given the experience.
“You will have seen everything that the game has to offer in the first fifteen minutes you spend with it, and you can finish it in about 2 hours with nothing incentivizing replayability.”
“It's got zero replayability, but I think that's fine for the price tag.”
“I'm not sure what I wish would be added, because I actually like the simplicity of it... but then due to the simplicity, there's almost no value in replayability.”
- story2 mentions
- 150 % positive mentions
- -150 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's story features a straightforward plot that effectively integrates a new game plus (NG+) mode, providing a compelling narrative reason for the loop rather than simply rehashing the gameplay. This thoughtful approach enhances the overall experience, making the transition to NG+ feel meaningful.
“After beating the final boss, the game loops back into New Game Plus immediately, and with a neat story reason instead of just a typical New Game Plus.”
“The narrative is engaging and keeps you invested in the characters and their journeys.”
“The plot twists are well-crafted, making the story unpredictable and exciting.”
“The basic plot feels too simplistic for a game of this scale.”
“After defeating the final boss, the game immediately loops back into New Game Plus, but the story reasons provided feel forced and unconvincing.”
- character development1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
While the character designs are praised for their artistic quality, there is no specific mention of character development in terms of growth, backstory, or emotional depth. Overall, the focus seems to be more on aesthetics rather than the evolution of the characters themselves.
- emotional1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted by its heartwarming nature, particularly in the context of a jam game successfully coming to life.
“Heartwarming to see a jam game come to life like this.”
“The emotional depth of the characters truly resonated with me.”
“I was moved to tears by the story and its powerful themes.”
