The Dragoness: Command of the Flame
- August 10, 2023
- Crazy Goat Games
- 40h median play time
The Dragoness: Command of the Flame is an enjoyable adventure, but it does feel a little underwhelming compared to other turn-based strategy titles.
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store"The Dragoness: Command of the Flame" is a strategy role-playing game where you play as a dragon queen, rebuilding your ancestral lair and commanding dragons to defeat enemies. You'll engage in strategic battles, manage resources, and make choices that impact your dragon's abilities and the story's outcome. The game offers a unique blend of dragon taming and base-building, with vibrant graphics and immersive gameplay.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Windows
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game captures the spirit of classic HoMM gameplay, providing enjoyable turn-based strategy mechanics.
- Map design and variety are praised, with interesting objectives that promote different playstyles.
- It's easy to learn and offers a fun experience, especially for fans of the genre, despite some rough edges.
- The game suffers from repetitive gameplay, with limited unit variety and a lack of depth in combat mechanics.
- Graphics and animations are mediocre, and the overall production values feel low compared to more polished titles.
- Players are frustrated by the need to restart from level 1 each mission, which can detract from the sense of progression.
- story52 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally considered good but not exceptional, with a focus on a hero's journey through various missions that lack depth and memorable plot elements. Players appreciate the voice acting and humor, but many feel that the lack of a cohesive narrative and the repetitive nature of starting fresh with each mission detracts from the overall experience. While the game offers exploration and some roguelike elements, it fails to deliver the rich storytelling and character progression found in classic titles of the genre.
“It looks good, has a good storyline, and the combat is fun.”
“If you like a hero-styled game that follows storyline scenarios, then you should enjoy this game.”
“Voice acting is very well done, thundering with masterful power and grin-inducing humor as a mystical and marvelous story unfolds before your awe-filled gaming eyes.”
“Resetting levels and progress with every mission does remove some of the sense of purpose that makes HOMM and old KB games enjoyable.”
“I’ve actually written down a whole lot of different notes about various things that pissed me off when playing or just made no sense gameplay-wise (like I killed the dragon in the prologue mission, but the game still somehow treats it like it killed me, which is a big story point).”
“Even on the hardest difficulty and doing all optional challenges for missions simultaneously, the game is just too easy.”
- gameplay18 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 61 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The gameplay has been criticized for being shallow and lacking depth, failing to effectively replicate the classic Heroes of Might and Magic experience. Players noted that the food consumption mechanic is largely ineffective, leading to repetitive save scumming to optimize movement. While some find the core mechanics interesting and potentially fun, many feel the overall execution is poor, resulting in a frustrating experience.
“The core gameplay loop (after the prologue mission) is the following – you have a base of operations with a modest selection of buildable facilities, where you can choose from up to 3 slightly randomized versions of starting hero (per mission), up to 3 starting units in the hero’s army, and up to 3 artifacts your hero can equip.”
“The gameplay is currently in an awkward imbalanced phase, but the base gameplay mechanics are really interesting and have the potential to be really fun.”
“I'm so starved for KB/HOMM style gameplay that this will have to do.”
“This game was a pathetic attempt to recreate classic HOMM gameplay, but it failed miserably.”
“The food-consumed-per-turn mechanic that is supposed to add some strategic value is in fact completely obsolete – you will quickly understand which upgrades and artifacts to use to boost the amount of hero movement points to 16+ and clear everything on the map without any problems.”
“I've actually written down a whole lot of different notes about various things that pissed me off when playing or just made no sense gameplay-wise (like I killed the dragon in the prologue mission, but the game still somehow treats it like it killed me, which is a big story point), but for the sake of keeping this review as brief as possible I skip most of them.”
- graphics10 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some praising the beautiful visuals reminiscent of the Heroes of Might and Magic series, while others criticize the overall quality as mediocre, noting issues with animations and inconsistent voice acting. Additionally, long loading screens detract from the experience, leading to frustration despite the game's artistic potential.
“Stunning Heroes of Might and Magic style game with beautiful graphics adorning a world of sinister underpinnings and glittering heroism, as magnificent audio harmonizes in its soothing melodies and brutal intensity of combat resonates across the lands.”
“The general jank of an indie title is present - the animations and graphics are mediocre, and the voice acting quality wildly varies.”
“The loading screens are sleep-inducing long despite the graphics being mediocre.”
“I don't see why this should be the case, as it is nothing complex for the game's AI to do, and the load on the GPU shouldn't be high considering the graphics.”
- stability2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its stability, being well-balanced and free of bugs, which contributes to an engaging experience that encourages players to keep playing for "one more turn."
“It's well balanced, bug-free, and has that 'one more turn' vibe.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game suffers from poor optimization and balance, leading to repetitive combat that quickly becomes tedious due to a limited variety of enemies.
“It's terribly optimized, completely unbalanced, combat gets boring after two maps because it's the same 5 enemies over again.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players note that grinding is necessary to obtain all monster upgrades in the game, but it is achievable with some dedicated farming. Overall, the process is seen as manageable, allowing players to eventually unlock all upgrades if they invest the time.
“Monster upgrades in your city (you can get them all if you want, after a little bit of farming).”
“Monster upgrades in your city (you can get them all if you want, after a little bit of farming).”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is highlighted by exceptional voice acting that combines powerful delivery with grin-inducing wit, enhancing the mystical and marvelous storytelling experience.
“Voice acting is very well done, thundering with masterful power and grin-inducing humor as a mystical and marvelous story unfolds before your awe-filled gaming eyes.”
