Nice review! I actually have heard of this one but never played it. I seem to recall it getting a very positive review in EGM. I was the rare kid that was a big fan of Koei during the 16-bit era, so I was looking out for games in the next generation that built upon what Koei did. I remember taking an interest in this game but was sad to see it was a Saturn exclusive, and my one Saturn-owning friend wasn't exactly a strategy gamer like me.
I think I saw this as a successor of sorts to Gemfire, maybe also building upon Dark Wizard for Sega CD. But it sounds like it's actually something more unique than either of those games. With the increased interest in SRPG and tactics games, you would think someone would have taken a shot at borrowing some of this game's unique concepts.
The closest thing I could think of was Dynasty Warriors, but I'm not sure that comparison holds much water (I never got into the series). Or maybe the Total War games, which I also never got into. I guess there might be bits of this in SaGa, as far as having a huge cast of characters and an epic military storyline.
Anyway, nothing is quite comparable that I can recall. An ambitious project for sure. Now that SEGA and Nintendo have made nice with each other they should port it to Switch.
A buddy of mine is in the video game industry and made the same Dynasty Warriors comparison when I showed him Dragon Force, but alas, not much the same. I hadn’t thought of Total War, I also never got into those.
I used to play Total War games but it has been a long time now. Total War takes a lot of what I liked about old Koei games though. There is both a tactical and strategic layer, which Koei was always sure to include. Though the turn-based tactical layer was seldom very good with Koei, while the real-time battles are the highlight of Total War.
But it seems like the biggest appeal of Dragon Force is that there’s just nothing like its tactical layer. Fast-paced, with indirect control of your army in a 2D plane.
Nice review! I actually have heard of this one but never played it. I seem to recall it getting a very positive review in EGM. I was the rare kid that was a big fan of Koei during the 16-bit era, so I was looking out for games in the next generation that built upon what Koei did. I remember taking an interest in this game but was sad to see it was a Saturn exclusive, and my one Saturn-owning friend wasn't exactly a strategy gamer like me.
I think I saw this as a successor of sorts to Gemfire, maybe also building upon Dark Wizard for Sega CD. But it sounds like it's actually something more unique than either of those games. With the increased interest in SRPG and tactics games, you would think someone would have taken a shot at borrowing some of this game's unique concepts.
I really think a military history (specifically Eurasian) or LOTR style of this game would be excellent.
The closest thing I could think of was Dynasty Warriors, but I'm not sure that comparison holds much water (I never got into the series). Or maybe the Total War games, which I also never got into. I guess there might be bits of this in SaGa, as far as having a huge cast of characters and an epic military storyline.
Anyway, nothing is quite comparable that I can recall. An ambitious project for sure. Now that SEGA and Nintendo have made nice with each other they should port it to Switch.
A buddy of mine is in the video game industry and made the same Dynasty Warriors comparison when I showed him Dragon Force, but alas, not much the same. I hadn’t thought of Total War, I also never got into those.
I used to play Total War games but it has been a long time now. Total War takes a lot of what I liked about old Koei games though. There is both a tactical and strategic layer, which Koei was always sure to include. Though the turn-based tactical layer was seldom very good with Koei, while the real-time battles are the highlight of Total War.
But it seems like the biggest appeal of Dragon Force is that there’s just nothing like its tactical layer. Fast-paced, with indirect control of your army in a 2D plane.
Sounds great, I will definitely have to get a Saturn emulator set up at some point to check it out. Also, glad you found a venue AR!
Oh hey, quick followup: looks like there's an English fan translation patch for Dragon Force II: https://www.verve-fanworks.com/dragonforceii.html.
I’ll have to set up an emulator at some point and play it, thanks!
Nice collab!!