Note: Please don’t ask me guide or walkthrough-type questions because I have a HORRIBLE memory so even if you ask where to proceed from a certain point in the game, I probably won’t be able to help you. ^^
For some time now, I’ve been looking for games for my Galaxy Tab 10.1. While there are certainly a lot of games on Google Play, there aren’t many that look interesting to me. It seems that most of the ones I want are only available for folks in Japan. Well, it’s either that or device incompatibility. :E
Just recently, mmgames put a few of their RPGs on sale. Like Kemco/Kotobuki Solutions (makers of RPG Alphadia and Symphony of Eternity), mmgames seems to love slapping premium prices onto their apps. I’m not quite sure why because they’re not spectacular by any means. Perhaps some of them are ports of renown cell phone games or something. Who knows? Anyway, I picked up one of their run-of-the-mill RPGs called Dragon Tear.
Since I’m mostly illiterate to Japanese, some of the following information could be incorrect! The story seems to revolve around a teen named Enon and his dragon friend, Toa. The game begins several years in the past with a young Enon encountering an injured Toa in the forest near Enon’s hometown. For some reason, they become friends but because dragons are feared and considered evil creatures and such, Enon keeps the discovery and the friendship with the dragon a secret.
For the next few years, Enon continues to visit Toa (who took up residence in the forest) but one day, a group of bratty kids (I think, I can’t remember if they were adults are not. XD) from town discover Toa and try to get rid of him. Enon comes to his friend’s defense but — and this is a little iffy since I kind of rapidly clicked through the dialogue XD — somehow gets severely wounded by the group that wanted to kill the dragon. At this point, Toa saves Enon by giving him some of his blood which, I believe, is actually some contract of sorts. I’m not sure if Toa explains it but somewhere along the way, it’s mentioned that humans that receive a dragon’s blood gain incredible strength and powers.
So something happens (^^;;) and the gang of bullies freak out and brand Enon a monster and run back to town. I suppose, since Toa has been discovered and could no longer stay in the forest, Enon decides to leave with him.
Their journey together eventually gets them involved with the evil empire that’s apparently been partially responsible for all the destruction dragons have been causing. In fact, it seems like the empire’s trying to create an army full of super humans by infusing soldiers with dragon blood. Well, at least that’s my interpretation of the events I’m seeing in the game. :3 If anyone else is playing the game and is fluent in Japanese, I’d really appreciate corrections and more information about the story. ^^
Anyway, Dragon Tear itself plays like those old school NES RPGs such as Dragon Warrior so there are no stupid fetch or hunting quests that are so rampant in mobile RPGs these days, and there’s no convenient auto-mapping feature. (I kind of wish there was one because I got lost in the Forest of Eternity a few times. XD)
The game has a rather strange equipment growth system where weapons and armor increase in strength as you attack and get attacked. The odd thing about is is that it gets me confused as to when I should be buying new equipment. I mean, equipment can either have a slow or quick growth rate so if I’m using a weapon with a low base stat and slow growth rate, should I stick with it to max it out? Or should I ditch it and buy another weapon that has a higher base stat and fast growth? I think it would have been better if the game actually showed you what an equipment’s maximum stat was so that it would be easier to make the decision of whether or not a piece of armor or weapon should be scrapped. Oh yeah, the selling price of the equipment also increases as its stats grow.
I do believe that armor only grows if the character wearing it gets hit. I’m actually running into a bit of a problem with this right now. XD You see, Toa’s permanently armed with some red dragon jewel or something so he’s an exception to equipment growth. HOWEVER, enemies seem to love picking on him. This means that he takes the brunt of attacks which deprives the other characters of armor growth! >:E
Here’s a random battle screenshot. I took it after Toa got attacked. XD (The text mentioning the amount of damage taken wasn’t finished yet. ^^)
The strange thing about battles is that there isn’t any option for Enon to invoke some super powerful dragon power move or something. However, during an event scene, he did seem to have powered up so he could punch some enemy dragons. (Not entirely certain WHAT he did since the sprite animations are so simple. XD) But since triggering the dragon blood or whatever knocks him out for a few days, I guess it’s a good thing the option isn’t there. ^.^
koukoupuffs 