Welcome to our review of DreamWorks Dragons Dawn of New Riders, an animated movie inspired game that we reviewed and loved!
A new heroic dragon and rider are taking to the skies and only you can help them defeat the evil villains who destroyed a dragon sanctuary created by Hiccup, Toothless, and his dragon riders.
When the island of Havenholme is found in ruins, mysterious survivors emerge as unlikely future heroes. Scribbler is a scholar who cannot remember his past while Patch is a unique breed of dragon, a “chimeragon,” with new, unexpected powers they discover along the way. Together they must explore new islands, battle fierce enemies and recover the memories that reveal Patch’s true origin in this fun and fiery new action adventure.
Based upon the animated movie series How to train your Dragon, this game is more of a rarity nowadays than the norm. I remember the days where movie inspired game were a dime a dozen. Nowadays, we just get a few of them each year, my last one being the Pikmin clone of Hotel Transylvania.
This game too, could be called a clone, but a very decent one. DreamWorks Dragons Dawn of New Riders has a few great mechanics and much like a very famous action-adventure game series, you will soon see the resemblances and before I start drawing the comparisons, let me say that I absolutely adored this game.
I usually tend to avoid spoilers, but I will make an exception this review as they will serve to explain how great this game really is. So aside from the obvious story of good versus evil, you will soon realize most of the game is all about being inside a small world where you need to solve puzzles and beat enemies in order to advance.
So first, let us talk about the puzzles. Imagine having several rooms in the so-called level, you walk around, solve puzzles like pushing stones onto trapdoors so they open up doors. Sometimes you must do multiple missions to open the way to the boss. Sounds familiar right?
Next is the enemy part. Most enemies are quite simplistic, you can dodge and hit them from behind. You can power up and perform a big time attack with a higher damage rate. Along the way, you will grab more and better weapons.
Let us also not forget the option to switch and use Patch, your Chimeragon. At first, all Patch can do, is basically freeze the water so you can cross it. Along the remainder of the game, he will slowly power up and even gain flying powers and become bigger. I loved switching between him and Scribbler, they added some puzzles where you need to employ the use of both of them. Quite smart!
Throughout the game, you will also get some mild RPG elements like getting items for healing purposes and so much more. There is this one character called Astrid, whenever you meet her, you can buy (or trade) items with her, this will be your favorite moment of the game, nothing beats having 3 vials of heart refills.
Last but not least, as you progress, you also get more hearts, increasing your vitality which in turn will allow you to receive more damage though some enemies do dish out bigger damage too….
Now, I am sure most of you have linked the game series I was talking about, this game very much compares to the original Zelda series. I adore how well the dungeon mechanics are mixed with the storylines and even the big bosses. Which are obviously dragons mostly, sorry for the spoiler, but the dragons have been put under some sort of evil control and you need to destroy those orbs.
Destroying orbs is not always easy! It is not just waiting for the attacking pattern to allow for entry and a few swings of whatever weapon you have equipped! No, you need to figure out the entire way to solve the puzzle it represents. Take the second dragon you need to free, I will not spoil the way but let me hint at being patient…
Graphically, this game looks just what you’d expect of a random animation movie turned game. It looks quite fun and has some bright smart use of the way to depict the dungeons. They are “dark” but bright at the same time. Whoever designed this game, they sure know how to keep the dark and eerie atmosphere of the dungeon but make it cleanly accessible to children.
In conclusion, this game might be my current new favorite game. It brings a lot of fun and some great gameplay to the Nintendo Switch and might be the next best thing for Zelda fans to own.
