Developer: Megafun Games
Publisher: Oasis Games
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4
Tested on: PC
Hidden Dragon: Legend – Review
Hidden Dragon: Legend could be the title of a movie spin-off in the ‘Hidden Dragon, Crouching Tiger universe, but it isn’t. It is however a game developed by Megafun Games Ltd and published by Oasis Games. It’s the developer’s first game and thus their first tentative steps into the world of game development. Where many have failed or fallen to corporate greed. Whether or not Hidden Dragon: Legend is a fluke or not, only time will tell. This being their first does make it so you can’t have prejudice toward the developer. In other words, cut them some slack.
Story
The game starts off with quite a decent intro. It could very well be a fairy tale. There was once a princess, and whether or not she was fair haired or not or beautiful or not is up to the gamer, she was however very, very intrigued by the prospect of being immortal. They found a stone and realized the mineral could grant immortality. However, it isn’t all sunshine and rose petals, as immortality doesn’t come easy. After decades of research, the clan hadn’t come close to unlocking the secret and the princess died. The order disbanded as their sole leader had given the ghost and a time of peace falls over the lands. As for many strong artifacts, however, time repeats itself and a new order has risen to try and unlock the powers of immortality and take over the world. At their head the mysterious ‘Dark Raven’. So it’s up to you to end their reign of terror and save the world from devastation.
Graphics
The graphics of Hidden Dragon: Legends are a bit hit and miss. The textures could somehow be improved by having a tad more cell shading going on, but that’s currently not the case. This would add to the rather comical villains and the setting as a whole. The animations in the cut scenes aren’t always as fluid, but when it comes to the actual combat, they are very fluid and the flashiness of the hero and his attacks are just sheer eye candy. This does however come at the cost of losing track of what’s going on at all times during combat. The level design is rather well done, and you’re always looking for extra chests and ways to get to them. The levels are also quite interesting because of the fact that none of them actually look the same, so the developers did quite some work into designing all the stages.
Sound
The soundtrack of the game is interesting during the first two stages it plays, but as the stages continue, the music starts to become repetitive. There is a difference in music between combat and just meandering around, but it’s constantly the same, so a little more variety would be nice. Hidden Dragon: Legend has voice acting, it’s in a rather unusual language –though it perfectly fits the scenery- and thus it’s difficult to know if what’s being said doesn’t get lost in translation. The voice actors have given it their all and it shows. You can hear the emotions even though the lip synch is non-existant. So you don’t have to speak the language to enjoy it.
Gameplay
Hidden Dragon: Legend is a 2,5D action/adventure hack and slash game. If you are keyboard user, but don’t like preset locked keys, then you’ll rejoice over the fact you can completely customise the keys to your liking. That’s not all however, you can plug in a controller and go at it with that. This is probably the preferred setting as there are rather a lot of actions and trying to include all the combat utensils in a fight will mean you’ll need quite some finger gymnastics to make it work and not mangle your hands in the process.
There’s the strong and light melee attacks, the strong and light dart attacks, a claw attack and a dodge. You can even combo this with magic which you unlock as you play the game. The latter is another three keys added onto the already six keys… so you’ll need every finger to just fight, without even taking into accord that you’ll need your movement keys to manoeuvre in combat. If you want to dodge without having the required energy you can always jump or double jump, which makes for ten keys to just fight, with the four movement keys it takes a total of fourteen keys to make the combat enjoyable. So a controller is definitely the way to go if you plan on playing this game past the opening stage.
As the game progresses new enemy types are unleashed upon you and you’ll have to use every aspect of combat to make it out on top. As you play the game you’ll unlock new daggers and swords with different strengths and weaknesses to suit your play style. Killing enemies grants you blue and red energy, red lets you upgrade skills which buff your character. These skills will unlock as you open chests and find the scrolls, and the blue energy lets you buy potions to heal you if you take too many hits. Healing also takes up a key, so that’s fifteen keys occupying your keyboard. It is instantly so you’ll be able to keep on fighting without the waiting for health regeneration like in Dark Souls.
Conclusion
Hidden Dragon: Legend is definitely quite a meaty game and will give you quite some bang for your buck. You can play it as a hack and slasher, but should you really master the swordplay this game becomes almost majestic eye candy. If you are looking for a decent hack and slash game, then this will quench your thirst, if however you aren’t into games like ‘Strider’ then best give this game a wide berth.
Hidden Dragon: Legend - Review,
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