Fight the Dragon can be described as the love child between LittleBigPlanet and Diablo 3. It combines the creativity freedom of LittleBigPlanet and the main RPG mechanics from the Diablo franchise. The game features four unique classes each with special traits, the warrior, the rouge, an ice warrior and a fire wizard. Players are able to have up to twelve different characters.
The game does not a underlying story, just a goal: Kill the Dragon. However killing the dragon isn’t a simple task. The dragon has a lot of health and does a lot damage, so persistent is important. Moreover, it is expected that you would survive each encounter for a few minutes, damage to the dragon is permanent.
To improve your survivability, players can play through user-created levels finding loot and getting gold pieces. These gold pieces can be used in the ‘Loot Shine’ – luck-based mini game where the more gold offer the better chance of getting a legendary-tier gear.
The game features either split-screen local co-op and four-player multiplayer. Moreover, friends can drop in the game in anytime with loot drops and experience scaled accordingly.
I had the opportunity to try the game during PAX Australia, playing through one of levels. The demonstration was a short level which players had to reach the end. The game was your typical RPG game, where you fight through hordes of enemies and unfortunately there wasn’t a princess at the end. Midway through the level there was a short puzzle section which two pressure plates had to activated. Because the game is meant to be a casual and relaxing RPG the climbing and jumping mechanics are automatic – however it doesn’t help if you can’t run in a straight line… Afterwards, there was a small crypt (fitting as it was near Halloween) where hordes of skeletons and ghost relentlessly continuous attacking, proving for a difficult fight. All-in-all, the game was a charming game that has infinite potential.
Fight the Dragon is currently available through Steam as an Early Access game and will have an official release later this year. Although not fully released, the game has a surprisingly active community with over 40,000 user-created level readily available.