Dragonborne (2021) [Gameboy]

“You haven’t been bit till a dragon does it.”

-Tamora Pierce, Emperor Mage

Nostalgia – that wistful feeling we get for the things of our past. It’s the reason we look so fondly towards the blocky and pixelated characters from the 8- and 16-bit eras. Dozens of developers have capitalized on this yearning for our love of all things old-school by making hundreds of retro-inspired games this past decade. But what happens when a developer decides to take this concept even further? Enter Spacebot Interactive who developed a brand new 8-bit game called Dragonborne for… the Nintendo Game Boy!?

That’s right! Not only is it going to be playable on actual physical Game Boy hardware but they are taking it all the way with a full boxed package complete with an instruction booklet. Now THAT’s how you nostalgia. As of the time of this writing, they are currently still taking pre-orders for the January 2021 release. Now, keep in mind that what I played for this review was a ROM of the game provided by Spacebot Interactive on an emulator and does not reflect any of the physical aspects of this package.

Dragonborne is a turn-based RPG adventure with a heavy focus on exploration and puzzle-solving. A quick look at the screenshots and you could almost tell exactly what it feels like to play this game. I was immediately brought back to the days when I spent countless hours with my face glued to that gray brick playing many top-down adventures. Walk around town, chat with the villagers, find a cave filled with enemies… it all felt new yet familiar. Something I didn’t expect is how the turn-based battles actually take a back seat to the rest of the adventure.

In typical RPG fashion, you start the adventure by waking up from your bed and being told that your father has gone missing. You play as Kris, son of a famous dragon slayer, and you take it upon yourself to find out what happened. The story itself is simple but kept me intrigued as I spoke with residents who told stories about the heroic exploits of Kris’ father. Everyone knew him and wonders what happened to him. The world is full of characters that will give tidbits of information on the lore and history of Argon, a world inhabited by humans, dragons, and dangerous tribes.

Even though the developers built the game around the limitations of the Game Boy, there are some modern-day conveniences in Dragonborne which I very much appreciate. There are no random battles and enemies appear on the map so you’ll know if you will be fighting someone, and in some cases you’re able to slip past them. Also, once an enemy is defeated they will not reappear, even if you leave the area and come back later, which I appreciated even more. And because there’s no experience to gain I never had to worry about grinding.

However, there are other areas where the game really does feel like it’s an old school adventure. There is no map, no indicator to tell you where to go next, and there were several instances where I walked around back and forth trying to figure out what to do next. The benevolent developers uploaded walkthroughs for Dragonborne on YouTube which I had to consult (twice) when I just had no idea what to do next. Some of the solutions are a bit obscure and would have probably taken me quite a long time to figure out.

I was surprised by how little fighting there actually is in the game, but not in a bad way. The battles are simple, you start off with a single attack and it remains that way for the first hour or two. Fighting enemies actually takes a backseat to exploring and puzzle-solving. You quickly begin amassing tasks to complete—a boulder blocks a path, someone’s cat has gone missing, a resident asks you to catch fish, etc. You won’t always get clear objectives so it will be up to you to discern what to do with the items you find and who to talk to. Speaking to everyone is vital even when it won’t be immediately apparent if the information you’re given is useful.

The 8-Bit Review

Visuals: 8/10

As expected, the graphics are very reminiscent of many other classic Game Boy games. Not much you can do considering there are only four monochromatic shades on a 160 x 144 resolution screen to work with. But the sprites and tilesets are all rendered with care and I came across enough unique environments to keep me looking forward to what comes next. The battle scenes only contain static images of the characters and enemies but the art looks detailed and gratifying, especially the dragons. The animations are all standard and work well, with good attention to detail on the world filled with animals moving around the environments.

Audio: 7/10

Besides the standard Game Boy beeps and bloops, you can expect some good tunes coming from Dragonborne. There are some songs that I found to be a bit lacking, but the good ones were stuck in my head for a good bit. Just like all the different environments, you will come across different songs often enough to where none of the songs really overstay their welcome. I just wish the battle themes had a bit more excitement to them.

Gameplay: 7/10

There is a lot to do in Dragonborne. It is a bigger adventure than I initially thought and the world has plenty to explore. The more areas you unlock the harder it becomes to figure out where to go and which character needed a specific item you just found. The battles are simplistic and your move set is very limited, but the main adventure goes well beyond that. Puzzles are satisfying to crack but you may be stuck for a while on some of the more difficult solutions.

Challenge: 6/10

With the simple battle system, the enemies don’t provide too much challenge. There’s no leveling up either so the enemies will always be as strong as your character. Using potions is vital. If you don’t buy enough potions you won’t make it too far into any of the caves or dungeons. But like I said, the battles are only a minor part of the whole adventure and the puzzles themselves will be what will slow your progress. Without a hint system, the player has to spend quite a long time figuring out some of the puzzles, unless you decide to consult the walkthroughs like I did.

Narrative: 8/10

The game opens up with a short cinematic involving a dragon attacking a house but you won’t really find out what exactly is going on until it’s described by one of the characters you come across. The whole story is told from the perspective of the inhabitants of Argon. The more you progress and meet new characters, the more lore you’ll learn of this fantasy world. There are different towns to find and plenty of characters to meet and interact with, even outside of towns.

Uniqueness: 6/10

While retro-inspired properties are inherently not made to look unique, how a developer uses those assets through gameplay or other means is what would make a game stand out in this category. Dragonborne is a derivation of RPGs from the Game Boy era so nothing really feels unique about the game per se. On the other hand, very few developers are actually creating games to be played on classic systems so that in itself is worth something. Everything about this game feels familiar but is original enough.

Replayability: 7/10

The game contains plenty of hidden secrets and items to find, so someone looking to do a completionist run will have an extended completion time. However, it is unclear exactly how many more items are left to find by the end of the adventure. An endgame rank is given depending on how well you did but replaying the game will be generally the same as there are no decisions that change the story. I’m not sure if there are different endings, but don’t feel particularly motivated to do another playthrough.

UPDATE: I was advised by the developers that there are in fact multiple endings, including a true ending for finishing the game with an A rank. I raised the score accordingly to reflect this.

Personal: 7/10

It was a great joy playing through Dragonborne and feeling all the nostalgia for my childhood adventures on the original Nintendo brick. Although there were times I felt a bit lost and frustrated, the entire game was enjoyable enough for me to recommend it to those that are interested in this type of game. If you don’t mind the simplistic JRPG-like mechanics and having to do plenty of exploration and puzzle-solving, then this is a game that would fit nicely in a Game Boy enthusiast’s collection, especially considering the super cool packaging.

We would like to thank Spacebot Interactive for providing us with a copy of their game for this review!

Aggregated Score: 7.0

Kalas, aspiring content creator (but failing horribly at it) has found a wonderful community of friends to share his love of games through Twitch, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.