Is Dragon Marked for Death Worth Playing in 2023?

Hack, slash, and seek vengeance in this sidescroller. Is Dragon Marked for Death worth playing in 2023?

Background

INTI Creates is a developer that has been consistently bringing pixelated sidescrollers for over a decade. Today we’re looking at one of their action RPG titles.

When I first tried this game, I immediately had deja vu. “This feels just like the Megaman Zero games”, I thought. As it turns out, it’s the same company. Those older platformers are irrevocably wound into the DNA of this game, so if you liked those back on the GBA/DS, then this will be right up your alley.

It’s the general fantasy trope – your village/clan was destroyed, so now you’re out for revenge. You do quests, level up, get better gear. There are a variety of classes and weapons to keep it from feeling too similar.

What does Dragon Marked for Death do well?

I’ve seen people describe this game as “2D Monster Hunter”, which is pretty accurate. The gameplay loop of doing quests, upgrading, etc is fun. The combat and movement is good. The RPG elements keep it from feeling like a vanilla action game and fuel a sense of progression.

Half price, full game

There’s very little risk if you just want to try this game. There are two character packs: Frontline Fighters (Empress and Warrior) and Advanced Attackers (Shinobi and Witch). It’s the full game, just with two characters instead of all of them. You can purchase the other characters or DLC separately. If you buy the physical version, you get all the characters and should get a code for the DLC.

What could Dragon Marked for Death do better?

Grind

Eventually you’ll hit progression walls. Get ready to grind. I’m sure this a lot more fun on multiplayer, but I couldn’t find any lobbies on the Switch version. There does appear to be a small but consistent player count on Steam, though.

The game structure allows you to play much higher leveled missions if you want to level faster, but the progression is relatively slow. You would think that doing a mission 20-30 levels higher than your character would power level you, but that’s not necessarily the case. It also sucks to get high level drops that you can’t use.

Version confusion

While it’s great that you can pick up the game piecemeal, it’s a bit confusing.

Elements and overall mechanics

So not only is there elemental damage, but you can also choose different elemental “styles” that affect your basic moveset. The game provides some info, but it’s more of a “do your research” situation. I highly recommend checking out the guides on the Dragon Marked for Death subreddit discord, as they helped me min-max my builds for top DPS.

Was Dragon Marked for Death fun?

I enjoyed the game, but I won’t pretend that I didn’t get tired of doing some of same quests ad nauseam. I had a good time with this game solo, but I can see how it would shine in multiplayer.

Who is this game for?

If you like INTI’s other, similar games then this will appeal to you. If you bought the Megaman Zero collection and are yearning for more, then it’d be a shame not to try this out.

Is Dragon Marked for Death Worth playing in 2023?

Many of INTI’s games are singleplayer experiences, but this is tuned for multiplayer. If you’re considering this for Switch, then kiss multiplayer goodbye. However, there is a small playerbase on Steam. If you can guarantee having friends or a party to play this with, then sure, try it out. However, solo players are going to quickly get bored.

Looking for more?

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