Dragalia Lost

 iOS
Metascore
69

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
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  1. 148Apps
    Oct 2, 2018
    70
    Dragalia Lost is a fine game, and I bet it will be a successful one too. I’m all for quality, new gacha games, but this is not how I want to see Nintendo operating in the mobile space. Despite being a decent game, Dragalia Lost doesn’t feel Nintendo-like at all. Instead, it feels like a polished up version of the games we’ve all already seen on the App Store, making Nintendo’s mobile efforts really feel like an afterthought rather than any sort of space for exciting new game developments.
  2. Pocket Gamer UK
    Oct 1, 2018
    70
    For fans of gacha games, Dragalia Lost is one of the best of the bunch. However, Dragalia Lost is still, at its core, more of the same.
  3. Destructoid
    Oct 12, 2018
    60
    The wonderful art, music, and lore deserve to be in something more original than Dragalia Lost. There are a hundred different versions of this game already available on app stores and it doesn’t do very much to hoist itself above the competition. This title may represent Nintendo’s riskiest attempt at breaking big into mobile gaming, going with an original IP instead of known property, but it also represents its least creative.
  5. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Aug 22, 2019
    50
    Give Dragalia Lost a pass for now. For the same amount of money and time, you could support a developer by buying and playing an actual, full game. [Issue #38 – March/April 2019, p. 20]
    All this publication's reviews
  6. Metro GameCentral
    Mar 5, 2019
    50
    The lack of challenge and the fact that you can complete the campaign for free but get roasted in multiplayer without paid upgrades are symptoms of a deep-seated mediocrity. It may be slick, but it’s a peculiarly empty experience.
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  1. NintendoWorldReport
    Oct 9, 2018
    I first tried to judge Dragalia Lost on how money-hungry it was but instead grew as a gamer. Dragalia Lost proves free-to-play isn’t the demon I thought it was. With a ton of content, deep, fluid gameplay, and top-notch production, Dragalia Lost is worth every penny a player spends on it. See you in co-op!

Awards & Rankings

79
#79 Best iOS Game of 2018
6
#6 Most Discussed iOS Game of 2018
26
#26 Most Shared iOS Game of 2018

User Reviews

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User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 43 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 43
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 43
  3. Negative: 10 out of 43
  1. TitaniumDragon
    Nov 6, 2018
    4
    Dragalia Lost is an action RPG gacha game for mobile phones. Like all gacha games, there are two central mechanics:

    • What characters you    Dragalia Lost is an action RPG gacha game for mobile phones. Like all gacha games, there are two central mechanics:

    • What characters you get, beyond a few story-related characters, is random, and more can be purchased via microtransactions.
    • The game involves large amounts of grinding, some of which can be skipped or accelerated by spending money on the game via microtransactions.

    Many people find these practices to be predatory. And yet, the game has a very acceptable free to play experience on the whole. And unlike most games of its type, it actually has fairly decent gameplay on the whole.

    But this isn’t a game I can recommend to anyone; it’s an endless hole for your time (and if you are a whale, your money). It is a game that centers on grinding, over and over again.

    The game seems pretty simplistic at first – you attack by tapping on the screen, navigate around environments by dragging on the screen in the direction you want to go (rather than clicking somewhere and running to it), can make charge attacks by holding your finger on the screen in a stationary manner, and can use character skills (which gradually charge up by attacking) by clicking buttons on the screen.

    Each weapon type has its own attack pattern, and each character has their own set of two skills and three static special abilities.

    The central conceit of the game that separates it from other, similar games is that you can transform into a dragon by charging up your shapeshifting bar. This basically serves as a super mode, and which dragon you transform into is based on what dragon you are equipped with – this dragon gives you static bonuses to your stats, and when you turn into them, you get to use the dragon’s very powerful special ability and generally smash stuff with your powerful attacks (including some objects in the scenery, which feels pretty satisfying).

    There’s a story campaign that more or less teaches the players the ropes, with you fighting your way through stages consisting of a bunch of weak little monsters, maybe a miniboss or two which is generally pretty easily dispatched, and then finally a boss of some sort at the end. Most of these are pretty simple and repetitive, but there’s a few different boss fights against special characters or against dragons you are trying to impress so they will bond with you so you can transform into them.

    Once you beat all of the story campaign (which is presently incomplete, ending the game on a cliffhanger after only six chapters, which is about 60ish levels or so), the game dumps you out into what might be termed “the real game”. Unfortunately, the real game is endless grinding. You’ve got the “Imperial Onslaughts”, which are five levels, each with their own unique (and often dangerous) level setup and a powerful imperial soldier backed up by a small horde of weaker but still damaging foes. You’ve got the dragon fights, wherein you face off against a powerful dragon. You’ve got three super grindy areas – a money-making level, a elemental orb/crafting elements collection level, and an xp-grinding level – that are pretty trivial in terms of difficulty, but which you must play many, many times to get what you need to upgrade your characters.

    Notably, almost everything in the game can be played in co-op multiplayer, with four players each controlling their own characters, but the game can also almost entirely be played solo, with you controlling one character while three AI teammates tag along.

    Ironically, these final boss fights – the dragons, the raid events, the wave stuff, and the imperial onslaught – all are actually pretty decent. The game abandons its earlier, bland design and actually pushes things in interesting directions mechanically, with attackable body parts, AoEs that can be dodged or prevented, and interesting attack patterns. Overcoming these challenges for the first time actually feels pretty good.

    The problem is that you don’t have to overcome them once or twice; you need to overcome them dozens if not hundreds of times in order to upgrade your characters.

    And for what? To grind some more?

    It just isn’t worth it. The game just isn’t good enough. The game content is repetitive, and the story itself is rather generic. The characters aren’t terrible as far as such things go, each of them pretty much having two dimensions instead of one, but very, very few are any deeper than that, and the game, by randomizing which characters you have, doesn’t really have much of an ability to fill in more details about most of them.

    In the end, this is a game that tries to be compelling, but not in a good way. It is trying to compel you to play it endlessly, but it is all Skinner Boxes, doing the same thing over and over again. The gameplay is decent, but not amazing, and it asks you to do the same things dozens if not hundreds of times.

    Don't play this game.    … Full Review »
  2. PixelBit2503
    Aug 9, 2019
    10
    Nice game, the graphics are good. The story is a little cliche but can entertain. The coop feature is awsome and the gacha rates are very goodNice game, the graphics are good. The story is a little cliche but can entertain. The coop feature is awsome and the gacha rates are very good too. It needs a little polish on the performance on 2GB of ram phones.… Full Review »
  3. Maestrorose
    Jul 22, 2019
    10
    The artwork, music, gameplay, events, and story are great! Very easy to find characters that you connect with and a lot to do!
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