Dragon Fin Soup

 PC
User Score
5.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 20 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 20
  3. Negative: 8 out of 20

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  1. JPoppaWUSC
    Jan 21, 2016
    9
    Grimm Bros deserves a huge round of applause for what they've put together with Dragon Fin Soup. It's a hugely ambitious project for an indie developer, and in their first game release, they've managed to serve up a flavorful mix of roguelike conventions, JRPG inspirations, and modern innovations. The wealth of content is staggering, even if the hardcore Souls-esque difficulty keeps casualGrimm Bros deserves a huge round of applause for what they've put together with Dragon Fin Soup. It's a hugely ambitious project for an indie developer, and in their first game release, they've managed to serve up a flavorful mix of roguelike conventions, JRPG inspirations, and modern innovations. The wealth of content is staggering, even if the hardcore Souls-esque difficulty keeps casual players from being able to see or appreciate much of it. But like Demon's/Dark Souls, DFS offers a great sense of accomplishment and reward if you can brave its challenges. That's not to say DFS's initial launch was flawless, but Grimm Bros has more than made up for any hiccups with constant support and software patches. They really listen to the fans and are tirelessly making improvements to the game, despite it already being a rich experience as-is. Mainstreamers need not apply, though. DFS revels in deep combat mechanics and a unique set-your-own-pace blend of strategic turn-based and real time elements. It is also among very few games I've seen make intelligent use of its procedurally-generated maps, as the environments are much more nuanced than the repeating corridors you'd typically expect, and landmarks keep locations feeling familiar even amongst the randomness. There are also plenty of mini-games and side quests to fill your grind, and character/skill customization boasts tremendous depth. The visual style is slick, too, and it's refreshing to play a retro-inspired indie game that isn't made up of equally retro pixel art. The bottom line is, if you enjoy a challenge and understand what to expect in a roguelike RPG, Dragon Fin Soup is a must-play title on any platform, and despite its inspirations being well-worn territory since the 80s and 90s, Grimm Bros has still managed to bring some new ideas to the table. For that, we can afford an indie dev some patience and more dedicated fandom, especially since DFS is still one of the earliest crowdfunded game projects to deliver on promises with an actual release. Good work, guys!… Expand
  2. jomon_jim
    Nov 5, 2015
    1
    It's a let down. It looks good from a distance but doesn't play well or have much content when compared to similar roguelikes. I played long enough to get into the story a bit. It's cliched and doesn't get anywhere for oh, about 10 hours - depending on how long the bugs hold you up/ how much patience you have/ if you want a refund from steam [usually a 2 hour time limit according toIt's a let down. It looks good from a distance but doesn't play well or have much content when compared to similar roguelikes. I played long enough to get into the story a bit. It's cliched and doesn't get anywhere for oh, about 10 hours - depending on how long the bugs hold you up/ how much patience you have/ if you want a refund from steam [usually a 2 hour time limit according to their website]. This is not a comprehensive list of everything wrong with this game. That would take too long. Suffice to say there were some poor design choices and the play testing must have been carried out on guinea pigs or true believers. Or both.

    Graphics: The visuals are only good from a distance. In fact they end up taking away from the gameplay. The terrain obscures the map. It's hard to select the right target. You have to cut down swathes of grass and entire forests just to find and then fight the enemies.

    Controls: like a bad console port, though the devs have stated that the PC is the main release. Keyboard works, WASD and enter. Mouse is an imprecise, expensive mess. Controller is shoddy. Touchscreen is to be avoided at all costs.

    UI: doesn't make sense. Separate menus for inventory, equipment, and pets that could realistically be combined into one. You have to push escape three times to exit back to the game. Crafting is a tedious mess. While possible to discover recipes, when given the number of ingredients with 8 ingredient slots, it quickly becomes obvious that the math is against you. Furthermore you have to "level up" your crafting ability in order to craft items that you must have a certain character level to use. A tedious redundant grind ensues!

    Music: works.

    Sound: there's a very annoying voice during combat that announces every critical and back-stab. These happen frequently, backstabbing being the only way to succeed in combat. It's like a kid playing with a new voice modulator toy set on Marianas Trench.

    Weather: the rain drops land on your camera/screen, which is facing down. How did this get into the game?
    The day/night cycle continues while indoors and underground. There is nothing as dark as a night in a coal mine in Dragon Fin Soup.

    Content: it compares poorly to most roguelikes out there. There is no way to view the monster's stats. Your skills have descriptions but no numbers attached. Leveling is random and uninteresting. As the areas level with you too, it's actually a little pointless. You can't go back to most places, so you never get to feel any progress. The loot comes out of ubiquitous crates and occasional treasure chests but almost never from monsters, which doesn't feel very satisfying. And there isn't much variation. At a given character level you will find the same three or four weapons and armor that were created for that level. You will sell those same items for thousands of gold while completing the mission will net you only several hundred. You can improve your items with single use gems obtained after missions. Unfortunately one of the bugs is that those improvements disappear when you load the game, though the +1, +2 or +3 name lingers.

    Bugs: many. too many to count. They are actively squashing them. But you can easily get stuck with no way out. Your upgraded items will lose their stats. The fish you catch will disappear (apparently fixed). It will crash and you'll lose your progress frequently (not fixed).

    All of that said, I had some fun once or twice. It very nearly scratched a certain roguelike/tactical rpg itch. It will be better after the bugs are gone, but the content is still a bit dry. There aren't enough ingredients in this soup for me. There are tastier offerings out there, especially this month.    … Expand
  3. RyanBlood
    Jan 20, 2016
    9
    Dragon fin Soup has cemented itself as one of my favorite roguelikes of 2015 and my favorite strategy RPG of all time. Though when it first released, it had some UI problems that added some friction to menu navigation, those problems were fixed in the first patch after the devs got some user feedback. I hope more studios learn from that approach.
  4. paravia79
    Jan 23, 2016
    8
    Highly addictive and fun. I have played a single game of 15+ hours so far. There are several small bugs, most of which are fixed, but were almost inevitable when you consider it is an Indie company making their first game and they released it multiple systems on day one. Personally I've only played the PC version of this, but the only game mechanics that I have had problems with areHighly addictive and fun. I have played a single game of 15+ hours so far. There are several small bugs, most of which are fixed, but were almost inevitable when you consider it is an Indie company making their first game and they released it multiple systems on day one. Personally I've only played the PC version of this, but the only game mechanics that I have had problems with are storage space (which has been mostly fixed) and the crafting setup/window. Grimm Bros also deserves respect for listening to their fans to fix the problems that were the biggest issues quickly.… Expand
  5. Sjalka
    Nov 7, 2015
    2
    This is one of those games where i cannot help but think "its a shame..." .

    The design of the characters is quite well done (sort of similar to the design of the creatures of the game "Giana Sisters - Twisted Dream" - a kind of retro high resolution render of 90s characters or so... ) ... , there is plenty to explore - and three game modes. (although i really do not quite get the    This is one of those games where i cannot help but think "its a shame..." .

    The design of the characters is quite well done (sort of similar to the design of the creatures of the game "Giana Sisters - Twisted Dream" - a kind of retro high resolution render of 90s characters or so... ) ... , there is plenty to explore - and three game modes. (although i really do not quite get the difference between endless labyrinth and survival - but i guess that is just me).

    On the other hand - it is the design that completely renders the game broken. In a game where awareness of terrain, location of monsters, monster pathing and pick ups is CRUCIAL ... there could not have been a design decision WORSE than what they did to Dragon Fin Soup.

    I reckon that it may be a nod to the old jrpgs with their tile based semi top down view (Zelda like) - but it does not work for Dragon Fun Soup ... at all. Obstacles on the lower part of the map continously obscure the vision - while it is simply not possible to identify each tile the character stands on. In addition - there are many situations where a clear path is nearly impossible to spot (stairs).

    This game may have worked in either a true isometric view - or a technical isometric view (i mean a view that keeps the horizontals - but flips the verticals diagonally - like i think Civilization IV - if i remember correctly)

    It is also the choice of viewpoint that keeps me from giving it more than 3/10 - because it is probably impossible to patch a different view into the game... .

    Other than that - the animations are .... sadly ... not very good either. They feel too fast - especially compared to the rather highly detailed character models. (it kind of feels like the animation consists of 1-2 images only)

    On we go to the next problem .... the UI.

    The game was made for PC (among other platforms - i know) .. meaning it is not a conversion or so. But the UI does not seem intuitive for PC at all. Strangely layered inventory screens and rather complicated customization of items and skills - also a fairly bad vendor option. (complicated refers to "too many mouse-clicks needed for a simple action)

    I do not really want to keep piling on about what this game gets wrong ... so i ll rather write that a much better alternative is "Sword of the Stars - the Pit" - which does not look as nice graphically (well, it is a 2d pixel game) - but it gets many, many aspects of a roguelike dungeon crawler much more right.

    So - Dragon Fin Soup .... great character designs but terrible gameplay.    … Expand
  6. rodericrinehart
    Nov 8, 2015
    1
    This game is truly awful. I mean really really had and boring and unpolished. It is a mess. As a Kickstarter backer, I am extremely disappointed with it and definitely would not purchase it even for a dollar even if you can get it for free on PlayStation Plus, I wouldn't even waste the bandwidth or hard drive space. It sucks really bad.
  7. rileykard
    Jul 24, 2019
    0
    The game is a mess, simply unplayable. Bugs everywhere, crashs all the time, impossible to get the Platinum Trophy and even if for some miracle you're able to play, is just a mediocre game overall.

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  1. Brash Games
    Dec 3, 2015
    40
    Dragon Fin Soup isn’t very good. If time was left to polish and optimize the game for each platform then it would have been actually decent, although more than a polish will be needed to fix the interface.
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