Dragon Marked For Death

Overall, Dragon Marked for Death isn’t a perfect title, but damn it’s fun. It has all the right elements of a simple action platformer, but RPG attributes to make the experience deeper and more engaging.

Provided you’re either willing to put in the work in hunting down additional players, or have a few friends interested in joining you, I think you’ll enjoy Dragon Marked for Death quite a bit. As a solo experience it can be a little less compelling, but still enjoyable enough to check out.

Dragon Marked for Death surprised me, even knowing I'd enjoy it after my time with it at Anime Expo last year. Quite a bit has changed since I last saw it, but that's not a bad thing. I'm not sure if I could recommend the game for anyone looking to play it without a group without a giant asterisk next to that recommendation, but there's really nothing else like it, and what it tries to accomplish it does so in spades. It's certainly not for everyone, but Dragon Marked for Death left its mark on me.

While there might be some relative shortcomings in its single player mode, Dragon Marked for Death more than makes up for them with its exciting and creative co-op multiplayer design. Players can hop in instantaneously and help the Dragonblood Clan level up and take on its enemies. There are multiple different versions of the game to get, but ultimately fans are best off buying either the physical edition or both digital bundles in order to get the full, proper experience. It’s tough playing solo, but the multiplayer is so well done that it compensates for this one area of weakness. Definitely keep Dragon Marked for Death on your radar if you’d like a game to play with friends that’s outside the norm.

Dragon Marked for Death is a hot new Switch exclusive that combines Mega Man X, Castlevania, and the difficulty of Monster Hunter into one fun little game.

Dragon Marked for Death’s special spin on the genre is something I hope to see tackled again in the future by Inti Creates.

Dragon Marked for Death's action-packed gameplay is phenomenal and its missions are huge and rewarding to master. However, the lack of a dodge button and the fact that many missions are rage-inducing make it a tough game to thoroughly enjoy.

While I love the moment to moment action, the pacing can still get downright glacial at times. If you’re hoping for an RPG experience, you’ll be rather let down. As far as action platformers go however, Dragon Marked For Death is a ripping good time.

Dragon Marked For Death is an exceptional co-op 2D action-RPG that struggles to provide the same high-quality entertainment when played solo. While solo play is satisfactory, it is a game that encourages multiplayer. If you plan to play the entire game on your own, be cautioned that the experience can become repetitious. Conversely, if you happen to have a few friends that plan to buy or already have the game, then Dragon Marked For Death will provide many hours of entertainment.

While it isn’t without its problems, Dragon Marked for Death embodies the best parts of the multiplayer facet of the side-scrolling 2D action RPG community. Anyone who enjoys the genre and has Nintendo Online would be remiss to not give this game a try.

A demanding title that arrives somewhat late but surprises the old school players.

Inti Creates offers a great game, especially fun when we play with friends. Although it may be repetitive, it is a good title for the progression and the visual and sound effects, which will appeal to the most classic fans.

A game that gives lot of fun to the player, but the lack of a local co-op and a strange business model don't work.

Dragon Marked for Death is a polished experience that draws on a lot of existing genre sensibilities, but with a heavy focus on aspects that make for a good co-op experience. The classes are thematically coherent and entertainingly distinct, and the levels are just varied enough that gliding through one for the first time is always aurally and visually pleasing. The unbalanced single-player experience is a big sticking point, but if you have friends who are willing to take up the Dragonblood mantle with you, then there are few action platformers more entertaining.

Dragon Marked For Death is a good use of Nintendo Switch Online beyond the more obvious releases, and there are dozens of hours of content. Levels are large and full of loot, and enemies and bosses are fun to eviscerate as a full-party “death-ball,” but it’s a hard pass for players who like to go it alone.

Though the game takes a bit more guessing than I’d like to figure out, it’s still a great game. As a huge fan of Azure Striker Gunvolt, I was expecting more polished gameplay from Dragon: Marked for Death and it delivered.

Dragon Marked for Death is a fantastic experience when played with friends - but, only when played with friends. The lack of balance absolutely buries the experience, making single player a horribly flawed one. That could easily have been addressed, or could still be addressed, in a post-release patch. Should this happen, the game would improve massively, and easily stand out as one of the most impressive 2D scrollers in some time. Unless that happens though, this will remain a slog, a wonderful game, horribly marred by foolish design decisions. There are a few DLC chapters in the works, giving an ideal opportunity to make Dragon Marked for Death the best it can be.

Dragon Marked for Death is a frustrating experience because there are some good ideas buried behind some poor decisions. Level design always feels like it’s tuned for more than one player even in the solo experience, which is disheartening, especially after working through a big quest to only fall short and have to start back at the beginning. Coupled with some other minor annoyances and it’s easy to get irritated. Fortunately, playing online with friends runs lag free and helps to alleviate some of the issues that crop up in solo mode, but ultimately proves to be a mediocre Action-RPG.

Despite being in development for eight or more years, Dragon Marked for Death could have actually used more time in the oven. I'm sure there is a great game buried somewhere in there but between its lack of balance, less-than-ideal controls, boring levels, and unfortunate co-op requirements, the end product isn't nearly up to the level of the rest of Inti Creates's catalog.

Given the high standard of gameplay that Inti Creates has shown in many other titles it’s released over the last several years, it’s hard not to be disappointed by Dragon: Marked for Death. Although the art direction is a definite plus, this is merely an inoffensive and unimaginative co-op side-scrolling RPG at best. But looking at the bigger picture, particularly the archaic design elements and baffling exclusion of split-screen play, makes this a release that’s admittedly hard to recommend to anyone that’s not a die-hard fan of the company. If you liked the Mega Man Zero series, this is a passable attempt at recreating that series’ gameplay style and it might resonate with some of you, but we’d otherwise recommend you take a pass on this one.