Here Be Dragons

 Switch
Metascore
68

Mixed or average reviews - based on 4 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. Gaming Nexus
    Sep 21, 2020
    88
    Apart from the humor, the well done mechanics, the unique presentation, the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have Here Be Dragons or the Romans ever done for us? My only real criticism is that while there is little to fault on that first go, the game does struggle to offer real replayability. It's an excellent strategy game. So play it once through for that good trip and let that be enough.

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User Score
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No user score yet- Awaiting 1 more rating

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Ninten_Dom
    Feb 19, 2023
    7
    OVERALL - 7/10
    An innovative strategy game with an engaging story, suiting visuals and soundtrack that unfortunately turns dull and boring at    OVERALL - 7/10
    An innovative strategy game with an engaging story, suiting visuals and soundtrack that unfortunately turns dull and boring at points. However, the ending kind of makes up for this. Replayability is close to none. I find the full price to be too high, get it on sale for the story. For the gameplay though, just get Dicey Dungeons.

    STORY - 7.5/10
    The game explores the fictive backstory of the discovery of America through different threads of action. The story is seemingly a mess at first, but everything comes together in the end. The game itself is packed with jokes, occasionally good ones, but mostly mediocre (at least they flew over my head). Overall a fun story with a great ending, and some sea mythology lore. Total playtime between 4-10 hours depending on playstyle, 6-7 hours on average.

    GAMEPLAY - 7/10
    Here Be Dragons is a turn-based strategy game seasoned with creative elements, such as dice mechanics, dynamic squad and many more unique ideas. The game is divided into chapters, each chapter has 3/4 missions. The player plays a different squad in each chapter, so progress is lost after each one. The first third of the game introduces the various mechanics with each new chapter. I found these introductory stages too easy and a little boring, even with all the "fast" settings turned on. Things only got interesting to me in the last third, where actual strategy and planning starts to matter in order to win. As said, squad progress is lost between chapters, but basic upgrades are available after successful missions that carry on within that chapter. Performance is smooth, with no lags, crashes and game breaking bugs encountered.

    CONTROLS - 6/10
    No touchscreen controls available. Game plays in handheld, tabletop and TV modes, Pro Controller is supported. Single Joy-Con control is not possible. The controls are unusual at first, but can be gotten used to. Text is easily readable in both docked and handheld modes. Pop-ups sometimes cover important info on the screen, but they can be closed. Unit and menu control (especially in the settings) is counterintuitive at times.

    GRAPHICS - 8/10
    The artstlye and visuals perfectly match the setting of the game, with beautiful hand-drawn models and animations, making it feel like it's played on the pages of a book. Player actions always indicate the target with the visual effects, while opponent actions mostly not - potentially a bug?

    AUDIO - 9/10
    Sound effects are pleasant and memorable. During missions ocean wave sounds can be heard along with various sound effects. Music is only played during "cinematics" and in menus, it has a piratey/sailory vibe to it, fitting the theme. Volumes can be set separately fr0m the settings menu. There's no voice acting, storytelling is purely through text.

    OTHER
    Original language is polish. English translation is sometimes gramatically, and rarely contextually incorrect - this is frustrating when you realize mid-mission that some mechanics work differently than expected, forcing you to restart. Luckily this doesn't happen often.
    The term "Here Be Dragons" comes fr0m medieval cartography where it was used to refer to the unknown - making it a smart title for the game.
    Bestiary is complete since the beginning with lore and abilities, and silhouettes of the monsters. It would be more cunning to leave undiscovered pages blank, especially since it pops up automatically every time a new monster is encountered.
    The game screams for roguelike/roguelite elements that are completely absent, so after one playthrough every mission is exactly the same again, the difference only being in the randomness of dice rolls. Basically no replayability at all.    … Full Review »
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