Nintendo DS
Drone Tactics
| Graphics: Sound: Gameplay: Overall: |
8.80 8.50 8.30 8.50 |
| Votes: | 10 |
| Reviews: | 1 |
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| Reviewer: Davis | Date: Dec 18, 2018 |
| I played this game when I was a bit younger and revisited it a couple of times as a teen and adult. Personally, I have always liked it a good bit. I have always heard complaints about the story being uninspired and weak. Now, I don't claim it to be a masterpiece in regards to storyline such as with Final Fantasy or Fire Emblem, but I do not believe the story is negligible and utterly boring like with some other games. The story is actually alright, but has several plot conveniences and a more or less "you're the chosen one to save the world" kind of deal, which is something we have all seen many times. So, while it is uninspired to some degree, that does not mean there are not elements that you could enjoy.
Graphics: 7 Drone Tactics has varying graphical looks. In some ways, like when there are fighting animations, the movement is a tad clunky and can look unattractive with that dull pixelated DS graphics look. When looking on the battlefield, however, the game is far more colorful and actually looks pretty dang good in my opinion. Same goes with the Hangar and the character portraits--- they look sharp and have a good bit of personality. If Pokemon and Mario are 10's, this is in the 7-8 range for me. There is plenty to like, but it can look a little unattractive sometimes. Sound: 8 Underrated as hell. In all seriousness, this game has great soundtracks, but the one above is definitely my favorite. The soundbite noises are refined and sound really good. Nothing sounds out of place. The only thing is some soundtracks are a bit short, and I really cannot claim them to be as up-to-par as Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. Success (the developer) did a great job describing Drone Tactics efficiently through noises. There is not much else to say, I really do think it is, or about, perfect in this department. Gameplay: 8 This is where is have the most praise and the most quarrels for Drone Tactics. There is a battlefield where you move units that are giant (mechanical) bugs! Each have different strengths and weaknesses, which are defined by stats. This plays like Fire Emblem, except there is not really an established rock-paper-scissors effect, but more so a Pokemon system where the type of weapon equipped and stat alignment are what create the main damage output. Regardless, the chessboard playstyle of this game does it a lot of justice. You can use cannons for long range, lasers at even longer range, melee weapons up-close, and guns up-close. Some drones use some weapons better than others, and some are incredibly overpowered. The gameplay can be fairly complex, though I do not think you need more than a general understanding of how things work to 100% the whole thing. There are challenge levels you can beat to farm experience if you are having trouble with story mode. You can edit the color scheme, emblem, weaponry, and/or support devices of all of your drones. Between each story level, there are conversations you can tap into between the characters. One thing that I always hated (sorta) was the card system. If you want, you can use these cards that allow you to do whatever the card says. No matter the card, there are minigames you have to win in order to get the maximum effect of the card. Some are not very difficult (like the most common ones that boost attacks), but when you AND your opponent use a card or you use a defensive card, those minigames are annoying and trash in my opinion. In many cases, they rely on luck and annoying CPU programming. Luckily, you do not have to play the annoying one nearly as often, but the game you play where you have to tap really fast gets redundant. Overall, I think you game would be better of either with better minigames or not having them at all. Some drones suck really bad. I know that this happens in other RPGs, but since there is a more or less limited number of drones you actually get the whole game, I really would've expected they be good. The butterfly is terrible and dies easily to everything that isn't a laser. The cockroach actually insanely defensive, but the game has no mechanics that benefit being bulky unless you can also hit hard as well, such as would be the case with the pillbug. The stag beetle is just the rhino beetle except slightly more mobile, less defensive, and less offensive. There are a couple more, but those are some of the worst in my opinion. You could use them if you really wanted to, but there are just better options. If you want to know: rhino beetle, firefly, mantis, pillbug, moth, ladybug, dragonfly, and cicada are some of the best in the game in my observation. You should have at least 1-2 drones that are resistant to laser attacks or that could hurt you later. Anyways, the gameplay is basically Fire Emblem but a bit different. It looks really good and it is fairly solid. There are gripes, but none that directly prevent you from enjoying the game by too large a margin. Overall: 8 Drone Tactics is very good. It is underrated, at the very least. The story is good enough, but the gameplay is strong alongside the graphical features. It definitely is not the best strategy game ever, but if you are looking for a new game that is not Fire Emblem but is solid, this game goes overlooked very often. Seriously, if you Google this game, not much comes up in terms of discussion. Its days have come and gone, and I am sad to see that. It was rated relatively poorly by some entities and just sort of became a forgotten piece. But I urge you to try it at least once. It you think it is cheesy or that the gameplay is not as good as I believe, then that is okay. I think this game is alright, and it would be cool to see you try it. |
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