RPG Dragon Takers

[VertVentus]

The English version went live 3 hours ago, but it's by Vanguard, who isn't one of the 5 companies KEMCO typically publishes for.



https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... kers&hl=en

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rpg-drago ... 6503271538

https://www.kemco.jp/game/dragontakers/en/

You can't flee from battles, but it autosaves after each one. Combat is traditional round-based affair from first-person perspective when you input all commands and then variable SPD order determines the rest; it gives you a timeline of that turn via text to plan things in advance. Level-ups fully restore HP and SP. While it has an auto battle, it lacks an adjustable battle speed. There's a Normal and Easy mode, and this may be placebo, but I noticed more frequent enemy drops on Easy.
Physical damage (STR/P. ATK) can critical and ignore defense (END/P. DEF), magic (INT/M. ATK, there's a separate SPR/M. DEF stat) and breath (fixed) can't. The game does conveniently tell you what enemies are resistant or weak to what: (Avoid) Physical, (Avoid) Magical, Breath, Fire, Ice, Volt, Wind, individual or every Status Effect: Sleep, Paralysis, Confusion, Seal, Daze, or Blind.
There's individual inventories for your equipped gear (Weapon, Shield, Helmet, Armor, Accessory) and a few healing items, 5 equipment/10 total, with a bag for all your other items. Admittedly, it's a little cumbersome to transfer & equip new gear then transfer out the old one. If you equip things straight from your bag, then the transfer is seamless.
There's no free version or in-app purchases. At TGS, KEMCO has said the console version is slated for Winter (Steam listing is currently TBA). There's nothing like Exe-Create's abundance of stat boosters & gacha weapons & secret room buffs or Hit-Point's discoverable permanent stat boosters, you just got level ups and equipment.
Big thing is that the protagonist Helio's normal attacks can steal enemy skills, and more skills gradually increase his normal attack potency up to +30%, but skills taken have to be set after battle. With 100 skills, he can set up to 3 initially, with slots for 5 extra unlocked at Lv. 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30. The options menu lacks a bestiary to keep track of enemies per area or acquirable skills. Aside from boss fights, you're mostly working with 10%, 20%, or 30% chances that do not change with level, so you'll annoyingly be spending many turns normal attack with Helio and defending with your other party members. Despite the frequent encounter rate and nothing to manipulate it, dungeons are so short I actually missed some enemies without intentionally grinding early on, and since the world map is completely linear with no fast travel (Milena/Liana do get a Return spell only to the last town you visited), backtracking is arduous.
The character art is pleasant, and does have Live 2D for cutscenes and battles. There's only 4 party slots, but 5 party members between Helio, Milena, Monica (blonde), Louise (white hair), and Liana (captured at the beginning of the game, goal is to save her as she, Helio, and Milena were the only survivors from a Dragon Army attack), so I assume Milena is only temporary for the early game based on the Google Play store screenshots.
There's no gold currency or shops, so healing items are just drops. Each town and dungeon has a full HP & MP recovery tile you can step on, but equipment you'll need to find in dungeon chests or via drops.

It feels like a classic JRPG mechanically, ripping off Dragon Quest for better or worse, meaning it's a lot more simpler in combat and progression than the modern Exe-Create games I binged recently: Astrune Academy, Alter Age, Isekai Rondo, Miden's Tower, Sword of Elpisia, Chroma Quarternion (Ryuji Takumi is peak). Maybe the story will pick up, as there's at least character art for various side characters to hopefully flesh out the narrative.

An update 2 days later, I've beaten the game with 100/100 skills learned. The story did pick up with a relevant side cast and nice before-the-final-battle dialogue session, but the RNG behind learning skills, lack of QoL (bestiary, encounter rate manipulation, fast travel, fast battle speed) and frequent freezes during menus/dialogue/combat on my Samsung Galaxy A12 (at least 10 indefinite enough to force me to close and reopen my game) hindered my experience, even with Power Save Mode turned on and Tap Effects turned off. I got tired enough of the battles & freezes halfway through and just brought it down to Easy.

Magic can be sealed, breaths can't. There's single-target, group target, and all-target attacks of low/mid/high potency. Physical AoEs have the damage decay with more enemies thing like Dragon Quest Boomerangs, whereas magic/breaths deal full damage to all targets. There is 2 stages to ATK and DEF de/buffs, but only magic/breath resistance buffs, so by Lv. 27 when Liana gets Attack Boost, you'll have Defense Sap on Helio to maximize your physical damage and kill bosses quickly.
There's no formation system or side quests, but dead allies do revive with 1 HP after battle at least. When it comes to enemy physical AoEs, from left to right it'll always be Helio, Louise, Monica, and Milena/Liana, so since Helio & Louise will be taking the majority of damage, you should give them the best defensive gear.
Lv. 40 is the last skill learned for Louise (10th) and Milena/Liana (19th, shared), while it's Lv. 41 for Monica (19th).
There is no post-game, you'll be returned to the title screen after the final bosses and epilogue. I won at Lv. 44ish, while phase 1 gives you a bunch of EXP to level up fill-up for phase 2.

Some of the dungeon enemies and chests have limited access, and even if you forget to steal from a boss, all 100 skills for Helio should be available at any point in the game (he can't learn the 101th skill Return, that's exclusive to Milena/Liana). Backtracking through the linear world map is tiresome though, so I'd grind before moving on. Here's an enemy list with the final boss.
<colgroup><col width="100" /><col width="175" /><col width="100" /><col width="250" /><col width="100" /><col width="100" /></colgroup>


Enemy
Resists:
Weak to:
Takeable Skill
Location
RNG Drop


DA Soldier
-
Ice
Ember Breath
Haven (Boss)
-


Direwolf
-
Breath, Volt
-
Outside Haven, Ghostwood
???


Goblin
-
Breath, Volt
-
Outside Haven, Ghostwood
???


Enchanted Thorn
-
Breath, Fire
Thunder
Ghostwood
???


Fungus
-
Breath, Fire
Thunder
Ghostwood
???


Killer Treant
Status Effects
Breath, Fire
Sonic Blow
Ghostwood (Boss)
-


Mini Dragon
Breath
Volt
Icy Breath
Outside Oldcastle, Crimson Valley
???


Killer Beak
Avoids Physical
Breath, Wind
-
Outside Oldcastle, Crimson Valley
???


Orc
-
Breath, Volt
Sonic Blow
Crimson Valley
???


Night Beetle
Sleep
Breath, Ice
Hypnosis
Crimson Valley
Alert Brooch?


Fanged Beast
Status Effects
Magical, Volt
Melee
Crimson Valley (Boss)
-


Giga Bat
Avoids Physical
Breath, Wind
Wind
Hollow Vein
???


Skeleton
-
Breath Fire
Ice
Hollow Vein
???


Buzzer
Confusion, Avoids Physical
Breath, Ice
Befuddle
Hollow Vein
Clarity Amulet?


Animated Armor
-
Magical
Sonic Blow
Hollow Vein
???


Gigant Hopper
Status Effects
Breath, Ice
Seal
Hollow Vein (Boss)
-


Vine Flayer
Daze
Breath, Fire
Bewitch
Outside Healervale/Celenica
Vision Glasses?


Killer Spore
-
Breath, Fire
-
Outside Healervale/Celenica
???


Lizardman
Breath
Ice
Ember Breath
Healervale (Boss)
-


Golem
-
Magical
Melee
Healervale (Boss)
-


Animated Shield
Physical
Magical, Volt
Fortify
Healervale (Boss)
-


Draconian
Magical
Physical
Thunder
Healervale (Boss)
-


Liana?
Status Effects
-
Fire Burst
Healervale (Boss)
-


Mummy
Magical
Physical, Fire
Tempest, Heal
Celenica
???


Paraflyer
Paralysis, Avoids Physical
Breath, Ice
Bind
Celenica
???


Killer Armor
-
Magical
Melee
Celenica
???


Death Lizardman
Breath
Wind
Spark Breath, Surge Breath, Shock Breath
Celenica
???


Gargoyle
Status Effects, Magical
Physical, Ice
Thunder Burst
Celenica (Boss)
Fairy Clothes?


Ogre
-
Breath, Volt
Flame, Blaze, Supernova
Fort Hopewell (Limited)
???


Goblin Shaman
Seal
Breath, Volt
Magic Seal, Heal, Cure
Fort Hopewell (Limited)


Sealbreaker Medal?



Mage Rat
-
Breath, Volt
Wind, Gale Blast
Fort Hopewell (Limited)
Fairy Clothes?


Orc Butcher
-
Breath, Volt
Hone
Fort Hopewell (Limited)
???


Slaver Violet
Status Effects
-
Ice Burst
Fort Hopewell (Boss)
-


Golbin Mage
-
Breath, Volt
Frigid Blast, Ice Burst, Ice Storm
South of Libram
???


Cyclone Beak
Avoids Physical
Breath, Wind
Gale Blast, Wind Burst
South of Libram
???


Bronze Golem
-
Magical
Cyclone, Gale Burst, Wind Storm
Ancient Ruins
???


Blitz Armor
-
Magical
Lightning Strike, Superbolt
Ancient Ruins
???


Abyssal Armor
-
Magical
Flare Blast, Fire Burst
Ancient Ruins
???


Relic Shield
Physical
Magical, Volt
Fortify, Defense Boost
Ancient Ruins
???


Mimic
Physical, Magical
Breath
-
Ancient Ruins
Knight Dagger


Relic Shield
Physical
Magical, Volt
-
Ancient Ruins (Boss)
-


Atlas Golem
Status Effects
Magical
Battle Royale
Ancient Ruins (Boss)
-


Fire Demon
Magical
Physical
Fire, Flare Burst, Fire Storm
Spirit Realm
Magic Ring


Revenant
Magical
Physical, Fire
Snowflake, Heal, Anti Magic
Spirit Realm
Knight Dagger


Wraith
-
Breath, Fire
Thunder Storm, Thunder Blast, Plasma Burst
Spirit Realm
???


Greater Demon
Paralysis, Avoids Magical
Breath, Ice
Battle Royale, Bind, Revive
Spirit Realm
???


Cursed Drake Bones
Status Effects
Fire
Bind
Spirit Realm (Boss)
-


Dark Skeleton
-
Breath, Fire
-
Spirit Realm (Boss)
-


Dark Skeleton
-
Breath, Fire
Defense Sap, Anti Breath
Langoval Tunnels
Attack Ring?


Shadow Spider
Seal
Breath, Ice
Seal
Langoval Tunnels


Sealbreaker Medal?



Killer Beetle
-
Breath, Ice
Hone
Langoval Tunnels
???


Blitz Stamper
-
Breath, Ice
Superbolt, Thunder Burst
Langoval Tunnels
Defense Ring?


Mimic
Physical, Magical
Breath
-
Langoval Tunnels
Knight Dagger


D. Maiden Liana
Status Effects
-
Attack Sap
Langoval Tunnels (Boss)
Ether Staff


Demidragon
Status Effects, Breath
Ice
Scorch Breath
Battlefield (Boss)
Knight Blade


Lesser Dragon
Breath
Volt
Icicle Breath, Verglas Breath, Frosty Breath
Outside Area 0


Assassin Dagger



Lower Wolf
-
Breath, Volt
Hurricane
Outside Area 0
Guardian Vest


Skull Merman
-
Breath, Fire
Attack Sap, Frozen Burst, Anti Breath
Sewers (Chests Limited)


Sealbreaker Medal? Resist Ring?



Vine Witch
Seal
Breath, Fire
Magic Seal, Area Heal
Sewers (Chests Limited)


Sealbreaker Medal?



Risen Beetle
-
Breath, Ice
Defense Boost
Sewers (Chests Limited)
Resist Ring?


Mutant Bat
Avoids Physical
Breath, Wind
Shock
Sewers (Chests Limited)


Assassin Dagger?



Demon Soldier
Avoids Magical
Breath, Ice
Defense Boost
Archmage's Maze (Chests & Access Limited)
Anima Herb?


Wraith Lord
-
Breath, Fire
Ice Burst, Frigid Blast
Archmage's Maze (Chests & Access Limited)


Anima Herb? Magic Ring?



Lesser Demon
Confusion, Magical
Physical
Befuddle
Archmage's Maze (Chests & Access Limited)
Clarity Amulet?


Dragon Skeleton
-
Breath, Fire
Attack Sap
Archmage's Maze (Chests & Access Limited)
Anima Herb?


Archmage Alistair
Status Effects
-
Flare Burst
Archmage's Maze (Boss)
Magi Codex


Fallen Mage
Status Effects, Magical
Fire
Flare Blast
Archmage's Maze (Boss)
Arcana Cloak


Draco Stalker
-
Fire
Draft Breath, Zephyr Breath, Whoosh Breath
Drakes' Gravestone
Guardian Vest


Fungus Mage
Daze (Give Helio Daze resist)
Breath, Fire
Mislead, Cure, Area Cure
Drakes' Gravestone
Vision Glasses


Abyssal Arachno
Paralysis
Breath, Ice
Bind, Purification Wave
Drakes' Gravestone
???


Mimikiller
Physical, Magical
Breath
-
Drakes' Gravestone
Exorcist Dagger


Demonic Apostle
Status Effects, Avoids Magical
Ice
Potent Area Heal
Drakes' Gravestone (Boss)
Mana Diadem


Abyssal Stamper
Seal
Breath, Ice
Flame, Blaze, Supernova
Drakes' Gravestone
???


Nightmare Thorn
Sleep
Breath, Fire
Hypnosis, Area Heal, Potent Area Heal
Outside Crossgate


Exorcist Dagger, Alert Brooch



Sasquatch
-
Volt
Flurry, Blizzard, Hail
Outside Crossgate


Drake Vestment, Power Belt



Demon Mage
Avoid Magical
Breath, Ice
Gale Storm, Frozen Storm, Arc Flare
Lost Temple, Fort Dragonscale
Mind Gem?


Ogre Chief
-
Breath, Volt
Recovery Mist, Rejuvenation Mist, Healing Wave
Lost Temple, Fort Dragonscale


Anima Herb? Wisdom Gem?



Wyrm Weaver
Breath
Volt
Verglas Breath, Iceberg Breath, Arctic Breath
Lost Temple, Fort Dragonscale


Anima Herb? Wisdom Gem?



Lizard Soldier
Breath
Ice
Wildfire Breath, Scorch Breath, Monsoon Breath
Lost Temple, Fort Dragonscale
Drake Vestment


Sentinel Shield
Physical
Magical, Volt
-
Fort Dragonscale (Boss)
-


Fallen Swordmaster
Status Effects, Avoids Physical
-
Supersonic Blow
Fort Dragonscale (Boss)
Blessed Armor


Killer Demon
Paralysis, Magical
Physical
-
Fort Dragonscale (Boss)
-


Mimikiller
Physical, Magical
Breath
-
Fort Dragonscale
Exorcist Dagger


Mage Spore
-
Breath, Fire
Anti Magic, Greater Heal, Arc Heal
Bloodfang Valley


Vision Glasses? Vitality Belt?



Killer Demon
Paralysis, Magical
Physical
Bind, Bewitch
Bloodfang Valley


Vision Glasses? Exorcist Dagger? Vitality Belt?



Winged Beast
-
Breath, Volt
Cyclone, Hurricane, Tornado
Bloodfang Valley


Exorcist Dagger?



Wyvern
Breath
Fire
Monsoon Breath, Vacuum Breath, Tornado Breath
Dragnaught Region
Drake Vestment


High Lizardman
Breath
Ice
Eruption Breath, Surtr Breath, Solar Breath
Dragnaught Region, Barrier Towers
???


Stone Golem
-
Magical
Supersonic Blow, Hone, Purification Wave
Barrier Towers (Limited Access)
???


Giant
Sleep
Volt
Supersonic Blow, Battle Royale, Hypnosis
Barrier Towers (Limited Access)
Alert Brooch


Demon General
Daze, Avoids Magical
Breath, Ice
Arc Lightning, Mislead
Barrier Towers (Limited Access)
Vision Glasses?


Archdemon Timor
Status Effects, Magical
Ice
Magic Seal
Barrier Towers (Boss)
Stargazer Staff


Archdemon Inanis
Status Effects
Volt
Tornado
Barrier Towers (Boss)
Life Charm


Clay Doll
Seal, Daze
Breath, Wind
-
Barrier Towers (Boss)
-


Fallen Sage
Status Effects, Magical
Fire
Arc Flare
Barrier Towers (Boss)


Swordmaster Blade



Storm Wyvern
Breath
Wind
Discharge Breath, Electro Breath, Levin Breath
Dragnaught
???


Sentinel Shield
Physical
Magical, Volt
Hone, Fortify, Supersonic Blow
Dragnaught
???


Diabolic Ogre
-
Breath, Volt
Attack Boost, Supernova, Inferno
Dragnaught
Beast Dagger?


Clay Doll
Seal, Daze (Deadly, can ambush with 7 copies)
Breath, Wind
Magic Seal, Mislead, Arc Revive
Dragnaught
???


Demon Lord
Avoids Magical
Breath, Ice
Plasma Storm, Thunderbolt, Arc Lightning
Dragnaught
Beast Dagger?


Lich
Magical
Fire
Flare Storm, Arc Freeze, Arc Gale
Dragnaught Area 2
Wisdom Gem


Inferno
Status Effects, Magical
Ice
Solar Breath
Dragnaught (Boss)
Magus Staff


Procellosus
Status Effects, Breath
Fire
Tornado Breath
Dragnaught (Boss)
Spirit King Blade


Tiberius
Status Effects, Breath
-
-
Dragnaught (Boss)
-


Disruptor
Status Effects
-
-
Dragnaught (Boss)
-


Corrupter
Status Effects, Breath
-
-
Dragnaught (Boss)
-


Eraser
Status Effects
-
-
Dragnaught (Boss)
-



The performance really held this game back for me, as I didn't have such issues playing Raging Bytes, Alter Age, or Spirit Valor. Maybe the future console port would address it.