{"id":80246,"date":"2019-02-04T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-04T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/nintendo-switch\/dreamworks_dragons_dawn_of_new_riders"},"modified":"2019-02-04T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-02-04T12:00:00","slug":"review-dreamworks-dragons-dawn-of-new-riders-a-light-hearted-romp-thats-perfect-for-younger-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2019\/02\/04\/review-dreamworks-dragons-dawn-of-new-riders-a-light-hearted-romp-thats-perfect-for-younger-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn Of New Riders &#8211; A Light-Hearted Romp That&#8217;s Perfect For Younger Players"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/7391ade59886c\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/7391ade59886c\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id=\"\">\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders Review - Screenshot 1 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/94857\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/94857\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders Review - Screenshot 1 of 5\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>It\u2019s fair to say most licensed tie-in games these days \u2013 with the exception of TT Games\u2019 LEGO output -\u2013 tend to fall somewhere between \u2018awful\u2019 and \u2018meh\u2019. Usually developed and shipped out in double-quick time to save money and hit a theatrical release deadline, these sorry bits of software are more often than not destined for bargain bins the world over. So, with the third <strong>How To Train Your Dragon<\/strong> film preparing to swoop onto the big screen, we\u2019ve predictably found ourselves entertaining <em>another<\/em> gaming cash-in. <em>Or have we?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Because while <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/dreamworks_dragons_dawn_of_new_riders\"><strong>Dragons: Dawn of New Riders<\/strong><\/a> does nothing particularly new or outlandish \u2013 in fact, it doesn\u2019t really have any unique mechanic or element to claim as its own \u2013 it still manages to prove itself worthy of a spot on Nintendo Switch. By taking the simple premise of a top-down dungeon crawler and dialling back its systems and difficulty, you\u2019re left with a fun and enjoyable adventure that\u2019s ideal for young gamers who want to get into the genre, but a) don\u2019t want to over-encumbered with menus and subsystems, and b) are a little <em>too<\/em> young the more adult, hellish landscapes of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/diablo_iii_eternal_collection\"><strong>Diablo III: Eternal Collection<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders Review - Screenshot 2 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/94855\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/94855\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders Review - Screenshot 2 of 5\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Instead of repurposing the plot of the third film into an interactive experience, British developer Climax Studios (an outfit that has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/wii\/silent_hill_shattered_memories\"><strong>Silent Hill<\/strong><\/a> games and plenty of VR titles to its resume) has set Dragons somewhere in-between the second and third films. Instead of playing as main heroes Hiccup and Toothless, you play as Scribbles, a young man struck with a cliched bout of amnesia and a dragon hybrid called Patches. Together, the two set out to foil a plot to enslave dragons and solve the mystery of your new winged friend\u2019s hyperactive ageing.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a simple plot to sink your teeth into, but it\u2019s never shoved down your throat. Instead, Dragons: Dawn of New Riders simply lets you get on with the action for the most part. It\u2019s a welcome decision as young players are unlikely to want to sit through reams of text and unvoiced cutscenes; some scrolls that reveal more about the story are entirely optional and can be completely bypassed without losing much narrative clarity. It\u2019s a focus on simplicity that carries through into every part of Dragons: Dawn of New Riders&#8217; six-hour journey.<\/p>\n<p>You can flit between Scribbles and Patches at any time by pressing \u2018L\u2019, and each has their own set of abilities. Scribbles is your basic melee character, gradually unlocking a sword, shield axe and hammer for use in battle. With one button for blocking, another for dodging and a final one for attacks, it\u2019s a control scheme that really couldn\u2019t be simpler. Ranged attacks come courtesy of Patches, who hurls balls of energy at his foes. As the game progresses and your dragon pal grows older, you\u2019ll gain access to ice, fire and electric powers as well.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders Review - Screenshot 3 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/94853\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/94853\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders Review - Screenshot 3 of 5\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>Much like Scribbles\u2019 hammer \u2013 which can be used to knock square blocks onto switches \u2013 Patches\u2019 elemental attacks also serve a practical and puzzle-based purpose. By flicking between them with \u2018ZR\u2019, you can use ice to freeze lakes and reach new locations, utilise fire to warm up icy floors to stop blocks sliding too far and unleash bursts of electricity to power switches from afar. Those puzzles start off easy enough, but they gradually increase in complexity as you visit new islands. They\u2019re never too difficult, so young players won\u2019t be scratching their heads for long, but they\u2019re tough enough to at least require a little head scratching.<\/p>\n<p>There are no XP bars to fill or skill tree menus to unlock. Instead, Climax Studios wisely boils everything down to a need to collect resources while exploring dungeons. Gathered from smashing boxes and opening chests, these ingredients can then be traded with Ingrid for health potions or with Gobber to purchase upgrades for your weapons or better armour. You\u2019ll need to do a little exploring to unlock three special artefacts to really soup-up your weapons, but by limiting the need to explore and the requirement to collect loot to a degree, it keeps Dragons: Dawn of New Riders entertaining without drowning it in needless extra \u2018stuff\u2019.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders Review - Screenshot 4 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/94852\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/94852\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders Review - Screenshot 4 of 5\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>It\u2019s all top-down dungeon crawling, though. You\u2019ll also get to explore the Viking-inspired realm of the films on the back of Patches, swooping through the clouds and across the sea to visit all manner of locales. It\u2019s sad there aren\u2019t any other things to do bar fly from one location to another (there\u2019s no real-time landing, instead you\u2019ll hold \u2018X\u2019 then land before entering said dungeon). Some races, flying challenges or aerial enemies would have really helped bulk out Dragons: Dawn of New Riders shunted run-time, and seems a waste of a series all about riding dragons.<\/p>\n<p>There are some other problems, and while they\u2019re far from game-breaking, they do start to grate after a while. The lack of a proper aiming system for Patches makes launching your elemental attacks more difficult than it should be, especially when you\u2019re boxed in with a lot of enemies or you need to aim at a statue-shaped switch during a boss fight. The fact your AI-controlled partner can take damage while you\u2019re not in control of them is also a poor design choice. Whether you\u2019re currently controlling Scribbles or Patches, the AI simply isn\u2019t clever enough to serve as anything other than a distraction and an attack sponge, forcing you to waste needless health potions to revive them while you\u2019re doing all the hard work.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders Review - Screenshot 5 of 5\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/94856\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/94856\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders Review - Screenshot 5 of 5\" \/><\/a><\/aside>\n<p>That being said, Dragons does an admirable job of offering up a safe, friendly and enjoyable dungeon crawler without being too violent or needlessly scary. Fans of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/skylanders_imaginators\"><strong>Skylanders<\/strong><\/a> who miss that mix of exploring, puzzle-solving and combat will definitely lap this up. The Switch port runs really well too, in both docked and handheld modes, so if you want to grab the portable version, you won\u2019t be missing out on the full experience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Despite being a licensed tie-in, Dragons: Dawn of New Riders is anything but a broken, half-baked money-grab. It\u2019s not particularly remarkable in its features \u2013 and it really misses a trick by not adding more things to do while riding your dragon between dungeons \u2013 but for recovering Skylanders fans and those a little <em>too<\/em> young to go loot crazy in Diablo, this is still a family-friendly adventure that\u2019s well worth your time on Nintendo Switch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s fair to say most licensed tie-in games these days \u2013 with the exception of TT Games\u2019 LEGO output -\u2013 tend to fall somewhere between \u2018awful\u2019 and \u2018meh\u2019. Usually developed and shipped out in double-quick time to save money and hit a theatrical release deadline, these sorry bits of software are more often than not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80246\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}