Dragon Flight For Kakao Android Review
With Dragon Flight, the developers at NextFloor took the freemium concept and applied it to a 2D shooter. How they went about it is a little weird, forcing players to sign up for their Kakao network to gain access to the game's features, but the end result is a fun little gem that delivers arcade style blasting that hooked us longer than expected.
The first thing that jumps out is the lack of complexity. You literally drag a finger right/left across the screen to maneuver the dragon in those respective directions, and the game auto fires. That said, the object is to destroy rows of different-colored dragons that appear from the top of the screen while collecting the coins and gems these creatures leave behind.
Once you die (one hit kills), you head to the in-game shop to spend loot on a variety of power-ups. The list includes weapon upgrades, speed boosts and slow motion. There's also an opportunity to hatch baby dragons and have them provide a much-needed assist.
That is, if you choose to sign up for Kakao. Upon downloading Dragon Flight, the game presents you with two options. The first, playing as a guest, lets you dive right in and blow monsters up, but the app doesn't record your progress, nor does it grant access to the shop or let you create a friend list. For that stuff and more, you'll need to enter an email address and password. It makes little sense, really, but at least on the positive side, sign-up takes a couple of minutes, and all it takes is a confirmation code (check your email) to enjoy all Dragon Flight has to offer.
This also includes the ability to make in-app purchases. Buying coins and crystals is par for the course, but you also need wings, which let you play the game. Once those run out, you'll need to grab more via IAP, or wait for Dragon Flight to generate some for free. At this point, we don't know what's stranger, this, or Kakao.
Of course, these are the sorts of things that crop up when dealing with free-to-play games. Taking that into account, Dragon Flight's furious action and user-friendly controls make it ideal to both hardcore and casual audiences alike. Will it replace your favorite shoot-em-up? Probably not, but at the very least, it'll give you a fun little game to burn a few hours with, maybe more.
What's Hot: Free and addictive arcade blasting fun, buy power-ups and new characters from the shop, hatch dragons and bring them into battle.
What's Not: No Game Center support, you need to sign up for Kakao to access stat tracking and item shop, you need dragon wings to play.
3.5/5
