While constantly working on a video game without any rest, a college student who's about to graduate quietly slipped into slumber several times. In those lucid dreams, he found himself in the game he was working on, the fantasy world of Dragon Spirits.
The core combat system blends turn-based and action-based mechanics in a unique and exciting way. Players must carefully manage their action gauges and MP to optimize their moves and abilities during battles. Each dragon has four unique skills that can be combined strategically to create powerful synergies. The combat requires tactical thinking, as players must adapt their approach to counter the varied abilities and elemental strengths of over 100 diverse dragon opponents.
Capturing and training the game's extensive dragon roster is a central pillar of the experience. The 100+ dragon designs are praised for their visual variety and distinct personalities. Each dragon has its own elemental type, active abilities, and powerful passive "talents." To train the dragons, players level up their individual stats by using specific abilities or taking certain types of damage, rather than relying on traditional experience-based leveling. This allows for a high degree of customization and viability for even the earliest-obtained dragons.
The game world is described as open-ended, with players able to freely explore diverse environments like schools, forests, and underwater areas. Extensive side quests, challenges, and lore-based discoveries encourage thorough exploration and experimentation. The "colorful school life" component also adds an engaging slice-of-life element to the adventure.
Reviews highlight the gameplay's impressive depth, noting that there are many viable strategies and team compositions due to the unique synergies and interactions between the dragon species. The challenge ramps up significantly, with boss encounters and optional content forcing players to adapt their approaches. This, combined with the large dragon roster and open-ended exploration, suggests a high degree of replayability as players continue to discover new ways to overcome obstacles.