Dragon’s Crown Pro Review

Dragon’s Crown Pro is a re-release of the game that first appeared on PS3 and Vita some years ago. An action-RPG, Dragon’s Crown is like Street Fighter with stats.

Set in a medieval, swords and sorcery world, players are tasked with locating the titular Dragon’s Crown to save Hydeland from a sinister plot seeking to overthrow the rightful ruler. 

The simple story suits the gameplay which is also quite simple, despite the depth and breadth of upgrades and abilities on offer. Although the gameplay is fairly simplistic, it’s incredibly addictive and even though the amount of content feels a little light, there’s plenty of game to be played.

Dragon’s Crown Pro Review

The setup for Dragon’s Crown sees you embark on an adventure from a central hub town and enter one of nine dungeons. These dungeons are gradually unlocked as you progress through the roughly 10-12 hour story.

During this time, you’ll be playing through these same nine dungeons multiple times. These levels largely remain the same, albeit with an increased difficulty level, but since you can tackle them with up to four players and different combinations of characters, there’s plenty of replayability.

Once you’ve finished the campaign, you’ll unlock a secondary ‘B’ path which opens up new objectives, rooms and more. 

On your journey, you’ll need to collect loot, beat up enemies and kill bosses to complete the levels and earn XP to improve your abilities. After completing a dungeon, it’s wise to return to the hub town to secure loot and XP, but if you’re feeling bold you can head into another dungeon and go for a score multiplier.

What can you do?

Once you finish the campaign, what else is there for you to do in Dragon’s Crown Pro? With several characters to choose from and multiple difficulty levels, Dragon’s Crown Pro’s replayability rests entirely on playing the same content again.

Thankfully each of the character’s are fairly different from each other, with different strengths and weaknesses. All of the characters also use different weapons and armour which makes all that loot you’ve collected actually worth something.

Unfortunately, in the year’s since its initial release, cracks have started to appear. The combat can be a little janky at times. Even though all of the artwork is beautifully hand-drawn and re-rendered in 4K, the gameplay often feels slow and sluggish. Which is a real shame.

It’s not a big problem when you play on the lower difficulty levels, but once you pump if the difficulty, the combat needs to feel fluid and fast at all times for you to survive. My skills aren’t up to snuff to make it through the most difficult levels and the performance issues didn’t help me.

Definitely Worth it

In spite of a few niggles, Dragon’s Crown Pro is definitely a game worth playing. Especially for action-RPG fans. It took me back to Streets of Rage and Battletoads albeit with a much deeper and more complex system of upgrades.

The absolutely best thing about Dragon’s Crown Pro is the artwork. It’s gorgeous and has clearly been created with loving care. The Swords & Sorcery aesthetic works perfectly although the proportions of the female characters are entirely ridiculous.

With a deep loot system, multiple characters, secondary paths and randomly generated dungeons, Dragon’s Crown Pro is a game for those who are looking for a grind that’s both fun and rewarding.

The addition of couch co-op is the cherry on top and makes trudging through the dungeons even better.

Dragon’s Crown Pro was reviewed on PS4 using a code provided by the publisher.