''Dragon Star Varnir'' is a 2018

role-playing video game A role-playing video game (commonly referred to as simply a role-playing game or RPG, as well as a computer role-playing game or CRPG) is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character (or several party members) immers ...

developed by

Compile Heart is a Japanese video game developer founded on June 2, 2006 as a subsidiary of Idea Factory. The company was formerly managed by Compile's former executive Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani, most well known as the creator of the ''Madou Monogatari'' and ''Pu ...

and published by

Idea Factory is a Japanese video game developer and publisher founded by former Data East , also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 ...

. It was released for the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

in Japan in October 2018 and worldwide in June 2019, for

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in October 2019, and for

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

in 2021. The game follows a knight named Zephy who is tasked to fight witches and dragons, but is turned into a witch by his enemies in order to save him from death by the hands of a dragon. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised its battle system as an improvement from past Compile Heart games but criticized other aspects of its presentation.

Reception

''Dragon Star Varnir'' received "generally favorable reviews" according to

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. Matt Sainsbury of ''Digitally Downloaded'' rated the game 90/100, saying the game "ratchets things up" from the developer's "budget, fanservicey JRPGs" with a "rich bit of storytelling", and saying that "battles ..never become rote". Zach Wilkerson of ''RPGFan'' rated it 79/100, calling the battle system where the game "truly shines", though criticizing the story as "never reach ngthe potential of its engaging premise", and saying that "too much happens at the beginning", with every major character introduced in the first half hour, hurting their character development. Brian Santana of IGN Spain rated it 65/100, criticizing the plot as simplistic with "flat characters", but praising the battle system and its tactical components.

Notes

References

{{Reflist 2018 video games Censored video games Compile Heart games Japanese role-playing video games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Single-player video games Video games developed in Japan Windows games Idea Factory games