''Dragon Fin Soup'' is an

action role-playing An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

created by the independent development studio Grimm Bros. It is the studio's first title and was released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4,

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November ...

, and PlayStation Vita. It is influenced by

roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player charac ...

games and uses

procedural generation In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated assets and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. In ...

for parts of the game. The game has two modes: Story mode follows a story and is more like a typical role-playing game, while Survival mode skips the story and focuses on the surviving within the game and constrains players with

permadeath Permadeath or permanent death is a game mechanic in both tabletop games and video games in which player characters who lose all of their health are considered dead and cannot be used anymore. Depending on the situation, this could require the p ...

—once the player character dies, the game must be restarted from the beginning.

Gameplay

''Dragon Fin Soup'' is a role-playing game with roguelike qualities and graphics inspired by the

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in ...

, playing from a top-down, 2-dimensional perspective. Tactical combat and movement take place in turns, with both the player and enemies taking actions during each turn. The game includes scripted events and procedurally generated content. Two modes of play are available: Story mode has the player controlling the first playable character, Red Robin, as she works her way through a pre-scripted storyline in the vein of a typical role-playing game. Survival mode features

gameplay, and starts players out in a forest where they must find supplies and fight through increasingly difficult randomly generated dungeons. The speed of gameplay matches the speed of the player; if the player moves quickly through the game world, then so do the enemies. A range of activities can be pursued including fishing, crafting, gathering, mining, digging, and cooking. Players have 20 slots in which to store equipment and other useful items, are able to dual-wield weapons, and can acquire pets to join them in the game. The world includes many different locations to explore including forests, caves, mines, deserts, mansions, castles, and ruins. The climate in the game is randomly generated which affects both the weather and earthquakes in each area.

Plot

The game takes place on Asura, a world situated on the back of an enormous dragon-turtle. The story follows Red Robin, an alcoholic yet cheerful mercenary, who drinks to forget events of her past. The game uses elements from fairy tales and legends including

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

and

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brot ...

Development

The game is the first title by the five person independent development studio Grimm Bros. The development studio was founded in March 2013 by

Human Head Studios Human Head Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer located in Madison, Wisconsin. History Human Head Studios was founded in October 1997 by a group of six developers formerly from Raven Software: Ben Gokey, Chris Rhinehart, Paul ...

' former COO Ash Montif and by Randis Albion, an artist that previously worked on ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by '' Defense of the Ancients'', a custom map for ''Warcraft III'', ...

'', '' AquaNox: The Angel's Tears'', and ''

Magic: The Gathering ''Magic: The Gathering'' (colloquially known as ''Magic'' or ''MTG'') is a Tabletop game, tabletop and Digital collectible card game, digital Collectible card game, collectable card game created by Richard Garfield. Released in 1993 by Wizards ...

''. Development was part-funded through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. The campaign launched in March 2014 with an initial goal of US$24,000 to provide funding the base game. It concluded in April with $119,719 raised, achieving a stretch goal of

porting In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...

the game to

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

platforms. As part of a 75-game wave of approvals,

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...

accepted the game to be sold and distributed through their Steam software platform. As of December 2019, the game has been abandoned by its developers, and the promised "Extra Chunky Edition" and further updates have been indefinitely postponed. No official announcements were made, but the developers' online presences are no longer maintained.

References

External links

* {{Little Red Riding Hood, state=collapsed 2015 video games Crowdfunded video games Fantasy video games Indie games Kickstarter-funded video games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Network games PlayStation Vita games Roguelike video games Role-playing video games Single-player video games Steam Greenlight games Tactical role-playing video games Video games based on fairy tales Video games developed in the United States Video games featuring female protagonists Video games using procedural generation Windows games Works based on Little Red Riding Hood