Dragonflight

As a dragon lover I bought this game years ago, it was fun for a little bit, for the fact that the model and animations looked cool and you could fly around canyons as a dragon breathing fire on other dragons and destroying castles. Then out of the blue they just change it to VR only so people like me cant even play it anymore, and I dont know if i can even get a refund because i bought it so long ago.

Its a shame really because it had a lot of promise.

If you want a game you can control a dragon and fly around as, check out Day of Dragons, currently in development and they are making good progress

late to the party but i reinstalled this just to see if there was any progress and, well, uh, now it's vr only <3 i dont have vr. i cannot afford vr. there goes my 17 bucks i paid to be a cool dragon. let alone the fact i just noticed it is now free to play. particularly not pleased. vr version doesn't even look interesting, just looks like a dragon rail shooter from what i could gather. rest in peace

What this game has done should be illegal if it isn't already. If I had the resources I would go further to get a refund. This game was released for $15.99 in early access and was never finished. They instead turned it into a free to play vr tech demo that us people who payed for the fucking game cant even play unless we happen to have a vr headset. Also they gave us some auto redeemed crap in said demo making the game unrefundable through steam.

Bought the game and it was playable but then it updated to VR exclusive and i dont have a VR headset so i cant play it

Hi, this is my first steam review

I'm writing this to explain the current state of the game and the disgusting switch to VR that occured in Early Acess

The state of the game:

Dragonflight (the non-VR version) is a third person game where you control a wyvern in flight. You use a mix of offensive abilities centered around your firey breath to kill enemies and damage structures, and your flight controls to avoid incoming damage.

The game uses a series of levels called chapters to present it's content. You launch the game and select these from the main menu. At present, there are three levels. In my opinion, there is actually only one complete level in the game, but I'll get to that. The first level is a tutorial; it teaches you how to control your dragon, which handles somewhat like a hypercompetent aircraft. Using normal controls, you can go forwards and turn. You gain some speed by flying downward at a sharp angle, but it's pretty negligible. You suffer from no advanced physics, you have a set rate at which you move and you move forward at said rate more or less regardless of how you turn, including exceedingly sharp angles or moving upward. You can, however, choose to slow down by releasing your move forward key (I play with WASD and used W), which causes you to stop moving and slowly fall. You cannot land, touching any solid object, including enemies, will deal contact damage independant of your speed. you then bounce off and are free to continue on. You can also use your mouse to turn by panning the camera. A good analouge might be the pteranadon from Primal Carnage: Extinction. Finally, you can fly backwards, and strafe backwards, at the cost of energy.

Your offensive abilities are controlled using your mouse by default. Any attack you make drains energy, which is displayed on the top right of the screen. Energy refills slowly if you don't use any for a short period. Left click is a stream of fire that is so weak as to be completely useless. Theoretically, it can be used to burn trees to recieve health, but this feature is bugged for me and I recover no health from doing so. Tapping right click shoots a weak fireball; holding right click charges it and increases the potency. This is your primary weapon. You actually do have a third means of attack; your body has some mass and can be used to ram small pieces of mostly destroyed buildings to knock them down, though I believe this is not an intended feature

Level one ends by expounding upon the story, which I will not comment on.

Level two is a massive area with three castles and a central keep. Draconian enemies using your model will spawn from time to time, but their AI is so incredibly bad that you can mostly ignore them. They tend to ram into castles and kill themselves. They will attack at close range with a moderately damaging firebreath, but the real danger is if they fly into you. Because of the way their model is built, you tend to hit them and then repeatedly hit them again at multiple different contact spots. This can very easily kill you since contact damage is not based on velocity. However, 8 minutes into the fight, a massive amount of these arrive and tend to kill you by sheer mobbing.

The real threat are the castles. There are four, consisting of three outlying castles and a massive keep. Destroying a minor castle delays the arrival of the enemy zerg rush by 2 minutes, but it tends to take longer in my experience to destroy the castle. The castles are built of multiple physics affected pieces or components, some of which fire flaming arrows at you on a set interval. A single arrow is not that damaging, but eating an entire volley can sometimes oneshot you. This is fair and ballanced; the arrows do not track and are fired at your current position. You complete this level by totally destroying the one main castle.

Level Three is a mess. you are dropped into a large area with stone pillars in the sky and given no real directive. I clip through several parts of the map, the enemy wyverns are even more helpless, and the objective had no collision box and did nothing.

This is about 2.5-5 hours of content

State of the game: general

It's a buggy mess. You can still fly backwards with no energy, as well as charge a full power shot with less than the required energy remaining. You float on the surface of the lake as if it is a piece of the ground with no damage. As previously mentioned, you can hit a surface, ricochet off and hit a different obstacle, and then be ping ponged back and forth from full health to dead. Powerups from defeated enemies fail to do anything, and stamina regenerates so slowly that it becomes tedious. You can fly through sections of the terrain. The most glaring issue is aiming. You have no recticle, so you have to approximate which part of the screen you shoot the fireball at. However, the fireball itself has some inherrent randomness to it's trajectory, which can make for some frusturating moments combined with the slow stamina recharge. The game updates painfully slowly, though the devs do have an active presence on the forums.

The graphics are average. The wyverns look like bronze statues because they are just the same color throught, the flaming arrows are sticks, and the castles and scenery look pretty good.

Finally, I bought this game when it said that it planned to support VR. There was nothing on the store page about changing to VR only at some point in development. It is now labeled VR only and I am unable to procure a refund.

It can be fun for a very limited time, but with such little content and variety it is not worth purchasing, in my opinion, at the present time.

Thank you for reading to the end of this. If you think I could have structured this post better, please comment and let me know

Although the devs were active at first, the updates slowed overtime. Then, suddenly, the game was slapped with a VR exclusive label.

The game was never once advertised as VR exclusive. I think you can see where this is going, yes?

The devs basically spat in the faces of everyone who supported them earlier. Saying that they intend to keep the old, unfinished version of the game up is bullshit when they don't plan to do much with it, and when the game as it is now REQUIRES a VR headset, no matter what. I don't think I can EVER recommend this game to anyone again.

TL;DR: The game switched suddenly to VR exclusive, despite never advertising that before. This isn't the game I wanted to support, and I want my goddamn money back.

Don't let the name fool. Dragonflight is only a destruction where you ride the back of a dragon destroying tree's, castles, other dragons. There is no flight in this other then dragon auto-pilot. You only control the dragon's head to aim where you wan't the fireballs to go.

Lets talk about what the game does right. The graphics are awesome...that's it.

The sound is awful, there is no flying controls, the aim is horrible & oh ya the game is only 7 minutes long. I know becase from start to finish the game time I played was 7 minutes. There is no title screen, you start up the game & poof your on the back of a dragon. When you beat the game it just exits to the steam vr home page. There is no bonding time with your dragon. There are no missions no thing just destroying tree's, castles & dragons. All this for $15.99 are you kidding me. I have played way better games for $5 then this.

The game gets a 1/10, it would have gotten a 0/10 but the graphics prevent's it. I don't know what the developer was thinking when they made this 7 minute game, pricing it at basicaly $16. I highly recommend not getting this game instead get Dragon Skies VR at leats there you actually contol the flying.

This is the Pony Game Review

since 2015 no progress on development. Suddenly they go VR only. And even that is crap.
Stay away from this ripp off...trust me no lie!!

The VR version is not a game, you can't even control the dragon... it's basically on rails. You basically point your controller where you want to shoot and the firing goes off automatically. The experience was over in a few minutes. Extremely disappointing. I regret buying this but I'm glad I can get a refund.

Began requiring VR without prior notice, without a chance for a refund due to sudden change on requirements, legacy non-VR branch is likely to be abandoned.

Bought the game BEFORE this warning. Bad things like these are why I will be cautious about Early Access in the future.

This is the first time I've ever written a review for a game, and I feel it's because people need to know how this game has progressed since it's launch nearly 2 years ago.

TLDR: It hasn't

This game showed AMAZING Promise when it first launched, The devs were extremely engaging with the community, wanting to hear our thoughts and ideas on how it can progress to be the best dragon game possible. I even streamed it a few times on twitch and one of the developers hopped in my stream and gave me tips when I first started playing, and after doing a short early access review, the devs also commented on that youtube video of mine. I had honestly never been so excited for a game, especially with devs that I felt like I had really gotten to know and they were here for the community.

Fast forward about a year, no updates, except a broken version of chapter 3. I made a rant about this in one of the forums, and again, one of the devs personally answered with a basic response of "We know things have been slow, we're working on it" So I was content to hold out. Fast forward another 9 months, no news, and the devs have become all but gone.

Now we get this most recent announcement that the game is going full VR, and everyone that played the game simply because it looked amazing at the time, and had the potential to be incredible, is getting a huge fuck you from Blackthorn. They've announced they won't be working on the legacy branch till the VR version is done, and let's be honest, it took them 2 years to get a broken version of chapter 3 out, in what is supposed to be an 8 chapter game.

I'm sorry, Mike and Keith, you guys were awesome, and I appreciate the huge support you showed the community at the start of this game, it could have truly been something great, but as it is now, I cannot and WILL NOT recommend this game to anyone.

I bought this game eager to watch it develop into a full-fledged game, but only played it a little - its repetitive gameplay and poor controls pretty much prevented me playing it further. But it looked like it would be a decent little game once it finally got out of early access.

Unfortunately, I'll never be able to play it when it leaves early access because the developers have announced - just two weeks before it's due to officially launch - that is now exclusively a VR game. The disregard for everyone who supported their game through early access is staggering, and the developer has demonstrated how fickle they are with sweeping design decisions that will make the finished game unplayable for many of its supporters.

Don't buy this game.

Bought it when it appeared in early access 2015. It was really fun even though there was only one level. I think there was only one or two updates in almost two years. In fact they hadn't updated the community or anything since last September. Looking at the forum activity would indicate that it was abandoned.

Now they announce it will be VR only. I didn't buy it for VR. I don't have VR yet. Way to thank your supporters.

This review represents personal opinion.

I was very excited about this game and the vision of the developers which is why I decided to buy it as Early Access. However the game doesn't deliver, not even for early access and there has been no update or major communication from the developers for about 9 months now. It gives the impression of a side project, if there is still development at all.

Dragonflight supports VR which I couldn't try but judging from the normal content, I hardly see any motivation past a 20 minute test ride.

Pro:
- The dragon: Great asset, well animated.

Thats it. The dragon is a great piece of work and proabably the only positiv thing I can find in this game.

Con:
- Controls: Keyboard provides much more manoeuvrability than any controller for no obivious reason.
- Flight mechanics: Elementary and only partially implemented, making the only thing you do right now (flying) difficult to enjoy
- Story: Very rudimentary and simple. More placeholders than really storytelling.
- Bugs/Compatibility issues: A bunch of them. In the game, in the UI, some of them are almost like old friends by now.

Overall the game is in a very unfinished stage despite being early access and shows little to no develpment progress. The last big update was mainly focused on VR.

Be advised, the game description is not correct. "Fast paced?" Never got a feeling for speed, hurry or anything speed related. "Fantasy?" Well you are a dragon, your enemies are dragons (and only dragons, except the occasional tree) and there are castles. "Aerial Combat?" In principle you can shoot fireballs at enemy dragons but if you are expecting action and excitment, you might be disappointed. I felt a more appropriate description would be: Aerial Nuisiance. "As a Dragon" That is true and the dragon is really nice. But there is no connection, no immersion, no feeling: 'I am this majestic dragon, I am powerful, I have a mission.' "Swarms of Enemies" Over time their number is increasing but most of the time it is a coinflip wheter they are any thread to you. "Race to save the world from ancient evil" Simply not implemented yet.

Tried it, the game is pretty fun and once you adjust the sensitivity, its easy to fly around but sadly there is only one mission and a tutorial and from what I have read, this is no longer being updated.... This kind of pisses me off because this had a great opportunity to become something great. I own quite a few games that I played through and ended up finding out they were also abandoned like this one... WHY THE FUCK DO THEY ALWAYS ABANDON THE GOOD GAMES?!?!?!?!

Note: This review is subject to change later.

I'll be honest, I thought that this game had a great concept. There are only a handful of other games that try to create a full-fledged dragon RPG (including destructible environment).

Sadly, though, this game... is not amazing. It has very flighty controls (pun intended), for one. I definitely recommend trying it with a controller of some sort, as when I tried the mouse controls, I ended up somehow wedged in a rock upside-down. I also got ever-so-slightly sick from the flipping, and I'm not even prone to that kind of thing! Anyway, just use a controller.

The graphics are decent, so nothing too horrific about that, except for the fact that you can't customize your dragon at all (insert sad face here).

My game also ended up crashed during the first "cutscene". The cutscenes consist of text and pictures, which, if done correctly, could be great, but in this case, I could never find out because the game kept crashing.

I woud definitely recommend waiting a bit longer for changes to some things. It's a great concept, but requires a lot of time and resources to execute correctly and well. It IS definitely better than SOME triple A games though. And that's a genuine compliment.

In early development I wasn't expecting a lot from this game but just playing the first level is really great (because I suck at actually trying to kill things in the second one). But anywho, from a dragon lovers perspective this game is a really great one. The dragon is animated very well and I was pleased to see that. I've been looking for a dragon game like this for years, and to be honest was rather disapointed in LAIR for the PS3. But I definitely recommend this game and I can't wait for more to be done with it!

Very easy to drop in and start flying. The mouse controls are definitely workable though joystick is a much better performance. Love burning up the trees and it is very satisfying when you take down a wall of the castle. I look forward to seeing where this goes.

Highly recommended!
Even though I have been playing this game for a short period of time, I have enjoyed it very much. The gameplay is pretty smooth and comfortable. You get to be a dragon roaming around and breathing fire, how cool is that? If you are into Medieval times, dragons, flying a dragon and just going around flaming everything in your path, than this game will be in your liking for sure!

9/10

For an early access game that just came out Dragonflight isn't too shabby. There isn't much in the game right now, but with the whole early access thing and the release being yesterday (at the time of writing this) that's to be expected.

For those of you who prefer to see the game you can watch the first level, which doubles as the tutorial, and a bit of lore as well. Otherwise skip down a bit and I'll try and give a bit of a Pros and Cons comparison.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTZNM8TON0Q

Pros:
-Looks: The game doesn't look half bad. Flying over one of the lakes in game looks especially great in my opinion. I've seen a number of games that have been out for much longer, early access and finished, that look worse than this. While there aren't many assests in the game, what has made it in looks quite nice in my opinion.
-Controls: They actually seem to be well done when they work right as well as being something you can adjust easily (That being the sensitivity of the controls. As of now you can't actually rebind any of the keys), though they can be a bit wonky. I mainly use the mouse and keyboard though, so you may have better results if you use a game controller instead.
- Story: Again, there isn't much here, but what is in gives you a decent understanding of the game world. Obviously this is something that will be worked on as the development continues, but it's nice that the devs gave us a bit to start out with instead of just some random levels.
-Options: The game actually lets you choose some settings. Not too much yet, but the ability to change sensitivity is honestly a godsend when the controls start to act up.
-Controller support: While I haven't used a game controller with this game yet, it does come fully supported. From some of what I've seen others do it's probably a more stable option as well. The mouse and keyboard, which do work fine, are probably going to need some fine tuning in the settings menu if you choose to play with them.
-VR support: I don't have any type of VR headset to use so I can't say how well it works, but the option is there if you have the means and urge to test it out. A bit of a warning though, with how diving around and the flight mechanics work, you may want to pass on this if you get motion sick easily.
-You're a dragon: I'm not really sure I have to say much here. You get to play around, fly, fight, and destroy things as a dragon. Even with the unfinished state this is a better dragon game then many others I've played before.

Cons:
-Not much in the game: For those of you who just want to play and don't care much about the development. Right now the game has two levels, one being a tutorial and the other being an actual castle assault. Neither of them take much time. Now this will change as the game is worked on, and you really shouldn't expect too much from an Early Access game on this front, but for those who just want a game to run around in then you may want to wait a bit.
-Sounds: As of now some of the sounds are much louder than any of the others. The opening menu, for example, has the dragon do a roar or two that's obnoxiously loud if you've got headphones on. Anyone planning on recording themselves play will need to equalize the sounds after recording if they want commentary as well.
-Collisions: Defintely one of the more frustrating things right now. If your controls freak out for a second, or you have the bad luck to run into something (Or you got close enough and the game thinks you ran into something) then it might just kill you. In the game you take damage whenever you run into something. This wouldn't be too bad, except that the game tends to start flipping out when you do. Sometimes you can get lucky and it'll work itself out, other times you're probably just gonna die. Not the worst issue I've seen in an early access game, but still definitely a frustrating one.
-Dragon combat: In the second level you have the option of fighting other dragons in the air. It may be easier with the joystick, but as of now it seems to need some fine tuning. It's still fairly enjoyable and not impossible by any stretch of the imagination, but some of the control kinks become a bit more obvious when you're trying to chase after another dragon or get them back in your sights.
-Aiming: As of now it can be difficult to actually see where you're aiming when you attack something. When using your sustained breath attack it's not as bad as you can move it around to get an idea. However using your ranged attack can take a bit of practice before you can start reliably hitting anything, but more than likely you'll still just be hitting the general area you were aiming for rather than any actual spot.

Overall I do recommend the game if you're okay with following the development process. The bits I've played I've enjoyed quite a bit and I'm definitely looking forward to any updates in the future. However, if you're hesitant to spend $15.99 USD on the game that's still got little in the way of things you can do I'd recommend following it or putting it on a wishlist to find easier. Wait for a few more updates or the game to go on sale and I'm sure you'll enjoy the game just as much as I do now.