"Taking place in a world where witches are cursed to give birth to dragons, one man tasked with hunting them soon finds his own fate intertwined with his former enemies. Fight against dragons in turn-based midair combat using tiers, transformations, and more to weaken them and devour their abilities! The fate of three witches is in your hands – will you choose to save them or sacrifice them to gain items and skills? Your decisions will change the course of the game!"
Dragon Star Varnir is a step up from a lot of Compile Heart's games, but the Switch version is a technical mess.
All in all, as you can probably guess, Dragon Star Varnir is quite a mixed bag in terms of enjoyment. While it provides an intricate and engaging combat system as well as some solid alternate modes, the rest of its elements are unfortunately rather lackluster or just plain inconveniencing.
Dragon Star Varnir is a highly enjoyable RPG with its emphasis on friendship development, interesting battle mechanics, and strong plot that frequently tugs heartstrings and is not afraid to use surprising and dramatic plot twists. The repetitive nature of some dungeon environments and overall dark theme may not be for everyone, yet there is so much...
Dive into an original and fantastical world filled with magic and dragons as you team up with some of the world's last remaining witches on a quest to lift a centuries-old curse! Varnir might fall short in some areas but still has plenty to offer for those looking for a new experience.
My suspicion is that Dragon Star Varnir will be remembered as one of Idea Factory’s greatest. There are some corners cut with the gameplay, and the Switch port isn’t ideal, but the concept, theming, art and narrative are all so different that this stands as one of the more interesting and narratively innovative take on the Grimm brothers tradition.
