Crimson Dragon Reviews
Crimson Dragon is a competent arcade shooter, but its heavy grinding and weak presentation drag down the pace.
Crimson Dragon's got other, bigger problems, though, and like the wave of games it was announced alongside - Diabolical Pitch, Steel Battalion, Haunt and Rise of Nightmares - it's a disappointment, even if it's one that was postponed to the new generation of consoles. It's a thin and troubled tribute to the original Panzer Dragoons, slim on the ambition, vision and art that made its predecessors what they were - and some way short of the invention and execution in the games they inspired.
The spiritual successor to Panzer Dragoon offers a compelling on-rails experience, even if it feels a bit lacking in some areas. With multiple dragons to own and level up, as well as and addictive scoring system complete with leaderboards, there are a few good reasons to plop down $20.
Crimson Dragon might offer fans a few cheap thrills of rail shooters, but the repetitive gameplay grows old quickly
Crimson Dragon attempts to bring on-rails shooters into the modern era, but fails to recreate the genre's classic straightforward action in the process.
Crimson Dragon is a total misfire
While the premise of riding, growing, bonding and battling with a dragon is a cool concept, it's not fleshed out here. The game also recycles levels too much.
Crimson Dragon is an impressive game that falls short of Panzer Dragoon's lofty heights. Visually, it looks better in every way but playable character design.
If Crimson Dragon had been released for iOS or Android devices at a cheaper price, it would be one of the year's more interesting releases. Instead, the final product is a rushed, homogenized mess of a game that fails to live up to its loosely associated pedigree.
Despite the efforts and the good intentions, Crimson Dragon betrays its origins: you can definitively tell this project was born a generation ago, and the scars of a troubled development are visible. The result, even if it's not that bad, is surely far far away from its spiritual predecessors.
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Crimson Dragon looks and feels like an Xbox 360 game that's been spit-shined to fatten up the Xbox One's launch lineup of games.
Crimson Dragon was a pleasant surprise. As a massive fan of the Panzer series, I was worried that this wouldn't quite honor it, but there's plenty here for gamers who have been longing for an entry since 2003's Orta. There are some mechanical problems, but any old-school rail shooter fan will be able to handle them.
Spiritual or not this is a poor sequel to the Panzer Dragoon games, and its tame and repetitive action will certainly not win the series any new fans.
Leveling up dragons and replaying for ranks and leaderboard score might be enough to garner Crimson Dragon a cult following, but for most people the bungled core mechanic is a deal-breaker. This dragon might fly, but it never truly soars.
Crimson Dragon isn't the worst Xbox One launch game, but it's far from good. The RPG elements have promise but lack the polish, while the gameplay and visuals fail to resonate on any level. It's a title that feels devoid of passion, and not even the great soundtrack can save the game's flying 18 wheelers from utter mediocrity.
Despite some quality visual design, Crimson Dragon is a rough-shod, clumsy experience that yields little gameplay depth or variety and frequently threatens to nickel-and-dime players.
Crimson Dragon doesn't live up to its Panzer Dragon ancestry. If we were to compare it to the rest of the console titles of the series, Crimson would most rank towards the latter end of the franchise. Its final levels are pretty, but everything up until then is repetitive, difficult and annoying to the point where Crimson Dragon feels more like a chore than it is any actual fun.
While Crimson Dragon may lack a certain level of polish or depth, it's certainly above average.
Limited core gameplay, broken systems, poor controls, a terribly told story and underwhelming visuals make Crimson Dragon Xbox One's worst launch game by far.
I can't say the actual product is too appealing, as repetitive, short levels and a requirement to repeat levels to gather XP and money makes this a tedious game.