Dragon Fantasy Book II patch fixes inventory frustrations, doesn't help Ogden's hairline
It's now officially Dragon Fantastic
In our recent review of Dragon Fantasy Book II, I might have said that "...it's unfortunate that its clunky handling of menus and inventory hold it back from being an easy and emphatic recommendation."
A sneaky patch to Book II arrived without much fanfare this month, and it addresses most of the issues that held this Pocket Gamer Silver Award-winner back from receiving a slightly shinier Gold Award.
Taken directly from the release notes, Patch 1.0.1 adds the following gameplay elements:
- Performance improvements. No more stuttering during quick-saves (or in general)!
- Status change indicators now show up slightly after than hit point changes, rather than on top of each other.
- The Smaaaash!! effect is less messy. Ogden and pals should no longer end up in quite so many odd places.
- Selling items to the shop no longer goes back to the top of the list every time (whoops, that was annoying!). Hold the direction buttons down to navigate through lists more quickly.
That last one's a major one, and clears up most the frustrations encountered during my review playthrough.
After installing the patch and resuming my game, I was surprised at how comfortable Dragon Fantasy Book II played. It wasn't quite "favourite pair of blue jeans" comfortable, but it was certainly close. Or, at least as close as a game can get to approximating that wonderful sensation.
So if the substantial caveats included in our review kept you away from Dragon Fantasy Book II, rest assured that they've been addressed and this retro RPG is now an easy and emphatic recommendation.
