Draglade

Nintendo exclusive

In the world of Draglade, Grapping has become the world's premier spectator sport. Scientists will discover how to turn atmospheric Matter into energy. Soon thereafter, a means of harnessing this energy – G-Cons – will allow for the conversion of this power into a weapon called a “Glade”. When a Glade hits something, the Glade emits a sound.

Released: 7 June 2007
Platforms: Nintendo DS
Genres: Fighting Rhythm
Developers: Dimps
Publishers: Banpresto
Modes: Single-player
Country: Japan
Age ratings: ESRB E10+

About

Draglade (カスタムビートバトルドラグレイド, Kasutamu Bīto Batoru Doragureido; Custom Beat Battle Draglade) is a fighting video game with music video game and role-playing game elements for the Nintendo DS developed by Dimps and published in Japan by Banpresto and Bandai Namco Games. It was then later published in the US by Atlus.

The fighting system is different from other fighting games in that there are not a lot of directional inputs needed for moves. Instead, special moves are set by collecting "Bullets" and then activating them with the DS's touch screen.

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Reception

Draglade scored 71/100 on the website aggregator Metacritic from a total of 23 reviews.

IGN criticized the simplicity of the game's story, describing the UI as being present "in a dozen other games" like Draglade, though gave appreciation to the music-oriented combat style and multiplayer options, scoring the title 7 out of 10. Nintendo World Report writer Steven Rodriguez praised Draglade's combat system and customisation options, but disliked that the game had to be replayed multiple times for hidden characters to unlock, specifying repetitiveness. Rodriguez scored Draglade 8.5 out of 10. Cyril Lachel writing for DefunctGames compared Draglade with the rhythm mechanics of Beatmania and the grap battles to Flame of Recca. Lachel lambasted the lengthy plot, describing it as "boring", but praised its ability to remain engaging, grading the game B minus.