Remembering What Was Lost: My Dragalia Lost Experience

Remembering what was Lost: My Dragalia Lost Experience

My time with Dragalia Lost wasn't as long as I wished it could be. I knew about the game since its launch, but my low quality phone at the time made it almost impossible to play. It felt like a tragedy since the concept of forging bonds with dragons pulled me in like everyone else. It wasn't until the fall of last year I played the game consistently after upgrading my phone. For a while, it seemed like I found my daily routine. I'd login every day for daily challenges, linger on the main menu to hear my units chat it up, fall in love with adventurer stories, and bob my head to epic boss music. All was going well until news of the end of service struck the community.

To say we were all shocked is a huge understatement. An important part of our lives was about to join the graveyard of forever lost video games. With news of Dl's impending doom, I was forced to reflect on my experience with the title and came to a surprising conclusion: Dragalia Lost is easily one of my favourite games of all time.

I don't usually talk about video games on this blog, but Dragalia Lost holds a special place in my heart for being the most fun I've had with a mobile game. It hit all of that boxes that other gacha games struggle to keep up with.

It's impossible to talk about DL Without mentioning Daoko. Whether players are chilling on the home screen, slaying a deadly boss or summoning beloved units, Daoko's pop vocals are bound to be heard. Even some of the instrumental tracks are remixes of her other songs. Her songs fit the game perfectly as they invoke the feeling of a light-hearted and fun-filled adventure. The pop score helps DL stand out from other games which usually use European orchestral music. It gives the game an oddly fitting contemporary atmosphere. Ryusei Toshi and CRASHER remain iconic tunes that gets players into the thrill of a good ol' boss battle.

While on the topic of the sound department, the English voice acting deserves special mention. Ocean Productions was in charge of the voices and that makes DL an incredibly rare case of a Canadian dubbed anime game. Each voice was a breath of fresh air that fit the characters like a glove. Special mention goes to Brian Drummond as Zhu Baije, Tabitha St Germain as Althemia, Richard Ian cox as Ranzal, and Mark Oliver as Hawk.

My only complaint is that the English audio lacks fully voiced dialogue. That could've gone a long way to making the game more immersive.

Pokemon TCG artist Naoki Saito brought his A game with the art design. Most of the characters have highly rememberable designs done in a vibrant pop art style. Character portraits were always a delight to look at due to how much they popped out on the screen. Each adventurer has a unique appearance highly distinct from each other and full of personality. The fun expressive style really added to the Saturday morning cartoon feel of the game. The user interface also has a nice sleek look to it that made navigating menus anything but a chore. While the chibi graphics can seem overly minimalistic at first, that simplicity prevents the game from feeling dated and instead gave it everlasting appeal.

It may seem disingenuous to review a game without mentioning gameplay but there's not much I can say in that department. DL's isometric action RPG style made it stand out from other games on the market even with its very limited attack system. It wasn't the most immersive combat system I've experienced, but it always kept me back for more and never left me bored.

The implementation of skip tickets and auto-loop was a godsend for grinding and made it overall stress-free. I didn't have to waste hours of time just to upgrade a single character. Just hit the auto button and step away from the phone for a while. Seriously, more games need to follow this method instead of making maxing out units so tiresome. The Co-op raid battles also deserve special mention since it was so fun seeing strangers come together to beat a particularly arduous boss. There were several times I relied on Co-op to clear stages because the difficulty is no joke at times. This was especially true for the MARVELOUS final boss Xenos which can easily last half an hour. Now that's how you go out with a bang.

Last but certainly not least is the story. It starts off simple enough with Euden performing his princely duty of forming a dragonpact; the main draw of the game. Then the game added layers of complexity with Zethia's dark doppelganger and the King's sudden evil disposition. The carefree prince now has to save his kingdom from his treacherous family with an even greater threat looming in the background. The beginning of rbe story was a bit slow at first, but there were enough plot twists and burning questions to keep me fully invested. I so was not prepared for the time travel shenanigans and social commentary on classism/privilege the mid-game story brought.

And that's only what the main campaign brings to the table. Dragalia has several event stories that heavily build on the robust lore and characterization players love so much. Certain events like Faith Forsaken, Fractured Futures and Advent of the Origin even serve as epilogues to plot points made in the main story. I will admit that there were FAR too many beach themed events for my liking. This game had great slice-of-life moments but it'll be too soon if I ever see another beach adventure in a mobile game.

Finally, it would be irremissible of me not to mention the vocabularian localization provided by 8-4. Character dialogue is stuffed to the gills with personality and colloquialisms you wouldn't expect from this game at first glance. It's guaranteed you learned a few new vocab words after playing the game. Seriously, some of these characters talk like they eat thesaurus' for breakfast. That's when they're too busy spouting meme worthy dialogue at least.

Dragalia may be lost, but I'll never forget the incredible memories I made along the way.

Jojolands Chapter 2 Review- The Japanese Man on Hawaii Island

This chapter has a slower pace than the previous one but still brings up some interesting tidbits that will surely be developed on. Chapter two begins with Jodio conducting a drug trade with a college girl, but he's suspicious about her true nature. Those suspicions turn out to be true when she reveals herself as an undercover cop. Jodio and Paco are busted and even more surprising is the return of two cops from the first chapter. I'm surprised Jodio didn't kill them despite how bloodlusted he was. A small piece of dialogue even implies he intentionally didn't kill them. I also find it weird they made a complete recovery in seemingly only a few days after they got brutalized so badly.

It's like everyone in Jojo has weird regeneration superpowers that never get commented on. The mustached cop is back to being the creepy bastard he is by telling Jodio how much he's looking forward to molesting him. Araki must be extra wild in this part cause this is two consecutive chapters of sexual assault right off the bat. Jodip doesn't let the cops phase him and he simply uses November Rain to wash away the drugs on hand.

We get a small scene where Jodio thinks back to the time he took a psychological evaluation at school and was diagnosed as a psychopath. This makes me extra confident he'll end up being a villain near the end of the series. Jodio is the most cold-blooded Joestar and has no remorse for what he does. His actions are even viler from a Japanese perspective which has a huge stigma against drugs. Either Jodio will realize he's a bastard and have a change of heart or go completely off the deep end. I'm excited to see either scenario play out cause it was be disappointing to have him remain the thug that he is.

Remember that crazy hotdog-loving wetsuit-wearing drug addict from before? He has a name and it's Usagi Aloha'oe. Usagi certainly stands out the most from the other characters due to his quirky yet laid-back personality and weird fashion sense( it's Jojo so that's not saying much but still). The gang travels to where the Japanese tourist lives and that's when Usagi pops out his stand: Matte Kudasai. I at first thought this was a rare Japanese song reference but it's actually from King Crimson. A King Crimson reference in an alternate universe version of Golden Wind? I'm calling it now, if Jodio doesn't turn evil then Usagi will turn out to be a traitor. I'm only half serious but it would be interesting for there to be a traitor in part when that was originally supposed to be Fugo's role. Matte Kudasai has the interesting ability of cloning an object if another person wishes for it. I love how everyone has stands perfectly suited to pulling off a heist. Even Jodio's stand can be used to wash away evidence and makes me think he'll serve as a crime scene cleaner.

At the tail end of this chapter comes quite possibly the biggest plot twist introduced in the sbr universe continuity. The Japanese tourist is none other than Rohan Kisbe! I can not exaggerate how unexpected this was. This may be an alternate universe Rohan but he looks exactly like his original universe self; something unprecedented among the other counterparts. This being the original Rohan would be even more insane yet fun. Rohan being in the new universe could explain why newer Thus spoke Rohan chapters are set in modern times despite that conflicting with part 4's setting. If that's the case, this is some Oda-level foreshadowing from Araki. I seriously hope Rohan met up with Josuke and Yasuho during the time skip. This could set them up to be heroic antagonists who face off against Jodio's gang. The drama just keeps getting better.

Giant Robo: The Day My Boredom Died.

Wanna know something that never gets old? Saving the world from a league of supervillains with the power of an Egyptian giant robot and super-powered individuals! That's the premise of the Giant Robo OVA and oh boy is the execution glorious.

This seven episode series details the inexplicably badass adventures of Daisaku and the Experts of Justice as they face off against Big Fire, a secret society bent of world domination. With all the hamminess and ludicrous fight scenes, Giant Robo often feels like a Saturday morning cartoon with Hollywood movie levels of scale. Subtlety isn't a concept here. Everything is loud and in your face, just the way I like it.

The ensemble cast of characters is also incredibly endearing. Daisuku is an idyllic kid hero, Ginrei is a smooth operator who knows how to get what she wants, and chief Chugo is a suave piece of sexy eye candy that's the highlight of the entire ova for me. Big fire consists of villains who have so much fun being evil you can't bring yourself to hate them. A special mention goes to Alberto with his butt shaped hairdo who is as pompous as he is cool. Even his crony knows how to kick ass and give the heroes a threat. It's hard to believe that all of these characters are taken from Mitsuteru's Yokoyama various manga series cause this is the most organic(and badass) crossover I've ever seen.

Giant Robo is a retro-futurist masterpiece that combines everything awesome about the mecha genre.

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Use your voice poem

Never dull the edge of your voice for deafened ears

Instead, sharpen it to pierce through any and all silence

Let there be no quarter for those who try to stifle your words

Because your voice is so much more than a caged bird

Modern Colonization

You turn our castles into Capitalistic towers

You turn our language into cheap imitations

You turn our communities into forgotten laments

You turn our future into phantasmal dreams

This is the game you have played for generations upon generations

Destroying lands and desecrating cultures all in the name of your conquest of vanity

You oppressor; you colonizer

How long will you stand in envy

Of our heritage

Of our legacy

Of our culture

Of our skin color

Of our existence?

Never in your anger and your spite shall you ever obtain even a fraction of the beauty Mother Nature has gifted upon us

Though you may burn at your self-appointed stake, you shall never possess the eyes of a victim

We are the future you fear

We are th rebels you fail to silence

We are the Capital you shall never obtain.