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Name of the app you are reviewing: Dragon Racer (Hosted Games)
Link to the content you're reviewing on our site (optional): MOD APK - [Hosted Game] Dragon Racer v1.0.2 ACOM MOD
Hosted Game's script-writer, Tierra Wright, has created the fantasy world of Abauruth, where humans (some of them with magic) live alongside dragons. Players get to jump into this world of dragon racing, where they race for prestige, glory, and/or just for their love of the sport.
Review:
As many have noted, Dragon Racer initially seems like it's a rough mix of Eragon, How to Train Your Dragon, and a dash of Wings of Fire. Being a fan of all three, I was curious of just how similar the game would be to these other series. Don't let this fool you, though, because I found out for myself that while the premise starts in a way that might be similar to the others (notably Eragon), the similarities end there and soon proves that it's unique in its own right.
For starters, I've played almost all of Hosted Games and Choice of Games's libraries. In this game, different choices do matter in a way that it might not with other stories from HG/COG, where sometimes you have to follow a linear storyline and nothing you do matters. Even just the start-off with choosing your dragon (who are all male, no matter your gender; lack of female options are explained in-game) can vary your story and decisions. You're faced with five dragons that all have predisposed personalities that potentially affect game-play when you react to some of their actions or they react to yours. For example, two predisposed personalities are naturally "evil." It doesn't mean you can't slide them a closer to good, but that's just their personality in general, and it takes quite a bit of work to switch them over a little. From what I've tested, it can cost you your bond to try to change them too much, which technically makes sense, since you're trying to change their very nature. It might annoy some people that their dragon's personalities are so near-set in stone, but that's cool to me, since they aren't just cookie cut characters.
Personality Choices:
Your bond is also important concerning your choice of dragon. It can affect how he listens to you or how well he performs when you order/encourage him to do something. High bonds lead to better connection with him in sport competitions, training, and other miscellaneous things. That bond, depending on where it is, is used often throughout the story, which was another aspect I liked. There are many ways to foster that connection, such as trusting him and giving him autonomy. This can potentially be done by giving him the reins, so to speak, and letting him decide what's best in racing situations, rather than directing him yourself.
A personal example is that in one flying scene with my first dragon, he began getting tired and started falling behind from the other characters, admitting that he didn't think he could go much farther. One of my options was to lend him my strength (in all instances, this takes away health points for you), while another option was encouraging him that he could do it. I went with the "I have faith in you" encouragement option. Due to our high bond, he was able to put on a huge burst of speed and catch up with the others.
Low bonds, on the other hand, make for poor outcomes if you ask your dragon to do something, and he either won't (sometimes that depends on his morals, such as asking the golden dragon to do something mean to other racers) or can't (your bond isn't high enough to motivate him). In a different playthrough of the scene above, I had a low bond. The dialogue, despite being the same and me encouraging him, differed where he snapped that he can't pull energy out of thin air, and that my character isn't the one flying and using all their energy. During races, these lowered bonds might have him ignoring you. This can lead to injury (on both your part and his) if you crash/fall/etc. which lowers your bond even more.
There are even intricate details here and there for each dragon. My first play-through white dragon was lazy, yet greedy with a penchant for gold. He has an affinity for swimming (though that didn't play much of a part as far as I can remember...) and can use ice breath. When faced with a stronger dragon in the group's Clan, he yielded instinctively, because he is a natural follower...well, and that lazy trait probably affected it, too.
White dragon physical description when I picked him:
This is a sharp contrast with my second dragon, who is red. During the rank fight in the Clan, he came out on top as alpha and browbeat the other aggressive dragon. His personality is using manipulation, and he rejoices in chaos and deception. Dissuading him of things like dirty tricks led to bond deduction points, but encouraging and/or ordering him to do unsportsmanship things set my bond higher...while also making his evil stats higher, too, and raising my deceit. Increasing my deceit included stealing, lying, messing with other characters' flying equipment, and sabotaging my rival, Saren (who you can keep as a rival or befriend). The more your personality meshes with your red dragon, the better in that case. His playthrough was pretty fun.
Red dragon description:
Stats like your deceit or how you work as a team player affect how other characters view you as well. Cassius, for one, will almost certainly dislike you if you have high deceit, even if you're nice to him. The same goes for the stable manager, Duncan. Duncan's opinion of you and where your stats lay depends on a race in a certain part of the story. If you're sincere with high integrity, however, you get along with Cassius (and sorta Duncan) very well. Charisma helps in almost all instances, good or bad, but it only gets you so far.
The optional romances don't feel forced, in my opinion, albeit a bit sudden when a character asks who your crush is. The story thus far hadn't really allowed you to think much of potential romances, so that's sort of abrupt. In my plays, I romanced Shader and Cassius (my favorite), and didn't date anyone in the last. There's three other characters you can date: Allison, Saren, and Nyx, but I haven't tried those paths yet. I should add here that Saren is gay, so if you play a female character, you won't be able to date him. My friend played, too, but as a male, and said that Cassius and Allison are heterosexual, from what they could see. Nor I or my friend have played as non-binary, so I'm not sure if you can romance them that way. I find it easier to play characters more like myself (female), but it seems like a nice touch with Saren, Allison, and Cassius, since not all the characters are automatically bisexual/pansexual. I found in my playthroughs that even without the romance with Saren in particular, being female doesn't change you being able to become his friend or not. He makes for a good rival, too, if that's the path you want to take. I found the rivalry amusing, but enjoyed his friendship more.
I won't spoil it, but one romance has a heartbreaking ending. If angst is your style, you'll like that one. From what I hear, a different romance's ending might take a huge blow to your character's relationship with them, but that'll happen anyway with just friendship. On the latter romance I just mentioned, the game did well with dropping hints here and there about their knowledge about what's going on, but even when I got to the end, I didn't see that coming. All the characters have secrets and backgrounds that throw spice into the story. Getting close to them allows those backgrounds to unlock. In my first play-through, I got all the backstories, but didn't concentrate on that much in my other two. Some backstories are fairly innocent (or seem so in this book, anyway), but a few might catch you off guard (in a good way, or it did for me).
Part of the story includes going school. You have to pick a class, which is required. I thought it would be dull, but I actually liked that portion. Whatever class you chose, you learn more lore about the story's world. Near the end with the games and races, taking those classes do come into play. There's an exam later, too, and though passing or failing doesn't affect anything from what I could tell when I did it both ways, I thought that was pretty cool. Outside classes and racing practice, there's a handful of sports that you train with your dragon as well. One option is dressage, which was my favorite, and free-falling was interesting. You join a competition with your sport of choice later during important race portions of the story.
One con that I can think of is the magic in the game. Despite the stats, it doesn't really do much as far as I could tell. In a lot of scenes that call upon the need to use your magic, there's not really any struggles, and you can just automatically complete the moves. That does change a little later during the actual races, but for a good portion, magic wasn't really needed much, nor did a few other stats. Judging by the ending, I do suspect that the magic stat and few others that didn't seem to add much to the story might be important in later books (if there are any). I used the modded version to set them high just in case I can transfer my character later, but considering the genre, I thought they'd play a bigger part. I wasn't fussed about that, because most of my concentration was on the dragons, but that might disappoint others. Some of the classic stats, like stealth and knowledge, were useful in some parts.
Another con I found personally was again the stats, but this one pertaining to your dragon. I raised my stats for my dragon's swimming, but it did almost nothing. As mentioned earlier in this review, your bond with your dragon and their evil/good level adds to the story, but their action ones aren't utilized. I played both versions of the unmodded game and modded one, and didn't see much of a difference. Again, I presume they may be needed in later books if the author continues adding to the series...as is, though, they weren't very crucial in this one.
The third con that immediately comes to mind is the grammar. It's not the worst in the world, but when some characters talk, it might get confusing. In several parts, it's written with your character or a NPC saying something, then someone else follows that dialogue with an action rather than the action/movement getting its own paragraph. That sounds confusing, but here's examples:
1.
"I gotta find Rhaegos," you tell him, glancing around as if he'll appear at any moment. Your father rubs his forehead and sighs. It's a well-known fact that he dislikes the idea of Rhaegos running around on his own. Like you, he's just a baby, and he's curious about far too many things.
"Find him quickly and start your chores when you do." You nod and run off, away from the forest and towards the hayloft.
2.
"Josette?" You turn in your spot to see both of your parents approaching you, though their thoughts seem elsewhere. "We need to talk." You nod, sending a look towards Rhaegos. He's still interested in the rabbit, which is probably long gone.
3.
"I see you're still sitting up here feeling sorry for yourself," he points out, and you try not to roll your eyes. Regardless, you smile and jump from the roof, making your way towards him.
"I see you're still trying to climb buildings despite all that fat." His eyes widen, faking shock and hurt.
It doesn't always do that, because some parts are written correctly, but not always. Though it wasn't a huge issue for me, it might be a turn-off for others, or they may find it confusing trying to keep up with conversations.
Last (potential? not really?) con is the ending. The story was already written with good interactions once your character met the others early in the story and became more involved with them, but the action got amped up even further in the end. Just when it made it seem as though things were going to end nicely and with a bow...that certainly wasn't the case! I was on the edge of my seat when trying to figure out what was going on. The downside/con? Well, it ends abruptly. It strongly implies that we'll get sequels. I think that is forgivable and not an actual con if that's the case. I'll need to go on the COG forum and do more research on the author's intentions, but seriously, I'll eat my shoe if the author hadn't planned to continue this. On the slight off-chance that the ending we have now is the complete story, I'll be extremely bewildered, because the narrative will be very unsatisfying where it currently stops. Here's to hoping that there will be more!
In conclusion, after playing this game three times, I think the replayability is well done and the story itself intriguing. Honestly, I might do another play-through in the near future to try another path, just to see what that changes. For all its faults, it's become one of my favorites from COG and HG.
Would you recommend this to other users? Yes. I believe this game is enjoyable, and I would certainly recommend it to others.
Rating (1-5):
Link to the content you're reviewing on our site (optional): MOD APK - [Hosted Game] Dragon Racer v1.0.2 ACOM MOD
Hosted Game's script-writer, Tierra Wright, has created the fantasy world of Abauruth, where humans (some of them with magic) live alongside dragons. Players get to jump into this world of dragon racing, where they race for prestige, glory, and/or just for their love of the sport.
Review:
As many have noted, Dragon Racer initially seems like it's a rough mix of Eragon, How to Train Your Dragon, and a dash of Wings of Fire. Being a fan of all three, I was curious of just how similar the game would be to these other series. Don't let this fool you, though, because I found out for myself that while the premise starts in a way that might be similar to the others (notably Eragon), the similarities end there and soon proves that it's unique in its own right.
For starters, I've played almost all of Hosted Games and Choice of Games's libraries. In this game, different choices do matter in a way that it might not with other stories from HG/COG, where sometimes you have to follow a linear storyline and nothing you do matters. Even just the start-off with choosing your dragon (who are all male, no matter your gender; lack of female options are explained in-game) can vary your story and decisions. You're faced with five dragons that all have predisposed personalities that potentially affect game-play when you react to some of their actions or they react to yours. For example, two predisposed personalities are naturally "evil." It doesn't mean you can't slide them a closer to good, but that's just their personality in general, and it takes quite a bit of work to switch them over a little. From what I've tested, it can cost you your bond to try to change them too much, which technically makes sense, since you're trying to change their very nature. It might annoy some people that their dragon's personalities are so near-set in stone, but that's cool to me, since they aren't just cookie cut characters.
Personality Choices:
Your bond is also important concerning your choice of dragon. It can affect how he listens to you or how well he performs when you order/encourage him to do something. High bonds lead to better connection with him in sport competitions, training, and other miscellaneous things. That bond, depending on where it is, is used often throughout the story, which was another aspect I liked. There are many ways to foster that connection, such as trusting him and giving him autonomy. This can potentially be done by giving him the reins, so to speak, and letting him decide what's best in racing situations, rather than directing him yourself.
A personal example is that in one flying scene with my first dragon, he began getting tired and started falling behind from the other characters, admitting that he didn't think he could go much farther. One of my options was to lend him my strength (in all instances, this takes away health points for you), while another option was encouraging him that he could do it. I went with the "I have faith in you" encouragement option. Due to our high bond, he was able to put on a huge burst of speed and catch up with the others.
Low bonds, on the other hand, make for poor outcomes if you ask your dragon to do something, and he either won't (sometimes that depends on his morals, such as asking the golden dragon to do something mean to other racers) or can't (your bond isn't high enough to motivate him). In a different playthrough of the scene above, I had a low bond. The dialogue, despite being the same and me encouraging him, differed where he snapped that he can't pull energy out of thin air, and that my character isn't the one flying and using all their energy. During races, these lowered bonds might have him ignoring you. This can lead to injury (on both your part and his) if you crash/fall/etc. which lowers your bond even more.
There are even intricate details here and there for each dragon. My first play-through white dragon was lazy, yet greedy with a penchant for gold. He has an affinity for swimming (though that didn't play much of a part as far as I can remember...) and can use ice breath. When faced with a stronger dragon in the group's Clan, he yielded instinctively, because he is a natural follower...well, and that lazy trait probably affected it, too.
White dragon physical description when I picked him:
This is a sharp contrast with my second dragon, who is red. During the rank fight in the Clan, he came out on top as alpha and browbeat the other aggressive dragon. His personality is using manipulation, and he rejoices in chaos and deception. Dissuading him of things like dirty tricks led to bond deduction points, but encouraging and/or ordering him to do unsportsmanship things set my bond higher...while also making his evil stats higher, too, and raising my deceit. Increasing my deceit included stealing, lying, messing with other characters' flying equipment, and sabotaging my rival, Saren (who you can keep as a rival or befriend). The more your personality meshes with your red dragon, the better in that case. His playthrough was pretty fun.
Red dragon description:
Stats like your deceit or how you work as a team player affect how other characters view you as well. Cassius, for one, will almost certainly dislike you if you have high deceit, even if you're nice to him. The same goes for the stable manager, Duncan. Duncan's opinion of you and where your stats lay depends on a race in a certain part of the story. If you're sincere with high integrity, however, you get along with Cassius (and sorta Duncan) very well. Charisma helps in almost all instances, good or bad, but it only gets you so far.
The optional romances don't feel forced, in my opinion, albeit a bit sudden when a character asks who your crush is. The story thus far hadn't really allowed you to think much of potential romances, so that's sort of abrupt. In my plays, I romanced Shader and Cassius (my favorite), and didn't date anyone in the last. There's three other characters you can date: Allison, Saren, and Nyx, but I haven't tried those paths yet. I should add here that Saren is gay, so if you play a female character, you won't be able to date him. My friend played, too, but as a male, and said that Cassius and Allison are heterosexual, from what they could see. Nor I or my friend have played as non-binary, so I'm not sure if you can romance them that way. I find it easier to play characters more like myself (female), but it seems like a nice touch with Saren, Allison, and Cassius, since not all the characters are automatically bisexual/pansexual. I found in my playthroughs that even without the romance with Saren in particular, being female doesn't change you being able to become his friend or not. He makes for a good rival, too, if that's the path you want to take. I found the rivalry amusing, but enjoyed his friendship more.
I won't spoil it, but one romance has a heartbreaking ending. If angst is your style, you'll like that one. From what I hear, a different romance's ending might take a huge blow to your character's relationship with them, but that'll happen anyway with just friendship. On the latter romance I just mentioned, the game did well with dropping hints here and there about their knowledge about what's going on, but even when I got to the end, I didn't see that coming. All the characters have secrets and backgrounds that throw spice into the story. Getting close to them allows those backgrounds to unlock. In my first play-through, I got all the backstories, but didn't concentrate on that much in my other two. Some backstories are fairly innocent (or seem so in this book, anyway), but a few might catch you off guard (in a good way, or it did for me).
Part of the story includes going school. You have to pick a class, which is required. I thought it would be dull, but I actually liked that portion. Whatever class you chose, you learn more lore about the story's world. Near the end with the games and races, taking those classes do come into play. There's an exam later, too, and though passing or failing doesn't affect anything from what I could tell when I did it both ways, I thought that was pretty cool. Outside classes and racing practice, there's a handful of sports that you train with your dragon as well. One option is dressage, which was my favorite, and free-falling was interesting. You join a competition with your sport of choice later during important race portions of the story.
One con that I can think of is the magic in the game. Despite the stats, it doesn't really do much as far as I could tell. In a lot of scenes that call upon the need to use your magic, there's not really any struggles, and you can just automatically complete the moves. That does change a little later during the actual races, but for a good portion, magic wasn't really needed much, nor did a few other stats. Judging by the ending, I do suspect that the magic stat and few others that didn't seem to add much to the story might be important in later books (if there are any). I used the modded version to set them high just in case I can transfer my character later, but considering the genre, I thought they'd play a bigger part. I wasn't fussed about that, because most of my concentration was on the dragons, but that might disappoint others. Some of the classic stats, like stealth and knowledge, were useful in some parts.
Another con I found personally was again the stats, but this one pertaining to your dragon. I raised my stats for my dragon's swimming, but it did almost nothing. As mentioned earlier in this review, your bond with your dragon and their evil/good level adds to the story, but their action ones aren't utilized. I played both versions of the unmodded game and modded one, and didn't see much of a difference. Again, I presume they may be needed in later books if the author continues adding to the series...as is, though, they weren't very crucial in this one.
The third con that immediately comes to mind is the grammar. It's not the worst in the world, but when some characters talk, it might get confusing. In several parts, it's written with your character or a NPC saying something, then someone else follows that dialogue with an action rather than the action/movement getting its own paragraph. That sounds confusing, but here's examples:
1.
"I gotta find Rhaegos," you tell him, glancing around as if he'll appear at any moment. Your father rubs his forehead and sighs. It's a well-known fact that he dislikes the idea of Rhaegos running around on his own. Like you, he's just a baby, and he's curious about far too many things.
"Find him quickly and start your chores when you do." You nod and run off, away from the forest and towards the hayloft.
2.
"Josette?" You turn in your spot to see both of your parents approaching you, though their thoughts seem elsewhere. "We need to talk." You nod, sending a look towards Rhaegos. He's still interested in the rabbit, which is probably long gone.
3.
"I see you're still sitting up here feeling sorry for yourself," he points out, and you try not to roll your eyes. Regardless, you smile and jump from the roof, making your way towards him.
"I see you're still trying to climb buildings despite all that fat." His eyes widen, faking shock and hurt.
It doesn't always do that, because some parts are written correctly, but not always. Though it wasn't a huge issue for me, it might be a turn-off for others, or they may find it confusing trying to keep up with conversations.
Last (potential? not really?) con is the ending. The story was already written with good interactions once your character met the others early in the story and became more involved with them, but the action got amped up even further in the end. Just when it made it seem as though things were going to end nicely and with a bow...that certainly wasn't the case! I was on the edge of my seat when trying to figure out what was going on. The downside/con? Well, it ends abruptly. It strongly implies that we'll get sequels. I think that is forgivable and not an actual con if that's the case. I'll need to go on the COG forum and do more research on the author's intentions, but seriously, I'll eat my shoe if the author hadn't planned to continue this. On the slight off-chance that the ending we have now is the complete story, I'll be extremely bewildered, because the narrative will be very unsatisfying where it currently stops. Here's to hoping that there will be more!
In conclusion, after playing this game three times, I think the replayability is well done and the story itself intriguing. Honestly, I might do another play-through in the near future to try another path, just to see what that changes. For all its faults, it's become one of my favorites from COG and HG.
Would you recommend this to other users? Yes. I believe this game is enjoyable, and I would certainly recommend it to others.
Rating (1-5):
Last edited:
