Legends of Dragaea

So a few weeks ago I started running Desktop Heroes on a secondary PC I had (a three-generation-old gaming PC) because I snagged it for a pittance and wanted to see what all the fuss was about with those types of games. I usually don’t get idle games. I always thought people who bought “Football Manager” games should just play the actual football games, and I didn’t see what the hype was about.

Not going to lie... there is a ton of fun in managing my micro-party and setting them up while I go to work. I ended up completing the game ( all Steam achievements ) the other night ( while sleeping! ) and then wondered what I should boot up next for my idle dungeon game.

I ended up picking up Legends of Dragaea: Idle Dungeons on Steam for about $12. The game looked fun, and it seemed a bit more management focused because, instead of just four adventurers to make up a party and manage equipment for, this game gives a whole guild. I started the other night and have to admit the game was pretty slow at first.

The game has a neat mechanic where, when visiting a dungeon for the first time, the party walks through at a 1× pace, similar to how a normal 3D dungeon game would start. Of course, the game navigates it automatically, but as levels increase, the pace at which any party can move through that dungeon also increases. What ends up happening is the guild slowly levels up in groups of three, and the newer trios can then attempt the lower levels much faster. This is a great mechanic, and the ability to pass old, unused gear down also helps the game speed up.

At some point, it becomes possible to have 9 solid adventurers ( still really low-level and basic archetypes ) and take them on a monster run of a dungeon. This is a pretty straightforward boss battle, but it’s neat to watch as nine characters auto-battle and see which spells and skills they use. As the guild grows, the surrounding town also develops, furthering the progression of gear, upgrades, spells, and skills, and eventually allowing each character to be honed into a more specific class role while broadening the guild overall.

All in all, LoD is pretty fun and reminds me a bit of BBS door-game classics like Legend of the Red Dragon, with slightly better graphics. It’s worth checking out if another PC can be left running off to the side. Hopefully the Steam achievements for this one won’t be too hard.