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How Metascores Are Calculated
54
B-Boy
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games. |
For centuries, all was peaceful...until a fierce Black Dragon suddenly appeared and destroyed the capital city, Granadis. Valen, freshly graduated from Dragoon school, must now ensure the safety of the world's six dragons and try to track down the evil Black Dragon. Follow his adventure to save the world. [NIS America]
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more... 85
Play Magazine
There's so much to do, and so much depth in this game. [Aug 2007, p.69]
80
Hardcore Gamer Magazine
Dragoneer's Aria is so RPG it hurts. It's solid, it's hard, and it somehow manages to look like a PS2 game on the PSP. It just doesn't have that one unique oomf that pushes it to the top. [Vol 3, Issue 2, p.59]
70
GameZone
Not the freshest game on the market, but if you want a slower-paced quest with an engaging story and hours of battles to conquer, Dragoneer’s Aria is one of the better RPGs you’ll find exclusively on PSP.
 70
RPG Fan
Even with the dime-a-dozen characters and plot, it was still an enjoyable romp on the PSP.
69
Extreme Gamer
Thinking to win battles was the most rewarding quality I found about Dragoneer’s Aria along with its excellent visual quality. Dragoneer's Aria starts out a little slow and becomes more challenging as you start hitting the higher levels making the adventure a worth while investment.
67
GamingTrend
The story is truly grand and most of the gripes could be forgiven separately. But with all of them combined I cannot recommend this game to anyone other than very hardcore RPG fans.
66
Game Almighty
Dragoneer's Aria misses the mark in critical categories, especially in light of recent competition. You can do far worse than Dragoneer's, that's for sure...but with Brave Story out, you can now do far better.
65
ZTGameDomain
While the PSP is certainly not short on RPGs Dragoneer’s Aria does offer a nice diversion from others in the genre.
65
PSM Magazine
Just another mediocre RPG: one that feels suspiciously like a "Final Fantasy" knockoff, at that. [Nov 2007, p.88]
64
Games Master UK
Perfectly solid but wholly predictable on every level. [Mar 2008, p.84]
60
GotNext
While NIS is known for developing and publishing games with cutesy 2D art, Dragoneer's Aria sports rather bland 3D visuals.
60
Worth Playing
Dragoneer's Aria played up too greatly on its strengths and didn't try to fix its flaws.
58
Game Informer
A relatively simple RPG made moderately unbearable by its slow pace and confused menus. It doesn’t help that the game world is so generic, from the cookie-cutter story to the drab and overly familiar fantasy-themed environments.
57
GameTrailers
A year or two ago, it may have been a viable option, but with great alternatives out in the market right now, you can stand to sit this song out.
56
Cheat Code Central
They say the show's not over until the fat lady sings, but Dragoneer's Aria should be the first song in the plump gal's repertoire. It's over before it begins.
55
1UP
Even though the game eventually collapses under the weight of its own complexity, I'll give the developers credit for at least trying to break the mold with presentation, style, and gameplay.
55
IGN
The flawed implementation of energy and mana as well as the interminably slow battle mechanics really drags down the game.
50
TotalPlayStation
Dragoneer's Aria is simply average in almost every way, there's no getting around it. Parts of the storyline can be entertaining, but only as much as the localization gave the characters a little pop. Otherwise, it's a purely paint-by-numbers game.
50
Games Radar
If you can forgive the game its worst weaknesses and have the Japanese voice track turned on, Dragoneer's Aria can be a decent way to waste a few hours at a time as you slog through the hemorrhaging plot. But don't expect it to be easy even with the bland combat.
50
AceGamez
Games that seem to go out of their way to waste my time raise my ire like nothing else I know.
50
Deeko
All things taken into account, the game turned out to be a huge disappointment. Being a mish-mash of games I had played before in the past, the integration of different aspects of these popular games in the genre did not bring this saga any justice.
50
Pocket Gamer UK
The PSP has been crying out for a brand new classic Japanese RPG for a long time now. Dragoneer's Aria, as a wholly average expression of the genre that's of interest to super-fans only, is not the game to answer its melancholy call.
48
Jolt Online Gaming UK
Dragoneer’s Aria is simply not good enough to fulfil the expectations of the PSP community, especially the hardcore RPG fans who deserve to be treated with a little more respect than a rushed effort that very obviously lacks polish and quite frankly looks amateurish when compared to other games around.
45
PALGN
Dragoneer's Aria could have been a good game, but the dreadful battle system, lacklustre story and average presentation make it very difficult to recommend.
45
GameSpot
Only grind-loving, masochistic role players need apply.
42
Gaming Age
The look and feel of the different areas and environments are pretty well done, unfortunately, the fighting aspect of the game tends to be reasonably boring, slow and uncharacteristically hard especially when players can easily receive a game over screen in the first dungeon.
40
GamePro
Repetitive to the point of brain damaging; and a few giant leaps in enemy difficulty will have you cursing the fact that save points are at the beginning of each area.
40
Gameplanet
A classic RPG that you will either love or hate, and there are no two ways about it.
40
Edge Magazine
Large-scale, new IP RPGs have been something of a rarity on this handheld, but as higher quality titles start to emerge, conformist and mediocre efforts like this become even less attractive and viable. [Feb 2008, p.97]
30
Gamestyle
There are far better examples on the PSP all of which don’t have you suffer through terrible dialogue, monotonous battling and mind numbingly slow gameplay.
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