Dragon Star Varnir

Dragon Star Varnir
DeveloperCompile Heart
PublisherIdea Factory
DirectorMakoto Kitano[1]
ProducerNorihisa Kochiwa[1]
Composers
PlatformsPlayStation 4, Windows, Nintendo Switch
ReleasePlayStation 4
  • JP: October 11, 2018
  • NA: June 11, 2019
  • EU: June 13, 2019
Windows
  • WW: October 9, 2019
Nintendo Switch
  • JP: May 27, 2021
  • WW: August 3, 2021
GenreRole-playing
ModeSingle-player

Dragon Star Varnir[a] is a 2018 role-playing video game developed by Compile Heart and published by Idea Factory. It was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan in October 2018 and worldwide in June 2019, for Windows in October 2019, and for Nintendo Switch in 2021.[2] The game follows a knight named Zephy who is tasked to fight witches and dragons, but is turned into a witch by his enemies in order to save him from death by the hands of a dragon. The game received generally favorable reviews from critics, who praised its battle system as an improvement from past Compile Heart games but criticized other aspects of its presentation.

Reception

Dragon Star Varnir received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic.[3] Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received fair approval, being recommended by 52% of critics.[5] Matt Sainsbury of Digitally Downloaded rated the game 90/100, saying the game "ratchets things up" from the developer's "budget, fanservicey JRPGs" with a "rich bit of storytelling", and saying that "battles [...] never become rote".[8] Zach Wilkerson of RPGFan rated it 79/100, calling the battle system where the game "truly shines", though criticizing the story as "never reach[ing] the potential of its engaging premise", and saying that "too much happens at the beginning", with every major character introduced in the first half hour, hurting their character development.[9] Brian Santana of IGN Spain rated it 65/100, criticizing the plot as simplistic with "flat characters", but praising the battle system and its tactical components.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ Ryū Hoshi no Varnir (竜星のヴァルニール, Ryū Hoshi no Varunīru)

References

  1. ^ a b c "Compile Heart announces Varnir of the Dragon Star for PS4 [Update 2]". Gematsu. 13 June 2018. Archived from the original on 2020-07-12. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  2. ^ "Dragon Star Varnir coming to Switch this spring in Japan". Gematsu. 9 February 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Dragon Star Varnir for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2021-05-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ^ "Dragon Star Varnir for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2021-10-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. ^ a b "Dragon Star Varnir". OpenCritic. Retrieved December 10, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  6. ^ Costa, Ryan (12 September 2021). "Dragon Star Varnir Review". RPGamer. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  7. ^ Wilkerson, Zach (12 September 2021). "Dragon Star Varnir". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  8. ^ S, Matt (7 June 2019). "Review: Dragon Star Varnir (Sony PlayStation 4)". Archived from the original on 2019-06-09. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  9. ^ "RPGFan Review - Dragon Star Varnir". www.rpgfan.com. Archived from the original on 2019-07-14. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  10. ^ "Análisis de Dragon Star Varnir para PS4 y PC". IGN España (in Spanish). 2019-07-05. Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2019-10-19.