Software:Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire

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Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire
Developer(s)Land Ho!
Publisher(s)D3 Publisher
Platform(s)Wii
Release
  • NA: September 25, 2007
  • AU: November 2, 2007
  • EU: November 16, 2007
  • JP: November 22, 2007
Genre(s)Action game
Mode(s)Single player

Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire, known in Japan as simply Dragon Blade (ドラゴンブレイド, Doragon Bureido), is a game for the Wii from Japanese developer Land Ho! publisher D3 Publisher.[1] Dragon Blade follows a young adventurer named Dal who seeks six legendary pieces of the "Dragon Blade," each infused with the soul of different guardian dragons. In an attempt to build the ultimate weapon and vanquish evil, the young protagonist embarks on a quest to find and seal away each of the six dragons, taking their souls and abilities in the process.[2]

Plot

The plot revolves around Dal and his quest to recover the six pieces of the Dragon Blade and vanquish the evil dragons that pillage the land. He is accompanied by a mysterious red dragon named Valthorian whose soul is the source of the Dragon Blade's powers. The plot was written by Richard A. Knaak, writer of Dragonlance novels. On a side note, the plot is similar to Christopher Paolini's The Inheritance Cycle, Richard Wagner's cycle of operas Ring of the Nibelung (Specifically its third part) and Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain series.

Dal is plagued by repeated dreams of himself wielding a fiery sword and being instructed by a voice on how to use it (serving as the game's tutorial). Once all the breakable objects have been incinerated, he awakens to find his fiancé. He tells her of his dream, and when he finishes, the village falls under attack from the monsters that serve the evil dragons. After instructing her to run and hide, he is drawn to a large stone by a disembodied voice. He is teleported to a hidden cavity deep underground, where the handle and hilt to the fiery blade from his dreams is located. He takes the blade, and the disembodied voice reveals itself as Valthorian, the fire dragon that took favor with mankind during a time of war and gave them the extra fighting strength to sway the victory to one side.

Angered by his actions, the other five dragons plotted against him, eventually corrupting the six people Valthorian trusted most. Believing Valthorian would eventually destroy them, the people launch an attack. Unable to hurt the people he once loved and trusted, Valthorian is slain and his soul sealed into different orbs, pieces of the Dragon Blade. One of the six men, however, regretted his assistance in the deed, and took away his piece and hid it. For generations, the family guarded the treasure, which was the handle and hilt, until it led to Dal, his last descendant.

After learning of this, Dal returns to the village, finding it burning. Angered and empowered, he approaches the monsters and proceeds to kill them. Eventually, he finds his dying fiancé, who shares her last words with him. Saddened by her death, he wanders into the area where the main leaders of the attack are residing. As it turns out, they had been searching for the Dragon Blade, which Dal now wields. Dal kills them, spends the rest of the day burying the dead. With everyone from his village gone, he sets out with the Dragon Blade, the piece containing Valthorian's mind, to slay the ones that destroyed his home and his love.

Passing through several lands, Dal regains portions of Valthorian's soul, which is won by slaying the five remaining corrupted men that Valthorian trusted. The arms, tail, wings and head of Valthorian are recovered, as Dal slays each of the dragons. Upon reaching Vormanax, a great fight occurs, and in the end, Valthorian is revived and slays Vormanax, trapping his soul in the Dragon Blade to replace his own. After thanking Dal, Valthorian realizes that a darker, more sinister plot was intended all along, and that a force greater than Vormanax was responsible, ending the story on a cliffhanger that is likely to never be resolved, since the likelihood of a sequel is low.

The six dragons, in order of appearance, are

  • Valthorian - Fire Dragon
  • Jagira - Water Dragon
  • Skaroth - Ground Dragon
  • Mobrius - Poison evil Dragon
  • Norgiloth - Lightning Dragon
  • Vormanax - Darkness/Shadow Dragon

Gameplay

Picture of gameplay from Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire

The game is a Hack and slash game, mixed with Beat 'em up and RPG aspects, similar to God of War and Devil May Cry.

In the game, the Wii remote is used as the weapon held by the main character. At first, it is a sword that can only slash and defend, but as players advance, they gain more weapon transformations. Confirmed usable weapon modes are a dragon fist, two dragon fists, a dragon head, dragon wings and a dragon tail. There are twenty levels in the game, and five worlds (four levels per world). To fight, players can lock on to enemies and either shoot fire with the dragon head or do various close combat techniques depending on which weapon is being used.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic51/100[3]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1Up.comD+[4]
Famitsu25/40[5]
GamePro3.25/5[6]
GameSpot4/10[7]
GameSpyStarStarHalf star[8]
GameTrailers4.6/10[9]
GameZone6.2/10[10]
IGN5.6/10[11]
NGamer50%[12]
ONM51%[13]

The game received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[3] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of one seven and three sixes for a total of 25 out of 40.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Bruce, Jamie (April 3, 2007). "Nintendo News: Dragon Blade, Katamari, Resident Evil & More". Cubed³ Limited. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070930184545/http://www.cubed3.com/news/7196/. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 
  2. ↑ Bozon, Mark (June 20, 2007). "Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire First Look". Ziff Davis. http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/06/20/dragon-blade-wrath-of-fire-first-look. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire for Wii Reviews". CBS Interactive. https://www.metacritic.com/game/dragon-blade-wrath-of-fire/critic-reviews/?platform=wii. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 
  4. ↑ Leone, Matt (October 9, 2007). "Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire". Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on June 14, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160614081517/http://www.1up.com/reviews/dragon-blade-wof. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "EGM and Famitsu Scores: It's that time of the month! Woo Hoo!". CBS Interactive. November 2007. https://www.gamespot.com/forums/games-discussion-1000000/egm-and-famitsu-scores-its-that-time-of-the-month--26041899/. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 
  6. ↑ Balistrieri, Emily (October 30, 2007). "Review: Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire". GamePro (IDG Entertainment). Archived from the original on January 5, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080105011549/http://www.gamepro.com/nintendo/wii/games/reviews/144408.shtml. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 
  7. ↑ Dodson, Joe (October 3, 2007). "Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire Review". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/dragon-blade-wrath-of-fire-review/1900-6180344/. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 
  8. ↑ Lewis, Cameron (October 2, 2007). "GameSpy: Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire". Ziff Davis. http://wii.gamespy.com/wii/dragon-blade-wrath-of-fire/824317p1.html. 
  9. ↑ "Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire Review". Viacom. October 11, 2007. Archived from the original on May 5, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100505110032/http://www.gametrailers.com/gamereview.php?id=5045. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 
  10. ↑ Knutson, Michael (October 3, 2007). "Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire - WII - Review". Archived from the original on February 26, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080226060606/http://wii.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r32876.htm. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 
  11. ↑ Bozon, Mark (October 3, 2007). "Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire Review". Ziff Davis. http://www.ign.com/articles/2007/10/03/dragon-blade-wrath-of-fire-review. Retrieved May 28, 2018. 
  12. ↑ "Review: Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire". NGamer (Future plc): 55. January 2008. 
  13. ↑ "Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire Review". Official Nintendo Magazine (Future plc): 84. January 2008. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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