The sandbox MMORPG Dragon And Home officially starts its beta on Steam today. It is a free-to-play game that visually and in gameplay strongly resembles Minecraft. We present you the game and its reviews on Steam.
What kind of MMORPG is this? In Dragon And Home, you play a character chosen by the Tree of Life to save the world. During your journey, you will explore various continents and must find a way to preserve the Tree of Life.
The game world features the typical block look that everyone knows from Minecraft and promises a lot of freedom.
- You can play your character as a melee fighter, mage, or ranged fighter.
- Your play style completely depends on the equipment you wear. There are a total of 4 different weapons – sword/shield, longsword, bow, staff – each having a different skill tree.
- Dragon And Home places a strong emphasis on crafting: You can collect materials, create gathering tools, and craft weapons and armor.
- You can grow plants, feed animals, and trade with other players.
- There is a housing system where you can decorate to your liking.
- Teamwork is supposed to be important to later defeat the strongest bosses in dungeons. A group consists of up to 4 players.
In addition to the MMORPG, there is also an “Offline Builder” where you can design your home according to your wishes. Here you have automatic access to all blocks, furniture, and other decorative content, and you can also modify the terrain as you wish, just like in Minecraft.
What does the MMORPG remind you of? Essentially, Dragon And Home feels like a modified version of Hytale, a Minecraft MMORPG, which was highly celebrated by fans in 2019 and was later acquired by Riot Games. However, this game has yet to be released.
If you want to shorten the waiting time, you can check out Dragon And Home now.
There is also a trailer for the game that presents it in detail:
Criticism of the Combat System and Monetization
Who can play Dragon And Home now? The new MMORPG has been in western beta since October 15 and is completely free to play for everyone. Accordingly, dedicated servers for Europe and America have also been made available.
A Chinese server for Dragon And Home was released on Steam back in August 2021, and some users could even play outside of China.
Therefore, there are already some reviews, which also contain a lot of criticism.
What do the first players say? Currently, Dragon And Home has only 55% positive reviews out of 436 reviews. Players primarily criticize two things.
On one hand, the combat system is said to have problems. Normal enemies at low levels reportedly have many hit points, and battles tend to drag on. Additionally, hit detection is said to be poor. The balance between classes is also said to be only mediocre, as players with sword and shield have a disadvantage compared to ranged fighters.
On the other hand, many find the shop to be a thorn in the side. Although the developers promise that there will be no pay-to-win, there are workpoints for gathering and crafting. When these points run out, you have to wait or pay real money.
Moreover, costumes cost over 30 dollars and there is an item for about 4 dollars that releases once equipped gear, allowing you to sell it afterward.
What about the promised dungeons and bosses? The Steam user Mexican Eddie has already invested 111 hours in Dragon And Home and reports that the first dungeons are unlocked at level 10. The max level in the MMORPG is 20.
However, the first dungeons are said to be so difficult and require so much equipment that they can only be properly experienced at level 18. Casual players would have to invest several weeks into the game for that.
While he sees a lot of potential in the game, he ultimately gives a negative review.
Is the game worth it anyway? The Steam user Indie Patron gave a negative review, but still recommends the game for certain player types. His experiences align with a large part of the reviews on Steam:
For a free game, you can invest a lot of time, but the game also has its pitfalls: Leveling is incredibly tedious and you have to do quests to reach new levels since mobs give hardly any experience points […]. This game needs some serious “quality of life” changes; it’s just too tedious to complete basic tasks.
For MMORPG players: I am someone who is always looking for new MMORPGs and almost exclusively plays indie MMORPGs – I am not satisfied with how it is currently set up.
Minecraft players/Hytale fans: You will probably enjoy the game.
[…] The game is still in testing phase, so hopefully there will still be some major changes.
In the last 30 days, an average of 115 players were online at the same time (via Steamcharts), despite there only being a version with Chinese servers. It is quite possible that the game’s numbers will grow in the coming days.
What do you think of the new game? Does the idea of a Minecraft MMORPG appeal to you, and will you give Dragon And Home a chance? Or do you find the negative points too significant? Feel free to write it in the comments.
If you are more looking for MMORPGs that are already successful and do not need to prove themselves anymore, you will find them here:
