DragonSword: Awakening Review

Hound 13's action RPG leaves the monetization behind and builds a surprisingly addictive combat loop around character swapping, progression, and flashy team combos.

DragonSword: Awakening is an interesting case because the game reportedly started life as a gacha title before Hound 13 turned it into a $30 premium action RPG. That change is important because you can still see traces of its original design in how the game handles characters, gear, currencies, and progression.

However, DragonSword: Awakening removes the parts that usually make the free-to-play model frustrating. There is no gambling system, no pay-to-win character progression, and no stamina mechanic stopping you from playing as much as you want. You can earn gameplay-related content just by playing, while paid extras are limited to cosmetics.

That gives DragonSword: Awakening a different feel from many modern anime-style RPGs.

Instead of constantly pushing you toward another purchase or daily login, it lets you pay once and focus on the actual game. Hound 13 is also a relatively unknown Korean studio, and its work is presented as a new IP rather than another established franchise. Considering that background, the level of polish across the combat, visuals, animation, and overall presentation is impressive.

The story starts with Lute, a character whose journey quickly takes her from being a priest to joining a group of mercenaries. He arrives after being shipwrecked on an island, with a larger mystery surrounding who he really is and what connection he may have to the dragons.

The narrative itself is serviceable rather than something that constantly demands your attention. The central mysteries surrounding the dragons and the world are enough to keep moving forward, and some of the major story arcs are enjoyable. But the pacing can be a problem.

You can spend long stretches running between locations, entering buildings, speaking to characters, and watching conversations before you get back to the actual gameplay. There are moments when you can go 20 to 30 minutes with very little fighting or exploration, which becomes especially noticeable because the combat is easily the strongest part of the experience.

Fortunately, the cast helps keep the journey engaging. You soon meet other members of the mercenary group, including loud, arrogant, and supremely confident Johnny, who immediately stands out. His personality adds a lot of energy to the group, and his attitude lends itself to many opportunities for comedy and trouble. 

Outside of the main story, you’ll spend a lot of time exploring the game’s open world, taking on quests, collecting materials, entering dungeons, gathering gear, and improving your characters. The world feels smaller than you'd expect at first, but it gradually opens up as you play. You can find hidden treasures, crafting materials, side quests, and areas that are a little less traveled.

There’s also a familiar mercenary setup in the game.

You join a guild, accept missions, and gradually take on more challenging work as your band develops. Some quests are just busywork, but they usually don’t drag on too long. You might be asked to do deliveries or smaller jobs before taking on bigger battles. It's a familiar structure, heavily influenced by anime and JRPG storytelling traditions, but it works because the game executes the formula adequately.

Dungeons offer a more focused challenge. You must prepare your party and ensure your characters are at an appropriate level before entering some dungeons, as you cannot change your party composition once inside. That’s a bit more pressure on your prep.

There is a light multiplayer component that lets you bring friends into dungeons and hunt for materials together. It’s not the main focus, but it adds another way to progress in the game. That said, most of your time with DragonSword: Awakening is as a single-player action RPG of exploration, combat, character development, and gear grinding.

The fighting is what really ties everything together. Each character has their own set of skills, and the basic loop is about attacking enemies, breaking them down, launching them into the air, and keeping combos going. You can basic attack, dodge, use special abilities, and swap between three active party members.

Some abilities are not simply available whenever you want them. For example, Loot's sword grab is unlocked by breaking an enemy, while other special skills require you to trigger a combo with another party member first. This makes you think about team composition and what characters can create opportunities for others.

The character-swapping system brings another layer to the action. You can switch between party members using the number keys, and sometimes another character will join the fight with a special attack. This leads to a constant cycle of attacking, swapping characters, using their abilities, and then swapping back when skills become available.

The elemental system supports this combat loop.

You can interact with effects like fire, poison, ice, bleed, and stun on both characters and enemies. You can chain these effects with your party’s abilities so you can create combos and trigger follow-up attacks. However, DragonSword: Awakening does not use the same type of elemental reaction system found in games like Genshin Impact.

The combat does have some weaknesses. It’s responsive, and you can cancel animations and dodge within the limits of your stamina, but attacks don’t always land the impact they should. DragonSword: Awakening is also extremely flashy, which can make it difficult to understand exactly what is happening during busy encounters.

The camera is the bigger issue. You can sometimes take damage from attacks that are difficult to see or identify, and there are moments when the camera makes fast-paced fights harder to read than they need to be. The lock-on system also needs improvement.

Still, once you understand the mechanics, the combat becomes incredibly satisfying. Regular enemies can eventually become predictable, often falling into a familiar pattern of dodging attacks, applying status effects, and triggering your combo chains.

Bosses are much more engaging because they have more dangerous attacks and unique patterns that demand greater attention. They are not brutally difficult, but they make better use of the combat system and offer some of the most enjoyable encounters in the game.

The progression system carries some of the game's old gacha DNA, even though the actual monetization is gone. You use experience books and materials to level characters, while an adventure-rank-style system controls your effective world progression. The important difference is that there is no stamina system limiting your sessions.

Character development also revolves around a ticket system, but these tickets are earned through normal gameplay.

You can unlock characters by completing main quests and side content, then use your tickets to choose who you want rather than gambling on a random pull. Some characters are also unlocked naturally through story progression. The roster eventually swells to about 19 playable characters, each with their own personality, abilities, and combat role.

Gear progression is more complicated. Equipment can be obtained through random drops or crafted, and while you can target certain main stats, sub-stats remain random. Crafting materials come from specific dungeons, while other systems let you improve skills, enhance equipment, upgrade karma cards, and unlock awakening passives.

The grind becomes more noticeable later in the game, especially after around level 40. Currency can become particularly scarce if you are trying to develop several characters at once, and farming money can feel unnecessarily demanding. There’s also a scattered parts system for unlocking Goddess Blessings, which can be frustrating when you can’t quite spot the pieces you need.

The progression is still much more generous than what you would normally expect from an actual gacha game. A single dungeon run can sometimes provide enough resources to improve a character significantly, and there are no daily login requirements or premium currency systems hanging over the experience.

The result is a familiar grind-heavy RPG structure without the pressure to spend money. For completionists and players who enjoy optimizing multiple characters, DragonSword: Awakening can potentially offer around 100 hours of content when you include achievements and post-game build optimization.

Visually, DragonSword: Awakening makes a strong first impression.

The environments are detailed, the foliage is surprisingly impressive for a new IP from an indie studio, and the character models are well-designed. The animations are smooth as well, especially in combat where the characters’ attacks and movement help sell the fast-paced action. DragonSword: Awakening is developed in Unreal Engine, and overall performance is good, with consistent frame rates and short load times.

The visuals aren’t completely flawless. Water reflections and certain environmental features show rough edges, especially compared to games that rely more on ray tracing. Nonetheless, these shortcomings do not spoil the overall presentation. The CGI cutscenes are another highlight, with the quality of the character expressions and animation making the cast feel more polished than you might expect from a smaller studio.

The sound is like that. The soundtrack is built around sweeping orchestral music that fits the style of DragonSword: Awakening without necessarily becoming memorable on its own. One particularly effective touch is the use of reworked music connected to the original Dragon Nest, giving longtime fans a bit of nostalgia.

Korean voice acting is a nice touch too for the anime-inspired presentation of the game, with energetic performances that are especially good during intense moments. A Japanese dub would have been a welcome addition, but the Korean voice track is a solid fit for the game's identity.

While DragonSword: Awakening is not a perfect action RPG, its strongest systems are genuinely fun, making it an easy game to appreciate. The story can drag, the side quests become repetitive, the camera can cause problems, and the combat sometimes lacks the impact that its flashy presentation promises.

At the same time, Hound 13 made the right choice by turning the project into a premium game.

You get the character collecting, gear grinding, dungeon farming, and long-term progression that can make gacha games addictive, but without the gambling, pay-to-win mechanics, stamina restrictions, or constant pressure to spend. You can simply play, earn your characters, improve your builds, and keep experimenting with different team combinations.

That foundation gives DragonSword: Awakening real potential. The studio does not need to completely reinvent the formula for a sequel. A stronger story, better pacing, improved UI and quality-of-life features, a more reliable camera, and combat that feels heavier and more impactful would go a long way.

For $30, DragonSword: Awakening offers a surprisingly generous package. It may not be the best action RPG you play in a year, but it is a very enjoyable one, and the fact that you can experience its character collection and progression systems without spending hundreds of dollars makes it stand out. If Hound 13 builds on this foundation rather than abandoning it, the next DragonSword could be something special.