I didn’t know what to expect from Dynasty Feud when I first started it up. From the art, it reminded me a bit of Cartoon Network shows that were bumped down in prime time hours. But I was surprised.
Making History Come Alive! And Fight Each Other!
Pretty much every famous faction (called ‘dynasties’ in-game) from history is fighting it out here – Aztecs, Vikings, what have you. And from there it veers straight into Super Smash Brothers territory. If that game had a time machine and brought back warriors from each random period of time, it might look something like Dynasty Feud. And it also has the Civilization fallacy of having the Cavemen beat the Cowboys from the Wild West – although factions fight themselves too.
Great Graphics and Gameplay
The graphics in Dynasty Feud aren’t that bad. It was 2D retro stylized in an area, as if Super Smash Brothers had been on the SNES. But it’s also more modernized, with instead of 16-bit graphics, it pretty fleshed out in terms of color and design. I fought battles on, say, a speeding locomotive, and I could totally buy that I was there on it
It’s also not too, too hard to play thanks to how the game runs. Your objective is to, yes, kill each other, but in a free for all. I found myself killing others while being killed myself, only to get revenge as soon I was back in. It’s constant, relentless, and there are no friends. It’s like internet commenters the game.
And it even extends down to the players. As soon as your guy is killed, another one pops up to play as a relief pitcher, and that comes with a new skill set, and new weaknesses and strengths. And, since it’s dog eat dog, we need to be prepared for that and hope they’re strong against your opponents type. Think of it this way – In Pokemon, imagine that, as soon as one of your Pokemon dies…er…faints, it gets automatically replaced by a random Pokemon not of your choosing. That’s pretty much what’s going on in Dynasty Feud.
Might Get Tiresome
Despite new classes and locations and attacks, it quickly winds down to being the same attack styles. You can randomly hit buttons and still beat a seasoned player. I started getting tired of the low amount of skill required. Acting fast – that’s the only real advantage here. That and making sure you picked the right characters. Being madcap might be working both for and against it – it requires constant playing and deciding, but it also reduces skill down significantly.
The question becomes: “Is Dynasty Feud fun?” And the answer is “Yeah. Kinda.” If you like free-for-all brawl style games, you’ll have fun here no questions asked. Unlocking more and more characters can become a joy. But if you want something more skillful, it may not be a good game. The sound works, the visuals are good and it’s premise is pretty unique. But you may soon find yourself in trouble if you aren’t smashing the buttons a lot.
Pros:
- Looks great
- Fun premise
- plays well
- Cowboys shooting spacemen
Cons:
- Cowboys shooting spacemen
- Unchallenging attacks
- Constant pauses in the game to let you know someone dies really drag it down.
Conclusion:
Dynasty Feud is fun and has a lot to like. But there’s not a lot of skill in many parts. Relying on blind luck is dangerous, especially in a video game where there’s hundreds of ways to cruelly die (The trailer alone seems to have more death than Kill Bill). There are plenty of good surprises within, it’s only a matter of if you get too frustrated to move on.
