First shown off in Card-en-Ciel earlier this year, Divine Dynamo Flamefrit is yet another new IP from Inti Creates. It explores a new avenue unlike what they’ve done before, combining classic anime aesthetics with old school top-down gameplay. Seeing as I was already charmed by the characters because of their early appearances in Card-en-Ciel, I was eager to give it a shot. So how does it fare on its own?
It’s Throwback Time
Divine Dynamo Flamefrit’s entire premise is that of yet another retro throwback title, with nearly all of its aesthetics and ideas lifted from the past. Even in the aforementioned in Card-en-Ciel, it’s heavily implied that its fictional release date was sometime in the early 90s, with the “game” presented being a tie-in of a fake anime. As such, it parades around visuals, character designs, and tropes from anime of that time period—most blatantly Mashin Hero Wataru. This isn’t exactly anything new for Inti Creates, as they normally derive fresh perspectives on old gameplay and story ideas.
Divine Dynamo Flamefrit, unfortunately, isn’t fresh at all. It’s the sort of homage that winds up overpowering any sense of originality. This extends to the story, which I wasn’t able to derive much meaning or fun from. Along with his friends and classmates, Yuto is an average middle schooler whisked away to the fantasy world of Hologard. With magic and giant robots called Divine Dynamos, they’re off to fulfill a prophecy by defeating an ancient evil called the Archfiend. Along the way, they meet an evil Divine Dynamo along with a pilot they know nothing about, hellbent on stopping them at every turn.
If you’re thinking, “wow, isn’t that kind of cliche?”, it is. Unfortunately, it’s played entirely straight and filled with mawkish, if not forgettable dialogue. Despite the surprising amount of dialogue it packs for such a short game, it says nothing that scratches the brain in that time. Instead, it almost seems dead-focused at poking fun of its own cliches. Rather than truly display the apparently storied dynamics between Yuto and Maho, the game instead gives a quip about how “it’s tough to have a childhood friend”, before promptly moving on. Somehow I got more out of the esoteric and out-of-context chatter that these characters got in Card-en-Ciel.
Roll Around and Hit Stuff
Divine Dynamo Flamefrit’s core gameplay is somewhat inspired by the top-down Zeldas of the past, most notably the original NES game and A Link to the Past. Equipped with a sword and some magic that he later unlocks, Yuto fights his way through some maze-like levels that occasionally feature keys and some stuff for him to find. He’ll also have to contest with enemies that may block his path or try to shoot him down from a distance. While he’s got a basic three hit sword combo to get the job done, he’s also got a dodge roll to do some last-minute evasion. As he progresses, he also gains fire magic to burn away grass, wind magic to shred enemies in tornadoes, ice magic to freeze away flaming enemies, and earth magic to defend and attack at the same time.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a whole lot of positive things to say about the gameplay either. Partly because of the game’s short length, it feels equally short on ideas or ways to really make the gameplay feel interesting. The biggest issue is the level design, which doesn’t offer up a whole lot. There are no puzzles in a conventional sense, and the mazes themselves are quite dry to navigate because of their simplicity. The most a fork in the road will lead you to is a health or magic pickup and not, say, a key or some kind of desirable upgrade. There’s also no overworld, with each part of the game being split up into four somewhat lengthy levels.
This means that getting lost doesn’t happen a whole lot in this game, and so the levels on offer are really just hallways where you make a lot of turns. This isn’t so bad when supplemented by something fun, but it’s really all you do in this game besides fight off some enemies with barebones combat. It’s not fun like Zelda 1, where it’s got high difficulty and the expectation that the player will get lost or confused. It just feels protracted, with the most interesting use cases of the magic system being prescriptive. See grass? Use fire to burn it. See lava? Use ice to chill it and get across. It never evolves or asks you to think on a bigger level than this.
The main gameplay of Divine Dynamo Flamefrit isn’t poor per se. I never really got upset at it or found anything to be fundamentally unfun, but nothing really managed to leave an impression or stick with me. I never went “wow, that’s cool” or was surprised by anything shown. It’s rote in all of the ways you wouldn’t really expect from an Inti Creates game, and unlike normal there’s no ranking system or difficulty selection to help mitigate this. What you see is what you get, and what I got didn’t impress me.
Get in the Robot, Yuto
Each level is capped off with an encounter against foes far bigger than Yuto himself, which means it’s time to pilot the titular Divine Dynamo: Flamefrit. Flamefrit’s gameplay is completely different from Yuto’s on-foot sections, being first-person brawls seen from Flamefrit’s cockpit. Equipped with a sword and fire shot from his hands, you’re tasked with keeping your firing reticle on your enemy and performing counterattacks wherever possible. The enemy will also hurl projectiles at you, which you’ll need to either destroy or block with your sword.
Flamefrit’s base gameplay definitely feels like the most elaborate thing in the entire game. I honestly wouldn’t mind if we got an entire game filled with nothing but these boss encounters. Bosses make use of fairly clever tactics, like filling the screen with projectiles to overwhelm you, meanwhile they hide away to try and get a sneak attack on you. It sounds like a pain, but keeping cool and using your radar to deduce where they are can net you a devastating counter if you can time your block just as they attack. It feels great, too.
Bosses generally put up a decent fight, too… Provided that you abstain from using the assistance of the other characters. They cast screen nukes that obliterate huge chunks of their HP, and it doesn’t even require any timing or charging to get the full benefit of doing so. They’re still fun, but this when combined with the generous amount of health Flamefrit already has means that it’s a bit too easy. If a sequel for this game ever comes out, this is the area that I’d most look forward to seeing spruced up.
Aesthetics and Music
The graphics and sound of Divine Dynamo Flamefrit are fine. Not good, not bad, but fine. I think it falls somewhat below the par of Inti Creates’ typically fantastic sprite artwork, not being as detailed or expressive as their work usually is. Areas typically don’t convey a sense of story and are rather plain to look at, and its character design also doesn’t stick out as particularly special. Perhaps this was done in the interest of capturing that “throwaway licensed game” vibe that Flamefrit is kind of supposed to be, but in either case its visuals are ineffective for me. Even compared to their other top-down endeavors like the Blaster Master Zero trilogy, which was 8-Bit as opposed to 16-bit, it feels somewhat weak.
The audio falls into the same boat, with the background music for the main stages going in one ear and out the other. None of it struck me as grating, but nothing really made me pause and think it was particularly head-bobbing. The vocal tracks (which I already heard thanks to Card-en-Ciel) are fine and hummable in the moment-to-moment, but they’re not anything I’m desperately looking to add to my playlists. At the very least, the sound design is crunchy and satisfying. Even if the combat isn’t particularly good, hitting stuff at least has the right amount of oomph to it.
Verdict
Divine Dynamo Flamefrit is like a playable version of your standard milquetoast seasonal anime. It’s short and doesn’t do anything to really upset me, but it also lacks any real sense of risk taking or depth. While in the moment, it can provide mild fun, it never once really becomes anything more than that because of how it never evolves and remains so simple. It also feels short on ideas despite its length, with repetitive stage design and few enemy types, with only the boss battles feeling like they got some originality injected into them. Even putting those aside, its aesthetic, music, and story are all quite bland, leaning so hard into its inspirations that it can’t really stand on its own two feet. A bad game? Not really, but even as of writing this, I’ve already forgotten about most of it.
WAIT FOR SALE ON DIVINE DYNAMO FLAMEFRIT
If you are looking for another Inti Creates game, you might want to check out Gal Guardians: Demon Purge.
Many thanks go to Inti Creates for a Switch review code for Divine Dynamo Flamefrit.
A hobbyist who took up the pen to write about their favorite pastime: games. While a lover of many genres, Isaiah Parker specializes in Platformers, RPGs, and competitive multiplayer titles. The easiest way into his heart is to have great core gameplay mechanics. Self-proclaimed world’s biggest Sonic fan. Follow him @ZinogreVolt
