QCF: Trials of the Blood Dragon

ou know what made David Sandberg’s Kung Fury so endearing and enjoyable? It genuinely convinced you to feel good about romanticizing the nostalgia of the 80’s and the pop culture of that generation, making so easy for the audience to buy into the love letter that it was creating.

With a runtime of just 31 minutes, the direction of its presentation and callbacks within its theatrics exuded a sense of authenticity; it just knew when to slap you in the face with something neon and low-res, and when to subtly drop a synthesized interlude to the scene from the soundtrack…

Kung Fury is the finest example of how to glamorize the culture and style of that era, and the closest video game equivalent to that success would be FarCry 3: Blood Dragon—the design and tone of that game managed to hit upon those same principles, and successfully conveyed 80’s sentimentality as well as a result.

So I’m sad to say that I’m a little surprised, and gravely disappointed that Trials of The Blood Dragon didn’t follow suit, and almost delivers a reverse effect. It constantly vomits out nostalgic imagery and noise from the era it panders to without any specific rhyme or reason other than to be as obnoxious with its aesthetic as it possibly can.

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