The story of Divine Dynamo Flamefrit is that you play as Yuto, a young adventurer that has big dreams and aspirations. Yuto and his friends must work together to restore piece to their parallel world called Hologard.
When I first started to play this game I immediately made me think of The Illusion of Gaia on the Super Nintendo. But I quickly realized that it lost that initial impression the more I played of it. The game has you playing as Yuto in a 2D top down view of the world. As you navigate the world, you encounter enemies that are on screen and once you’re in sight of them, they will attack you. You can use your weapon to attack them either close range or ranged attack at a distance.
Featuring environmental puzzles that focus primarily on the fire element, they are often fun and not too difficult to complete. Once you complete a puzzle or defeat a set number of enemies, you will either obtain an item that you will use to either help you on your quest, or be used to open up another area beyond where you obtained it. There will be character NPCs that will give you aide in the form of story elements, request something of you, or give you hints on how to proceed.
Some of these character NPCs are your friends and they can be called upon to help dispatch enemies and even bosses in some instances. They each have their own attack that will either be the same flame element that you have or may be a completely different element to you that will be just what’s needed to turn the tide of battle.
Speaking of battle, the boss battles in this game are spectacular. Instead of the 2D top down perspective, you’re thrust into a first person perspective. Just like with traditional enemy fights, you can call on your friends to aid you and it’s pretty awesome to see the attacks of you and your friends as well as the boss you’re facing in first person.
Divine Dynamo Flamefrit has some of the best graphics I’ve seen in quite awhile when it comes to 2D games. Graphics of he game jump off the screen with their bright and rich color palettes and really is a sight to behold. Aside from the bright color palette, the animation is another shining element. Enemies have nice animation and patters to them, and characters feel very fluid as they traverse the environments.
Speaking of environments, there are plenty of them to experience. You have ice caves, forests, and even dry deserts to explore, each with attention to detail that rather surprised me for a 2D top down action game. Graphically the boss battles are yet another area the game really shines, as the battles are fast paced with lots of animation and action on screen. With the first person perspective, I would have thought that the characters would be a bit blurry or too pixelated but to my surprise that’s not the case. They are just as sharp and beautiful as the rest of the game. Really one of the most impressive aspects of this game for sure.
The sound that is offered here in Divine Dynamo Flamefrit is really the cherry on top. Each track offered here in this game feels like it has a purpose. From the opening track, to each track that comes after it, all having purpose and meaning behind them. They work to make every element of the game impactful and shine beautifully. Each enemy, attack, and element all have their own sounds to them that gives them feeling. I know that it might sound odd to read that, but it’s something that you really have to play to appreciate that statement.
I went into this game thinking that the sound track would be generic or that it would have one good track with the rest being just mediocre high fantasy sounding tracks. I expected to have enemies to not have any sounds or to have generic sounds to them. I expected that if attacks would have sounds that they would be the same across the board. I mean to say I had my doubts about the sound and the game as a whole is an understatement if I am being honest.
Honestly, I am glad I had this mindset going into this game because it allowed me to really appreciate how much went into every aspect of sound this game has in it.
Like I mentioned above, I went into this game having very little expectations of it being any good at all. I almost didn’t take it when it was offered to me. I am sincerely glad that I gave it a chance. The feeling I felt playing games like Chrono Trigger, Illusion of Gaia, and games like those came back ten fold with Divine Dynamo Flamefrit.
Those games set a standard for games that came after it and for games on the Super Nintendo in general. Divine Dynamo Flamefrit could be the 2D top down action game for modern platforms that is the game everyone looks to for inspiration when it comes to games after it.
The game is a true hidden gem in every sense of the phrase and is a game that everyone should be playing and talking about for years to come. Do yourself a favor and pick up this game on the platform of your choice, it’s a truly spectacular game!
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
In addition to writing articles, Ryan Byers also creates content for his YouTube channel called "Obscure Games and Consoles", collects video games, and dabbles in video game development.