Completion time: 1:09:41

We had a bit of a shuffle on the Backlog Break. Initially we were playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but I just wasn’t feeling it. So we put it on the backburner and bumped Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara up to take its place.

I’ve played this Capcom beat em up before, as well as its other version. Coming into this game though, not only was I surprised that this was just a one game only release and not both titles, but I vaguely remembered barely anything from this. It didn’t matter too much though, as Chronicles of Mystara was an excellent blend of Capcom’s on-point beat em up gameplay, storytelling (an actual story going on here that’s not as flimsy as many games in the genre) and a number of genre innovating aspects, such as a rather robust magic/item line up for the half dozen playable characters (all of whom play different enough from each other).

Had I been playing this in the arcades, I would have spent almost $7 to beat the game, especially with how many instant kill attacks the final boss has (and for some reason, each credit only gives one life). Nonetheless, Chronicles of Mystara is a rock solid entry into Capcom’s catalog of beat em up games. It might not reach the highs that Punisher, Alien vs Predator and Final Fight reach, but it’s definitely way up there. It’s usually on sale, or just cheap in general on Steam. Worth picking up if you just want to play an enjoyable and quick beat em up. I can imagine with another player, the experience would be that much more enjoyable.

Rating: 8