Dynaheart (Game)

The North American cover art for the game.

## About

Dynaheart is an open-world RPG that released on February 23rd, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch and on Steam, published by Nintendo itself. As of now, this game is digital-only. It is rated **E10+** for fantasy violence and animated blood. It is currently in version 1.14, made in Godot and developed by Silly Spaghetti Studios.

## Synopsis

Dynaheart takes place in Dyneiria, a sprawling world consisting of several regions with the Dynaheart at its center, a mysterious meteorite that brought magic to the land several centuries ago. However, when the Last Dynaking, King Tiberius became greedy and sapped all the power from the Dynaheart for himself, he accidentally blew the Dynaheart into ten pieces. The Ghost Queen, ruler of the ghosts, used the power vacuum to raise an army of ghosts to take over Dyneiria. They sacked the palace, kicked out King Tiberius, and sent out sentinels to enforce their new tyrannical rule. The good Dynaknights were driven into hiding by the ghosts and without the magic of the Dynaheart, the people reverted back to medieval technology.

Years later, the people of the world forgot about magic and lived a humble life farming. However, the Ghost Queen still exacted taxes from the people and ruled over the kingdom from the newly constructed Castle Von Cackle. Ghosts now run rampant, destroying houses and crops, as well as playing tricks on the locals. It is a dark age for the kingdom.

However, there is still hope. If the pieces of the Dynaheart can be reunited, the world *just might* be safe from the ghosts once more.

## Gameplay

Dynaheart takes place in in a 2.5d environment.

The game is open-world, with the only "main quest" being to reunite the pieces of the Dynaheart. Nine of the shards can be found in dungeons, while the first shard is given to the main character at the start of the game. Several side-quests can be found from various NPCs as well as mysterious letters nailed on trees from an ambiguous (yet friendly) ghost named Stefano.

The main character is known as Epic. Their gender is up to the player. Epic was raised by Dynaknights in Crosscurrent Keep, a refuge in the sky after being rescued from Dwembleberry as it was being stormed.

Combat is mostly physical, using weapons like swords, daggers, axes, and staffs. Unlike most RPGs, there is no "class" system or "skill tree". The strength of your character is entirely dependent on the weapons and armor they equip. More powerful weapons lets you challenge more powerful enemies to get more powerful loot, etc, etc.

There is also a cooking mechanic, similar to *The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*, but weapons and armor are not directly craftable by the player.

## Reception

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  "An excellent game that had me engaged all the way through. The combat was enjoyable, and cooking brought an element of fun! The ghost and boss designs were creative, though the boss fight mechanics themselves were not the most enjoyable. Dungeons are the worst part in this superb game, but not by much. Exploring the vast overworld and discovering all the hidden lore and side quests kept me entertained for hours. 9/10"

```

>
> -Eugene Parsley, *GNN* (Games News Network)
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>

```
   "I don't know how in the world this game is this gosh darn tootin' exciting, but I love it. 5/5"

```

>
> -Julianne Knightleigh, *Gamer Investigates*
>
>

Dynaheart received an average score overall of 4.5/5 or 9/10, receiving a 96 from PolyCritique, ranking it in the top thirty games of all time, at least according to them. Common complaints, however, were that the dungeons were a bit tedious, and that the Switch version had some notable performance issues in the overworld.

Ratings
 Blake Manitee, *Halo and Other Gaming Stuff* | 4.2/5

As of writing, Dynaheart has not been eligible for any game awards, but buzz is speculating that the game may be a serious contender for GOTY (Game of the Year).