Dinopedia: The Game

Promotional Poster

## System requirements

Controller/keyboard

**Dinopedia: The Game** is an Action Adventure RPG released by WaterBurger Studios™ in late May of 2023, based extremely closely on the real life wiki of Dinopedia. While WaterBurger Studios™ is responsible for publishing the game, the development was performed by a large chunk of the most notable members of Dinopedia itself, mostly the staff.

This game is the first in the franchise, and spawned many spinoffs and exploded into merchandise. Marketable Cooner plushies everywhere!

## Plot

The story of Dinopedia differs greatly from the real wiki's history as the real stuff is incredibly boring, so much of the content is completely original and tailored to create a wacky yet charming experience for players.

### Synopsis

The world of Dinopedia was created as a safe haven for both extinct fauna and all those who love said fauna by the god Lemniwinks. All was well as the nation grew and developed well, until Lemniwinks mysteriously disappeared, leaving the residents to develop alone. Eventually when Lemniwinks returned to check up on the nation, he was utterly disappointed with how the country turned out in is absence and decided to destroy the world to recreate from the ground up. He brainwashes several powerful factions and individuals and aims to destroy Dinopedia from within. It is up to 6 characters to reverse the flow of battle: Kelbeam, Goji, Bajadasaurus234, Tyrann0, Mimikyutube, and Cooner.

## Gameplay

Dinopedia: The Game is a 3d action RPG that mixes traditional elements of the genre with stylized mechanics of hack-and-slash games like DMC or MGR. Each of the playable characters has their own moveset and can equip various items to increase their strength further. The combat is fast-paced with action-packed stages and a large world to explore in between story missions.

### Controls/UI

There are 2 attack buttons, light and heavy. Pressing then in different orders allows the player to perform elaborate combos. There is also an additional energy bar which depletes as the player uses special attacks that each character has at their disposal, they are activated by pressing the special attack button in various different states, such as while the player is mid-air or sprinting. The player must also focus on evading enemy attacks, with a press of the dodge button allowing them to swiftly dash to the side, the game promotes taking a risk by rewarding a perfectly timed dodge by slowing the time down briefly, allowing the player to move into a more favorable position or to unload a devastating combo on the attacker. Some attacks can be parried by striking the enemy the exact moment they hit you which will make the enemy stagger, leaving them open to a counter, as long as they don't have too much allies backing them up. Long chains of successful combos without the player taking damage award them with points, which can be earned through various other actions, like usage of the special abilities, well-timed dodges or completing the battle without taking any damage.

The player can receive (from worst rank to best rank) a D, C, B, A, S or an SS-rank based on how high the number of points earned during the battle is, the F-rank is given to the player whenever they die in battle, regardless of how high of a score they managed to build up in battle prior to their defeat.

Outside of battle abilities each character has some additional abilities that help them move around the world and find various trinkets hidden in every location to ensure the player is constantly switching characters and trying out their skills. Not every mission is explicitly combat oriented, as many rely on stealth, exploration, creativity, or simply having fun with friends, which prompts a higher inclination to swap characters.

### Mechanics

The game isn't without unique mechanics and systems outside of the normal moves a character can use. Things like stats and effects can affect how gameplay is taken and can create a large diversity of strategies from "hit as hard as possible" to "slow and steady damage" to even "you can't even touch me".

#### Status Effects

Status Effects are conditions given to the player when a certain move hits or is consumed by them, applying changes to stats and gear depending on the effect. Some are positive, most are negative, and can be either given by the player or by enemies. When hit with a status effect, an icon for said effect will appear in the corner of the screen with a small timer for how long the effect will last (if the effect has a time limit). Popular examples in the game include the elements (Fire, Water, Ice, etc), stat-changing effects (Slowness, Depressio:n, Blindness, etc), and many miscellaneous effects.

#### Weapon Types

**Weapons** are various items or appendages the player or opponent can use to attack others or break objects. Due to the varying types of weapons from swords to hammers to guns to everything in between, each have varying pros and cons; certain characters also vary in having resistances or weaknesses to each type, so remembering the types is vital for effective gameplay. Some weapons can even inflict status effects. The 4 main types of weapons include Blades (inflicts bleeding effects), Blunt weapons (inflicts knockback and bonebreak), Conventional weaponry (sometimes inflicts fire and knockback depending on weapon), and the miscellaneous (pretty much anything goes).

## Reception

Unsiprisingly upon it's initial release, Dinopedia: The Game didn't gain much attention, but Dinopedians spread the news of the games release across many diffirent fandoms and it eventually exploded in popularity, even being noticed by some large game reviewing sites. Receiving "generally favourable" reviews on Metacritic, with one of the site's most prominent reviewers; Hugh Jass stating that "Dinopedia: The Game's in-depth and fast-paced combat and simple storyline make for a genuinely enjoyable experience".

Other review sites also seemed to hold the game in high regard. IGN rated the game 8/10, reviever Nick Gurhs praised the game's graphics. The game gathered 3.9/5 stars on Eurogamer, with many reviewers such as Dixie Normus and Jenny Tall bringing attention to the game's soundtrack and Gamespot gave the game an impressive 9/10, with reviewer Hue G. Rection praising the level design.

On steam, Dinopedia: The Game was met with Overwhelmingly positive reviews.