Dragon Star Varnir

Does not work properly on SteamDeck, FPS drops to unplayable levels even in the lowest settings. I guess its good if you're using a Proper PC to play it.

Dragon Star Varnir Review – A Dark and Engaging JRPG with Unique Combat
Dragon Star Varnir is a compelling JRPG that stands out in Compile Heart’s catalog with its dark narrative, engaging battle system, and memorable characters. While it carries some of the studio’s familiar quirks, it also takes bold steps forward in storytelling and gameplay, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of the genre.
A Gripping, Morally Complex Story
Set in the world of Varneria, the game follows Zephy, a knight who becomes the first male witch after being saved by the very creatures he once hunted. The witches of this world are cursed—they must consume dragon blood to survive, but doing so feeds the dragons growing inside them, leading to an inevitable and gruesome fate. The story explores themes of persecution, sacrifice, and redemption, with a surprisingly mature tone compared to other Compile Heart titles.
While the pacing stumbles early on with rapid character introductions, the narrative finds its footing as it delves deeper into the witches’ struggles. The emotional weight of their curse adds depth, and the relationships between Zephy and his newfound allies are well-developed. The inclusion of a "Madness" mechanic—where poor choices or neglect can lead to tragic consequences—reinforces the game’s darker themes and enhances replayability.
Innovative and Strategic Combat
The battle system is where Dragon Star Varnir truly shines. Fights take place across three vertical tiers, adding a layer of tactical positioning. Characters can shift between levels to avoid attacks or exploit enemy weaknesses, and magic spells can hit multiple tiers at once. The "Devour" mechanic is particularly satisfying—by weakening dragons, you can consume them to unlock new skills via branching skill trees.
Each character also has a Dragon Awakening mode, granting powerful abilities at the cost of increasing their madness. Balancing these transformations with the risk of negative story consequences adds tension to combat. The system is deep yet accessible, rewarding experimentation without feeling overwhelming.
Mixed Presentation and Pacing
Visually, the game is a mixed bag. The character designs (courtesy of artists like Tsunako) are striking, and the visual novel-style cutscenes are well-illustrated. However, dungeon environments are repetitive, and the 3D models lack detail. The soundtrack, while atmospheric, suffers from repetition, and the English voice acting is inconsistent—though the Japanese dub is a solid alternative.
The game’s structure is linear, with a cycle of dungeon exploration, story progression, and hub-area interactions. Side content is minimal, mostly consisting of fetch quests or revisiting old areas for tougher bosses. While this keeps the pacing brisk (the main story clocks in around 25 hours), those craving exploration may find it lacking.
Final Thoughts
Dragon Star Varnir is a refreshing departure from Compile Heart’s usual lighthearted fare, offering a mature story, deep combat, and a hauntingly beautiful world. While it stumbles in presentation and pacing, its strengths make it one of the studio’s more ambitious titles. If you can look past some dated visuals and occasional anime tropes, you’ll find a JRPG with heart, challenge, and a darkly compelling narrative.
Final Score: 8/10
Pros:
- Engaging, emotionally charged story
- Unique and strategic combat system
- Well-developed characters
- Strong replay value with multiple endings
Cons:
- Dungeon design lacks variety
- English voice acting is hit-or-miss
- Some mechanics (like feeding the little sisters) feel underdeveloped
For fans of dark fantasy JRPGs, Dragon Star Varnir is a hidden gem worth experiencing. Compile Heart has crafted something special here, and it’s exciting to see them push their creative boundaries.

The game runs terrible on Steam Deck. You have to add WINE_CPU_TOPOLOGY=2:0,1 %command% to the launch option. It is unplayable without doing so but there will still be FPS drop at times and make it more bearable.
The story is good but it isn't anything outstanding to other VNs. It tries to be emotional and isn't hitting it enough, just nearly. It has a lot of underdevelopment and some things that don't make sense. The music is really good, as expected from most of IF/CH's games. The graphics is standard, it is alright. You can't really do much with anime style graphics and it is the same style to a lot of IF/CH's games.
This is a VN first and JRPG second. 75% of the game will be dialogues and cutscenes while the other 25% is actually playing it like a JRPG. The game REALLY wants the player to go through Normal Ending and then Madness Ending (which is basically the bad ending). Mainly the recommended way is to get Normal Ending so you can get all the Dragon Cores that you can't get from Madness and True Ending. The Madness ending is just to speedrun through because all they offer is new dialogues. The way you get these endings is by two conditions, Madness and Little Sisters. You gain Madness by either party wipe, Little Sisters turn into dragon/dying, Enraged Draconic Form during battles, and picking 1 of 2 dialogue choice in each Chapter (except Ch6). Party wipe during battle barely raise the Madness gauge, Enrage is inconsistent and random, Little Sisters dying only raise a bit (honestly not sure how much). So easiest and fastest way is picking all the bad ending dialogue choices. Even though it feels like the game encourage you to go the Normal route (especially when you're not looking up guides and doing research), based on Steam Achievements only 4.1% of players got the Normal ending while 8.6% got the Minessa Ending. There is no True Ending achievements, that's because they're split into 5 different achievements via True Ending Epilogue. To get these you need to get True Ending and maxed affection from 1 of 5 girls. This implies most players will just research and look up guides to get the True Ending for their first playthrough.
I really don't like the Little Sister system and a lot of players don't as well. The game doesn't explain very well about how this mechanic works and it is very annoying and limits how you play the game. This system can be ignored but by doing so will lock you out or True Ending and maybe Normal Ending depending on your Madness percentage before Chapter 11. It limits how you play by discouraging you from grinding, farming, and exploring. Their Madness Level increase ONLY by distances traveled in dungeon. So it just result in going straight for the end dungeon boss and fighting any enemies along your path. Thankfully upon entering Chapter 11, the Little Sisters won't die regardless of their Madness Level and Dragon Growth Gauge.
The Devour system is good and bad. I like the idea of getting Dragon Cores by Successful Devour of dragons you encounter (excluding most bosses). It just turns the whole party into Blue Mage from Final Fantasy but better. It gives players incentive to get into encounters, even if hunting specific enemies. When you use a Devour skill, there is a percentage you'll Succesful Devour an enemy, instant kill them, and get their core for that character who used Devour. The problem with this is it trivialize battles outside of boss fights and making it a superior version of instakill skills. Luckily you don't have a very high success rate until Chapter 11. The most you'll get is 30%-40% without lowering the enemy's HP is at Chapter 6. There are some enemies that have REALLY high evasion and/or likely flee the fight, making them really annoying and Devour build slightly ineffective.
Physical is weak and magic is just really strong in this game. Magic never miss, have a non-elemental version, some spells can hit all on any vertical levels, and most enemies are weak to element which any characters can use. Enemies are weak to specific type of physical as well, but every characters have a specific physical damage type which can't be changed. Physical is only good for self buffs.
MP in this game is very abundant due to how cheap the cost of all the skills are. So there is really no need to increase MP.
When getting Dragon Cores and you learn them, you can assign them on characters up to 20 points. This is a really great idea, giving players the freedom to build/specialize the character how they want. What sucks about this is there is no loadout feature so every time you want to change something, you have to manually equip or unequip.
There aren't any dating sim elements in this game. But they have an gifting and affection system. As mentioned before, this effects the True Ending Epilogue. It is really easy to max since you can just buy all the gifts from the Curio shop. There isn't much to say except you'll just get more dialogue and nothing else.
Post-game is a bit of a let down. You only get 1 extra dungeon after clearing the game. It only have 2 bosses, 1 dungeon boss and 1 optional boss after beating the dungeon boss.
The vertical level is...whatever. Most of the time I just have 1 character on each level so they all don't take damage from AOE.
Flying in dungeon is basically sprinting and with stamina. But you can't fly over gaps and have to use Laponette's dungeon ability. It just feels odd to me.
Each chapter have a new dungeon you need to clear. All the dungeons feels short and very lackluster in terms of level design. Especially Chapter 7 which is just a straight line.
The Side Quests are just kill and fetch quest. Then again it is just one NPC giving them to you. Not even any dialogue but a briefing about the quest. Not much to say but very simplistic, boring, and dull.
Each characters have a signature Devour skill when they're in their Draconic Form. While it looks cool and supposed to do a lot of damage, it is very underwhelming. The problem is that they're elemental locked for each characters, making it ineffective against enemies resistant to that element, and their damage is weaker than just doing magic while being MP efficient.
Over all, I give the game a 7/10.

If you’ve ever dreamt of riding a dragon into battle while befriending a coven of quirky witches, then Dragon Star Varnir is your ticket to the fantastical world you’ve been longing for. This game combines all the best elements of a JRPG with a dash of madness and a sprinkle of magic.
First things first—the story. Picture this: You’re a knight on a mission to eradicate witches, but things take a wild turn when you’re saved by—surprise!—witches who feed you dragon blood to keep you alive. Now you’ve got dragon powers, a complicated relationship with your would-be enemies, and a destiny to unravel. It’s like your typical Tuesday, right?
The characters are where the game truly shines. Each witch is a walking bundle of personality quirks. From the timid and mysterious Minessa to the bubbly and overly enthusiastic Karikaro, you’ll find yourself laughing at their antics one moment and deeply invested in their struggles the next. And let’s not forget Zephy, our knight-turned-dragon-slayer-slash-dragon-blood-drinker. Talk about a resume!
Combat in Dragon Star Varnir is like a high-flying, fire-breathing dance of destruction. The vertical battle system adds a unique twist, with enemies and allies zipping through the air on different levels. It’s like playing a game of three-dimensional chess, but if all the pieces were dragons and sorceresses with fabulous hair. The Devour mechanic lets you eat your enemies (literally) to gain new powers. It’s gruesome, it’s satisfying, and it’s sure to give you a whole new perspective on the phrase “you are what you eat.”
Graphics and art style? Absolutely gorgeous. The character designs are eye-catching, and the environments are vibrant and detailed. Every dungeon feels like a piece of a twisted fairy tale, inviting you to explore and uncover its secrets. Plus, the dragons are as majestic as you’d hope, swooping and roaring their way through epic battles.
Now, the music is the cherry on top. The soundtrack perfectly complements the game’s mix of dark fantasy and whimsical charm. Whether you’re navigating a spooky forest or engaging in an epic boss fight, the tunes are sure to get stuck in your head (in a good way).
In summary, Dragon Star Varnir is a fantastical rollercoaster ride through a world where witches, dragons, and knights collide. It’s packed with charm, humor, and enough plot twists to keep you hooked for hours. If you’re a fan of JRPGs and love a good dose of magical mayhem, this game is a must-play.
Rating: 9/10 - A spellbinding adventure that’s as wild and wonderful as a dragon’s roar.

It is fun but requires a lot of grinding. It has a nice twist ending and storyline.

Recommend purely because of just how over the top this thing is. Not purposefully so (at least I don't think?) but it hits the "just bad enough" spot. It's actually hilarious.

Also manwitch is now a meme in my friend group.

another great entry from the publishers. gameplay is repeptitive but im hoping they make more entries and improve on the formula