Dragon Star Varnir
Developer Idea Factory, Compile Heart
Dragon Star Varnir is a 2018 role-playing video game developed by Compile Heart and published by Idea Factory. It was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan in October 2018 and worldwide in June 2019, for Windows in October 2019, and for Nintendo Switch in 2021. The game follows a knight named Zephy who is tasked to fight witches and dragons, but is turned into a witch by his enemies in order to save him from death… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
204 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 2, 2026 · last updated Nov 4, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
143 positive · 43 negative
95% range 70–82%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 143 | 43 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
What players are saying
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 187 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (486 of 613 positive).
Players praise the story, characters, and art direction, calling it one of Compile Heart's better games. [1][2][3] Many reviewers criticize the 'Little Sister' mechanic as poorly designed and frustrating. [4][5][6] Some players note the game is short and recommend buying it on sale. [7][8][9]
- [4]
The Little Sisters mechanic ruins, or will ruin, the game for many. The game has 11 chapters, with the mechanic present through most of it - starting at chapter 4, and doesn't end until the start of 11. It forces the player to rush(skipping treasure/item pickups, skimming on grinding) once they discover the tricks behind it. -Rushing through an RPG feels weird -If you want 100% completion, you have to fail it on …
- [1]
Boy oh boy, where to begin. So this is actually my favorite CH game to date. This is a controversial statement to begin a review with, but it's true. This game has great character design, excellent music, pretty solid story and a combat system that focuses on quick battles. I like this game because it's story rich, so much so that you could consider the battles and the other mechanics, an afterthought. That'´s not a …
- [9]
Pros: + Mature Story compared to IF/CH other offerings +Fun, easy to learn battle system +Character models look beautiful +Music was on point +Individual Witches endings are sweet Cons: -Story focuses purely on Zephy and the Witches, all other characters are minor set pieces at best and afterthoughts at worst -Short story, I completed the true ending and got all the Witches individual endings in around 19hrs -Enemy …
- [3]
Dragon Star Varnir, developed by Idea Factory and Compile Heart and published by Idea Factory International, is a JRPG that stands out within its niche by embracing a darker, more somber tone than many of its contemporaries. While it carries the studio’s familiar structure—character-driven storytelling, turn-based combat, and visual novel-style presentation—it attempts to elevate itself through heavier themes and a …
- [2]
The Dragon Inside My Womb Dragon Star Varnir is definitely one of Compile Heart's better games, featuring a strong art direction, unique setting, great soundtrack and a decent combat system. It's still a pretty low budget game like most of the studio's works, but a very solid package overall. The game was developed under the Galapagos RPG brand, the brand that Compile Heart uses for their more serious games, such as …
Summarised from 34 of the 207 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
78% of the 187 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Dragon Star Varnir. The complaint that keeps coming up: little Sister mechanic is poorly designed. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Dragon Star Varnir received "generally favorable reviews" according to review aggregator Metacritic. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received fair approval, being recommended by 52% of critics. Matt Sainsbury of Digitally Downloaded rated the game 90/100, saying the game "ratchets things up" from the developer's "budget, fanservicey JRPGs" with a "rich bit of storytelling", and saying that "battles [...] never become rote". Zach Wilkerson of RPGFan rated it 79/100, calling the battle system where the game "truly shines", though criticizing the story as "never reach[ing] the potential of its engaging premise", and saying that "too much happens at the beginning",…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 204 · most liked firstOkay so I've played through the entire game, and completed the True Ending. I didn't blitz through the entire game, nor did I grind a ton, so within 20 hours is probably a fair estimate. This game is a decent jRPG, it's fine if you're nostalgic, but honestly it's only worth getting during a sale. Gameplay: The gameplay had a few interesting premises. Firstly, you'll fight monsters on 3 levels - top, middle and bottom. However, it doesn't build on that mechanics. On the contrary, it becomes an…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Boy oh boy, where to begin. So this is actually my favorite CH game to date. This is a controversial statement to begin a review with, but it's true. This game has great character design, excellent music, pretty solid story and a combat system that focuses on quick battles. I like this game because it's story rich, so much so that you could consider the battles and the other mechanics, an afterthought. That'´s not a bad thing for me, since Compile games rarely have engaging gameplay mechanics;…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good story, Witches harem, Beautiful opening, Cute Laponette. Only bad thing is the gameplay.(Whoever invent and approve this system must be crazy) Just treat this game as visual novel with some action and you will have a blast.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Little Sisters mechanic ruins, or will ruin, the game for many. The game has 11 chapters, with the mechanic present through most of it - starting at chapter 4, and doesn't end until the start of 11. It forces the player to rush(skipping treasure/item pickups, skimming on grinding) once they discover the tricks behind it. -Rushing through an RPG feels weird -If you want 100% completion, you have to fail it on purpose - or on accident, if you don't look it up ahead of time - the sisters(as…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Dragon Inside My Womb Dragon Star Varnir is definitely one of Compile Heart's better games, featuring a strong art direction, unique setting, great soundtrack and a decent combat system. It's still a pretty low budget game like most of the studio's works, but a very solid package overall. The game was developed under the Galapagos RPG brand, the brand that Compile Heart uses for their more serious games, such as for example [url=store.steampowered.com/app/990050]Death end re;Quest and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →come for good jrpg, stay for karikaro's boobs
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game, love the characters, love the story, love the game play, however, it was ported HORRIBLY. It lags a lot on my computer and on my steam deck. Lowering all graphics options helps enough to make it somewhat playable but not enough. In the star temples with the options lowered it's very difficult to do much because of how dark it all is and about half the game takes place in them really.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dragon Star Varnir is the latest JRPG from Compile Heart&Idea Factory under it''s "Galapagos RPG" brand. It's really promising how they are improve with each game, all of this started with Fairy Fencer F, back in the day and continued with Death end re;Quest and now with Dragon Star Varnir. They worked especially hard on character models, cutscenes and the art is just great. The game is just great in pretty much every aspect, however, there's one important thing that you may not like -…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dragon Star Varnir tries to be serious, funny and cute all at the same time without settling on a single clear direction to go. It ultimately fails in all three areas, providing unremarkable characters without any significant development. Protagonists and antagonists alike keep acting unreasonable and immature up until the credits roll, giving (me) little reason to care about them. Relationship events feel inorganic and forced since they lack the proper buildup (much like the story itself).…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Newest title from the Galapagos RPG series, expect a dark fantasy like Death End Re:Quest. System: 1/10 Story: 7/10 Waifu(s): 10/10 The game is extremely cut-scene heavy, 10 minutes of dungeon time followed by with ONE HOUR worth of dialogues that you cannot even save in the middle of... Might as well make it an visual novel and that alone will be a better game. Story is meh, too much fillers imho. RPG component is extremely Compile-Heart like, basically Neptunia + lots of gimmicks. But…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well, this an Idea Factory / Compile Heart game. If you don't know what that means, let me give you a quick rundown: walk through dungeons in realtime, avoid or touch enemies, and turn based combat. Few cutscenes, most of the story is told in Visual Novel screens. Incomplete voice acting. There's a transformation mechanic in the combat. The latter actually stands out a bit, and not in a good way: it's just there -- there is no explanation for it, and it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pros: + Mature Story compared to IF/CH other offerings +Fun, easy to learn battle system +Character models look beautiful +Music was on point +Individual Witches endings are sweet Cons: -Story focuses purely on Zephy and the Witches, all other characters are minor set pieces at best and afterthoughts at worst -Short story, I completed the true ending and got all the Witches individual endings in around 19hrs -Enemy models and environments are sort of bland -Little Sister mechanic is dumb but…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoyed my time with this game but it is not good. Not even good by CH/IF standards. You have an average game that is made bad by the little sister system which I will explain below. I paid $27 day one but this game will be $5 soon enough like all their others. Pros Very good 2d artwork Waifus Voice acting (JPN) Cons Little sisters - Early in the game you have to take care of your little sisters by feeding them. Should be simple enough but it is poorly designed. Any time you pick up an…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have played several Idea Factory games and this one was by far the lowest budget and really dragged on. The game is over 50% talking. The dungeons are not great. The characters are fine and the combat was ok, but very basic. Overall a 5/10 and I can't recommend it unless you are a huge Idea Factory fan, in which case you already own it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have just this bug issue that makes me stop midway through (I dunno if this only happen to me, my spec is Ryzen 7 7745HX and RTX 4070 with updated win 11 july 2024) : after playing like few hours game will 'freeze' (it looks running but its just showing your dead character) if your character died. in my 17 hours of gameplay i had this 3 times happened the 1st is okay because I just saved and its a short redo, but on my 2nd and 3rd (which make me quit) is quite a lot of redo. you will need to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm just a simple man. I saw a twintailed gothic white haired female named Charlotta and instantly bought it. That's it. There is no need to read reviews if the game and story are decent. Wishing for another Dragon Star Varnir game with new witches and in an RPG genre where Charlotta could wear DLC outfits.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game starts good with an interesting combat system and gameplay. After a few chapters tho it starts to get very repetitive. The combat system doesnt expand to anything more than it is at the start of the game, making it rather boring after a while. Devouring dragons is a cool concept that gets really tedious after a while asa well. The dungeons you travel through are a copy of each other, so are the dragons that are just recolors of other dragons. Pretty average game, I dont recommend…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR; this game had a huge amount of potential and could have been very good but several design decisions (and probably not enough time to meet deadlines) make this a game that requires some effort to enjoy. If you can look at the diamond and not the flaws it is an interesting experience. TLDR; this game had a huge amount of potential and could have been very good but several design decisions (and probably not enough time to meet deadlines) make this a game that requires some effort to enjoy.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Going to be a no from me. You acquire skills in this game by devouring enemies, the devour skills kill instantly and have a success %. The % depends on if you used a few attacks against the enemy from their weaknesses. Bosses cant be devoured, instead, you automatically devour them when you kill them the regular way. This means every character you have can learn the same skills, reducing the difference among them. You dont really have to manage the skill points, I could learn every skill with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game remind me about FFADV (Fairy Fencer Advent Dark Force), I love Charlotta because I love eryn in FFADV :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another ♥♥♥♥♥♥ port.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Charlotta I love you
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll keep it short: Story: Good! The presentation was a little choppy at points, but I liked the overall storyline. I thought the premise was very interesting and it added some emotional weight to the characters. The characters are generally likable. They generally fit into anime stereotypes, but then they find opportunity to break out and show themselves to be interesting. The final resolution on the 'Good' ending can kinda be seen from a mile away, but it's still pretty good. I wish…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love it like every iffy & compile game ♥
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's a lot of good options, but some picks of mine would be: The SaGa series Atelier Ryza Dragon Star Varnir (an actually good Compile Heart/Idea Factory game with neat ideas) Riviera Legend of Heroes Triangle Strategy Quester seems cool and is only $4, I might grab that myself
positive · AI labelView post →I love a lil JRPG, so I'm a bit excited! I'm playing some #DragonStarVarnir on Twitch right now! Thanks to @ideafactoryintl.bsky.social for the code! #ENVTuber #furry #ad Links in profile ⤴️🦌
positive · AI labelView post →Got this game many years ago and finally sad down and played it from start to end with the true ending. Its an OK story is not the best, not the worse either. My dislike mostly comes from the exploration of the dungeons, specially when you are flying around, and the animation during combat feel so stiff and clunky. The fights are interesting to some extend since it separates the fight in lower / mid / top areas and the formation of the team gets you some buff depending how you set it up.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is Trolldespair, glad I went for the true ending right off the bat overall 2 sessions of this game for 5hours each and I finished it 9/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Take Neptunia. Take Death end request. This is sorta what you get if you mix them. It's different....... It's got new ideas and experiments- some good and some bad. It feels like a more adult themed game from Idea factory but without an hours worth of conversation between characters in each scene like DER has. The problem is the game starts off really good and is very enjoyable but you then get to the chapter with the younger sisters and once they show up the whole game changes for the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I usually purchase Compile Heart games on the Playstation, but recently purchased the Asus Zephyrus Duo 15 gaming laptop. I thought about purchasing some console port games on Steam, and I must say, this is easily one of Top 5 WORST console port to PC because the lackluster support for keyboard and mouse. In Setting > Config, there are two options, keyboard or controller. In Keyboard, you literally have to assign keyboard keys for L/R thumbsticks and all the trigger keys as well. Do not expect…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First part in French, second part in English: 1/ Dragon Star Varnir, avec ce titre Compile Heart a tout simplement réalisé son jeu le plus abouti! Après un Death End Re:Quest très bon, Compile Heart vise encore plus haut et c'est avec plaisir qu'on suit les aventures de Zephy. Ne vous fiez pas à ce que certains disent concernant du système des "petites soeurs", ce dernier est facile à gérer. Les combats agréables, et surtout une histoire qui tranche avec ce que le studio nous a habitué. On…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dragon Star Varnir, developed by Idea Factory and Compile Heart and published by Idea Factory International, is a JRPG that stands out within its niche by embracing a darker, more somber tone than many of its contemporaries. While it carries the studio’s familiar structure—character-driven storytelling, turn-based combat, and visual novel-style presentation—it attempts to elevate itself through heavier themes and a few experimental mechanics. The result is a game that feels ambitious and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My Tamagotchi can't possibly be this adorable! This game was originally announced on 6/14/18 for PS4 in Japan, with its Western release following in June of 2019 and PC in October of the same year for those curious. This game features a unique style of combat where it's fought on 3 different levels: bottom, middle, and top. There are some monsters that can hit multiple levels, but nothing too terrifying; you should always expect, though, that bosses can hit multiple levels. Now, regarding…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played a fair bit of Idea Factory games now, mostly neptunia ones, this one out of all that ive played is probably the most unique while still keeping the neptunia ish style gameplay. Run around a map with a single character from your party as the one running around on your screen, press attack to get the first hit on the enemy before the battlefield starts, or let them get first hit by letting them walk into you or from behind. This one however out of them all has the worst mechanics in that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →These guys from Dragon Star Varnir remind me of these dragon things from Korn's Everything I've Known tbh Also recommend this game
positive · AI labelView post →Revolutionary? No. Recommended (even in 2025)? Yes. 33 hours clocked for me and I enjoyed this one.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its Okay let me preface this and state I don't hate the game by any means but as someone who was coming into this expecting a JRPG like IFI and CH's other ones it is in comparison a disappointment as it actively punishes you for trying to do anything that is not just go from point a to point b which sucks since the combat in this game is actually kinda fun and the music for battles is really good but your most likely not gonna hear a lot of it since the game is like 90% dialogue and 10%…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →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.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i've read many people said charlotta was the best girl so i decide to play this game but what i got? LAPONETTE > CHARLOTTA i know i know charlotta more pretty BUTTT Laponette was charming and she typical girl would care about us. how i can describe more about her.. When we got rough day and go home she would hug us at front door and said "okaerinasai anata" yeah that how she is AND I CAN'T GET ENOUGH WITH DESUWA DESUWA WORDDDDD okay, the story itself was good. what amaze me is battle…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Iffy and Compa make 1 kind of game, and they crank these things out like there's no tomorrow. If you like their brand of budget rpg/visual novel hybrids, then this is another one to add to your list. But this recommendation comes with a HUGE caveat: you REALLY need to make sure that you're into their kind of games, because this is absolutely NOT for everyone. That being said, this is probably the most focused/complete game out of all of their one-off budget RPG's, so if you wanted to test…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just finished the game and I will recommend it, but only on significant sale. I feel if I paid full price, then I'd be overall disappointed. It's pretty typical JRPG game. If you have played Idea Factory/Compile Hearts Games, you basically know the type of game you are getting into. That said, It's half visual novel and half turn based RPG. It's a high fantasy game with a pretty unique world and story. Honestly, I feel like there are some side characters you meet briefly that are very…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Incredible music, interesting story and characters, nice visuals and cool battle system.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ok, so first things first, this is an Idea Factory game, so take my review with a grain of salt. So...let's start with gameplay. It is pretty interesting at the start and does involve strategy but once you get a good formation and remember the bosses weaknesses late game you can destroy bosses 10 levels before you're supposed to be able to beat them, letting you literally last few dungeons in the game without fighting anyone. So yeah, exploiting it is pretty easy and looking at the madness…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →7.5/10 Main Story I dont know if its just me but story is a bit predictable sometimes Overall good story and development 9/10 Side Stories (Character Ends and Romance Development) I would say I really like the side stories more as it gave me more chances to empathize with the characters and see more of their development 6/10 Gameplay The only thing that made me rate it like this is the Little Sister Feeding feature, it limited the player on what he could do because of this feature that need…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First of all, i had to say that, if you have a Potato PC/Laptops, don't buy them. The minimum requirements written in this game is an absolutely fake. my Laptop Specs are: Procie: Intel Core i5-7200U VGA: NVIDIA GeForce 920MX @ 2GB RAM: 4GB DDR4 if you think you can lower its resolution, nope you're totally wrong. the game is fully resolution lock to 1080p for lowest settings. Yes, there was an option to lower the resolution, but it only changes window size and ingame resolution will keeps at…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Important thing to note before playing is that this JRPG is a race against time until almost towards the end of the game then you can take your time, if you want a good ending that is. Although due to this being linked to the true ending, I was able to get the true ending without looking up any guides on my first try which is pretty rare for these types of games. TIMED MECHANIC Normally not a fan of anything timed because of the stress but it was actually kind of fun in a way. This made you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They've really designed the perfect system to force you to grind through RNG hell with this game. Imagine you have 4 pokemon, right? And every time you want to get a new pokemon you need to throw a pokeball (which can fail). Except here, all FOUR of YOUR pokemon need to throw a pokeball. And sometimes you need to catch the same one multiple times before you can even use it! That's how skills work in this game. It's an absolute nightmare. And, unfortunately, it's literally the entire hook of the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dragon Star Varnir is my favorite Compile Heart game, and in my top 10 RPGs of all time. I have already played through it twice on Playstation and decided I hadn't had enough yet, this time playing on PC. Without spoiling too much, the narrative has an interesting take on the idea of making the best of a bad situation, and has lived rent free in my head since my first experience with the game. The story follows Zephy, a knight of the Empire, on a crusade against witches. When his life is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bad points: 1. Needing to switch character to traverse the area. ---------------- 2. Plot and Flow Play halfway, some of the dialogue makes no sense. The plot is that, you eat dragon meat, you can prevent yourself from turning into dragon, which is fine, but what the characters does, is mind boggling. Character A likes the party, character A sees her friend turning into dragon from not eating dragon meat. Character A still refuses to eat dragon meat because she likes the party. <<<What?!…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dragon Star Varnir is a turn-based JRPG developed by Compile Heart and published by Idea Factory. It mixes dark fantasy storytelling with a layered battle system centered on aerial combat. The game’s mood and design lean toward gothic themes, blending tragedy, morality, and transformation. The story follows Zephy, a knight turned into a half-dragon after a fateful encounter. He joins a group of witches cursed with dragon blood, fighting both to survive and to resist their inevitable change…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →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…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game 71: Dragon Star Varnir Holy... just. Whoa. This game was good. We got the bad ending on accident but the game was still fun. Looking into Onega Quintlet and the new Death end reQuest now ^///^ 9/10
positive · AI labelView post →The battles made me think hard, the girls made me rock hard
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →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.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would recommend buying this on a very very big sale (I got it for less than 3 dollars). It's not amazing. It's enjoyable in the sense that it's different. The story is nothing to write home about and the characters are really nothing special. 5/10. At the very least, playing it was different and interesting. Everything else felt Idea Factory standard generic.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a lovely game Dragon Star Varnir is! Really greatful to get the key and had a super good time! We raided @tieflingfen.bsky.social who is, as I type, hitting the final boss of Deaths door! www.twitch.tv/tieflingfen
positive · AI labelView post →Do you have a game that you like only because you WANT to? It may have very serious flaws, that you are perfectly aware of, but the game as a whole just speaks to you in a way that makes you treasure your time with it. This is basically my feelings towards Dragon Star Varnir. I can rant about its flaws for an hour, then pause and go "but anyway, the game is really good". I will now try to outline these feelings. (Also, I am assuming that you have at least passing familiarity with Compile Heart…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love the look of this game but I cannot actually get into game. Will not let me past intro song. Sadly a thumbs down, how disappointing.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is fun, but the port is pure trash ... It doesn't even support fullscreeen correctly.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great game! Enjoyed the simple mechanics and story lines. Easy to become OP with the right build - finished at lvl 999 with 100% dragon rage (more powerful red glow version), tanky enough to ignore hits even on highest difficulty (inferno), damage stacked enough to one-shot everything, and could just enjoy collecting all the different dragon cores for each character with very high devour rates. Ended up 100%'ing the game completing all achievements, all quests, and collecting all the dragon…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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