Divine Dynamo Flamefrit has an unusual history. What began as an April Fool's prank from indie developer Inti Creates earlier this year turned into a pre-order bonus for October's Card-en-Ciel, before arriving on digital storefronts as a standalone product last week. Considering its former joke status, it would be reasonable to think of the game as an afterthought. And in some ways, it is. But it's also, surprisingly, full of potential. 

The story in Divine Dynamo Flamefrit sits firmly in the isekai sub-genre of fiction. A Japanese middle-schooler named Yuto Hino is magically transported to the parallel realm of Hologard where he teams up with Flamefrit, a hulking sentient mech known as a Divine Dynamo. According to Flamefrit, a mysterious villain is working to revive the Archfiend, who was sealed away long ago. The only way to save the world is to assemble the four Dynamo Knights, one of whom is Yuto himself.

While the game's plotline doesn't provide much depth or drama, it's diverting in a Saturday morning cartoon kind of way. Indeed, it's clear that Inti Creates leaned on the tropes, plot points, and character designs of 90s-era anime, with amusing results. You get amazingly cheesy lines like "My heart's burning bright in the face of a new world and adventure!" and "My Dyney senses are tingling!"

Inti Creates didn't lean only on the narrative elements of anime from the 90s, however. It also leaned on the aesthetics — not to mention visuals from the SNES era. As a result, Divine Dynamo Flamefrit operates somewhere in the intersection between Sailor Moon and Secret of Mana. It often looks like a budget title, due to some generic designs and simple assets, but it hits the right nostalgic notes. 

It also hits many of the right notes when it comes to mechanics. From a top-down perspective, Yuto can swing his sword with the A button, deliver a flaming charge attack by holding the A button, and perform a damage-nullifying dodge with the L bumper. He can also use the remaining face buttons to summon the elemental powers of his fellow Dynamo Knights — once he's rescued them. While the control scheme is simple and straightforward, it delivers mostly good results. The action is flashy, fun, and impactful, and the Dynamo powers provide just enough variety to keep things from getting stale.

The problem is that these mechanics are deployed within rather mediocre dungeons. There's just nothing exciting about them. They're maze-like layouts with some environmental hazards and enemies, but not much else. There are no puzzles or secrets or special items to speak of. There's no map either, which makes navigating more of a chore than it should be.

Furthermore, there are only three dungeons total, which speaks to the biggest, most glaring problem in Divine Dynamo Flamefrit: it's simply too short. You can expect to see the credits roll after 120-150 minutes. Inti Creates has priced the game accordingly — the MSRP is $6.99 — but it doesn't make up for the lack of content. The game simply needs more dungeons, more connective tissue between dungeons, and more things to do, see, and explore. The lack of content is particularly painful because what is here shows lots of promise.

That includes several boss battles, which are easily the best part of the game. At the end of each dungeon, Yuto climbs aboard Flamefrit and dukes it out with equally huge enemies in first-person perspective fights. You'll move the cursor over your target to fire projectiles, and raise your sword to deflect incoming attacks and parry your opponent. These are by far the most engaging, challenging, and nuanced piece of Divine Dynamo Flamefrit; it's a shame there aren't more of them.

It's a shame there isn't more of the game in general. There's a lot of potential hidden away in Divine Dynamo Flamefrit that, unfortunately, goes unrealized. Still, what we do get is fairly good: a silly, knowing storyline; flashy, crunchy action; and rock-solid boss battles. With a lot more time in the oven, the game could become a cult classic. As it stands now, it's a decent enough diversion that won't break the bank.