Nightmare of Druaga is a very unique type of game, a cross between a traditional RPG and action RPG. This is a fairly rare kind of game, the only other example I can think of is Azure Dreams. The game is divided between two modes, town and dungeon. In town, you can identify, combine, and purchase items for use in the dungeon. This makes your equipment highly customizable, which is always a good feature. You can also embark on side quests in the town which result in various types of awards.

When you leave town, you pick a specific dungeon you wish to attempt, and are teleported to its first floor. All the dungeons are divided into floors which you slowly work your way up of down. While in a dungeon, exploration and combat happen at the same time. However, it is turn based, so monsters can only act when you do. This makes it a much more strategic game than you would expect. You can't just turn on hardcore mode and charge through the dungeon, you must carefully plan a path that gives you the largest advantage over the monsters. Since some monster act before you, and some after, you have to always consider how to move in order to get the first strike on the enemy; this often involves predicting where a monster will move on its next turn. Other factors such as terrain and groups of monsters also increase the level strategy that is required.

Like an RPG, you level up as you progress through the dungeons and defeat more monsters. You also find new equipment that can be identified and modified back in town. One of the more unique features of the game is hidden chests present on every level of a dungeon. To uncover these gold and silver chests, certain conditions must met on that floor; this gives the game much more replay value and makes it more interesting to play. You also have special techniques and attacks at your disposal; these vary depending on what equipment you are using.

One drawback of this game is the story, which is very detached and hard to get in to. Also, the characters seem to have very little personality or depth. Another problem with Nightmare of Druaga, which is hard to avoid in these types of games, is the repetitiveness factor. You can only go through nearly identical floors of a dungeon so many times before it gets old. If there had been some more activities to partake in back in town to break up the dungeons, the game could have been much more entertaining to play. I would definitely recommend giving this game a rent and trying it out; it will be fun for at least a few hours, and it's the sort of game that certain people will love to play through.