Game of the Day 4/10/2016: Dragon View

[celerystalker]

Drakkhen, and early SNES/PC adventure/RPG was an interesting game that blended first person overworld exploration, RPG stats and character creation and sheets, and point and click elements to make an interesting if slow experience saddled with sloppy combat. I liked it quite a bit once I got into it, but it didn't leave me craving more. So, when its sequel, Dragon View (Drakkhen II) was announced, I honestly didn't pay it much mind. When a local store was going out of business years ago, I saw it at $6.95, and thought, "eh, what the hell." Little did I realize how different it was going to be, and in ways I would love!

For starters, what's the same... you still have first-person overworld exploration, and when you enter a structure, you explore it similarly in a view akin to most '90s point and click adventures, but with direct control of your character... and that's pretty much where it ends. This time around, what you get is a little less adventure and a lot more beat 'em up!

That's right, Dragon View's combat is entirely a belt-scrolling beat 'em up, featuring sword-based combat, jumping, magic attacks, and special moves. It all controls quite well, and as you find elemental rings, new weapons and armor, etc., it not only broadens you arsenal, but reflects on your character's sprite as well. I particularly like the magic system in which you equip a ring with an elemental affinity, then hold A to charge an attack. Let it go at different intervals for different levels of attack and effect, which is pretty neat for using situationally. The beat 'em up combat does come at the expense of having a party, though, so it reduces the game to a solo quest, which is okay, but I did like having a whole party in the first game.

You also still have overworld encounters, which now can be seen coming as fog clouds drifting toward you, which can be avoided or embraced. These are single-screen brawls of regional enemies, and go quickly enough not to be a bother. There are also towns now, with shops, inns, and more, and exploring them feels a tad like playing Valkyrie Profile or Princess Crown, with their largely horizontal orientation with occasinal paths toward or away from the screen.

Musically, nothing is bad, but it's all pretty generic, and way different from the experimental stuff in Drakkhen. The character sprites and backgrounds look great, though, and the battle animation is very good. The storyline is pretty direct stuff with an evil wizard, an ambitious swordsman, and a damsel in distress, but the game has an atmosphre all its own, and I like what it does there.

Dragon View isn't particularly common or cheap, but I can't think of much else like it. When I finally decided to give it a shot around 2006, I had no idea that I'd end up liking it so much, and I think back on it as one of my personal top five SNES RPGs.

Played this one?

[Emperor Megas]

You've got me here. I've never even heard of this game. I've never played Drakhen either, though I'd heard of it. Anyway, this game will get added to the watch list, along with the first. Even if the first isn't great, I have a completest sort of mindset.

[celerystalker]

Hope you're able to find them! The first Drakkhen isn't so much bad as it is obtuse. It does have a cult following, especially for its music, which gets progressively weirder as the game goes on. Its combat, though, I've personally always just hated. Dragon View, though, I just love all around, and really dig the beat 'em up/RPG fusion. It feels a lot like Enix and Falcom made a baby to me.

[kupomogli]

Drakken was one of those games I've always wanted to like and put a lot of time into. Never did beat it, never had a clue on how to finish it back when I did play it. I played Dragon View for a little bit while I was testing out whether I liked the game enough to keep it a rom on my PSP to eventually get to it. Just like my collecting habits, even though it's just data, I won't keep a rom of it if I have no interest for the game.