Now, there are many, many games I could use for this system's
first time, but I wanted something rather unique and unlike
anything else on the Super Nintendo to show how varied
those less fortunate gems can actually be.
Not just varied, but how ambitious they could get,
as the game I'm talking today proves quite well.
Even more than that, the game I'll talk today is also
a great example of not throwing the towel and try
again, for your second attempt might be awesome.
This is Dragon View.
Created and published by Kotobuki System Co. Ltd in 1994, Dragon View is a quite neat package that combines concepts, elements and structures of Beat'em Ups, Action-Adventure games and RPGs and mixed them into a very solid formula.
If you don't know who Kotobuki System is, surely it probably would be easier to recognize them by the name the would, years later, be known as: Kemco.
Kemco is a video game company that has been active since the 80's, and has both produced and published loads and loads of games. Many of those are licensed tie-ins with many properties, both Japanese and American, like Looney Tunes, but they are also important for porting games on consoles, like the "Macventure" series to the NES (Shadowgate, Uninvited and Déjà Vu), and bringing many new games on their own (or publishing other studios ideas).
They're also the guys behind the Top Gear series. They shifted into mobile gaming almost exclusively once smartphones became a thing, and it seems their output is not going to go down any time soon.
Among all those games they released, though, there was one very special that needs to be pointed out: Drakkhen. Originally programmed by Infogrames for the Amiga, later Kemco would do a version for the Super Nintendo.
Drakkhen was... A very ambitious attempt to create a different kind of RPG, that ended being quite the train wreck. You see, without entering into much detail, the game kind of breaks itself whenever there is a fight, with your AI controlled characters moving around like headless chickens hitting the air because they can't approach enemies successfully, sending themselves to drown into any body of water present at that moment, getting themselves in the worst spot possible more times you would like; and all that combined with a pretty annoying User Interface, quite the amount of cut content or unfihished things (text that references things you can't find, for example), a not so great translation, and constant fights that bring to a halt your advancement over the 3D-like overworld.
It's a very, very frustrating game that only people that like to mess with it and see in how many ways you can die. And seeing how you can die by being eaten by a giant sliding hell-hound head out of nowhere, it can be quite funny for all the wrong reasons.
But you may ask, "Why is this important?"... And you'd be right to make such question.
You see, Dragon View is, in some sense, a second attempt for Kemco's developers to take what Drakkhen had (like the world and story details, or game technology) and try to make something new that avoided the large amount of problems Infogrames' game had.
So let's get to it, shall we?
Dragon View takes place in a world of sword of sorcery, a land of fantasy... And more specifically, an island by the name of Keire.
Our story starts in a very humble town named Rysis, a place that, while small, holds the interesting fact of being the town where men go there to sharp their swordsmanship to become powerful warriors.
In fact, Alex, our protagonist, is training hard the day everything started. After a session of training, Katarina, a special friend of his, comes rushing looking for Alex, worried about Kunos, the old man that took care of her for most of her life. He seems to not have yet come from an old storage that, for some reason, it is out of town.
Alex, being protagonist and all, decides to go to the storage and look to see what happened. There, after fighting a monster that shouldn't be there, finds Kunos who has been wounded by someone. Alerted by seeing Alex there, he quickly gets up and exclaims the need to go back to Rysis.
Sadly when you're back it is rather late, as a man by the name of Argos, a powerful wizard, has attacked the town and taken Katarina, mentioning how he has great plans for her. Alex runs towards the mage and tries to confront him, only to be mocked and heavily damaged, almost to the point of death, and then preparing to vanish out of the scene, but not before Katarina throws Alex the pendant he lend her (you can see this before the title screen).
Alex manages to survive the ordeal, and after talking with the people in Rysis, decides to go after Argos and bring Katarina back, and thus, starting this game's quest.
That is the catalyst of the story, but by no means is just a "save the girl story", as that is just Alex original motivation. While it does not get very complex, there are few more things going on in the story as you progress and meet more characters, as problems have been occurring all throughout the island.
One interesting thing in the narrative part of the game is how text is laid out. With the screenshots above you can see that, it actually reads similar to a book, with both the dialogue and the narration between lines. It gives the game its own flavour when the game not only gives you what a character says, but also points to their body or facial gestures, or even the one of their sentences. Personally, I think it fits quite nicely in the fantasy setting the game has. Of course, the game is not very text-heavy either so it does not become an issue.
Now, you see in those shots that the game looks a bit... "2D" for your typical adventure game, right?
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| This is the first monster in the game and can kick your ass if you're not careful, actually! |
That's because the main game is structured somewhat like a Beat'em up with inter-connected rooms. Imagine something like Streets of Rage where you can move in 8 directions in the typical straight hallways Beat'em Ups usually have for stages, but "stages" themselves (here, dungeons, or caves, things like that) are cut in several rooms with doors connecting those rooms, making them sort of like a top-down Zelda dungeon, including small puzzles from time to time and even those "defeat all enemies to open me" doors, just seeing those rooms in a 2D perspective.
It's a bit weird trying to explain it with words, but once you see it in action it's quite easy to understand. In any case, both dungeons and cities are structured like this, and these are the first of many things mixed to make this title.
Now, before getting into the game itself, I'll also explain this other thing:
I said above "Both dungeons and cities are structured like this", which leaves us...
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| At first is a bit confusing, but thankfully the compass and maps help tremendously. |
...The overworld!
See, this is one of the few things directly taken from Drakkhen that could be salvaged. The original game had a, sort of "Mode 7" 3D map to navigate around. Dragon View takes this, with many of the silly or annoying things taken away.
For example in the original Drakkhen, touching any body of water would move your characters into it and make them drown. Not only that but touching the borders of the map would do the same thing. Exploring could be confusing and you couldn't redirect yourself if for some reason you changed directions while walking. And random encounters could happen within seconds from one to the next.
Dragon View makes a lot of improvements to this. For starters, you can't drown, neither you can launch yourself out of the game's world like a failure of existence. You also have always a compass to show in which direction you're looking at, which is incredibly useful alongside the maps you receive for the different areas of Keire Island, and you can access them by pushing R.
There are roads connecting the main points of each area, like cities or caves, so it's easy to find your way to at least a safe place (although, like any good adventure game, getting off the road leads to many secrets), and random encounters in the overworld can be both seen come and avoided. And of course, caves, buildings, and other places you can enter can be seen as you approach them and are easy to recognize.
There are even teleporters located in certain points of Keire that connect zones for faster and easier traveling (once you unlock them, though), so this overworld can be a bit daunting at first but it's easy to get the hang of it.
As you can see, the game has two very different structures for when you're exploring outside, and when you're inside, which even if at first I though they would collide, it kind of felt like a bit of a fresh breath of air whenever I exited a dungeon and could walk without worrying about enemies or looking my way inside a dungeon, or I finally reached my next challenge I could get some action after some walking and looking around.
But enough about that, what's the gameplay like?
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| I've been SLAIN...! And by moths, of all things! |
Alex is a rather agile fellow, porting good moving speed and a very good arm swing, capable of slashing with his sword quite fast, doing several swings with repeated attacks and even thrusting his sword upwards when enemies (either because they launch at Alex, or because they fly) get near him. Not only that but he is also capable of jumping diagonally (something quite a few Beat'em Ups don't let you do).
All that makes the character control, at least to me, rather satisfying, as the action is fast, your movements are precise, and overall feels solid, but of course, foes are not going to stand there waiting to get destroyed by you, in fact some of them are very nasty with attacks that can take you by surprise and they grow stronger as you progress through the game, and not just because the progressive challenge video games are normally designed with.
You see, the damage dealt and received by both Alex and monsters depends on the Attack and Defense statistics they have. The higher the enemies' is, the harder will be to damage them and the deadlier their strikes will get, making for much harder to stay alive around these enemies.
Fortunately, Alex can build up his Attack and Defense by gaining experience as he defeats monsters, and leveling up. This not only makes Alex capable of keeping up with progressively harder monsters, but also makes those earlier ones much easier to defeat, as far as making them explode with a single hit, and makes revisiting old places much faster in case you need something.
It is very simple mechanically-wise, but it really makes a big effect in the gameplay, as monsters will let you know you shouldn't be in a certain place when they vanish more than half of your life with a single blow.
But of course, Alex level is not the only deciding factor.
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| I always love to take a look at the empty inventory screen in these sort of games and imagine what type of things you'll end up with... |
Alex starts the journey with his trusty sword, a basic armour and the pendant that was left after the events that start the game; but like any adventure worth its salt, you'll get a variety of items with different uses.
These are separated in three groups, being Weapons, Permanent Upgrades, and Items, the last one having things from healing items to tools and other type of offensive objects, some being tied to the main quest, while others can be obtained by exploring the world.
Another typical element in these types of games is money, and Dragon View is no different, with Jade being the "legal coin" in this world... And it looks pretty much like Zelda's Rupees, right down to being different colours with different values for each type of Jade.
While the island of Keire is not very densely populated, throughout your jourey you will find several towns and cities, represented in a similar fashion to the dungeons, with "walk-able hallways" acting as streets with NPCs and buildings, sometimes with backgrounds or foregrounds you can go into to see another part of the city.
In typical RPG fashion, these places hold several points of interest that you owe yourself to visit often, either to buy things from shops (Although I recommend only to buy things on Hujia for best prices), talk with non-vital NPCs and get all sorts of information, look for important characters to advance the story, and also rest and save your game, in this game made in Dragon Temples.
These last ones are very important. Dedicated to pay respect to the mentioned mythical creatures, these places have two monks in differently coloured robe; with the blue one offer free healing and the possibility to save your game (with the game having a total of 3 save files), and the green one making taking a role of an adviser.
Besides saving as much as you can, you should also pay visits to the green monk, and talk several times with him as he'll make comments on where to go when you forget where to go, point to you to suspicious parts of the overworld and even mark in your maps points of interest to check (both for optional stuff and main story events). Definitely, two very useful guys.
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| Oh, come on game, don't tease me... |
On the other hand, dungeons are far more common than towns, and also much more varied. There's a good amount of places to visit, ranging from smaller caves that hold special goodies or upgrades to full-fledged areas full of monsters, obstacles and, of course, boss fights.
Talking about those small ones, it truly pays off to explore around the overworlds, you may never know when you'll find a cave not marked in a map by walking besides walls, or bump into a tree with a suspicious hole to go underground.
In such places you can find upgrades like Heart Containers. While you can improve your level, and increase your Attack and Defense, your Hit Points stay the same unless you pick up these, and there are a ton of them lying around Keire. Unlike Zelda, every single container here is a full one, so each time you find them your HP will get a bit larger.
Not only that, If you paid attention you probably saw that Alex has Magic Points too, represented with yellow stars, that can be increased by grabbing Magic Containers. This ties into another type of item you find throughout the game: Magic Rings.
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| F#$k yeah, Magic! |
Early in the game you need to find the Fire Ring in order to melt ice that hampers your progress, and after you beat the required "Fire level" of the game, you get your hands on it. By equipping it and using it with A, you can throw small fireballs to attack your enemies, but also melt pillars of ice. The other rings you can (an should) find have other issues outside of battle too.
When you found the rings, they are at a modest level one, but across the land you can find elemental wizards capable of improving them so you can hold the Item button and charge energy to create more devastating effects in exchange for a higher consumption of MP.
Magic as a an offensive tool can be incredibly handy if used well, as enemies have both elemental resistance and weaknesses, and using the correct one will bypass their Defense and do full damage, which lets you have a chance with foes more powerful than you... If you can stay alive, of course.
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| I HAVE THE POWER... Of a Level 2 Sword... |
In a similar fashion you'll find other upgrades, like Sword Energy.
In this game, instead of getting new swords and throwing the prior one "because this other one has +5 Attack", you start and finish with the very same weapon; but, it absorbs this energy whenever you find it, making it more powerful and also giving it a new coat of paint (with different upgrades having different colours). In the same vein, you will find Armor upgrades that change Alex' attire, both stat-wise and visually.
It's always nice to see a game that at least gives us a bit of flair whenever we get tougher, even if it's just cosmetic fluff. But we like it, dammit.
One last object I'd like to talk about and one that you find nearly at the beginning of the game, is the Hauza. (Seriously, after the intro, go back into that storehouse again!).
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| Aw mah gahd, are those wrestling pirates?! |
This is the second main weapon you get, and it's an exceptional "partner" for your sword.
You see, while the sword is really neat all by itself, by being fast, having good vertical range, and being all around reliable and simple to use, it has short horizontal range and makes you go toe-to-toe with enemies, something that can put you in danger, and when you're alone against up to 4 monsters, things can get ugly.
The Hauza, on the other hand, is this mix between an Axe and a Boomerang, that you throw right in front and has a pretty decent horizontal range, and that's it's main perk, being able to damage enemies from afar. It has higher attack power than the sword, and deals rather well with airborne enemies, as well as enemies with stronger defensive capabilities. You can even hit several enemies in the same horizontal plane if you're good with it, too.
The downsides of the Hauza is that only strikes things directly in front of you, and does not damage what it is slightly above or under you (which is to be expected), but more importantly, it does not touch enemies that crawl on the floor, like most types of insects, such as scorpions or spitting worms.
The weaknesses of each weapon don't matter as much as their strong points because you can change them at will, and the point is to use both depending on the situation, and works quite well.
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| Bosses. Some quite challenging, others, kinda the opposite! |
But of course, what's all those things worth if you don't have a place to make use of them, correct?
That's why the game's main attraction are these large dungeons full of baddies and obstacles!
These big places have more in common with Zelda than the smaller caves, with keys being rewarded in several ways to open locked doors, having to move statues to reveal things, some platforming here and there, and the usual things.
Each place also has a main gimmick that rules the entire dungeon, like for example, sand traps that suck you in and throw you to a lower level of a dungeon, big pools of water and fountains to freeze so you can use them as platforms or solid ground, and such, with enemies that normally go along with the motif of the dungeon itself (wrestling pirates notwithstanding).
One thing that makes dungeons a bit more tense is the fact that if you die, you go back to your last save point, which is in a city, which means... You'll probably have to do everything again. And that sort of tension can be your doom when you face a boss that can challenge you. I's because of that, that you need to prepare yourself as best as you can, bringing Potions with you for when you're in tight spots.
But on the other hand, dungeons themselves are much more fast-paced than in your usual Zelda, and you can deal with them in a timely fashion without too much hassle (and also depending on your level, monsters will give you more or less of a problem), which I think is the right call, as longer dungeons would end up boring the player and making unfortunate deaths far more frustrating.
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| Yeah, this game has a Yuna. And this one does not get kidnapped four (million) times! |
The adventure will take you to many places, mostly staples of your fantasy settings; tundras, deserts, swamps, forests, mountains... And you'll meet a decent amount of characters that will keep the story going, adding more threads to the plot as the stakes rise.
The world is full of details that made me smile, too. For example, while in some caves, you can see lamps hanging from the ceiling. They actually respond to movements, like swinging your sword at them, and they shake violently. The same happens when you open locked doors as they impact on walls.
Another example is with a mine, where people go to for Jade extraction. You can actually hit the walls and sometimes get money out of it, which took my by surprise until my brain told me that made perfect sense, having in-universe reasons.
Cold places have mist, man-made structures will have candles shedding light on bricks and such, places with abundant water will have drops falling from the ceiling, zones with fire will reflect on walls and tint the area red... The game has a great sense of ambience all around, specially for its time.
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| The effect in the game is better, this is just a silly gif... |
But that's not even all of it. When you walk in places with trees, jumping and hitting the branches sometimes make items fall, most of the times fruits. These fruits can be used to recover a small amount of health, but also can be used in a variety of ways, like selling them to shops, or as a currency for deals, as you will find all sort of wandering people hiding out there, who may change supplies for your fruits (and some offer some great deals).
Cities, while hosting few humans, feel a bit alive, as most of them have very decent animations. NPCs turn their heads to follow your movement, kids hop in their site or move their legs when sitting, women talk to each other and have a variety of moves, from hand gestures to laughter covering their mouths and looking away, and shopkeepers get surprised when you enter and wave you goodbye with a kiss when you exit.
Monsters also have pretty decent animations, with some sporting some personality, even. For example, those... erh, "wrestling pirates" will taunt you and wait with their arms crossed, just for after lunge towards you like they're Mike Haggar, while Imps / Gargoyles will fly away from you, only to launch themselves and kick you in the face, and then proceed to start laughing their asses off (perfect moment for a revenge!). And those moths (some have no right to be as powerful!) flap their wings quite smoothly. Other creatures have similar curious touches here and there.
A few cutscenes also have rather nice movement to them, specially when you see the big, bad guy.
The game has a really nice effort put into it, if you ask me.
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| Ah.. uh, Yeah. I'll probably go defeat some imps or something before Fantasy Chris Hansen appears. |
The game's length can depend on how much stuff you want to get and how much like to grind for levels, but, to give you an idea, this playthrough I did for capturing and refreshing my mind on the game took me around 16 hours to get and do everything, give or take a few deaths and also count the fact I remembered more or less my way around.
That's a pretty good length, long enough for a few sessions, short enough to not get bored; although, I think game length is very subjective from person to person, and the background and tastes each one has...
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| Wait a moment here... Navi?! |
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| ... And a Water Dungeon where you fight clones? Nintendo, what is this?! |
Dragon View visually holds up quite nicely. Besides all the details and stuff already mentioned, the game just has a very solid solid feeling, and that's including the "3D" overworld, which, even if a bit dated for today's standards, had to be quite a sight back then.
Sound-wise, the game also has a simple, but pretty decent soundtrack.
Composed by M. Takenada, N. Komatsu and T. Sekido, the music fits well enough with the different parts and moments of the game, with tense and daunting themes while exploring caves and dungeons where danger lurks, the calm and refreshing themes from temples, towns and cities where you can relax, and a interesting progression of overworld themes, starting placid in your home lands, and getting more adventurous pieces as you advance exploring Keire. While the compositions themselves are nothing to set the SPC chip on fire as far as complexity goes, the music definitely makes the game better and I find it to be well utilized.
For some reason, hearing the music while I played made me remember Kirby, Earthbound or Pilotwings, probably because the instruments, I don't know. Some themes I like are "Bustling City Streets", "Close to home", "Raging Inferno" "Gods of Land and Sea" or "Barren Land", among others.
You can take listen to the soundtrack by clicking on DK here!
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| What could this be?! Whatever it is, that monster chose a bad time to laugh... |
Anyway, I think I should start finishing this... Even if I think there are so many things to talk about, but I guess it's better to discover them for yourself!
Dragon View is above else a very solid game that anyone looking for good retro games should check to see if tickles your fancy. For me, it is one of the better "obscure" games in the system. A competent game that marries many different things and brings a unique experience that not only is good, it also lasts more than your average Super Nintendo game. A meaty action-packed experience with an interesting reason to exist. Hm, now that I think about it...
Hey, guys at Kemco (at that time), if for some strange, weird, implausible reason you are reading this... Good call on trying to make a second attempt. It turned out to be a pretty great game!
Oh, and by the way, if you happen to go and play this, don't turn off the game too quickly! Upon this second playthrough I decided to let the credits play to its entirety, and I was surprised by a extended ending sequence that expands on what happens after everything is said and done.
And I guess that's all. Give Dragon View a chance!
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