Drag-On Dragoon
- October 09, 2003 00:00 AM PST
Take a look Square-Enix�s air/ground action RPG.
One part Dynasty Warriors, one part Panzer Dragoon Orta, one part RPG�Square-Enix�s action/RPG Drag-On Dragoon has a little of everything. The game, which was released last month in Japan, has been selling well and could be released stateside.
Untamed wrath
You are Caim, a former prince whose parents were killed by a Black Dragon employed by the empire. Filled with bitterness, you use revenge as an excuse to kill and quiet your demons. To attain power, you make a deal with a red dragon, giving up your ability to speak in exchange for becoming a dragon rider. In the world of Drag-On Dragoon, people make �contracts,� sacrificing an organ or a part of themselves in exchange for power. Fueled with wrath, Caim sets out to destroy the empire that destroyed his own life.
Up high, down low
The unique feature of this game is that part of the game you play as the dragon, blasting things in the air, and part of the game you play as Caim on the ground. Missions first start out in the air, where you fight other dragons and flying things. Mid way through, you will fight in low-altitude with your dragon, with the option to fight on the ground by yourself open at any time. On the ground, you will fight hordes of enemy armies with gameplay similar to Koei�s Dynasty Warrior. You not only can level up your character, but can also level up your weapon, increasing the range and damage up to 4 levels, and your magic, which becomes stronger in conjunction with your weapon. Experience is gained by absorbing the souls of enemies you�ve defeated, enabling you to level up and increase in hit points. Enemies appear in groups of five to six, with each group having a leader. If you kill the leader, you can demoralize the group, allowing you to disperse big groups of enemies with relative ease. You can also call for help from other people with whom you�ve made contracts, each with their own special attacks. These characters will fight in place of Caim for a limited amount of time, and can only be called out 3 times in a mission, so they need to be used sparingly.
All in all, Drag-on Dragoon comes across as an innovative game, if not perhaps a little too ambitious. Keep your eye out for this game, as it might reach our shores sometime in the near future.
