Dragon View (SNES) Playthrough
588A playthrough of Kemco's 1994 action role-playing game for the Super Nintendo, Dragon View.
When it was released in the Fall of 1991, Kemco's port of Infogrames' 1989 PC game Drakkhen (https://youtu.be/hGpLQujoDJg) became the first English-language RPG to be made available for the Super NES.
Infogrames, meanwhile, had been reportedly working on a sequel throughout 1991, but the project was quietly canceled, and that was the end of it. Or at least, it would've been had Kotobuki (Kemco) not decided to step up to the plate to take a swing. Really, though, if not Infogrames, who else would've been better suited to the task than the folks who had already seen success in adapting the first game for a console?
And thus, three long years later, Drakken finally got a follow-up in the form of Dragon View (or Super Drakkhen, as it was named in Japan). Dragon View didn't get near the press coverage that Drakkhen did - probably owing to the fact that it was not a launch-window SNES release - and despite receiving better-than-average reviews, it quickly faded into obscurity. I suppose that's not a huge surprise when it sat on shelves next to the likes of Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy III, Super Metroid, Earthworm Jim, and Mortal Kombat II.
So what of the game itself, then?
Dragon View pays its dues to Drakkhen, but it's quite a different beast. It is not a party-based RPG driven by an automated combat system like its predecessor, but rather, a story-focused action-adventure that's structured like an RPG. Several Japanese sites liken it to Zelda II: The Adventures of Link, and I think that it is a pretty apt comparison.
The continent of Keire is presented as an expansive 3D landscape that you explore from a first-person perspective - just like in Drakkhen - but this time, the map is dotted with bustling towns and maze-like dungeons.
When you encounter an enemy on the overworld or enter a dungeon, the view shifts to a 2.5D perspective and the gameplay takes on a heavy action slant. The battle system feels like it has been lifted straight out of a beat 'em up, and the light platforming and puzzle elements are similar to what you'd find in 8-bit ARPGs like Faxanadu and Castlevania II. It's a weird mishmash, but it works, and it's fun. The graphics are excellent, the controls are spot on, and the gameplay is better focused and less obtuse than Drakkhen's.
I was disappointed by how far it veered from Drakkhen in terms of style and tone. The world and its inhabitants are beautifully illustrated, but the worn fantasy tropes and corny dialogue rob it of any of the surreal flair that defined Drakkhen.
Taken on its own, though, Dragon View is a quality game that stands out for the risks it takes, and I really liked it.
(And how about that ending? 26 minutes! Didn't see that too often in cartridge games!)
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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