Dragon Riders: The Bloody Results of a Collision Between Good Story and Terrible Gameplay

Overall: 3
Gameplay: 4
Graphics: 3
Sound: 8
Concept: 7
Replay Value: 3

Pern is a lush, intricate world, created by fantasy novelist Anne McAffrey. In her book series, she describes a wonderfully deep and complex society in an equally deep world, centering around the large, flying dragons that live there. Dragon Riders uses this world as a backdrop for what is supposed to be an epic fantasy adventure.

You are D'Kor, a Dragonrider, thrown into the center of turmoil within your village. The Weyrwoman, a respected female who is bonded to the single gold dragon in the area, has died. Because dragons and the humans they bond with form such a deep and lasting tie, the dragon is devastated and has become inconsolable. The timing couldn't be worse, as she has just laid an egg from which the next gold dragon will hatch, and she is needed to care for her brood.

And so, your task as a Dragonrider is to find someone suitable to be the new Weyrwoman. Actually, there are ten possible candidates, and you must search far and wide to find them all.

With Pern as the backdrop to this somewhat intriguing story, Dragon Riders starts off on a good foot. Much of this story is explained to you during the impressive introduction, and the rest is explained soon after during the game itself. However, as soon as you begin playing, you'll realize, as I did, that a good story can only do so much when the graphics and control are against you.

The game plays very much like Shenmue, the former 'must-have' game for the Dreamcast. You control D'Kor from a third person view, alternating between fixed third-person camera angles (for small areas) to an over-the-shoulder view (for larger areas). As you wander around your village, you will meet and talk to dozens of different people, all of whom seem to either need a favor or be embroiled in some sort of personal controversy.

For example, the leader of your group of Dragonriders wants to call a meeting, and you must gather the group up. While you're doing this, you'll meet a friend who almost got into a fight the night before, and asks you to apologize for him. You'll also meet some townsfolk who fear thier child has gone missing. In the first few minutes of play, there are several other errands people ask of you.

This is the beginning of the game's downfall. Essentially, you are everyone's errand-boy. Instead of doing things themselves (presumably because they are all bound to the rooms they stand in), you must run back and forth completeing demeaning tasks. This is made worse by the fact that if you don't do these things, the game doesn't progress. While it is true that not all tasks need to be completed, the vast majority do, making the game get very tedious after a while.

When you do complete each task, you will sometimes aquire items, and usually one of your three attributes will increase. This attribute system is the only thing that made the game interesting for me, and it is somewhat original. Your attributes are Strength, Knowledge, and Reputation. When you perform a task that requires one of them, it will increase; for example, winning a battle will increase strength, while talking to someone about recent news will increase knowledge. Sometimes you will come across an obstacle that cannot yet be passed, because it requires one of your attributes to be at a sufficiently high level. While this seems exciting at first, you'll quickly realize it is just one way the game forces you on it's linear path.

Of course, all this gameplay assumes you can get past the control problems. You control D'Kor with the analog stick; up is forward, left and right rotate, and down will take one step backwards. This would be just fine if this game used only the over-the-shoulder camera view. However, in most areas, the camera is fixed, and it's position changes very often... when you don't want it to. Of course, when you do want it to, the camera never moves, for example when your cahracter walks out of view. Then you must play with the controls and pray that either he comes back into view or the camera finally changes position.

While the graphics aren't bad by any means, they aren't up to the standards for a late-run Dreamcast game, looking more like a first generation title. Also, there are many graphics errors, especially clipping problems, and you'll very often run into 'invisible' walls. While these control and graphical problems make it hard to navigate the game, you fortunately have a small pet called a fire lizard. It hovers above your shoulder, until something or someone of interest shows up, then it flies to that person or thing to point it out. This is extremely helpful, as sometimes the camera angle prevents you from even seeing important things.

As in Shenmue, you have a journal which notes important actions and quests for you. This is a very valuable tool, as it often gives you hints you may otherwise miss. This is another godsend, like the fire lizard, that helps to make up for the horrible control and graphics. The journal is something you will refer to often to help you remember people, places, and things of importance.

While the game generally relies on you using your wits to complete quests, you will enter combat from time to time. One of your fellow Dragonriders will briefly train you in the beginning of the game, but the combat system is extremely basic. Equip a weapon, and hold the 'A' button. While holding that button, left and right sidestep you around your enemy, up attacks, and down blocks. Of course, the camera control rears its ugly head again, and often it is difficult to get a camera angle from which you can actually see what is going on in combat.

Because you are bonded to your dragon, you can communicate with him at any time. By doing so, you can ask simply about your surroundings, but you can often get helpful advice if you are stuck. When I first strted the game up, I managed to get it to hang when I exited from this mode, something that is just inexcusable on a console. Your dragon can also fly you to many destinations, and Pern is a fairly large world. If you can bear the horrible control and camera problems, you'll get a few dozen hours of play from this game, at the least. Try to complete every side-quest and find every secret, and you'll be playing this game for a long time.

Oh, and about that dragon flying. I was very excitied when I bought the game to get to ride a dragon, I thought it would be a interesting addition to an adventure game. So, what happens when you finally board your dragon for departure? You get a short cut scene, and end up at the next area. No flying through the clouds, no guiding your dragon anywhere. So much for that.

The sound is actually pretty good for this type of game. Music plays infrequently, and adds to the mood of the scene, making it seem like you're playing in a movie. Also, all the people you talk to are voice-acted. There are hours upon hours of dialogue in the game, and while the voice acting is done superbly, there is no way to skip through it. Ever. This really cuts down on replaying the game once it's finished, because you really don't wnat to listen to hours of dialogue again. However, the voice acting is really done excellently, and if nothing else this game can serve as an example of how well it can be done. However, I still don't know why D'Kor speaks with more of an American dialect, and everyone else has an English accent.

Of course, this much voice acting is evidence of the game's extreme linearity. The game designers obviously intended for sepcific events to happen in a specific sequence, and you're aren't going to get anywhere trying to foil that plan. There are some side-quests that are optional, and some screts to be found, but for the most part you must do certain things in a certain way. This means running back and forth, checking and re-checking every area over and over.

At it's core, Dragon Riders is a worthy adventure game, with a slight RPG feel. The attribute system gives you a feeling of accomplishment and ties you to the main character, as well as providing for some plot points. The world has an excellent bacground, and provides for a wonderful story, and if you're a fan of the novels you may not want to miss your chance to practically be in one. The is brought down, however, by poor character and camera control, making it hard to actually play. This game has been discontinued, so if you can manage to put up with the irritations, you may want to pick it up while you can.