I barely viewed any dragons.

Your name is a lie, Dragon View!

Dragon View was a game SNES Drunk pointed out once or twice on YouTube. Something about it called out to me, but I put it off for over a year. I had a feeling it was gonna suck. I have good news!

Dragon View is an action RPG. You get your attack, defense, HP, and magic stats, but it's showcased in a side scrolling hack and slash combat. Your primary method of attack is a wide and fast sword swing, but there's also an axe (?) that works like a boomerang, three forms of magic, and a couple of miscellaneous items like bombs, arrows, and water bending to harm demons. These are more limited in nature, but they're there.

But that's only in dungeons! There is a world map here, and it's explored in "3D." And it's first person! It's an interesting idea that makes the world feel massive and exciting, albeit a bit cumbersome sometimes. You're gonna accidentally bump into trees often, and you need to line up city and dungeon entrances just right sometimes. But it's novel enough for me to give it leeway. While on the world, clouds will assail you, leading to a puffball dimension where your enemies are. These are quick battle rooms that are over in a matter of seconds. I've read you get more exp and jade (money) in random encounters than in dungeons, but I never experimented to check.

And that world is populated with a litany of towns filled with NPCs and side quests. Each area, including towns, has unique music as you travel. Nothing blew me away from the OST, but it was all enjoyable. It helps to break up the monotony of saving the world from all the bugs and lizardmen. Lotta lizardmen...

The story is pretty simple. Your girlfriend gets kidnapped, and you save the world because you're both the chosen ones. But the devs try to make the few bosses interesting. I liked the game, so I found them just absorbing enough to be shocked by my final thoughts on them. Alex, though, is pretty basic. He's a himbo with a heart of gold and a sense of vengeance. The gameplay and Zeldaesq dungeoneering are the main draw to Dragon View.

---

Plot: shockingly fine. I may have been lenient, but I liked the characters enough to get through the basic and unremarkable plot. 7/10

Gameplay: well defined. The love child of Golden Axe, Zelda, and Elder Scrolls: Arena is Dragon Age. If you like them, you'll find something here. 9/10

Sound: worth a listen. As I said, nothing blew me away, but I might pop in the OST every now and then to vibe. 8/10

Art: the weak part. The plethora of pallet swamps is a bummer, and the stiff animations from a few villains make me think this is a budget title. And my eyes hate southward dungeon exits. 5/10

Charm: competent. A living world would have been so rad, but the hardware limitations are probably to blame for the lack of birds. But I doubt I'll be replaying this, and the basic story makes a replay meaningless. 5/10

With no negatives, although maybe speed up climbing stairs, Dragon View gets a solid 34 out of 50. It's a simple and straightforward game, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a rad pallet cleanser between bigger projects, especially with a running time of twelve hours.

I've never played Drakken, the game Dragon View/Super Drakken is the sequel of. I've heard it sucks, though. The sequel isn't gonna set the world on fire, but it can be a lot of fun. Chalk it up as a cult classic, and give it a play if you have battery problems on a Steam Deck but still have to travel!