You know what? I simply couldn't be bothered with this game. It simply didn't appeal to me one bit.
It's made by Cryo. Yes - The same people who brought us Lost Eden and Megarace. And you know what the means? 20 bloody minutes of streaming pre-rendered media. Oh brother it was boring! It dragged on and on and on ...
This was one of those games that I got on the cheap. So no box and no manual. Just the CD's crammed in a CD case with not even an insert. Which means the only way I can figure what the game is about, is by sticking it in my 3DO multiplayer and seeing what happens.
So there I am watching the rendered introduction. I see a castle, with a man with very red hair. I then see another man on a dragon. I'm guessing he is bad man. He certainly looks like a bad man. He's covered in spikes and has red glowing eyes. A sure fire sign of badness I'd say. Then I see a baby. I get the feeling while I watch that the baby will grow up to be my character in the game. Just a feeling mind. I see the baby being taken to an old wooden house by an old farmer and then that's it. The game presents you with a menu and you get to start playing.
Reading between the lines: I reckon that spikey man killed the red haired man. I'd even bet that red haired man was the baby's father. And, if I were to hedge my bets, I'd say once that baby grows into manhood, he'll have to avenge his fathers death.
Not before getting a bowl and saving a cow. Yes, they are the first two missions.
The characters have red hair - including the main character. They also have tartan trousers, mullets and strained accents. They'll be Scottish then.
What have the Scottish got to do with Dragons? It was St.George, the patron Saint of England that slayed a bloody Dragon. Not Scotland. They got St. Andrew. Tch! Well, I suppose they had to put up with William Wallace being Australian. Having said that Robin Hood wasn't American either.
Dragons Lore is the usual Cryo style game. Rendered graphics. 3 CDs worth of them.
Does anyone remember the 'Choose your own adventure' books? Or 'Fighting Fantasy' books? They were good. You'd read a section of the book, then
you threw a dice or made a decision and then you moved on and read another
section of book. It was fun. Each story would be different. It was the
illusion of freedom. Unlike this game. It tries to kid you into thinking
your free. But you're not - and it's so obvious.
Linear. It's so fashionable to slate games for being 'Linear' these days. Me? I'm not a big fan of open ended games as it happens. Grand Theft Auto S.A., left me cold. I like to be told a story. Paper Mario 2 was good and I loved Beyond Good and Evil and if you haven't played it, you should. I really adored Resident Evil 4 too. I like being lead by the nose through a game as the plot progresses.
Not in the case of Dragons Lore. Oh heavens - it is boring.
Very rare.
3DO kid.
I actually really like this game. Yes it's 99% linear and pre-rendered, but it's got... atmosphere. Have you gotten to the 3rd disc? The castle is huge and badass. It's got scary sections, the nursery where the baby was in the intro (with a great acoustic theme,) hidden rooms... Overall the game does seem kind of weird and incomplete though.
After you beat it the first time, it's fun to go through and murder everyone you meet and take their weapons