Dragons show up in video games a lot. They're frequently monsters or bosses who don't have much to say to you. Sometimes they have their own personality, but you still need to stab them in the face with your weapon of choice. If I tried to list every game that had dragons in it, I'd be here all day. So it's obvious that people think dragons are cool. In fact, some might say that they're over done. But here's a thought, how often do you get to play as a dragon in video games?
Not a dragon.
This guy right here.
Spyro has a whole series devoted to him, and I find most of the games enjoyable. But what I'm discussing right now is what makes a dragon game? First, lets look at the original games. Dragons were just one of the races that lived in that world. Spyro could glide and breathe fire, sure, but imagine with me for a moment. Many games of that era featured Bandicoots or Bears or Squrriels as the main character. How does it tie into the game? Lets say you Search/Replaced all the dragons in the early Spyro games with other creatures, would the games actually be any different, other than the models you're playing as?
Lets look into the reboot, when Spyro got dark and gritty and Sparx got really annoying. Dragons are actually important now, powerful creatures feared by the forces of darkness. So we're heading in the right direction. But still, the only people you interact with in these games are people trying to kill you, and a few NPCs. Once again, lets just pretend that gryphons were legendary forces in this world. Has the game changed any? I might be sounding a bit picky, but I have a point I'll get to.
So what about games where you ride dragons? There's lots of those. You have your Panzer Dragoon, your Drakan, your Lair and your Drakengard. There's more of these types of games, of course. Technically your character is the person on the dragon, but when you move the control stick and hit buttons, it's the dragon doing things, so just as good, right?
The problem is, once again, in the content. The dragon is just a vehicle, in a Star Fox style shooter. Some of the story lines of these games make a fuss about dragons, of course, but it's generally about the main character. The dragon rarely, if ever, speaks and has a character. If we take out our magic Replace power again, and turned the dragons into a vehicle, has the game changed?
Thanks for helping prove my point, Drakengard.
So what makes a dragon? Time for another story. Long ago, someone had a dream of an MMO called Horizons: Empires of Istaria. It wasn't going to be like any other MMO. See, this game was going to have a variety of races, all of which operated in their own way. The races would have their own play style. Take a look at this from the early ideas.
That dragon is pretty darn big, seems a bit unfair, right? Well, in the original concept, dragons would start off rather weak. They were also neutral or hated by every other race, meaning every race could attack them. Why would you want to mess with a dragon? Crafting components from the young ones, crafting components and raiding their hoards for the older ones. Dragons were planned to grow over real time. No way to grind to max. You would have to wait literally a year or more before your dragon was a monster of destruction. You couldn't just not play him either. You need to run around and train, otherwise you ended up with a grown dragon that was tubby and weak because he hasn't gotten off his butt. Other races would work similarly. Demons and Angels would have to try and murder each other on sight, least their gods disapprove. Vampires would appear to be human to most people, but couldn't go out in the day and had to feed on blood. And so on.
So what happened? Well, it's a long and sad story. The short of it is that the guy with all these dreams, the one who started the company, ended up being betrayed and having his company taken over by another guy. That guy decided to toss out most of the original ideas. So when Horizons was actually released, what did we get? Half of those races weren't in the game. What we did get were all the same. Oh, the races had a few passive abilities, but stats and skills were determined by class, and every race could be every class. So in the end, a pixie warrior was just as good as a half giant warrior.
But dragons were different, sort of. The only classes they could have were Dragon Adventurer and Dragon Crafter. They couldn't use any equipment. All dragons had the same classes, so there was no variety. And ironically, dragons were the weakest race. Sure, they gave them better strength to make up for lack of equipment, but a sword with bonus crit still did more damage. When they finally added the 'adult' quest for dragons, they could fly. That was quite fun. But still, in the end, it was far from what was promised. But get this, the game still has it's followers. Horizons was bought by the fans, who now run a few servers. These days it's just called Istaria.
So why is an old, mediocre MMO still going? Well, it's the only one where you can be a dragon. I freely admit trying to balance dragons in things would be difficult. But every MMO out there, the races don't matter very much. Some have passives that make them better at one thing or another, but when people are putting a group together, they go 'looking for thief' and not 'looking for giant.' Though I'm not sure a giant thief would be the best at that job.
So, time to put my money where my mouth is. If I'm so full of myself saying what isn't a dragon game, how about instead I say what is a dragon game? First, being a dragon has to have some effect on the story and the world around you. You have to feel like you are a dragon, and not just a character shaped like one. Off the top of my head, I have a few ideas.
First, single player ideas. Lets think of a game in the manner of God Games, the sort of games where you are an all powerful entity who gets to choose the fate of the land. Except instead of being a disembodied hand or something, you're an actual avatar in the world in the form of a dragon.
Not a dragon.
First you customize your dragon, in appearance and skills. You can pick out a place to make your lair. Scope out nearby towns. What do you do with them? Perhaps you try and get them to trust you, become a guardian to the land. That might get you some donations for your hoard. Maybe you should burn them to the ground to avoid anyone bothering you. Perhaps just a little threatening, so they'll hand over all their treasure and the occasional virgin sacrifice. But then you have to deal with wandering heroes bothering you.
Of course, if you start to get too rich and powerful, you attract the attentions of armies who want your gold and your land. You may even have to start dealing with rival dragons. Do you make alliances? Do you kill your opponents? This is a game where you get to deal with all the details involved in 'being a dragon.'
Perhaps you think simulation is for wimps. You want to chomp peoples heads off. So lets imagine a game, instead, like Skyrim. You start off as a younger, weaker dragon. When you start to travel, people react like you'd expect them to react to dragons. Once again, you choose. Do you try and befriend people, do you chomp the heads you so feverishly crave? You grow from worrying about people turning swords on you, to using those swords as tooth picks. Now maybe you're controlling land and holding off armies. But unlike in the previous example, you're stomping directly around the battlefield, crushing people and cooking them. Or perhaps you're a nicer dragon, but the people are calling for you to defend them.
In both of these examples, the main idea is that you are acting out as a dragon in a world that recognizes you as such. It's not just a power up or a vehicle. I suppose the idea I am getting at is that you have to feel like being a dragon matters.
So how about multiplayer? I still think an MMO could give dragons a try. It would be a challenge, of course. If they were just the same as other races, we fall back into my earlier complaints. But if they're stronger than everyone else, is that fair? Well, game balance doesn't always mean that two units can always defeat each other. Starcraft strives to be balanced, but a Zealot is always going to defeat a Zergling. The balance comes in with the cost of the units and the time it takes to make them.
Would dragons be the 'best' thing to play as? Not necessarily. Being the strongest race doesn't mean the best. Maybe others would want you dead. Can you imagine playing AS the raid boss? What about dungeons? Well, young dragons can travel with people, but once they grow and become stronger, give them a humanoid form. In this form they are weaker and can use armor and weapons from their hoard. So they can still take part.
But the fun comes in with dungeons designed for them. Imagine a few dragons needing to distract a titan from above while the main force attacks it's weak underside. You can fill up the team with dragons, as multiple roles are required. Just as a warrior is probably going to defeat a cleric in battle, but you don't make teams full of warriors. Well, maybe you do. I'm not here to judge.
Also, imagine a dungeon that requires flight. So the raid is split into small groups riding on player dragons. This is a level of teamwork that you don't usually see. The dragon needing to keep ranged classes in range while avoiding attacks, healer needing to keep the dragon and the passenger healed, ect. I just have ideas, I'm sure professional game designers could figure out the details.
I suppose this was a bit of a long rant about dragons. But hey, I'm a girl who likes dragons. So far, I still the Spyro games are the closest I've come to feeling like I'm controlling a dragon, even if the story doesn't put as much emphasis on it. What do you guys think? Know any games I don't know about that you feel give you the better dragon experience? I'll just keep waiting for a game closer to my own expectations, or at least a new pokemon that looks more dragon-like.
A dragon.
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