R P G A M E R . C O M - E D I T O R I A L S

Dragons Reign O'er All

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Mike "JuMeSyn" Moehnke
FAN EDITORIALIST

Awhile back, long enough ago that the PlayStation was not the dominant RPG system on the market, Working Designs translated a tactical title on the Saturn. This title, as it was stranded on the Saturn, never got the attention it quite deserved. Its derivative but highly entertaining sequel came out in Japan when the Saturn was essentially dead everywhere else, and never got much attention at all. So I'm going to change that by espousing the greatness that is Dragon Force in the hopes that people will notice and clamour for more.

What is so great about Dragon Force? Explaining this to someone who has little knowledge of the game requires a bit of work, because the two titles use a battle system unlike that on display in any other tactical RPG. The short way (for me) would be to read my reviews on RPGamer, especially since so little information about Dragon Force 2 can be obtained anywhere else. Here are my reviews: JuMeSyn's Dragon Force Reader Review and JuMeSyn's Dragon Force 2 Reader Review.

Oh, fine. I'll give a quick summation for the people who don't want to read my reviews. Dragon Force uses a battle system with a player controlled commander and a semi-player controlled army facing off against computer controlled counterparts. The player's army can consist of one of ten troop types (two of 19 in the sequel), with each troop type being good and bad against others. Zombies destroy soldiers, soldiers mop the floor with monks, and monks rip zombies apart along with harpies. Harpies shred samurai, but samurai are good against dragons, and are the only troop in the first game (aside from more dragons) that can hope to pull off a win. This all sounds unremarkable, but seeing the troops in action makes all the difference in the world - at top strength, 200 soldiers combined will be fighting each other on the field. The goal is to bring down the enemy commander while avoiding the player commander's defeat. Commanders cannot move but can cast spells and will duel each other if all troops are dead.

Along with the combat (which is incredibly addicting), there is replay. Lots and lots of replay. Both titles feature the option of eight different kingdoms to start as (though two in each game are inaccessible until the game has been beaten once), and the story changes for each kingdom. It changes enough to ensure that seeing everything will require beating it eight times. Not having played Final Fantasy Tactics, I cannot speak with regard to the accuracy of this claim: but it has been said by some of those privileged enough to have played both Dragon Force and FFT that Dragon Force is the superior title.

Dragon Force was translated by Working Designs in 1996, back in the days when the Saturn actually had more quality English RPG releases than the PlayStation. That didn't last long, and now the game will fetch $70-90 on eBay for a good copy. It's a worthy investment, however. Dragon Force 2 was released in 1998, at which point Sega had abandoned its own system for a year, and Working Designs had publicly broken with Sega. Thus a worthy (if unoriginal) title was stranded in Japan forever. In 2005, Sega put the first Dragon Force onto the PS2 in its Sega Ages budget line... yet for mysterious reasons it hasn't crossed the Pacific. Those with an import-enabled PS2 can check it out; those with no desire to wade through that process are out of luck. And this is a true shame.

What does the future hold for Dragon Force? It had better hold SOMETHING, or I would be even crasser than usual. The first title would be a fine fit on any current system - slowdown thanks to the sheer number of sprites is the only conceivable issue with it that would technically befoul a port. The second game wouldn't work well on the DS thanks to a great deal of voice acting, but still is a very worthy title that does not deserve the obscurity it has fallen into. Should Sega somehow reclaim the game developing initiative from its many uninspired titles of late and do something new in the Dragon Force story, it would be wise for all to pay close attention.