Dragonflight
| Developer: Thalion | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Thalion | Sound: |
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| Year: 1990 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Role-playing game | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
7/10 | |
Dragonflight (nothing to do with the novel of the same name) is a traditional role-playing game, originally released on the Atari ST. It was sold with a thick manual containing a forty-page novella to introduce the story.
There’s no revolution or surprise here; it sticks to the classic, even the orthodox: you lead a group of four adventurers, dropped into an extremely vast open world, dotted with villages full of people to talk to and shops to buy weapons and provisions; not to mention the essential dungeons filled with monsters and treasures.
Movement and various actions are performed entirely with the mouse by clicking on icons (which mercifully have the merit of being intelligible, for once). The viewpoint alternates according to game phases: from above when exploring the outside world and cities, subjective in dungeons, and from the side during battles. The latter unfold turn-by-turn on a grid-based surface. You can move your characters from square to square to take advantage of a better attack position or protect them. This brings a small tactical dimension.
On the complaint side, one can cite the aesthetic aspect not really up to Amiga standards (due to the port), minimal animations, and music that makes you want to bang your head against a wall. One might also regret a lack of originality and game options. For example, the impossibility of customising your heroes. It must be said that Dragonflight suffered from an overly long development period (three years) during which numerous competitors emerged, such as Dungeon Master, The Bard’s Tale 2, Ultima 4 and 5, Captive, Legend of Faerghail … so much so that it already seemed outdated upon release.
In conclusion, it’s a fairly decent and accessible title, even though it doesn’t stray from beaten paths. If you enjoy the old-school style, I also recommend the Ultima series. If you’re looking for a more evolved title, look towards its successors: Amberstar and Ambermoon.
Note: When the game asks you to press “left” or “right”, it refers to mouse buttons…
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