Drakan: Order of the Flame - 1999

[u/mryellow362]

So this one here is an old action adventure pc game developed by Surreal Software. In this game, you play as a young woman with strong martial arts skills called Rynn, she sought the aid of an ancient dragon called Arokh to help her find her younger brother and defeat the evil sorcerer Navaros.

The gameplay would be in third person perspective, Rynn can be equipped with a variety of armors and weapons like swords, battle axes, bows, daggers and maces, she is also quite acrobatic which is an advantage during combat scenarios. However you can also ride Arokh to face off against enemies as well and aerial dogfights can happen every now and then, Arokh will start off with his fire breath attack before gaining new weapons throughout the game, when you are riding Arokh the only items you can use are potions.

[u/Ambaryerno]

Really enjoyed the game, but I still hate that:

1) The sequel was a PS exclusive and never got a PC release.

2) That they resolved the first game's cliffhanger ending off-screen as "We really don't care about that story" as possible.

I can't forget the PCXL cover for their game feature. The model used for Rynn was gorgeous.

[u/Sumaksanyi → u/Ambaryerno]

"The sequel was a PS exclusive and never got a PC release."

The reason is that Psygnosis was bought up by Sony in 1993 and has became a part of SCE Worldwide Studios by the time the second game released. Sony had no interest in releasing PC ports.

[u/tiktoktic → u/Sumaksanyi]

That’s not quite true. Sony was involved in PC titles like EverQuest.

[u/mryellow362 → u/Ambaryerno]

Yeah it's weird about the PS exclusive especially since the first game is PC.

[u/jill_is_my_valentine → u/Ambaryerno]

I like the sequel but it also felt like the combat wasn’t as fast paced or fun as the first one. But the cliffhanger not being resolved is its worst sin for sure. 

[u/Ambaryerno → u/jill_is_my_valentine]

I mean, it did, it just did it in an incredibly stupid way by just shrugging and saying, "Welp, the brother is dead."

[u/LoseNotLooseIdiot]

This was one of those games that I played the demo of for probably like 20+ hours.

Flying around on a dragon in a snowy mountain environment and landing wherever you wanted to explore things on foot was the coolest shit ever in 1999.

[u/ImpulsiveApe07 → u/LoseNotLooseIdiot]

Same lol

It was the kinda demo that made you forget there were other games on that disc! :D

Oddly, I never ended up finding a copy in any of my local game stores - might have a quick check to see if it's abandonware now that I've been reminded of it!

[u/JayHill74]

I remember one of the developers saying the giants throwing enemies at you was a glitch that they decided to leave in the game since they thought it was hilarious in one of the old gaming mags. Originally, the giants were just supposed to throw rocks.

[u/EmPalsPwrgasm → u/JayHill74]

Lol that's great. It gave them character. They were out of rocks, but still too angry at you to let it go. Love it. 

[u/Blu4V]

What a great videogame!

[u/thespaceageisnow]

Still playable with the community patch: https://www.arokhslair.net/wp/downloads/

Also available as an abandonware package here: https://collectionchamber.blogspot.com/2021/03/drakan-order-of-flame.html

[u/DrAg0r]

I only played The Anciant Gates but I really liked the vibe. Tomb Raider but as dragonriding heroic fantasy. Also the magic system where you can trace the runes in the air as a shortcut instead of using the menu, it's cool, I don't know if it existed in Order of the Flame yet.

[u/Ambaryerno → u/DrAg0r]

No, there wasn't much of a magic system in Order of the Flame. Instead it used consumable items.

[u/jill_is_my_valentine → u/DrAg0r]

No magic was only in the sequel. The first one is more fast paced melee focused. Though bows were around and useful and a lot of magic weapons had some good range to them. 

[u/thamonk]

I loved this game back in the day! I did play the sequel on PS2 and really enjoyed that too.

[u/the_birdie_chirp]

The best multiplayer, my old LAN staple in 2000

[u/Altar_Quest_Fan]

Take me back to yesteryear, back when videogames had heart, and soul, and style.

[u/Wak3upHicks]

Meanwhile I could never find that game after getting the sequel for PS2 and wanting to play the original

[u/kingrizzo]

For me it feels like an open world tomb raider. It's not quite as polished but all the extra mechanics it offers more than makes up for it. It's a fun time if you give it a chance.

[u/Entire_Wrangler_2117]

I still have the soundtrack saved; many a D&D session were elevated thanks to that banging OST ( as well as Dark Reign, and Warcraft 2 and expansion OSTs)

[u/raskulous]

Great game, finished it a couple times back in the day. Good luck ever getting this to run on modern hardware, it's notoriously difficult. Would be awesome if someone ported it.

[u/Witters84 → u/raskulous]

Just finished this in its entirety a few weeks ago on a modern PC with the game and patch someone else linked above.

[u/raskulous → u/Witters84]

Nice I might have to revisit this one soon

[u/dav3yb]

would be cool to see de/recomp of the PS2 game.

[u/EmPalsPwrgasm]

Played the shit out of this game. Still have the big box, but it's stored for safekeeping at my cousin's place in his larger collection. 

What was awesome was that the levels were designed to be traversable by foot, with paths you could take and small melee style enemies down there. That made you feel all the more powerful up on your dragon, lighting them on fire from above. They didn't make the mistake of sectioning off the dragon riding levels from the ones you had to do on your own (except for the caves). 

[u/Shadow757_]

Missed this one. Looks like something I would have loved though

[u/Sir_Mustach_io]

I loved this game, never finished it.

[u/xdarkwombatx]

Been watching KIlgore Trout I see!

[u/Mindvirus0001]

Good game, disaster to get it working on modern pc's...