DRAGONET Mini-Reviews

So, while my other articles have been gestating, I noticed that the ones that seemed closest to realization weren’t game-related.

Two consecutive non-game-related articles in a row after joining Game & Love didn’t seem right, so I figured I’d throw together a few quickie reviews for pre-Fusion Earth games starring dragons in a new bit called:

Same rules as my “Dragons as Protagonists” (Prodragonists?) series apply:

1. The main player character must be a dragon (with exactly one exception I'll be getting to later). No dragon riders allowed.

2. NO SHIFTERS. Shifters do not count as dragons. To define a shifter: a shifter is a dragon that can take on human or mostly-human form. Dragons taking anthro form is fine, so long as it's an anthro dragon like in real life. Exceptions can be made for games where 100% of the actual gameplay loop is spent as a dragon (a la Dragon Spirit).

3. I must finish at least one round of gameplay before starting the review.

4. Given that these are video games, I'm not going to knock them for being inaccurate. Back then, there was no "inaccurate". As long as the game itself is solid, I will look over any breaks from reality.

For each of these, I’ve adapted The CRPG Addict’s [link: https://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/] GIMLET system, in my case called DRAGONET.

Categories 1-6 are given a score from 1 to 10.

My Incident in the Krassartha Tundra

Even dragons get tired of lying around in our hoards, soaking in the endless praises of our beloved kobolds.

My jikhri wasn’t a problem today, either.

I just felt like seeing the world, flying off into the wild teal yonder. One of my favorite places to fly, from time to time, is the Krassartha Tundra. The way the light plays through the ice, the clarity of the night skies letting you see the stars brighter than anywhere else…

All in all, it’s nice to get out of your element, away from civilization (yeah, yeah, me, Mr. Lives-in-a-Mountain talking about being away from civilization).

After spending the day sightseeing, stopping to take a quick nap wherever I found shelter, and munching on just enough rations (read: Mr. Kindle bars and a thermos of homemade kobold egg soup, courtesy of my roomie Mikks) to refuel my fire, I stopped to get a drink from the river.

Big mistake.

What happened next was almost instantaneous; in that moment, a massive chunk of ice chipped off, and before my reflexes could let me dart away in time, it fell into the water, sending a huge wave of water right at me, freezing me in place as the water flash-froze.

My artistic impression of how I must've looked. Click here for full size.

The Disjointed, Nihilistic Pantomime of Sonic 2 8-Bit (Warning for LOTS of images)

Literally only one thing on this cover ever actually happens in this game.

I've always felt a kinship with Sonic the Hedgehog, and I think it has more to it than both of us being blue, impatient, and autistic (okay, maybe I'm just projecting that last one).

The confidence this guy exudes, his unflinching can-do attitude in the face of impossible odds, and his free-spirited nature always resonated with my soft-scaled, awkward self ever since my hands first formed.

It only makes sense, then, that the second post on this blog would be about the 8-bit game that calls itself Sonic 2! Except it isn't, because it has nothing to do with that game apart from having the same name.

None of the improvements Sonic 2 introduced to the series are in this game: no Spin Dash, no Super Sonic, no Death Egg. This is as barebones a sequel to the first game as you could imagine.

As a first outing from Aspect, who later went on to create the beloved Sonic Chaos and Triple Trouble, Sonic 2 8-bit is... lacking. Yet, it's always stuck in the back of my mind, ever since I got my paws on a Game Gear as a hatchie (those scratches and minor scorch marks were there when I got it, I swear).

This game has a bizarre quality to it that I've never been able to pin down. It keeps me coming back to it every so often, soaking in its surreal, now-comfortingly hostile atmosphere.

Somehow, by virtue of sloppy game design, a few half-baked ideas, and bizarre decisions on the part of the development team, this game accidentally becomes a powerful nihilistic pantomime.

Reviewing Pre-Fusion Earth Lit with Dragons as Protagonists

In what I'm assuming will be the first in a series of posts, I'll be reviewing some pre-Fusion Earth literature wherein the main character is a dragon. I have a bit of a fascination with pre-Fusion Earth fantasy and its history.

The reason I'm doing this is, in any list of "dragon books" or "books about dragons" from that time period, you seldom see us as the main characters. We may be a crucial plot point, but more often than not, the protagonist is a non-dragon, or worse.... a shifter.

So, I have taken it on myself to write reviews of books from the era wherein we're the protagonists.

If nothing else, it might be enlightening to think about how humans envisioned our fantasy counterparts at the time.

An Introduction

Rawr!
This is Paphvul, dragon extraordinaire, and this blog is where I'll be posting anything I can think of, be it reviews, rambles, or random ideas.

One topic I love to write about is Earth's pre-Fusion pop-culture, particularly the strange and obscure, as looked back at through a queer, draconic lens.

As for me, IRL I'm a Flesh mage who does body mods for a living, and I like my men the way I like my steak (juicy and swimming in gravy).