An action RPG between Zelda and Crystalis, original yet bland. Pleasant for fans of light exploration adventures.
Your verdict
Category
Action RPG1 player12+
Description
Action RPG in which Drake explores dungeons to deliver his kingdom from a curse. Published by Kemco, released in the USA in 1994. Real-time combat, top-down exploration, magic and weapons to upgrade, varied dungeons. American version of Drakkhen II with enriched content.
Dragon View review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
3/5
Story
★★★★★
"Solid"
The game alternates two graphic registers: movement in first person along roads and through dungeons, then combat switching to a side view with far larger sprites. That constant switching gives the world an unusual depth, and the settings, forests, ruins, fortified villages, are drawn in a dark, mineral palette.
The score favours low timbres and modal scales, which installs a constant gravity rarely contradicted. The travelling themes circle slowly through exploration, and the fights add percussion without changing the atmosphere, so the game keeps a dark rather than adventurous bearing from beginning to end.
Released in the US by Kemco, Dragon View is the action-RPG spin-off of Drakkhen, enriched for the NTSC market with top-down exploration and real-time combat. Quiet at launch, it built a small reputation as an underrated SNES action-RPG, between Zelda and Crystalis. An NTSC title sought by niche-RPG fans: loose it circulates, but the American complete copy in a clean carton with manual holds most of its value.
Is Dragon View still worth playing in 2026?
An expanded American version of Drakkhen II, Dragon View blends top-down exploration with first-person action stretches inside the dungeons. Drake upgrades his weapons and magic across a journey halfway between Zelda and Crystalis, without ever asserting a strong identity. The result stays pleasant to wander for fans of lightweight action RPGs, but it lacks the scope of the genre's standouts. A pleasant curiosity rather than a must-own of the 16-bit library.
