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The Story Behind Drakkhen

Drakkhen is a 1989 3D role-playing video game, initially developed and published by Infogrames for the Amiga and Atari ST, and ported to MS-DOS, Super NES, PC-98, X68000, and FM Towns Marty. The SNES re-release of Drakkhen didn't come with this supplemental book that was written by Gary Gygax, who had a hand in designing the gameplay and story of the original, as well as many enemies. If all four characters succumb to injury or drowning, the player will be informed of the dire consequences for the game world, before being returned to the title screen.

To exemplify the telephone effect of all this, the original game contained a French translation of an Emily Dickinson poem as quoted by a mysterious wizard, and that French translation of an English poem was then translated further into Japanese for the Super Famicom version, and then translated again back into English from Japanese. An included short story book expands the backstory. The SNES version of Drakkhen is drastically different to its PC predecessor, especially in visual layout and color scheme.

How Drakkhen Plays

Drakkhen's gameplay is colored by its early-game brutality and surreal enemy encounters, the former especially in the SNES version. The game contains over one hundred different enemy variants. The player's party may also be accosted at night when viewing constellations in the sky, or any time after bumping into a half-buried urn.

Each enemy has movement and attack differences, some being less subtle than others, such as enemies that zigzag sporadically at a much greater speed than the player's party can keep up with. These encounters are quickly fatal to new players who don't know any better. Another difficult enemy is the "Shadow Man", a tall figure that can unexpectedly lift itself out of the ground, accompanied by an ominous tune.

Why Players Still Load It Up

The computer versions allow for greater nuance when traveling the 3D island, playing to the strength of utilizing a mouse cursor, while the SNES version uses the directional pad. Like in the other version of the story, some sons and daughters of the Gods agree to help the player even if it means they suffer extinction for doing so, demonstrating a deep selflessness. The SNES re-release of Drakkhen didn't come with this supplemental book that was written by Gary Gygax, who had a hand in designing the gameplay and story of the original, as well as many enemies.

The continent is bounded on all sides by a vast ocean; walking into this, or any other body of water, will result in the speedy drowning of all party members. The SNES doesn't use a visual compass but instead tells the player which of the 360-degrees he or she faces anytime the game is paused. As such, the four heroes get caught up in an ongoing war between those acting for the survival of their own kind, and those who see themselves as abominations.

Drakkhen — Frequently Asked Questions