Weiss' Hidden Gems: Drakan: The Ancient Gates

[Weiss 8,279]

Releasing in January 28, 2002 in NA regions and July 5th of the same year in Pal regions Drakan the Ancient Gates became one of the most unique games on the Playstation 2 ever. Despite this not many people know about the game. It is a sequel to Drakan: The Order of the Flame and is a great successor to it. With not many people knowing about it and it being so unique and me being a big fan of it today I will be talking about Drakan: The Ancient Gates.

 

Drakan The Ancient Gates features Rynn as the main protagonist of the game. This itself is already unique. She is a female protagonist and back in the age of 2002 this was quite rare as compared to how much more often female protagonists appear in games now. Drakan: The Ancient Gates picks up Rynn's story from where it left off in Order of the Flame. Since Order of the Flame was released on the PC and The Ancient Gates on the Playstation 2 not many know about the others existence unless they look into it deliberately. Drakan: The ancient Gates however, remains a much better game over the Order of the Flame. It's graphics may not be as sharp as with some games like Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy but for 2002 and transitioning consoles it did pretty well and the enviornments in the game are amazing.

One of the most unique parts of Drakan is the dragon riding which is a concept that not many games have. You ride Arokh, the last survivor of The Order of the Flame and a dragon bonded to Rynn. It's not as simple as just riding him. There is also ariel combat. Arokh, like most dragons can breath fire to shoot down enemies. However, another thing that makes this game unique is that Arokh can breathe more than just fire. Arokh has the ability to also breathe lightning, ice, darkness and more. On top of that he can charge up the moves to do a more powerful version of them. These do all deplete the mp gauge though so it must refill to use his breathing more.

Now this is my favorite unique part of the game. In the game you get a large variety. How large? Rynn can weild all of the following:

• Short Swords
• Long Swords
• Bows
• Axes
• Hammers
• Maces
• And Staffs

She also has equippable armor that changes her appearance! Remember this is a 2002 game so that's pretty amazing. She also has magic. She wields many varieties from fireball to healing to time slowing and impalement. In the Game you level up a total of 12 times. Leveling up takes quite a while. You have three majors you can level up. 

 

• Melee
• Archery
• And Magic

The higher the level the better of that option you can get. This makes each playthrough of the game more unique. You can play the game one time with a balanced run and then challenge yourself to a Melee or Archery mainly run. Overall, the game has a lot of options when it comes to it's combat.

There are of course a great variety to the enemies of the game, the sidequests, the areas etc. There are a ton of sidequests in the game. 

 

I don't want to spoil anything on the story of the game but it is without a doubt a great one.The pacing of it is just right too. The game doesn't start off slow but instead at a normal progression pace and then towards the end it feels like it goes by fast.
 

 

If you ever are looking for an old unknown PS2 game to try then this is one hidden gem that I'd reccomend.

[Robin 206]

I've actually heard of this a guy in a forum I read said it's probably one of the most underplayed, yet awesome games in the world pretty sad considering how good it looks, I might buy it on Ebay and dust off the old Ps2 haha

[xxClouDxxmoon 901]

Another game that no one really knows of on the PS2 is "Haven: Call of the King". I actually know the person that made it, and im not saying its one of the best games but for a really low budget I would of been proud to of made a game like it to.

 

But anyway, yeah it looks like a really good game. I wish I knew about it when it came out because I used to LOVE games where you customize your characters that also changed their appearance. Seeing as games like that were rare. One question though, is there any sneaking to it or is it just straight up fighting everywhere?

[Jamos 27]

I used to play this! It was really scary at the time and I recently got it again because I wanted to face the fear yet again now that I'm a big boy. Its not really scary anymore but I can see why the swamps, spiders, invisible skin stealing demons, and worst of all GIANT CHICKENS freaked me out. 

[Weiss 8,279]

Another game that no one really knows of on the PS2 is "Haven: Call of the King". I actually know the person that made it, and im not saying its one of the best games but for a really low budget I would of been proud to of made a game like it to.But anyway, yeah it looks like a really good game. I wish I knew about it when it came out because I used to LOVE games where you customize your characters that also changed their appearance. Seeing as games like that were rare. One question though, is there any sneaking to it or is it just straight up fighting everywhere?

There's strafing and you can be stealthing by sticking to walls. There is also sort of crouching but if you move in your crouch you roll.

[Demyx. 10,064]

Another game that I have played but forgot the name of. haha

 

This is very well done by the way.

[Liza Shaneen Danita 0]

1080p 60fps gameplay:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCcg16PCZvA

Edited April 29, 2015 by Liza Shaneen Danita