Useless TAG & OOTF musings

Discuss Drakan: The Ancient's Gates with other players (no spoilers please!)
nubby
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Useless TAG & OOTF musings

Post by nubby »

Both games have their "+"'s and "-"'s, and I would conclude that the Order of the Flame is still the better of the two.

Funny how Rynn went from the California beach babe in the 1st and then into the Oxford educated lady in the 2nd. And in the process she lost her pointy bum in the polygon count! Can't argue with that.

TAG seems incomplete. Where was the Tropical World and the Volcanic World levels that I was expecting? I get the feeling they just utilized a lot of stuff they didn't use in OOTF. Seeing the same thing in Snotmaw's lair as was in the goblin's base *groan*.

I'd say simply, without doubt the music of OOTF beats TAG's hands down. Absolutely.

The money, magic, mana, shops (armor-weapon selling-trading) and skeletons reminded me a LOT of that old 3DO game Crusaders of Might & Magic.

If there's ever a 3rd Drakan game I hope Rynn will be able to finally use a weapon in each hand (wow! think of it, a long sword in each hand! I'm thinking Bloodrayne, yum yum) with all the ferocity and intensity of battle like in the 1st God of War game, gorey gaming goodness, indeed!

So who do you think Rynn hooked-up with in TAG? General Dehrimon? Olag? Or that hunky young dude up in Ravenshold at the Yak Tongue Festival? Or maybe she preferred the company of Jade? ha, I'm just going on. Cheers.

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Post by Arokhs Twin »

I would agree with you. I think OOTF was a better game and the PS2 version had many things cut that otherwise would have been in the final game. This was due to performance issues & lack of time to complete them I believe.
Some of the things that were cut were large areas of Surdana, a desert level and an underwater section. There was also going to be books that you could read and a lot of content was already written for these before they were cut. Pity surreal can't release this (even the plain text) on the internet.

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Post by nubby »

In a game sorely lacking in humor, intentional or otherwise, oh there was the giant chicken (heh), and the homage to Unreal in the Monastery, it was fun buying The Chicken in the repair shop up at Captain Serris' cave. Never was offered this before! Skill level 1 with a HP of 30. Wow. Wasn't mentioned in any of the walkthru(s).
Too bad they couldn't let you find a rocket-launcher or machine gun and let Rynn remark that it must be some ancient technology.

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Post by buckmana »

The Chicken???

Don't remember that part.

I prefer TAG, although that's mainly because of the magic spells and target lock.

Being able to manuever without having to worry about where Arokh's head was pointing made aerial combat more interesting.

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Post by nubby »

I don't know how and why you have to play a way to get offered that old tough bird. I went in there always to recharge my flamestrike and earth blades and maybe you have to play the game so many times.

It's exactly what it is, a chicken, you slap enemies around with a squaking, clucking chicken! Loved it. Takes up only one space in the inventory, too. Whether it can be repaired (heh), I don't know. It has like 100 hits, I think.

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Post by Ria »

I had the chicken once too. It was really fun. I think it's just random if you get it or not in your game.

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Post by buckmana »

Oh, I wish I'd seen that!!!!

Sounds like fun!

Does anyone have a savegame? I don't really know how that works in PS2, though, other then by giving someone a memory card.

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Post by Outlaw Wyvern »

Chickens are, in fact, random. There are ways of 'helping' them pop up, though.
ANY merchant can sell you one when and if it pops. I've even gotten one from Jade, at the Magic Spell shop.
The Chicken makes a sound when you first enter a merchant's inventory.
"Baak!"
Hard to miss unless the sound is turned down. That let's you know to look for one in the inventory. Most merchants have largish inventories, but Quaalus has a small... inventory... and because of that, you can see the Chicken right away when it shows up.

So... what I do to get a Chicken is... visit Quaalus (the Alchemist's shop) in Surdana.
Walk up to his counter and hit L1 to talk to him and go to his inventory. You know that pressing 'select' exits his inventory, so after pressing L1, listen for the squawk. If it doesn't sound out right away, press select to exit, sit through his outtro quote, and hit L1 again. Repeat until you get a Chicken. It really is as simple as doing that and having patience.
Just over and over again. Once it's popped up, it'll be right there 'til you buy it.

Be aware that Quaalus has caged chickens in his shop, so don't get their sounds confused with the one that may show up in the inventory.


So now... the best helpful hint/theory that anyone's come up with yet....
A very bright fellow called Javelina found that the likelihood of their appearing is increased at the top and bottom of the hour. Meaning... at or just around the hour and half-hour marks is your ideal time to try this repetitive game.
To find out the time in the game, save and it will show a time stamp.
It really can work to get you a Chicken. I've done it DOZENS of times.
The most I've had in my inventory at one time is six. Truth.

Here's a great suggestion from Headhuntress, the discoverer of the Sunny Andrellian Isles exploit:
One other place that's really good to try because of a small inventory, and short, predictable dialogue is the shop in Capt. Serris' outpost camp in the Northern Tundra.

Good luck hunting Chickens. They really are fun.

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Post by Ria »

Thanks for the hints! I will try them sometime.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"> Does anyone have a savegame? <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Sorry I don't. This was the first or second time I ever played Drakan and just thought at the time you got them in every game.

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Post by Outlaw Wyvern »

Last night I dreamt I found a door in Drakan that I'd never seen before. It was a gold framed door with an upright rectangular button to push. The button was surrounded by an upright rectangular frame, also gold.
I reached out to touch the button but decided that I needed to do something first and turned around to take care of whatever it was, but I woke up before I got back to the door.

I can't help wondering what I might've shown myself about my favorite game... in my dreams?

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Post by Outlaw Wyvern »

It doesn't surprise me that I dreamt about Drakan. I was farming Quaalus for Chickens just before bed and getting pretty drowsy until finally getting one to pop. I went to bed straight after that.

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Post by Eris »

The most important thing in a video game for me is the storyline and also the battle system, that's why I like OOTF more. I know that OOTF storyline was rather shabby and everything but don't you think that DTAG looked like a fairy tale teaching morals which was in addition made in Hollywood? Traitors die too easily, insane bloodthirsty monsters turn out to be good guys (if someone starts making himself a cloak of virgins' skin when he accidentally becomes insane, kids, that's okaaaay, that doesn't mean he was cruel before loosing his mind, nooo), and we save the world again and of course, good guys win again! Nothing new!!

Oh and could anyone explain me why is Rynn so arrogant and treats everyone especially her partner, her dragon like her pet (she couldn't get her brother out from the rift! is arrogance a defense reaction or smth??) She says "where's THAT dragon when you need him" while she left him not long ago at a CLOSED gate. Arokh says be careful etc, worries about her and she says I'll be ok, YOU just stay here. Did smt happen while we weren't watching? This is strange and I don't see any logic in this. Oh, and, "I spared your life once but it's a mistake I won't make a second time". Doesn't this sound cheep? Arokh?? Eh, Hollywood... While in OOTF Arokh was a real ancient dragon and Rynn was just a girl looking for her brother, even not succeeding in the end! It was unusual and there were loats of new ideas. And TAG's just another sequel. Though very well made, yes, beautiful landscapes, beautiful characters, very nice dragon armor and loads of interesting weapons (though looking a little like toys), some funny moments, many interesting characters also. And the atmosphere was also very tense sometimes, though in OOTF it was another, maybe because in TAG there were just too many ppl. In OOTF it was only you and your weapon and noone around to help you...

Oh, and the combos of OOTF were much more useful than in TAG.

And where're my favorite assasins from OOTF!! The ones with flaming blades : (.

And the last thing, DTAG was just too easy, it was like I was playing on easy difficulty, when this was my first time to play and I was spending my exps without any strategy. They could add a couple of additional difficulty levels, that would add more fun I think. And also erase nearly all the invulnerability and invisibility potions from the game and health potions from stores...

(Gosh, the biggest post in my hole history [8)] [8)])

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Post by Arokhs Twin »

Good points. The storyline of TAG was cliched at least but as far as typical fantasy storylines go it wasn't that bad...
OOTF would have been better if there were more NPC's in it that were on your side that didn't die after talking to them especially Rimril. They could have done more with him if they hadn't have killed him off, maybe even gave him a part in the second game. I disagree with there being too many of NPC's in TAG; I think this was just right and gave more substance to the world and to an extent made it more realistic.

Yes, I agree Rynn's attitude is very different in TAG. She seemed to fear & respect Arokh in OOTF and gave the impression that she was just a peasant girl who was not sure about her abilities with a sword. Giving her failure to save Delon (her only family) and realising that Arokh was the only one who genuinely cared for her, she changed her tune towards him.

However in TAG, she becomes very arrogant towards everyone now that she realises she has a Dragon at her beck and call who never questions her actions. Also she finds herself very successful and more handy with a sword than she imagined and becomes over confident. She also seems to like to show off this fact. Maybe it would have been better if Arokh put her in her place and made it clear he was the boss. I'm sure if they were real, Arokh would be furious about being showed up in public by a human, bonded or not. He would certainly have something to say about it and would have vented his fury on Rynn in public view to gain respect.

In the fan made novel of the two games Arokh and Rynn's attitudes are portrayed slightly differently. Dragons of the Order are creatures to be respected and admired by other races and it is a requirement for all humans (except the bonded) to bow before them when greeting or talking to them. Any human that angers or offends a dragon in some way must kneel before the dragon and ask for forgiveness sometimes kissing the dragon's feet if the dragon requests it. Humans of the Order are usually saluted to or bowed down to by the puplic depending on rank.

As for Rynn and Arokh, they have got used to each other by the middle of TAG and they share a similar sense of humour. A lot of their conversation is making light hearted jokes or poking fun at each other for example when Rynn comes out of Snotmaw's lair and meets with Arokh. The dragon seems sarcastic but is only trying to be amusing and does not mean anything nasty or offensive by what he said to Rynn. Another is when they meet with the dragon sisters in the desert; Rynn says something like 'didn't you have any friends?' and Arokh's reply is along the lines of 'no time for jokes Rynn' etc.

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Post by Eris »

Well, yes, they sometimes talk the way like for example I used to talk with my brothers when I was a kid and that's very nice, but sometimes Rynn just gets carried away and that was really getting to my nerves while I was playing. And what about Arokh, I think he doesn't put her in place because she probably doesn't fill inside the way she shows to others and he probably understands that or maybe he just feels sorry about her. And maybe Rynn blames Arokh slightly for carrying her away from the rift when it was closing (was it this way? I apparently need to read the Drakan novel). Anyway, I hoped Mala Shae would tell Rynn a way to get to the rift in the end of TAG. Eh... Drakan 3 had to be smt about Rynn trying to find her brother with the help of the Order and in the end they had to entirely defeat the remainders of the Dark Union. I imagine Delon being the minion of the leader of the Dark Union. That would be tough. Poor Rynn, hehe

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Post by Arokhs Twin »

I didn't find the commentary in the game annoying but as you say, I got the impression that Rynn became much more arrogant than in the first game. I still would have liked to see Arokh put her in her place though or at least make some remarks. That would have been funny.

The rift / Delon thing was never really explained in both games. Arokh makes some sort of remark at the end of OOTF that hints at both of them being trapped in the rift if they didn't escape at that moment. How they did this is unknown (I assume they used the runeblade) and the whole mirror and laughing voice was just wierd and was never explained either. One can only guess was that originally it was to be featured or mentioned in TAG but never made it. Maybe the laughing voice was a Desert Lord? Maybe Navaros? Who knows...

As for Delon its unclear whether he is trapped in the rift, dead or what. Also what happened to the the runeblade is never mentioned. We can only guess and the novel assumes Delon is dead and Rynn destroyed the runeblade. I didn't bother explaining the mirror & laughing voice at all in the novel as I couldn't make any sense of it. My guess is it was Navaros's spirit and the mirror is a window into the rift world which permanently shows Delon falling. The mirror may well be hanging on a wall somewhere in Surdana castle but was never shown in the game.

Good point about Drakan 3 though; could may well have been similar to the story of said game if it were to be made. I believe Surreal originally had plans for the Drakan games to be a trilogy but I can't be certain.

The Drakan novel was contributed to by many people and is worth reading. It's quite long and closley follows the events of the games give or take a few things.

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