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DRAGON RIDERS: CHRONICLES OF PERN (DC)
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Publisher: Ubi Soft.
Developer: Ubi Studios UK. Released: February 2002 (Europe). Genre: Adventure. Other versions: PC. Posted 8th December 2024. By Shane Battams © 2024 |
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Despite a rich lore and numerous novels to pull from, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series has struggled to make the jump away from books, with multiple cancelled attempts at TV and movie adaptations. However, in the gaming space, the world has fared slightly better, though it’s still surprising that Pern has only played host to two video games. After a 1983 8-bit effort, almost two decades would pass before the next: Ubi Soft’s Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern, which released for Dreamcast after SEGA’s discontinuation of the console in 2002. Ubi Studios UK would have plenty to work with, and adapting the sci-fi fantasy world into an adventure game certainly seems logical. Unfortunately, this game shows there is perhaps good reason the world has been left untouched by the games industry since.
Dragon Riders concerns the world of Pern, colonised by humans after the onslaught of Thread consumed much of the previous worlds. The Red Star brings about this attack, but dragons possess the power to fight back and repel this spore. Unfortunately, the Golden Dragon which produces eggs lacks a rider, as Nalaya has passed away. Thus, D’Kor begins his quest to recruit a new Weyrwoman. The journey becomes complicated when a potential epidemic begins to spread dissent within the riders. It’s not a bad setup, recalling McCaffrey’s Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, but it also feels a touch inaccessible for those unfamiliar with the source material. It drops in a lot of specific terminology that will sound like a foreign language to the uninitiated, even if the intro scene makes an effort to explain it all. The story is also dogged by a ton of quality issues: voicework is generally poor, rendering most characters either unlikeable or dull outside of a couple, such as the crafty gambler B’rak. Subtitles are ripe with typos, and moments which see a character’s voice change mid-dialogue only serves to worsen this. It makes for an underwhelming narrative.
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Chronicles of Pern largely squanders Anne McCaffrey's rich source material, with characters and quests that both miss the mark
Sadly, playing Chronicles of Pern isn’t much better. Featuring a mix of adventure puzzling, combat and even stealth, this title sees you travelling between different locations while completing quests gifted by both Dragon Riders and locals. There’s very little challenge to this, as most often devolve into chatting with a character and then finding someone nearby to repeat the process. The pacing can seem glacial, as large chunks of dialogue and cut-scenes make up the bulk of the game. Instead of feeling like a hero, you’re turned into more of an errand boy, whether it’s seeking out ingredients for a great meal or gathering fellow riders for a meeting. If this wasn’t bad enough, lengthy loading times slow the pace further. While calling upon your dragon Zenth to travel to a different location is cool the first time, seeing the same lengthy cut-scene every time you do so grows tedious very quickly. There are also some odd design choices, such as preventing you from seeing your active quests until you get a journal, and even that proves very cumbersome to navigate.
It doesn’t help that every action in this game feels cumbersome to execute. Moving D’Kor around the environment is done with tank controls, which can make lining up with interactable objects tricky. The static camera system certainly highlights scenes nicely, but sometimes the view gets stuck and D’Kor moves onto the next screen, meaning you can’t see where you are going. Combat is present, though infrequent, which is fortunate as it handles very poorly. Sluggish attacks, a lack of impact and inconsistent damage output make duels with fists or blade a chore. Worse is the stealth, a misguided effort at building tension. Requiring you to hold the action button down while gently pushing the analogue stick, it often proves unresponsive and sees D’Kor run or fail to enter stealth mode. There’s little room for error, and while failure doesn’t result in a Game Over, it’s still very frustrating. In essence, much of Chronicles of Pern is either a bore, a chore to play or just not fun.
It doesn’t help that every action in this game feels cumbersome to execute. Moving D’Kor around the environment is done with tank controls, which can make lining up with interactable objects tricky. The static camera system certainly highlights scenes nicely, but sometimes the view gets stuck and D’Kor moves onto the next screen, meaning you can’t see where you are going. Combat is present, though infrequent, which is fortunate as it handles very poorly. Sluggish attacks, a lack of impact and inconsistent damage output make duels with fists or blade a chore. Worse is the stealth, a misguided effort at building tension. Requiring you to hold the action button down while gently pushing the analogue stick, it often proves unresponsive and sees D’Kor run or fail to enter stealth mode. There’s little room for error, and while failure doesn’t result in a Game Over, it’s still very frustrating. In essence, much of Chronicles of Pern is either a bore, a chore to play or just not fun.
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The presentation is also pretty poor. Despite being a late release for the sixth-gen hardware, Chronicles of Pern looks rather rough. Character models are low on detail and animate poorly, environments are flat and suffer draw distance limitations, and performance swings wildly from 60fps to far lower depending on how crowded the scene is. Bugs, such as mouths failing to move during cut-scenes, only make things worse. The sound is mostly bad too, with ropey voicing and flat sound effects such as weak sword strikes. The lone bright spot is the music, which fits well with the tone and has some genuinely accomplished tracks, such as the bombastic menu theme. Tracks sometimes overpower voices and effects though, which hurts the ears.
If, somehow, you can stomach all the flaws, this Dragon Riders game at least isn’t short. There’s a large number of quests, some of which aren’t necessary to reaching the story’s end. Even seeking out all the Weyrwomen isn’t compulsory, with ten altogether to find for those who wish to. Collectables may incentivise a thorough look, such as relics that can be used to upgrade your weapons. You could spend close to twenty hours here, though whether most will make it that far is questionable due to the myriad of issues present.
If, somehow, you can stomach all the flaws, this Dragon Riders game at least isn’t short. There’s a large number of quests, some of which aren’t necessary to reaching the story’s end. Even seeking out all the Weyrwomen isn’t compulsory, with ten altogether to find for those who wish to. Collectables may incentivise a thorough look, such as relics that can be used to upgrade your weapons. You could spend close to twenty hours here, though whether most will make it that far is questionable due to the myriad of issues present.
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Despite the high-stakes nature of the main story, quests tend to reduce your character to the role of errand boy
Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern proves a bad time all-round, doing a disservice to the source material it adapts. An underwhelming story, woeful gameplay and poor presentation ensures it sits close to the bottom of the Dreamcast adventure games pile. Incredibly dated despite releasing late in the console’s life, the worst crime this game commits is simple: it’s really boring. It starts slowly and never shifts into a higher gear, and consequently, it’s hard to recommend this adventure unless you have a strong attachment to dragons. Even then, it’s likely not worth the trudge.
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VERDICT
"An underwhelming story, woeful gameplay and poor presentation. Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern is hard to recommend, as it wastes its deep source material." OVERALL: 3/10 |
OTHER GAMES FEATURING DRAGONS REVIEWED
Spyro the Dragon (1998, PlayStation)
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Middle-earth: Shadow of War (2017, Xbox One)
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