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 Introduction Draconus: Cult of the Wyrm is a dark fantasy hack 'n slash RPG for the Sega Dreamcast. We'll explore a variety of landscapes, slay many mighty (and not so mighty) monsters, and search for Blessing Wisps to unlock new abilities and equipment as we attempt to stem the tide of tyranny! The game is considered to be a spiritual successor to Die by the Sword (I have a thread for that game here), and was developed by the same company (Treyarch), who is now responsible for some of the Call of Duty games. There's also some voice acting from George Takei! About the Playthrough We'll be playing as Cynric, the more hacky and slashy of the two available characters. The playthrough is mostly complete, so I won't be able to act on your feedback for this specific series, but I may be able to for future series. I wasn't going to post this LP, but I've been thinking about it for a few days, and since nobody has ever done an LP of the game here or on YouTube to the best of my knowledge, I decided to do the thing. Sandcastle feedback was generally positive, and several people suggested that it's fine to  . If you're feeling a salty twinge of discomfort in your butt about it, blame this guy.I run into a bunch of technical issues over the course of the playthrough due to a damaged disc. I even bought another on eBay, also damaged unfortunately, but it was good enough to continue the series. Most of these issues are smoothed out via editing. You may also notice that the video is not 4:3. I tried scaling to a true 4:3 resolution and it looked way too skinny. Maybe that's how the game actually looked, but I think what I have now looks acceptable. Basically I scaled to make the compass relatively close to circular. Update Schedule This LP is complete! Thread Rules There's not much story per se, so spoilers are kind of a non issue if you're familiar with the game. However, I'd prefer to keep any discussion related to the videos that have been listed in the thread so far. Other Stuff There's a post down a bit in this thread that links to a post mortem of the game by one of the developers. It's a pretty interesting read if you're into game dev. First Episode A magical backlash has struck the world killing a shitload of people. Wizards and the like suffered the most in particular. Since then things have been pretty chaotic, but pockets of civilization have held out. However, it seems that Rakka, a giant has been organizing various humanoid tribes such as the minotaurs and goblins and making lives more and more difficult for people as of late. Oh, and he has a floating castle. At the behest of our father, a king (or at least his steward), we need to put a stop to Rakka and his castle. To do so we'll need several artifacts including the Earth Rune from the elves of Celenarin - our first destination. Luckily we've got some teleport magic on our side that drops us straight into the action when we need to travel to a new location. We're to meet up with a friend of a friend, Ansorin, who will escort us to the artifact. Vids Series Playlist
It's video games. Every day...ish. rojovision fucked around with this message at 17:24 on Jul 24, 2015 |
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May 21, 2015 02:06
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Reserved.
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May 21, 2015 02:07
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Episode 2 (Dusk Lake Part 1) - Keys Are Key Now that we've recovered the Earth Rune from Celenarin, we have a choice of two missions. Ultimately we end up heading to Dusk lake in search of the Eternal Flame, another of the artifacts we require to stop Rakka and Castle Zephyron. However it won't be easy - the Flame is apparently guarded by Alana, its former keeper now turned lich along with her menagerie of beasts. However, before we can even reach Alana we have to find a way to cross the lake to reach the tower in the first place. It seems a practical goblin named Polug may be able to help in that regard. Upgrades At the end of the previous episode we chose to upgrade our offense stat, which enchanted our sword to do more damage. 
rojovision fucked around with this message at 03:00 on May 22, 2015 |
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May 22, 2015 02:42
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Episode 3 (Dusk Lake Part 2) - So Dark We get lost in the dark for a bit as we search for a blessing wisp, and we begin our hunt for Big Chief in earnest. He has the Flame Key, which we'll need to get across the lake and into the tower itself. As it turns out, Big Chief is rather slippery and good at delegating, so getting him to hand it over won't be easy. 
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May 22, 2015 21:58
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Episode 4 (Dusk Lake Part 3) - Bravely Running Away, Away! We can finally get across Dusk Lake to the tower where Alana is keeping the Eternal Flame. However, our gear and combat skill isn't quite up to par yet, so we employ an alternative strategy against some of the beasts between us and the artifact. 
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May 25, 2015 22:04
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Episode 5 (Lomyn's Keep Part 1) - My Cup Runneth Over Now that we've obtained the Eternal Flame from Dusk Lake, we set off to Lomyn's Keep to recover the Stone of Balance, the last of the three artifacts we need to put a stop to Rakka and Castle Zephron. However, it sounds like we'll have to find a way to kill an immortal minotaur to get it. Upgrades At the end of the last episode we upgraded our rank, giving us access to the next rank of skills, including rank 1 magic. Since magic is now available, we picked up rank 1 in earth magic which starts us off with 2 additional healing potions at the start of every level. 
rojovision fucked around with this message at 22:31 on May 27, 2015 |
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May 26, 2015 21:54
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Episode 6 (Lomyn's Keep Part 2) - Grab the Bull by the Horns We seek to rescue a Krujen who has been badly beaten in order to access new parts of the keep, and ultimately face off against Maguar, the supposedly immortal Minotaur to obtain the Stone of Balance. 
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May 27, 2015 22:27
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Episode 7 (Asengath Part 1) - Reunion Now that we have the fully assembled Earth Rune, it's time to put it to use and anchor Castle Zephron. To that end, we head to the village of Asengath where we meet up with an old friend. Upgrades At the end of the last episode we upgraded our defense stat which gave us a new breastplate. I'm not sure what this does specifically as far as the mechanics go, but it most likely gave us more HP, higher damage reduction, or both. 
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May 28, 2015 23:15
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Episode 8 (Asengath Part 2) - Castle Balloon We gather up the Key Staves to drop the wards around the beacon, which when used will anchor Castle Zephron and help mitigate Rakka's reign of terror. 
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May 30, 2015 04:11
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Episode 9 (Zephron Part 1) - Sky High Redux With Castle Zephron tethered in place, we must begin our assault on the flying fortress and its master, Rakka. Our solution is a bit crude, and it will involve bringing the entire fortress crashing to the ground. However, it seems that Rakka's minions will eventually break the tether if given enough time, so we must be swift and do what we can to hinder them. This is actually a reupload of this part of the level, which I replayed due to a damaged disc...hence the 'redux' in the title. Upgrades At the end of the last episode we upgraded our offense and defense stats. Offense gave us the Morphblade, which allows us to turn our sword into a morning star or axe at will, the latter of which is quite powerful. The defense upgrade gives us a dwarven made helmet. 
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Jun 2, 2015 03:42
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Episode 10 (Zephron Part 2) - The Crash We execute the primary component of our plan to bring down Castle Zephron, and have a showdown with Rakka, a fierce opponent. 
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Jun 2, 2015 20:16
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Episode 11 (Ryvian Abbey Part 1) - Baby's First Keyring Castle Zephron has been destroyed, and Rakka's reign of terror ended, but it seems our work has only just begun. An army of Draconus are assaulting human settlements, and it's all the armies of good can do to stem the tide. We must build a weapon of war, a juggernaut, if we're going to have any hope of survival. To this end, we head out to Ryvian Abbey in search of a magic amulet that once belonged to a great hero. Upgrades At the end of the last episode we got our first rank of air magic, which allows us to temporarily summon a shield that automatically blocks all attacks from the front. 
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Jun 4, 2015 00:40
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Episode 12 (Ryvian Abbey Part 2) - Education Through Fisticuffs We help out our buddy Freyoc with some incense, but we need to do one more favor for him before we can finish our quest here. We also teach a troll some vocabulary...with violence. 
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Jun 5, 2015 02:40
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Episode 13 (Mago's Tower Part 1) - The Hidden Poo is the Deadliest With Freyoc's amulet in tow, we now have a choice to go to one of two different locations for the next piece of our juggernaut. Ultimately we go to Mago's Tower for a change of scenery, where we'll need to acquire the life essence of the long dead wizard. Unfortunately to do that we have to run through some pretty old and nasty sewers, and the people here are acting pretty strange. Upgrades At the end of the last episode we upgraded our rank to Knight, which unlocks the next tier of abilities. We have enough wisps left over to also upgrade our defense, giving us a better shield that reduces damage from all attacks, even the ones we don't block. 
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Jun 5, 2015 22:25
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Oh man, once I fizzled out on Phantasy Star Online, this game was the only thing I popped into my Dreamcast for the better part of four months. I beat the game using the warrior, then decided to check it out again using the mage to see how the play style differed. It was a lot of fun! I'm looking forward to plowing through your videos over the weekend. I have a comment about the end boss but I'll wait till you get there so as not to spoil it.
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Jun 6, 2015 03:48
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Albu-quirky Guy posted:Oh man, once I fizzled out on Phantasy Star Online, this game was the only thing I popped into my Dreamcast for the better part of four months. I beat the game using the warrior, then decided to check it out again using the mage to see how the play style differed. It was a lot of fun! My first playthrough when I originally bought the game was with Aeowyn, and I'd say that going through the game with her is a bit more varied since she gets so many spells to play around with (and more castings of said spells if I recall). Cynric is fun as well, but it's definitely a lot more hack and slash.
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Jun 6, 2015 14:43
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Episode 14 (Mago's Tower Part 2) - How to Fail at Jumping We hunt down the dankest of magical herbs for our new troll friend, and finally make it into the tower itself. While inside we experience some difficulty getting a blessing wisp and pull a Mario 64. 
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Jun 9, 2015 01:30
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Episode 15 (Trollsbog Cemetary Part 1) - Open Wide We take a trip to Trollsbog Cemetary in search of a powerful mace baptized in blood - the perfect weapon for our juggernaut. This will be the third item we've gone after for the construct. Also you may have noticed "cemetery" is misspelled in the episode title - that's how it's spelled in the game. Upgrades At the end of the last episode we upgraded our offense and earth magic. Our offense upgrade gives us sweeping attacks that damage multiple enemies per swing, and earth magic gives us the shrapnel spell dealing moderate damage to a single target. 
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Jun 10, 2015 02:41
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Episode 16 (Trollsbog Cemetary Part 2) - Creepy Crawlies We continue down into the critter pits and are challenged by swarms of enemies, but we gotta have the mace so we've got no choice but to slaughter them. We also find one of those fancy treasure hordes that you inexplicably can't take with you. 
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Jun 10, 2015 23:25
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There's an amazing post-mortem of Draconus by one of the programmers on the project. He talks about how the plans for Die by the Sword II morphed into Draconus, some of the issues with the publisher and release timeframe, crazy issues organizing the different teams, and a few little anecdotes about the project. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131547/postmortem_treyarchs_draconus.php
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Jun 11, 2015 04:36
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Albu-quirky Guy posted:There's an amazing post-mortem of Draconus by one of the programmers on the project. He talks about how the plans for Die by the Sword II morphed into Draconus, some of the issues with the publisher and release timeframe, crazy issues organizing the different teams, and a few little anecdotes about the project. That was a pretty interesting read, thanks!
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Jun 12, 2015 00:45
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Episode 17 (Falfar City Part 1) - Sneaky Scalies Man, is this juggernaut complete yet or what? We begin seeking out a pneumatic heart, another artifact required for the construct, in the sunken city of Falfar. However, it seems that some hostile lizardmen now make their home here. Upgrades At the end of the last episode we upgraded our water magic, giving us the ability to hurl a ball of ice at a single foe. 
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Jun 12, 2015 01:22
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Episode 18 (Falfar City Part 2) - drat You, MapQuest! We find a few surprises in a new section of the city, and have a bit of navigation trouble. 
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Jun 13, 2015 06:22
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Episode 19 (The Queen's Hive Part 1) - Bugs Baring Bad Behavior We need one last item for our juggernaut, but it rests in a hive of poorly behaved critters, and the elves that already tried to enter to recover the item have been slaughtered. Upgrades At the end of the last episode we upgraded our rank once again, this time to Champion, unlocking the next tier of abilities. With our remaining wisps we get our final rank in defense which gives us a full armor suit. 
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Jun 16, 2015 03:56
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Episode 20 (The Queen's Hive Part 2) - Queensplosion We make the boom and seek an audience of sorts with the Queen. 
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Jun 17, 2015 00:42
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Episode 21 (Herfetsfort Mines Part 1) - Cynric vs. Doors Our juggernaut is finally complete and functioning perfectly. However our work is far from over, and in the Herfetsfort Mines we face our toughest challenge yet - doors and the dwarves that made them! Upgrades At the end of the last episode we upgraded our offense which allows us to temporarily set our sword ablaze for increased damage. 
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Jun 18, 2015 04:38
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Episode 22 (Herfetsfort Mines Part 2) - Boom 2.0 Still in the Herfetsfort Mines we seek to bring the boom once again, and encounter some legitimately powerful enemies. 
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Jun 18, 2015 21:38
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Episode 23 (Zesson Observatory Part 1) - Stellar Beating The lizardmen of the Zesson observatory hold an atlas of magical ley lines that we require, but are unwilling to part with it, so we lay down an rear end kicking the likes of which the cosmos rarely see. Upgrades At the end of the last episode we upgraded our air magic, which gives us the armor spell - an upgraded version of air shield that blocks all attacks from any direction temporarily. We also upgraded our earth magic which turns our two starting healing potions from rank 1 into full healing potions. 
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Jun 20, 2015 03:33
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Episode 24 (Zesson Observatory Part 2) - Long Way Down We continue our exploration of the Zesson Observatory and get our first taste of combat with the game's namesake. 
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Jun 23, 2015 00:35
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Episode 25 (Herfetsfort Cannon Part 1) - Strongpick or Just Strongarmed We make our move on Herfetsfort where the Strongpick dwarves are using a massive cannon to terrorize our settlements. Upgrades At the end of the last episode we upgraded our water magic, giving us a spell to temporarily freeze a single enemy, and we also upgraded to Conquerer, our final rank which unlocks the last tier of abilities. 
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Jun 23, 2015 22:00
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Episode 26 (Herfetsfort Cannon Part 2) - The Gun Show We conveniently discover how to operate the Terror Cannon and have a heart to heart with the leader of the Strongpick Clan. 
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Jun 24, 2015 20:04
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Episode 27 (Draconus Castle Part 1) - Bloody Approach We're near the end of our quest. Castle Draconus hides a portal to our ultimate goal: the dragon X'Calith, but we have to get there first. Upgrades At the end of the last episode we got the final rank of offense which unlocks the berserk ability. Berserk is a full heal that also temporarily gives us a massive damage boost. 
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Jun 25, 2015 22:53
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Episode 28 (Draconus Castle Part 2) - Castle Draconus Spa and Resort Now that we've reached Castle Draconus, we have to hunt down four Blood Runes carried by Draconus champions in order to open the portal to X'Calith's lair. 
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Jun 27, 2015 08:32
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Episode 29 (X'Calith's Sanctuary) - Earning the Name This is it. It's time to kill ourselves a dragon and restore peace to the realm. I hope you enjoyed the playthrough! Upgrades At the end of the last episode we picked up the final rank of earth magic available to Cynric and acquired the metal storm spell, which does massive AoE damage. Just for kicks we also got one rank of fire magic giving us the energy bolt spell, which damages a single opponent. 
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Jun 30, 2015 09:43
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