Drakan: The Ancient’s Gates was a game I fished out of the bargain bin after hearing a few good things about. I’m glad I did! There aren’t too many games I’ve bought on a whim and been this happy with. I just finished my first playthrough, but it definitely won’t be my last.

Gameplay: This is where I’ve been hearing complaints about. I did not experience any of the famous Drakan glitches while playing, but I was careful and took my dragon with me everywhere. The only problem I had with the gameplay was the menu. When you open the menu to use a potion in the heat of battle, the game does NOT pause. Why is this? Otherwise, this game is really fun to play. Riding and fighting on a dragon was made remarkably easy and enjoyable.

Story: It won’t win any awards, but there are certain memorable parts. Like the Flesh Mage and his “brides”. Eeeww.

Sound: Voice acting is mostly good. Music is not too bad, I found myself enjoying it at times.

Graphics: Pretty good for a game from 2002. There were a lot of unique atmospheres and environments in this game, so interesting that you might do a double-take before leaving just to get the full effect.

Value: I had a lot of fun playing this game. If you like dungeon-crawling RPGs you will most likely love this. It could’ve been longer, but it’s still a great game. And a cool female lead! How often do you get that?