Dragon Knight II is the predecessor to Knights of Xentar, the only Dragon Knight game that was ever translated into English. This is a first-person game that is mainly dedicated to dungeon exploring. Takeru has to explore the three dungeons, fighting enemies and sometimes talking to dungeon inhabitants. The enemies are the girls who were turned into monsters by Mesaana. In town, Takeru can also buy weapons, armor, and items, and talk to various people.
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Once again directed by Masato Hiruta, Dragon Knight II is basically the first game but better, longer, and more ambitious.
To start, there's now an actual story.
The town of Phoenix was known for its mysterious evil-sealing metal. This led to the unwanted attention of two evil clans: the all-women Witch clan, and the all-men Dragon Knight clan (yeah, same dudes that got their ass kicked in the first game). Thankfully for the humans living there, they both hated each other and kept themselves in check, living in their respective towers. One day, all hell broke loose and the dragon knights attacked the witches: they waged war for three whole days. As a result the dragon knight tower was destroyed, both clans collapsed and their few survivors left the town.
Three hundred years later Takeru, still the main character, is on a mission. He lost a bet to a merchant named Baan and was tasked by him to deliver a mysterious book to the elder of Phoenix in his place. Once arrived, he realizes he got more than what he bargained for. A descendant of the witch clan called Mesaanya has settled in the old witch tower and is now terrorizing the town. Due to her hatred of the dragon knights and men in general, she forced all the young men to leave and forbid the young girls to fall in love. The elder is desperate since his daughter Kate has fallen in love with a boy from a neighboring town. The mysterious book is actually a monster-sealing scripture he hopes will be effective against Mesaanya. Unfortunately the witch appears in front of Takeru and the old man, steals the book, and announces that she has transformed every girl in town into monsters. At that point the only choice left for the hero is to climb up the witch tower, find the scripture, and rescue the girls himself.
Gameplay-wise, Dragon Knight II is similarly to the original, a simple dungeon crawler. There're a few basics, but welcomed additions though. You can now buy consumable items, even if it's only health medicine (Takeru can't use magic like in the first game, so it's not a bad investment). More importantly, you've got a party! You'll recruit the merchant Baan and a priest named Sophia to help you. Sadly they're not the most useful partners. While Sophia can use magic like healing or the incredibly handy "return" spell, Baan is kinda... there. You also need to buy equipment to keep his defense up, since you get a game over if ANY of your characters get killed (how rude). The most interesting thing about the party is the occasional banter you get while exploring, pretty unusual for a dungeon crawler. That dialogue makes the game feels way more lively.
At least the "gameplay loop" (urgh) is interesting and different. The monsters are all girls of the town transformed into various foes. You need to explore the tower to find pages of the scripture scattered all over the place. Once you've got a page, you can use it on the corresponding girl to dispell the curse. She'll then come back to her sense and return to town. So you're effectively cleaning up the tower from lower-level monsters one by one (which is quite elegant design for a porn game from 1990). Some girls will also reappear as NPC you can talk to after being saved (like the daughters of the weapon seller, or the weird girl that spend her time in the cemetery), which once again make the game feels more lively.
Oh, and since it's eroge, the rescued girls will also wait for you in your hotel room. Unlike in the previous game, Takeru finally get some (quite an understatement considering he bangs everyone in town). The sex scenes are short and lighthearted, even if it gets tedious towards the end considering the number of girls.
The monster girl concept does have its issues though. First, you can only fight one girl at a time, making the combat incredibly simple. Secondly, it means that there is no boss outside of the final one. Disappointing since fighting the dragon knights was a highlight of the previous game. And finally, once you release all the girls, you can't level up anymore (but it's not really an issue since you would have to be a massive dumbass to get stuck that way).
Even if it does have its problems (dull combat is not ideal for a dungeon crawler), Dragon Knight II is a game with interesting ideas and an appreciable amount of polish (for example, there's a different combat theme for each monster girl!). Nothing revolutionary, but a decent upgrade to the original.
To start, there's now an actual story.
The town of Phoenix was known for its mysterious evil-sealing metal. This led to the unwanted attention of two evil clans: the all-women Witch clan, and the all-men Dragon Knight clan (yeah, same dudes that got their ass kicked in the first game). Thankfully for the humans living there, they both hated each other and kept themselves in check, living in their respective towers. One day, all hell broke loose and the dragon knights attacked the witches: they waged war for three whole days. As a result the dragon knight tower was destroyed, both clans collapsed and their few survivors left the town.
Three hundred years later Takeru, still the main character, is on a mission. He lost a bet to a merchant named Baan and was tasked by him to deliver a mysterious book to the elder of Phoenix in his place. Once arrived, he realizes he got more than what he bargained for. A descendant of the witch clan called Mesaanya has settled in the old witch tower and is now terrorizing the town. Due to her hatred of the dragon knights and men in general, she forced all the young men to leave and forbid the young girls to fall in love. The elder is desperate since his daughter Kate has fallen in love with a boy from a neighboring town. The mysterious book is actually a monster-sealing scripture he hopes will be effective against Mesaanya. Unfortunately the witch appears in front of Takeru and the old man, steals the book, and announces that she has transformed every girl in town into monsters. At that point the only choice left for the hero is to climb up the witch tower, find the scripture, and rescue the girls himself.
Gameplay-wise, Dragon Knight II is similarly to the original, a simple dungeon crawler. There're a few basics, but welcomed additions though. You can now buy consumable items, even if it's only health medicine (Takeru can't use magic like in the first game, so it's not a bad investment). More importantly, you've got a party! You'll recruit the merchant Baan and a priest named Sophia to help you. Sadly they're not the most useful partners. While Sophia can use magic like healing or the incredibly handy "return" spell, Baan is kinda... there. You also need to buy equipment to keep his defense up, since you get a game over if ANY of your characters get killed (how rude). The most interesting thing about the party is the occasional banter you get while exploring, pretty unusual for a dungeon crawler. That dialogue makes the game feels way more lively.
At least the "gameplay loop" (urgh) is interesting and different. The monsters are all girls of the town transformed into various foes. You need to explore the tower to find pages of the scripture scattered all over the place. Once you've got a page, you can use it on the corresponding girl to dispell the curse. She'll then come back to her sense and return to town. So you're effectively cleaning up the tower from lower-level monsters one by one (which is quite elegant design for a porn game from 1990). Some girls will also reappear as NPC you can talk to after being saved (like the daughters of the weapon seller, or the weird girl that spend her time in the cemetery), which once again make the game feels more lively.
Oh, and since it's eroge, the rescued girls will also wait for you in your hotel room. Unlike in the previous game, Takeru finally get some (quite an understatement considering he bangs everyone in town). The sex scenes are short and lighthearted, even if it gets tedious towards the end considering the number of girls.
The monster girl concept does have its issues though. First, you can only fight one girl at a time, making the combat incredibly simple. Secondly, it means that there is no boss outside of the final one. Disappointing since fighting the dragon knights was a highlight of the previous game. And finally, once you release all the girls, you can't level up anymore (but it's not really an issue since you would have to be a massive dumbass to get stuck that way).
Even if it does have its problems (dull combat is not ideal for a dungeon crawler), Dragon Knight II is a game with interesting ideas and an appreciable amount of polish (for example, there's a different combat theme for each monster girl!). Nothing revolutionary, but a decent upgrade to the original.