Is Skyrim the herald of a new age of Dragon games?

[HyenaThePirate]

I love dragons.
I love intelligent dragons.
I love the idea of teaming up with or even playing a dragon.
I love dragon culture.
And I love Rpgs.

Skyrim is going to have dragons and even a dragon language. But how extensive will our interactions with the dragons actually BE? Will it just be reduced to a few set pieces where we battle dragons a la Shadow of the Colossus (which honestly would be a great idea for a game) or will it end up being similar to Monster Hunter?

What I've never been fond of is the properties that depict dragons as perhaps intelligent but in a way that a tiger shark or lion is intelligent. I want to see something with genius level intelligence, like in the D&D universe. I want them to have a culture.

Honestly, I'm thinking it is time for someone to make a Bitterwood game or movie. I'm not aware of any decent games that feature dragons as major companion or playable characters. There was that awful dragon game for the PS3 which was little more than Blazing Angels on wyrm-back.

Heck, I can already cast half of a Bitterwood movie. Harrison Ford as Bitterwood. Natalie Portman as Jandra. Voice actors of decent stock are a dime a dozen. Forest Whitaker voicing Vendevorex, etc. And of course, John Barrowman of Captain Jack fame would make the perfect "Pet."

But I digress..

Does anyone else hope that Skyrim does more with it's dragons than make them boss encounters or pretty backgrounds? Are there other dragon games in the works that we should be looking at? Is anyone interested in working on a Bitterwood Mod, because Skyrim seems perfect for it. And finally, are there any good Dragon games that anyone knows of?

 

[The Virgo]

I can't say until the game comes out whether the game will herald a new age of dragons or not, but it does, from the looks of the gameplay, look like could.

Also, on the topic of The Elder Scrolls, I know it's stupid to talk about TESVI with V right around the corner, but I just wanted to say that when 6 does come out many years from now, I hope it is set in Black Marsh. Just sayin'.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Huh. I was thinking something similar, but "Dragon Age" kind of pre-empted it.

Then again, I'm not sure how much dragons have to do with Dragon Age; I haven't played any of them.

Aside: I also love intelligent dragons. Always have, always will.

 

[Andy Szidon]

In the demo, it is mentioned that the reason dragons attack you and stuff will be part of a mystery, but all we know is that we can either kill them or, if we're lucky, talk to them like all the other npcs.

And no, they won't be like shadow of the collosus, just like bosses from WoW.

 

[HyenaThePirate]

In Dragon Age, I recall facing (and killing) exactly ONE dragon.. maybe my memory isn't so good, but a series that refers to something probably should have more of that in it in my opinion. And they weren't very smart Dragons.

I mean, yeah okay so there are some ancient dragons and that is why the darkspawn are trying to find them, so they can raise it and start a blight, but it's never clearly established as to why they are driven to do so or what possible purpose it serves other than to cause random chaos all over the place. The dragons themselves however, barely factor into the games.

I don't know... I guess when I think of a Dragon Age, I think of dragons all over the damn place falling out of the sky.

I'm at least hoping the dragons in Skyrim are intelligent and are the main quest givers.

 

[God's Clown]

Huh. I was thinking something similar, but "Dragon Age" kind of pre-empted it.

Then again, I'm not sure how much dragons have to do with Dragon Age; I haven't played any of them.

Aside: I also love intelligent dragons. Always have, always will.

It's mostly killing dragons in Dragon Age. You can "assist" a couple of them, but mostly killing.

 

[Morbissus]

Hey TC try Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga. 10 or so hours in you become a dragon & are able to morph into it at any time from that point on.

 

[Bebus]

Huh. I was thinking something similar, but "Dragon Age" kind of pre-empted it.

Then again, I'm not sure how much dragons have to do with Dragon Age; I haven't played any of them.

Aside: I also love intelligent dragons. Always have, always will.

Dragon Age: Origins has precisely 1 'Dragon' as might be recognised as such (the same as the one from the trailor). There is a lot of in game lore about Dragon cults, but the impression seems to be that although Dragons are intelligent, they are in a way that any animal can be. They do not have human self-awareness, and they do not communicate. All Dragon cults are purely human constructions. There are a fair few missions when you fight baby Dragons, but as a female High Dragon takes centuries to reach maturity they are very rare full grown.

You also face 2 enemies who take a Dragon form but they are not Dragons.

It is called Dragon Age because each in game century is named by an event at the end of the previous, Dragons were thought extinct in the previous Steel, Storm and Blessed Ages but one was spotted so the current century was named the Dragon Age.

Criky I've played those games too much...

I want to play Skyrim...

 

[Phlakes]

There's one problem though.

You can't ride any.

That's one of the biggest wasted opportunities in gaming history.

 

[Atmos Duality]

It's mostly killing dragons in Dragon Age. You can "assist" a couple of them, but mostly killing.

Sadness. Plenty of games let you kill dragons. Few of them actually let you BE a dragon (Yes, I've seen Divinity 2. It looked like shit.) in any meaningful way.

I say we need a game where you plot as a villain dragon!

It is called Dragon Age because each in game century is named by an event at the end of the previous, Dragons were thought extinct in the previous Steel, Storm and Blessed Ages but one was spotted so the current century was named the Dragon Age.

Criky I've played those games too much...

I want to play Skyrim...

So, it's similar to the Ages in Forgotten Realms; where the age is denoted by an event.

 

[Gladiateher]

The only problem with intelligent dragons is that dragons are already super powerful. When you add sentient intelligence they become borderline unstoppable. Since Skyrim is going to be played from the perspective of one of the humanoid races this type of dragon would sort of make your character less significant.

 

[HyenaThePirate]

It's mostly killing dragons in Dragon Age. You can "assist" a couple of them, but mostly killing.

Sadness. Plenty of games let you kill dragons. Few of them actually let you BE a dragon (Yes, I've seen Divinity 2. It looked like shit.) in any meaningful way.

I say we need a game where you plot as a villain dragon!

Before anyone says it, I think he means where you play as a REAL dragon, not SPYRO.

And that PS3 dragon game... I can't even remember the name now.. sucked bad.

Yeah I'm hoping Divinity 2 might be along the lines of something I like. Is it PC or Xbox360?

 

[EmperorSubcutaneous]

OP, have you ever read the Earthsea novels? They feature intelligent dragons with their own culture and language.

I would say I'd love an Earthsea game, but that would be difficult to do well. Not a lot of combat in those books.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Before anyone says it, I think he means where you play as a REAL dragon, not SPYRO.

Never played the Spyro games, ironically.

And that PS3 dragon game... I can't even remember the name now.. sucked bad.

It's*hurrp!*...Lair...*hurp!*...Sorry. Threw up in my mouth a bit there.

Yeah I'm hoping Divinity 2 might be along the lines of something I like. Is it PC or Xbox360?

I know it's at least PC. It looked really really buggy and boring based on the gameplay videos I saw.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Dragons in Skyrim are like just another monster with the added bonus that you get the dragon souls when they die which im guessing increases the power of your shouts.

There has been hints of an intelligent/friendly one but most of them are trying to kill you. They aren't questgivers.

I like the idea of more dragons as it would seem kind of contrived if you only got scripted events. People would just complain the opposite that they don't behaive like they are part of the environment. I think Bethesda have worked pretty hard to make them feel like they are both part of the world and also a threat.

From what I've seen they are pretty tough and impressive.

 

[ChildofGallifrey]

TC, you should check out the PS2 game "Drakengard". It's not a perfect game, far from it, but it's a fun action RPG, and at the end of the first stage you get bound to a dragon that you can call upon at will in outdoor areas. A good kind of dragon. An ancient, incredibly intelligent and well characterized dragon.