Drakkhen

A player may freely travel the entirety of Drakkhen's game world not long after beginning a new game, although this can be unwise in practice. Chance encounters with hostile monsters are regular, but in contrast to other RPGs, the player may be attacked while stationary. All battles are automated by default but allow the player to micromanage their four combatants. The player is given time to focus on the real-time tactics of each enemy encounter, such as activating defense magic, moving around, or switching weapons on the fly. The player's party may also be accosted at night when viewing constellations in the sky, or any time after bumping into a half-buried urn.

The player may attempt to flee from attackers or retaliate against foes who, when defeated, grants all party members experience points that go towards leveling up and improving character stats.

The story differs depending on which version is being played.

Long ago, the magic of "the world" faded away with the slaying of the final dragon by a selfish paladin all the while a plague is decimating humanity. Long after, a caravel ship of foreign countrymen shipwrecked on the island where the final dragon died, only to be attacked and sunk by a foe unknown and unseen from their perspective. These foes revealed themselves to be lizard-people, thought to be the evolved survivors of the ancient dragons and the dominant people of the island. Four survivors made it ashore and vowed to stick together.

Drakkhen was originally released in 1989 by Infogrames two years after being presented at gaming expos. It was translated for North American release in 1990 by Draconian, a label from Data East. By the time review copies of the original were given to the press, Infogrames claimed to have no "immediate" intention of porting the game. The many subsequent computer ports were unannounced until the DOS port was about to be released in late 1989. In 1991, Drakkhen was ported to the Super Nintendo by Kemco-Seika, who made several revisions to the game, mostly by necessity.

In February 2018, the DOS version of the game was made available on Steam and in June 2018 on GOG.com. It was published under Piko Interactive's Classics Digital brand. It was also released for Evercade, included in Piko Interactive Collection 1 cartridge.

Drakkhen was a commercial success, with sales of more than 350,000 units.

In the May 1990 edition of Games International, Mike Siggins noted the open sandbox design, where players could wander in any direction, seeking adventure. However, Siggins was peeved by "the regular use of problems and puzzles to impede progress." He liked the "well-done" documentation, and admired the graphics. He concluded by giving the game an average score of 7 out of 10, although he gave the graphics an excellent rating of 9 out of 10, saying, "These games are really fantasy wargames rather than true role-playing exercises but Drakkhen at least pushes the standard out a little further and makes for a tough game with plenty of scope, graced with those remarkable Infogrames graphics."