The Dragon & the Princess has been touted as the first ever fantasy JRPG. I was aware of the game and had it on my 1982 “to do” list but I had reservations that I’d ever get to experience it. The big hurdle here is the language barrier; an english version was never released here in the West. A translation patch is now available but applying the patch incorrectly can cause the game to be unplayable. The game disk itself is also a “hard to find” item. The CRPG Addict graciously provided me with a copy of the game however application of the translation patch caused all combat to be non-existent. It was William Hern who was able to successfully apply the translation patch and who provided me with a good working copy of the game. So once again I want to publicly thank William for his help and support. I would have felt it a derelict of duty if I had not been able to experience this game.
The Dragon & the Princess was released in 1982 for the PC-88 and in 1983 for the FM-7. The PC-88 was an 8-bit home computer released by NEC in 1981 and it sold primarily in Japan. It sold extremely well and become one of the three major Japanese home computers of the 1980s along with the FM-7 and Sharp X1.
The game was developed and published by Koei, a Japanese video game company founded in 1978. The company is now best known for it’s Dynasty Warriors games as well as the Romance of the Three Kingdoms series of games. In 2009 Koei merged with Tecmo to form Tecmo Koei Games. I stressed in my opening paragraph that The Dragon & the Princess was the first Western fantasy RPG as it was not the only RPG that Koei released in 1982. Seduction of the Condominium Wife was another early role-playing adventure game however it was an erotic title. It became a hit and helped Koei to become a major software company. Koei also released Underground Exploration in 1982, which may predate The Dragon & the Princess publication date, but it might be hard to qualify it as a true RPG. Mission Impossible was also released in 1982 but it was a spy-themed adventure RPG.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this game. While characteristics of JRPG’s have changed over the years I was wondering if I’d see any precursors of the distinctive traits that you see today. Many of today’s JRPGs are criticized for their linearity and cartoon-like imagery. Fans and supporters of JRPGs argue that non-linearity is the sacrifice for strong characterization that you fail to see in many Western CRPGs.
The Dragon & the Princess is particularly interesting because at its core it is a text-adventure game. When combat ensues however it transforms into a party-based, top down, tactical turn-based role-playing game.
There was no accompanying documentation nor any backstory that I could find. You begin the game by creating a part of five characters.
You can name the players as you see fit but you cannot customize them in any way. The statistics are fixed. The power statistic is affected by the type of weapon that you’re wieldling. In the above example, Bilbo is fighting with bare fists, Cadderly and Red Sonja are using shortswords, while both Fost and Bruenor are wielding longswords. Many different sites have claimed that Sp is an abbreviation for Spellcasting but I believe this to be incorrect. There are no spell casting options in this game and I believe that Sp represents speed. Whatever Sp does represent it has little tactical impact. The party always gets to go first in combat and they always go in the order that you have the party composed. Both hits and hit points will slowly increase with experience which slowly increases each time you hit in combat or are hit in combat. Experience points are NOT split evenly among your party. Party members only gain experience on a successful attack in combat or upon getting struck in combat.
When the game begins the newly formed party finds itself in the king’s throne room. The king’s treasure has been stolen by bandits and it is up to this band of heroes to recover it.
Outside of combat the party moves from location to location in the style of a text adventure.
There are about 70 different map locations ranging from forested areas and mountain locations to areas within the town of Ross-Blue. In each location you can choose to (S)earch, (L)ook, or (R)ead. Locations are unique in that some areas will not be revealed nor can you access them until you are made aware of them through clues or conversation. For example, there is a bandit hideout and monk’s hut in the mountains, both of them extremely important locations, that are not revealed to you unless you happen to (R)ead a stone slab in the Stone Road location on the map. The text on the stone slab will inform you how to get to the bandit’s hideout as well as the monk’s hut. Once you read that, the locations are then suddenly accessible on the map.
The tactical party-based combat here is historically of extreme interest. It predates Ultima III which sports this type of tactical combat and unless the programmers played Tunnels of Doom for the TI-99 then this is some of the first of it’s kind. Each character takes a turn moving and attacking and then each of the opponents get a turn.
The game itself is surprisingly short. It only took me about 3 – 4 hours to complete. There are three main tasks to perform:
1) the first is to uncover the bandit’s hideout in the mountains.
I suggest you have the party spread out here and (S)earch the huts and also the wells because those are where the bandits have stashed the treasure. If you do not do this; while combat ensues; the bandits begin to burn the huts and any treasure within will be lost. If you lose too much of the treasure it will “softlock” you from being able to win the game.
Once you’ve recovered the treasure and disposed of the bandits you’re going to want to find the monk in his hidden mountain hut. He will tell you that the bandits have a secret hideout in town.
The only town in this game is that of Ross-Blue. There are four important locations located within the town otherwise mapping the town is almost akin to mapping that of a maze. The first of the four locations is a weapons shop where you can purchase longswords and shortswords. The longswords are upgrades and quite expensive at 100k apiece. The second important location in town is a food store where you can purchase packets of food. Each packet is 10k apiece and 15 packets should take care of your food requirements for the entirety of the game. The third important location happens to be the Koei Pub which is named after the company that developed and published the game. When you walk into the pub the entire floor turns into a trap door and drops you into a pit. You can pay 300k to the owner who will then let you out. If you do not yet have 300k you had best not walk into this pub.
When you pay the 300k you spot a suspicious stranger leaving the bar. If you follow him out and then (A)ttack him he pleads for his life and then reveals the location of the bandit’s secret hideout in town. The hideout location will remain inaccessible until you’ve had the pub encounter with this stranger.
The bandits in their secret hideout are even easier to beat then the bandits that you encountered in the mountains. Once you’ve beaten the bandits you have to conduct a (S)earch in order to find the rest of the king’s missing treasure.
When you return to the king he is quite pleased and offers his daughter’s hand in marriage.
There is not time for a honeymoon however because it is not long after the wedding that a dragon suddenly kidnaps the princess.
Once this happens the other four membes of your party are dropped and you suddenly find yourself on a solo mission to save the princess. It is a good idea to head back to the monk and he will then give you a Magic Sword to help you in your pursuit. You can easily find the dragon on Mt. Lu-fey.
I found the battle with the dragon to be anti-climatic. I quickly vanquished him in three short rounds and took minimal damage. Once I defeated the dragon I lived happily ever after.
A dragon kidnapping the princess theme would appear again in Dragonquest and also be a strong motif in Japan’s Dragonslayer series.
I was relieved to be able to cross The Dragon & the Princess off of my bucket list. The game was not quite what I expected but I did enjoy my time with it. Researching early JRPGs is quite the “rabbithole” though an enjoyable one.
Next up on the docket is a little housekeeping as I travel back in time to a newly discovered CRPG oldie: Demons.
Until next time…
My pleasure! I’m glad that you were able to play through the game fully and experience it fully. As you say, it’s an interesting blend of text adventure and RPG combat.
Considering the title of the game, it’s weird how late in the course of events that the eponymous dragon appears – perhaps it would have been more effective if the game had been named something else and the appearance of the dragon in the final showdown kept as a surprise?
I hadn’t really given it much thought but you bring up a great point. I know that going forward it would be a key motif in the upcoming Dragonquest series. My only thought is that the inclusion of Dragon in the title might have helped to sell games. From a combat or technical perspective I thought the enounter with the dragon was anti-climatic as well. I though the first battle with the bandits in their hideout was tougher