What Video Game Did I Play Yesterday?

Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp (PS4)

November 26th, 2022

I couldn't get in the mood to play anything too in-depth last night, and especially was not in the mood for Kandagawa Jet Girls. I had my PS4 on, though, so I played some of the stuff I had installed.

First, I turned on Tekken 7 because the Playstation app on my phone had a weird, pointless "virtual collectible" for playing a fighting game in the month of November. The only two I had off of their list were Tekken 7 and Guilty Gear Strive, and I didn't have to get out of my chair and pop a disc in the machine to play Tekken. It was fine, though, I played and laughed at Tekken Bowl.

I also gave Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp a go, which I do every once in a while to torment myself. I have the Dragon's Lair Trilogy installed on my PS4, after regrettably selling my copy for Wii back to Game Stop, but I first played Dragon's Lair and Space Ace on 3DO. I know the gameplay is limited, but the animation is really cool, and it's interesting to consider what kind of future games full motion video (FMV) would lead to. Back on 3DO, I was really awful at these games, but with the Wii/PS4 re-releases, I've actually gotten decent at Dragon's Lair and Space Ace. It's a satisfying feeling!

I cannot quite crack Dragon's Lair 2, though. It's a beautiful game- the Alice in Wonderland segment in particular has some really beautiful animation- but the "collect all the hidden treasures to get the real ending" mechanic wrecks me. It's all a matter of knowing what button to push when, though, and since the game never varies, it's more tedious than completely undoable. My incremental progress from playing once or twice a year adds up, though, so I'll clear this game eventually. Luckily, I do not lead a life where anything is riding on my skill at laserdisc games.