7 Video Games That Let You Ride Dragons

Highlights

• Dragon riding in video games has a long history, with titles like Eragon and Drakan offering engaging dragon-riding segments despite their overall poor reception.
• World of Warcraft allows players to ride dragons as mounts for transportation purposes, but they cannot fight while mounted.
• The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim introduced dragon-riding as a desired feature, allowing players to tame and issue instructions to dragons, showcasing their supremacy in the game.

Gamers a few decades ago would likely associate a dragon with mythical beasts that serve as powerful monsters to defeat, or as companions to summon in games like Final Fantasy, while players today may immediately think of the Dragonborn of Skyrim that popularized the idea of dragon-riding to a more modern generation of video game fans. As such, gamers might be surprised to learn that video games where players can ride dragons go further back than the Bethesda title.

Much to the interest of dragon fans, certain video games do provide players with opportunities to make friends and ride their dragon companions to wage war on huge battlefields. While the premise of riding a dragon high up in the skies remains similar, their mechanics towards controlling their aerial beasts may differ in scope, complexity, and overall enjoyment.

7 Eragon

Rudimentary Dragon-Riding Levels

Despite the poor reception of Eragon (both the game and the film), the game and its source novel’s central theme of Dragon Riders arrived in the title in the form of dragon-riding segments. Set in Alagaesia, Eragon stars the titular character as he discovers that the stone he’s kept at home is actually a dragon egg. After it hatches into the blue dragon Saphira, the pair are chased by the forces of the evil King Galbatorix.

While Eragon received poor reception for repetitive levels and forced dragon riding segments, its Saphira sections give players engaging fights against both ground units and fellow dragons. Traditional fire breaths and unique movements such as tailspins and Eragon’s own spells transform Saphira’s dragon-riding segments into memorable levels in the Eragon title.

6 World Of Warcraft

Ride Dragons As MMO Mounts

Given the vastness of the world of Azeroth in World of Warcraft, it only felt natural for its adventurers to ride mounts to travel across the MMO’s many biomes. After reaching Level 30, players can purchase flying mounts as well as the necessary license to make them fly. The sky’s the limit after reaching this point, as only certain areas in Azeroth remain license-locked for fliers, and dragons can be acquired as flying mounts by various means.

Unlike other games, players can’t “fight” while mounted, meaning dragons can only be used as a mode of transportation. As with other mounts in the game, dragons come in various forms and themes that allow players to have a mount that is as vibrant as their character. Among dragons to ride are winged four-limbed beings (Drakes), double-headed undead creatures (Chimaeras), Eastern serpentine-inspired lizards (Cloud Serpent), and robotic variants (Mechanical Dragons).

Ride NPC Dragons With Specific Directives

In a game like The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim where players become the Dragonborn, dragon-riding has become a much-desired feature that Bethesda eventually added via the Dragonborn DLC. While dragon riding isn’t a central mechanic in the open-world RPG, being able to tame the game’s most powerful apex predator can easily become a mark of a player’s supremacy.

Players can only ride dragons in Skyrim upon acquiring the full Bend Will dragon shout consisting of Gol-Hah-Dov. However, as dragons have their own wills, players can only issue instructions to them but not necessarily control all of their movements. For instance, players can direct a dragon to attack a foe, switch their targets, or land. Moreover, due to how powerful dragons are in Tamriel, landing a dragon will revert the creature back into an NPC, where they can leave or even attack players.

4 Drakan: Order Of The Flame

Switch Between Ground And Aerial Fights With Ease

Tragedy strikes the warrior Rynn in Drakan: Order of the Flame, as not only did the evil Navaros kidnap her brother Delon, but he also burned their nearby village. Following the instructions of their elder, Rynn sought the help of the dragon Arokh in her quest to both save her brother and restore the Order of the Flame, who can vanquish the forces of evil.

Unlike other games with dragon riding mechanics, Drakan: Order of the Flame features both small-scale dungeons fit for Rynn and wide-open areas where both Rynn and Arokh can explore. Unique to the game is the freedom to transition to dragon riding in open spaces, as well as the demand for precision mechanics to ensure the accurate elimination of foes. When riding Arokh, Rynn can’t use anything but her potions and bow, while the dragon can use his fire breath as well as specially-built ranged armaments.

3 Lair

An Attempt At Large-Scale Fights With Motion Controls

Taking place in a world threatened by active volcanoes, Lair puts players in the role of Rohn Partridge, a dragon rider Burner in the air force Sky Guards of Asylia tasked to defend the land from the isolated Mokai. While the game’s dependence on the PlayStation 3’s Six-Axis motion controls led to a heavily criticized control scheme, its emphasis on dragon riding makes it a standout in this particular theme.

Some aspects of Lair need Rohn to land on the ground and fight enemies in melee combat, but a majority of the game takes place in the skies. Players have to tilt their controller to maneuver their dragon, much in the same way a horse has to be reined when issuing commands. In combat, Lair needs players to be at the same height as the enemy combatant, while they can also quickly move the controller to redirect their dragons elsewhere.

2 Panzer Dragoon

Fight Enemies From All Directions With Various Armaments

Despite numerous entries in the dragon-riding Panzer Dragoon franchise, the first Panzer Dragoon game showcases the potential of the genre as a role-playing rail shooter. Set in the distant future, protagonist Keil Fluge is thrust into a high-stakes quest as he’s forced to link up with a blue dragon and chase a black dragon before it reaches the black tower.

While the Panzer Dragoon story only takes place across six short levels, the game’s mechanics give players thrilling action sequences against hordes of enemies. Players can look in all directions to see where enemies such as dragonflies, wasps, sandworms, and even battleships are coming from. With a black dragon left to chase, players need to decide quickly whether to accurately target foes with their handgun or use the dragon’s multi-hit attack to fight multiple enemies at once.

1 Century: Age Of Ashes

Ride Dragons In High-Octane Sky Fights

Players who wanted to engage in brutal combat atop stunning dragons could do so without impunity in Century: Age of Ashes. Players take on the role of Dragoneers as they engage in five game modes, most of which involve fierce skyward battles against other Dragoneers, while others integrate mechanics such as tower defense and point capture. Central to Century: Age of Ashes are its dragons, as players can choose dragon variants according to their class.

Aside from class-independent mounts such as the stocky Strongscale and the eagle-like Cloudsplitter, players can use bulky mounts for frontline attacks (Marauder with Bloodchaser), weather-resistant dragons for long-ranged abilities (Stormraiser with Stonesnout), or wood-like dragons for spellcasters (Thornweaver with Vinedrake). There are also dedicated class-mount pairs, such as fast fliers for support players (Windguard with Ironwing), and sleek dragons for stealth attackers (Phantom with Nightsnagger).

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