5 best video games where you can play as a dragon

Dragons are legendary creatures that have consistently captivated the human imagination. The gaming industry's fascination with these mythical creatures is documented, but the opportunity to play as a dragon remains a rarity. Generally, they are incorporated as NPCs, enemies, or creatures to transport your character. To give you some perspective, we've curated a list of the best video games where you can control these creatures.

In the list, we have two kinds of games: ones centered on dragons and those where dragons are a side element.

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Fire and Steel, Divinity II, and three more games where you can play as a dragon

1) Spyro Reignited Trilogy

The best experience to play as a dragon is Spyro trilogy (Image via Toys for Bob)

Spyro the Dragon is a character developed by Toys for Bob Studios and published by Activision. The Reignited Trilogy features the remakes of the first three games: Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto's Revenge, and Spyro: Year of the Dragon.

The saga incorporates mechanics from classic platform games, like jumping, exploration, and combat against enemies and bosses. While you play a dragon through the trilogy, other skills appear, including swimming, diving, and climbing walls.

For this special edition, the developers included new trophies and challenges. This remake also brings better graphics and sound, although the game's pace can be a little slow.

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2) Dragon Forge

Dragon Forge has a design feature for unleashing creativity (Image via Legend Studio)

In Dragon Forge, players embody the mythical creature and must liberate the land of X from the cursed mist. The game not only allows you to play as a dragon but also incorporates customization for various features, such as eye size, type of horns, and skin color.

While exploring the 88 different zones on the map, the creature must manage resources, construct buildings, and complete missions to clear the mist. The amulet building makes it possible to improve attributes such as flight speed and strength.

In short, Dragon Forge mixes several genres such as RPG and time management to offer a novel experience.

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3) Reign of Fire

Reign of Fire, an action and adventure game based on an iconic Hollywood film, depicts a world where dragons have almost eradicated humanity. On the brink of extinction, a group of people try to survive with advanced military weaponry.

Most of the time, the player will be on the ground chased by dragons. They will protect their companions and face the threat of the flying creatures. Close to the end of the human events, the game splits in two and allows the player to either finish the initial campaign or place itself from the perspective of the winged creatures.

As a dragon, the mechanics are pretty much the same. It is still a vehicular shooter but from the sky. Additionally, the dragon flight controls are not as fluid as human cars', so the difficulty may be higher.

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4) Divinity II: Ego Draconis

The Divinity saga by Larian Studios includes dragons in its games. The second part of the series, Divinity II: Ego Draconis, is a hack-and-slash title where you can turn your character into one of these fearsome beasts. This ability is available in a limited way in the beginning. Thus, you can use it to explore certain parts of the map which are otherwise inaccessible.

As the character's level increases, the ability to play as a dragon will become permanent. However, its use will depend on the surrounding conditions. For example, open spaces are the best transformation areas, but being inside buildings and small caves avoids it.

The dragon has its biggest flaws in the dedicated mechanics. When you fly, ground enemies disappear from sight, and it is impossible to attack them.

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5) Fire and Steel

In Fire and Steel, you play as a dragon against nazis (Image via Kreatin Studios)

Fire and Steel is a third-person shooter game that places you in the control of a dragon named Aiden. The creature survived a cruel dragon hunt centuries ago. After many years of slumber, Aiden wakes up in the middle of World War II and, to stay alive, faces the conflicting forces.

The game lets you fly through different zones while the main character takes revenge on mankind with its fire. Aiden's mission is to wipe out the enemy weaponry, fly over anti-aircraft bases, and fight airplanes.

Although Fire and Steel is a very short game, the whole setup makes the experience an enjoyable bloody tinge.