A pretty obscure Zelda-like for the Famicom, even if it was developed by a high profile company like Konami. Dragon Scroll puts a bit more emphasis on RPG elements than Zelda though, with experience points and levels being a prominent mechanic. Levels upgrading your maximum health, magic points and allowing the use of new weapons, while found equipment upgrades your other abilities; the silver ring lets you move faster than your glacial walking pace, while the gold ring reduces all damage taken. Other items are required to progress the plot, such as a magic key to open doors or a branch that creates a bridge over an impassable lake. Basically, there's a lot of good adventure-RPG hallmarks there. So, why wasn't this game as well-regarded as many other adventures on the platform? I think it mostly comes down to the puzzles; they're not the fun, intuitive Zelda style of puzzles, but rather tedious guesswork a la Milon's Secret Castle. Standing in a certain spot, or shooting a certain nondescript statue (multiple times), or walking a specific path through a room being required to progress. There are NPCs to talk to, but the game also just pops up clues after defeating arbitrary enemies, which makes it easy to accidentally skip them by pressing the button at the wrong moment. Combat also tends to be more tedious than fun, with enemies sponging up damage and landing cheap shots on you as you enter rooms or pass through narrow halls, and health and magic refills only being available by finding specific chests in dungeons (or dying). The game does at least have a fair bit of longevity (and a password system to save progress), as well as Konami's usual excellent visual and musical chops, but overall it's a fairly average open world adventure RPG that doesn't stand out much from others on the system.
Publisher: Konami
Released: 1987
Platform: Famicom