[3] Upon its release, critics resoundingly praised Dragon Force for its melding of the war simulation and story-driven RPG genres, and it remains one of the Saturn's most highly regarded games.

[4] Armies travel between towns and castles via fixed routes on an overhead scrolling map, much like the earlier Saturn game Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire.

Although both the world map and battles unfold in real time, the game pauses when the player opens a menu.

Dragon Force is set in the world Legendra, which lived in an era of prosperity under the watch of the benevolent goddess Astea, until it came under siege by the evil god Madruk and his armies.

Personal disputes among the Dragon Force led to their downfall and left Harsgalt to face Madruk in a fight to death.

300 years later, the seal imprisoning Madruk has weakened and two of his Dark Apostles, Scythe and Gaul, have begun working towards his release.

Despite attempts to stop them by Scythe and Gaul, whichever monarch the player controls gains the power, and then has to use it to defeat Madruk's final apostle, a robot named Katmondo.

Dragon Force received critical acclaim, with reviews lauding the game's balance of war simulation with RPG elements[8][11][12][18][20] and the visual spectacle of the battle sequences.

"[8] Scary Larry of GamePro criticized the graphics, but found their shortcomings hardly noticeable against the humor of the English localization and the intense strategy of the battles.

... Seamlessly welding both traditional wargaming and RPG elements, Working Designs and Sega have created a classic that should appeal to fans of both genres.

"[12] Joe Fielder of GameSpot similarly remarked, "Dragon Force balances role-playing and strategy elements perfectly, intermittently directing the war of the land through storyline segments.

[25] Dragon Force II: Kamisarishi Daichi ni was published by Sega for the Saturn, and released only in Japan in 1998.

[27] GameSpot's Peter Bartholow rated the sequel 7.9/10 points, saying that it was extremely similar to the first game, with better gameplay, but worse presentation.