Its premise is that a mighty dragon named Naezith once held such immense power, that even his dead body still retained much of what he had in life, and the fragments became sought after by the humans to gather power from them. However, this upsets the dragon's soul, as he does not think anyone else deserves a claim on his former power. Thus, he seeks to nullify the power inside his fragments, but is unable to do that without a physical body.
Millennia after Naezith's death, an adventurer named Kayra tries to claim a fragment from a deep and remote cave, but instead falls in and would have died...if not for Naezith's soul entering his body. Now, Kayra is able to use two remnants of Naezith's claws as magical grappling hooks, and is given the location of what Naezith describes as limitless treasure. In exchange, Kayra must locate and purge every single fragment of Naezith's body along the way.
Tropes present in this game:
- Death by Materialism: This is what would have happened to Kayra without Naezith's involvement, as he was looking to get rich from claiming a fragment for himself before his original grappling hook broke and he suffered a fall that would have been fatal in any other circumstance.
- It's also entirely possible that even if he did go into the cave, he could have still avoided the fall by simply getting a new grappling hook, and not a "trusty" one that broke. Then again, Naezith promised him limitless treasure, so Kayra probably doesn't regret that too much. Well, at least up until he reaches that treasure vault at the very end of the game, and finds that he is unable to leave it now that Naezith's powers are gone from him, almost certainly condemning him to a slow death.
- Death Course: The game consists of dozens of levels that are all very short and devoid of enemies, but are absolutely littered with traps instead, ranging from spikes and buzzsaws to deadly lasers.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The artwork during the opening "cutscene" is done in black and white.
- Exact Words: In the opening cutscene, Naezith's ghost promises Kayra "limitless treasure" if he reaches all the fragments so that his ghost could purge them, and he actually delivers, more-or-less. Too bad he didn't tell Kayra he would also have no way of getting out of the treasure room once he got inside: the game allows the player to feel the helplessness as they lose their Naezith-given claws and are now unable to make it of the chamber for a few seconds before it Fades to Black.
- Excuse Plot: While the opening cutscene is actually reasonably detailed for the genre, it is also the only bit of narrative in the game. Afterwards, it's pure gameplay, with even the ending being fittingly brief and done in-game, rather than in a cutscene.
- Ghostly Goals: The ghost of Naezith the dragon will not rest until the fragments of his body are destroyed, preventing anyone from claiming their latent power.
- Glowing Eyes: Kayra's eyes glow blue and even have lightning streaming out of them, as a side effect of his possession by Naezith.
- Laser Hallway: Laser beams (either placed parallel to the walls, or mounted on a rotating projector) are regularly present in the more sci-fi levels later on in the game.
- One Hitpoint Wonder: Any source of damage instantly kills Kayra.
- Rise to the Challenge: Water is actually kinda helpful to Kayra, as while he still drowns within it, he can also either bounce off it or even glide along its surface. Thus, the first levels that change the water level invert the trope by having it drain rapidly, complicating your timings even more. A straight variation where the water level is rising and threatens to drown Kayra shows up later on as well.
- Shock and Awe: Naezith is said to be a thunder dragon, and thus possessed these powers in life. This is reflected in how both Kayra's eyes and Naezith's claws he uses glow blue with lightning, and the magical "rope" connecting claws to his hands is made out of lightning.
- Spikes of Doom: Even the very first levels have the absolute majority of the platforms covered in spikes. Later on, they get largely replaced by lasers.
