For those of you anxiously awaiting more information about PlatinumGames’ Scalebound, we’ve got a little tidbit of news that just might excite you: you’ll be able to control your dragon, Thuban, in battle.
Scalebound creator Hideki Kamiya showcased a brand new, pre-recorded gameplay video that showcased the in-game bond between Thuban and his human friend and protagonist Drew. But more importantly than just showing the bond, the video also revealed Dragon Links, the in-game mechanic that will allow players to actually control Thuban. When Drew and Thuban are linked together, the over-the-shoulder view turns into a first-person perspective from Drew, allowing him to direct Thuban.
Drew will still be vulnerable to the enemies surrounding him while he’s controlling Thuban, but players will be able to quickly and easily swap between controlling the dragon and controlling Drew. This injects a bit of unique gameplay into the fantasy RPG game, allowing a player to deliver attacks from two different vantage points, one from Thuban’s perspective and the other from Drew’s.
“You want to make sure you find the right timing to use and to really work well with Thuban,” Kamiya said.
According to Polygon, Kamiya also made some interesting notes concerning the look of Thuban, specifically talking about the player’s ability to customize their dragon. Players will have access to three types of dragons in Scalebound: a heavy tank, a speedy wyvern, and a well-balanced rex. Players will collect gems that will allow them to change the attributes of their dragons in a skill tree of sorts, which not only affects the dragon’s ability but its physical appearance as well. If it sounds a little too expected or safe, creative produce J.P. Kellams noted that it’s the ability to blend these three archetypes together that creates the unique experience.
“You’re welcome to go down one path and develop in that way, but there are all these intermediate states where you can create your own dragon,” Kamiya said. “The customization is so deep that you’re going to be able to create your own play style of dragon. There’s advantages to having different kinds of dragons.”
Scalebound will also allow players to add armor and gem buffs to their dragons, and armor will take damage and eventually break in combat.
PlatinumGames also confirmed to WCCFTech at Gamescom that the game will have cross-play capability.
The Scalebound release window is currently slated for 2017 for the Xbox One and Windows 10, and it will run at 1080p on Xbox One and 4K on PC.
