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| Andrew Barker |
Now you can revive other player's bones! Necromancy ftw!
07.11.11 - 1:30 AM
Dengeki PlayStation recently had the opportunity to interview Ignition's Kashow Oda about Dragon's Crown, the upcoming VanillaWare title for the PS Vita and PlayStation 3. The Japanese interview can be found here, but here's the English version of the most interesting responses.
Fan Reactions
Ignition were quite surprised by the reaction from Japanese fans after the game was announced at E3. They'd been expecting a decent reception from international fans as VanillaWare CEO George Kamitani is quite popular.
Game Difficulty
The game has built-in mechanics to make sure it's a challenge for advanced players, but also fun for newer people. Rather than a traditional leveling up system, the player's character will increase in skill as they collect different items from the game's levels. In multiplayer, if a newer player is matched with someone who has already been playing for a while and they enter a difficult dungeon, the newer player will be able to have access to more powerful items to help them.
Character Selection
Parties can be formed by any combination of the races and classes the game offers. For example, everyone could opt to be elves or sorcerers. Each dungeon will be able to be completed with any combination, but some will be much easier or harder depending on the party's formation. They want players to be able to discuss ideas and form unique strategies.
Game Length
Although the game has not yet been completed, there are already a large amount of quests available from the guild. Some dungeons are so large that you won't be able to see them during the course of a single quest and you'll have to play quite a bit to see everything. The game will take roughly 40 to 50 hours to beat.
How Stages Work
Rather than clearing individual levels, you'll be clearing the game by taking on quests. For example, if you take on a quest to find a particular item, you'll be forced along a set part of a dungeon. Your actions may effect how the stage plays out too. In one instance there's a certain boss you can try to steal an item from without it noticing. However, if he spots you he'll be mad and chase you through your current stage as well as later ones. There will be other choices on how to tackle fights too, such as jumping straight in or trying to avoid them plus other unique options in certain stages.
Fairies, Thieves, and Bones
The fairy and thief classes are two special NPCs that will accompany your character in their adventure. (It's previously been mentioned that if you lose your weapon you'll need your thief to steal a new one. It wasn't discussed in this interview, however.)
As you play through levels you may find the bones of other players who have died. By examining the remains you can view that player's status and dying message. If you take these bones with you back to a shrine, you'll be able to revive them into an NPC. This is called the 'Bone Collection System'. There is a limit to how many can be stored, due to hardware limitations, but it should be in the dozens.
