Scalebound (Xbox One/Win10) from Platinum Games - Hideki Kamiya apologizes to MS (and players) for Scalebound problems

The Watching Artist wrote:Trying to think of a main character that I found as unappealing as this guy....... Got nothing so far.

Kamiya is finally realising his dream in Scalebound, a game where a dragon is not a beast to be defeated, but a companion for your human character, Drew, to fight beside.The focus on a central duo is one in a series of firsts for Kamiya and his studio Platinum, which is side-stepping its distinctive combo-focused action style to build a sprawling, colourful action RPG under first time collaborator Microsoft.“

“Scalebound is Platinum’s first action RPG,” says Scalebound’s Creative Producer Jean Paul Pierre Kellams, “so we’re making a game that brings all of our core competencies in action gameplay to the RPG genre and placing it in a very large non-linear world.”

The spice Platinum is adding to this formula to make it truly unique is Thuban, a “dragon who is bonded to you,” and who behaves as an independent creature alongside Drew, rather than a strictly responsive vessel for your button prompts.

Still a strong, majestic beast, then, but one that fits a young Kamiya’s vision of what a dragon could be. “There’s a level of intelligence to dragons to the point where they’re almost godlike,” he says.

Again, that boyish smile: “there's something very special about them.”

As you grow to understand your dragon, more complex interactions with him - across both land traversal and combat - will open up to you. “

“You will eventually be able to ride Thuban,” explains Kamiya, “but maybe in the beginning, in the earlier stages, your understanding of each other is not enough to allow Drew to ride him.”

As the story progresses, joint attacks will also open up, or in-game actions with a little more meaning: Thuban might have more of an interest in saving a flailing Drew as he topples off a cliff, for example, or be more inclined to lend him a helping tail to reach a high ledge.

“Throughout that progression you’ll be able to definitely see how the characters play off of each other, and how things that you weren’t able to do earlier on might be something you can do later on.”

We also saw Drew switch to ‘dragon form’; a super-charged ability that allowed him to scale the mantis and unleash a devastating attack with his sword. With the frenzied beat of The Prodigy’s “Wild Frontier” pulsing through his headphones and skill points scattering across the screen at every blow, Platinum’s pedigree was brought home with an industrial boom.

“We want to give players a chance to show off,” says Kamiya of this ability. “It’s a bit of stress relief during this intense combat. So for a short amount of time - as long as you have enough energy - you can transform Drew... it’s like his superpower.”

The scope of customisation Platinum is promising here is impressive. We saw a lighter Thuban with tiger-striped scales, and a heavier one, decked out from head to tail in armour. “There are a lot of customisation options that we’re planning for your dragon,” says Scalebound’s game designer Yusuke Miyata. ”It’s not just the armour, it’s broken down into several different parts of the dragon. The parts themselves have a transformation quality, and on top of that you can pick and choose the armour you can slot into these parts.”

This all affects the way Thuban fights. A lighter Thuban with a spear-like weapon attached to his tail will make for a faster, offensive character, while an armoured Thuban with a weighted weapon on his tail will be a better damage-sponge. “There’s always going to be that kind of risk/reward balance,” explains Miyata. “How do I want my dragon to behave and will this be advantageous for me for the next battle? You’ve got to look at each situation that you’re in and assess.”

Though multiple weapons will be available for Drew to use throughout his journey, Kellams says that he’ll remain a comparably static character. “We want you to play in the role of Drew, but we want you to customise Thuban.” So skill points gained in battle will broadly level Drew up, but Platinum has an unwavering eye on the story it wants to tell.

Monkey Man wrote:SCALEBOUND ISN'T THE GAME YOU THINK IT IS, selected paragraphs from the IGN First preview, more at the link - http://uk.ign.com/articles/2015/08/05/s ... hink-it-is

Kamiya is finally realising his dream in Scalebound, a game where a dragon is not a beast to be defeated, but a companion for your human character, Drew, to fight beside.The focus on a central duo is one in a series of firsts for Kamiya and his studio Platinum, which is side-stepping its distinctive combo-focused action style to build a sprawling, colourful action RPG under first time collaborator Microsoft.“

“Scalebound is Platinum’s first action RPG,” says Scalebound’s Creative Producer Jean Paul Pierre Kellams, “so we’re making a game that brings all of our core competencies in action gameplay to the RPG genre and placing it in a very large non-linear world.”

The spice Platinum is adding to this formula to make it truly unique is Thuban, a “dragon who is bonded to you,” and who behaves as an independent creature alongside Drew, rather than a strictly responsive vessel for your button prompts.

Still a strong, majestic beast, then, but one that fits a young Kamiya’s vision of what a dragon could be. “There’s a level of intelligence to dragons to the point where they’re almost godlike,” he says.

Again, that boyish smile: “there's something very special about them.”

As you grow to understand your dragon, more complex interactions with him - across both land traversal and combat - will open up to you. “

“You will eventually be able to ride Thuban,” explains Kamiya, “but maybe in the beginning, in the earlier stages, your understanding of each other is not enough to allow Drew to ride him.”

As the story progresses, joint attacks will also open up, or in-game actions with a little more meaning: Thuban might have more of an interest in saving a flailing Drew as he topples off a cliff, for example, or be more inclined to lend him a helping tail to reach a high ledge.

“Throughout that progression you’ll be able to definitely see how the characters play off of each other, and how things that you weren’t able to do earlier on might be something you can do later on.”

We also saw Drew switch to ‘dragon form’; a super-charged ability that allowed him to scale the mantis and unleash a devastating attack with his sword. With the frenzied beat of The Prodigy’s “Wild Frontier” pulsing through his headphones and skill points scattering across the screen at every blow, Platinum’s pedigree was brought home with an industrial boom.

“We want to give players a chance to show off,” says Kamiya of this ability. “It’s a bit of stress relief during this intense combat. So for a short amount of time - as long as you have enough energy - you can transform Drew... it’s like his superpower.”

The scope of customisation Platinum is promising here is impressive. We saw a lighter Thuban with tiger-striped scales, and a heavier one, decked out from head to tail in armour. “There are a lot of customisation options that we’re planning for your dragon,” says Scalebound’s game designer Yusuke Miyata. ”It’s not just the armour, it’s broken down into several different parts of the dragon. The parts themselves have a transformation quality, and on top of that you can pick and choose the armour you can slot into these parts.”

This all affects the way Thuban fights. A lighter Thuban with a spear-like weapon attached to his tail will make for a faster, offensive character, while an armoured Thuban with a weighted weapon on his tail will be a better damage-sponge. “There’s always going to be that kind of risk/reward balance,” explains Miyata. “How do I want my dragon to behave and will this be advantageous for me for the next battle? You’ve got to look at each situation that you’re in and assess.”

Though multiple weapons will be available for Drew to use throughout his journey, Kellams says that he’ll remain a comparably static character. “We want you to play in the role of Drew, but we want you to customise Thuban.” So skill points gained in battle will broadly level Drew up, but Platinum has an unwavering eye on the story it wants to tell.

SCALEBOUND: PLATINUM ACTION WITH DEEP RPG SYSTEMS

Dragon customization, skill points, and more.

Platinum is promising that the island of Draconis will be full of “tons of combat and exploration.” “Non-linear” is the term being used in place of “open-world” - Draconis is not a sandbox - though protagonist Drew and his dragon companion Thuban will need to continually upskill in order to traverse its vast terrain.

For the player, this means management of two separate - but easily learned - systems. Drew levels up through battle: every time he or Thuban defeats an enemy, he’ll earn a skill point. These can be chained by defeating a second enemy within a timed period, which will give you some sort of bonus on top of what you’ve already gained. “If you pace your combat in the right way,” explains Kamiya, “if you're successful at consecutively defeating the enemies, the longer that chain will last.”

Skill points can also be gained outside of combat. Scalebound is built around the relationship between Drew and Thuban, so you will be rewarded for taking care of that relationship. “If you heal your dragon, or execute other supportive role-type actions, you’ll be able to earn skill points,” says Kamiya. “By motivating the player to participate in actions and behaviours that are meaningful, it will… help you progress further”.

While Platinum didn’t go into great detail on how you’ll obtain weapons and armour, we were treated to a brief glimpse of one of the villages in Draconis. These will serve as traditional RPG hubs, so here you’ll be able to rest, speak to NPCs, deal with your loadout, and buy items with in-game currency. The one we saw was quite rustic - villagers wore simple clothing, woven from natural materials - but Platinum promises this is just one of many villages in Draconis, all of which have a different aesthetic.

“It’s really big,” says Kamiya, as Drew walks through the village that stretches off into the distance. “It just keeps going.”

We only got a brief glimpse at Thuban’s customisation screen, but it’s clear you can customise the dragon from head to toe. Horns, tail, knuckles, wings, armour, breath, skin were all able to be swapped out and played with, while armour can also be equipped. As Thuban is as an independent character - one who will obey your commands but whose sophisticated AI will react to situations accordingly - the decisions you make in this screen are crucial.

“Even though I know we've been emphasising that this is an action RPG, because I need to get that message across - I hope you agree that we know how to make action games. We know how the responsiveness of a move is what really differentiates our games from other action games. That's what's so special about our games, whether it's Bayonetta or my previous title Devil May Cry. So one thing that's not going to change is that how great it feels when Drew is in battle. You're not going to feel like it's worse than what we've done before. The sort of intuitiveness and the response to the action that Drew is taking? That will remain at the quality that’s always defined our action games.”

The PlatinumGames developers of Scalebound take you into their Japanese studio and explain how Scalebound actually started development long ago - back before The Wonderful 101!

Hi everyone,

We hope you had a great New Year’s!

As we enter into 2016, we want to provide you with an update on Scalebound, the upcoming Xbox One-exclusive action-RPG that lets you fight alongside a fearsome dragon named Thuban.

Development on the game is going well and we’re really happy with how it’s coming together. Scalebound is one of the biggest games PlatinumGames has ever created: an epic adventure filled with exploration and fantasy gameplay, inventive multiplayer, and action-packed battles on an unbelievable scale – all set in a beautiful and evolving world. It’s the game our team has always dreamed of making.

In order to deliver on our ambitious vision and ensure that Scalebound lives up to expectations, we will be launching the game in 2017. This will give us the time needed to bring to life all the innovative features and thrilling gameplay experiences that we have planned.

We know you’re excited to see more and thank you for your patience. Scalebound is a truly special project that’s been several years in the making, and we are very proud and inspired by all the work our team has done so far.

We will be sharing more about our vision for Scalebound later this year and can’t wait to give you a closer look at the world of Draconis and the incredible creatures and experiences we’re building.

Randolph & Mortimer wrote:Good, too many exclusives this year as it is.

Randolph & Mortimer wrote:Good, too many exclusives this year as it is.