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[mocoworm]

http://www.polygon.com/2016/8/17/12...you-to-control-your-dragon-directly-in-battle

Little has been said so far about the dragons of Scalebound, the fantasy action role-playing title from Platinum Games and Hideki Kamiya. Drew, star of the show, and his dragon Thuban are a team, working together to vanquish enemies. Their bond in-game will be even more powerful: Drew, and by extension the player, has the ability to directly control his scaled friend.

At Gamescom 2016, Kamiya and creative producer J.P. Kellams showed a pre-recorded video that detailed Dragon Links and customization. Drew and Thuban are connected, Kellams said, and therefore share a life force that Drew can use to his advantage in battle. Once linked, the game swaps out its over-the-shoulder view for a first-person perspective from Drew as he directs Thuban.

"While they are physically two different beings, when you go into Dragon Link their minds are merging into one," Kamiya said via translator. "You're controlling Thuban through Drew's perspective and using his powerful attacks and moves. At that point, Drew is going to be defenseless."

While Thuban grapples with terrifying foes, Drew does his best to stay alive; he's still vulnerable while controlling Thuban and can be taken out with a heavy hand from an enemy. Swapping between the two seems to be effortless, however, or at least a quick change. This is essentially the game's combo system, where players switch between the two to deliver attacks in harmony.

"You want to make sure you find the right timing to use and to really work well with Thuban," Kamiya said.

Although Thuban will always appear as he does in the promotional materials — there's a reason for that that Platinum isn't ready to talk about — players can customize their dragons. There are three types players will have access to in Scalebound: the well-balanced rex, a heavy tank and a speedy wyvern. Players will be able to change attributes of their dragons with gems. During a separate video, the developer demonstrated how a player might change from a tank dragon to a rex, affecting both its skills and its appearance. The idea is to blend the qualities you want to create a dragon specific to your style.

"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."

Kellams added that while the three types may seem a little trope-y at first, the ability to blend them will help players create something more innovative. Additional customizations are available through armor and gem buffs. Armor can give dragons an extra defensive or offensive boost, but this isn't a permanent solution. You can mix and match your armor, but it will break as it takes damage in combat. A buff, meanwhile, comes in handy when a dragon enters berserker mode and can unleash special elemental attacks.

"You'll be able to sort of learn what these attributes, how they're going to contribute," Kamiya said. "You'll want to gradually start finding your favorite play style or dragon style that you want to grow into."

 

[Glass Rebel]

Once linked, the game swaps out its over-the-shoulder view for a first-person perspective from Drew as he directs Thuban.

why

 

[Theorry]

Cool cool. Hopefully we see the footage soon also maybe after GC.

 

[Shmuppers]

HMMMMMMMMM

 

[BadWolf]

I still can't believe they named him Drew.

 

[ArgyleReptile]

why

I mean, I get the idea behind it, but...yeah.

 

[Guymelef]

Kamiya is at Gamescom?
I hope he slept well last night.

 

[Uraizen]

Small scale RAD?

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

This game is still not sounding or looking good.

Also, very surprised at no new trailer release.

 

[Vital Tundra]

Why do it from that perspective. Ugh.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Ok lets see it

 

[mocoworm]

There doesn't seem to be that much hype for Scalebound anymore. We need some really good, new gameplay vids to get people excited again.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

There doesn't seem to be that much hype for Scalebound anymore. We need some really good, new gameplay vids to get people excited again.

Yeah, two underwhelming gameplay demos will do that.

The first demo was disappointing, but it looked ok to me. The second was awful and really hurt my excitement for the game.

 

[Dr. Harford]

Sounds really cool if they can pull it off.

 

[Kowashitai]

There doesn't seem to be that much hype for Scalebound anymore. We need some really good, new gameplay vids to get people excited again.

The demos just killed any excitement I had for the game. I love Kamiya's games and Scalebound just doesn't look like has the flair that I come to expect from him. Maybe there is a lot more behind the scenes we haven't seen that does, but what they have shown off isn't promising.

 

[Jarod McChicken]

4 new screens at the Xbox Media site. I think anyone can access this site ?

 

[Chobel]

There doesn't seem to be that much hype for Scalebound anymore. We need some really good, new gameplay vids to get people excited again.

Well E3 video really sucked, I have no idea who and why they approved it.

 

[Bits N Pieces]

Don't show this game again in public until you have an absolute kick ass demo that shows exactly what this game is all about, proper action RPG kinda stuff.

I still have high hopes for it.

 

[killroy87]

Is there any lamer name for a fantasy protagonist than Drew?

 

[mocolostrocolos]

Kamiya is at Gamescom?
I hope he slept well last night.

Might share with Shu some nap times.

 

[shandy706]

This game looks and sounds great.

I hope we get a better look soon.

 

[Dovahking]

4 new screens at the Xbox Media site. I think anyone can access this site ?

Yes

 

[Kaako]

There doesn't seem to be that much hype for Scalebound anymore. We need some really good, new gameplay vids to get people excited again.

You can thank the actual gameplay footage for that. E3 showing was downright abysmal.

 

[Chobel]

Yes

These look... bad? Something really off about environments and ground/rock textures.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

This game looks not great. Kamiya needs another nap I think

 

[Zeta Oni]

why

First person screenshots is reason enough for me.

 

[flaxknuckles]

Sounds cool though I thought super saiyan dragon mode was supposed to compensate for not being able to control the dragon. I guess this is cool.

Part of the reason the game isn't enthralling me is because of the bland art style. Platinum needs to outsource that next game because all their games except for Okami and Anarchy Reigns have this problem for me.

 

[Aostia]

This game continues to have everything I want from a game on paper but than...I don't know but I simply can't stand hoe it looks and plays
It seems bland and uninspired
Hopefully it will turn out to be good

 

[Punished_Snake]

Need to see footage, I'm more excited about the world. Show me the world.

 

[disappeared]

Yeah they need to come out swinging with the next batch of footage. That e3 demo did the game no favors.

 

[Dovahking]

These look... bad? Something really off about environments and ground/rock textures.

Graphics look fine to me.
Do we know if it's running at 60fps ?

 

[Jinkies]

I still can't believe they named him Drew.

Is there any lamer name for a fantasy protagonist than Drew?

It's a name contemporary to modern-day reality for a character who is the same.

 

[Zeta Oni]

Graphics look fine to me.
Do we know if it's running at 60fps ?

30.

UE4 and open world running on Xbox one doesn't sound like an easy task, but I'm hoping performance is improved before release.

60 for Scorpio, hopefully.