Where most RPGs just drag on, this one’s got a dragon
It feels like Hideki Kamiya, Bayonetta creator and serial Twitter abuser, has been working toward Scalebound for some time. Through his work runs the theme of the small calling on the big, be it demons woven from Bayonetta’s hair or the tiny citizens of The Wonderful 101 uniting into towering blades and whips. In the pairing of Scalebound’s human, Drew, and dragon, Thuban, we see that same relationship played out in frantic real time. As the former nimbly murders foot soldiers with swords, spears and other pointy implements, his pet crushes their barracks, or belches flames at giant insects that wander into the fray. Where Kamiya once used massive beasts as the payoff to a desperate struggle, here one’s on-screen at all times. And it is mesmerizing.
Thuban’s a complex AI creation, with replays of the demo showing him tackling the same situations with all manner of dragon wiles. One time he splats down Drew’s attackers with mighty claw-slaps; the next he focuses on puffing fire through their front doors. He can be guided with rough orders, but his independent mind means you never quite know how he’ll act when he reaches the marker. It’s suggested that his obedience and abilities hinge on Drew’s bond with him at the given time. Squint and Drew’s almost the coach to Thuban’s heavyweight boxer, shouting out tactics and applying a healing touch when his scaly pal gets overwhelmed. It’s not entirely altruistic, however, as the two share a health bar, like a notduff version of Dragonheart.
It’s when the duo tag-team a larger praying mantis that more intricate interplay begins to blossom. As Thuban draws the creature’s attention with tail-slaps to the face, Drew uses his mystical dragon arm – another bonus of the shared bond with Thuban – to tether himself to the exposed flesh around the mantis’ knee, yank himself over, and saw off the limb with some grisly button-mashing. Played a second time, and the fight unfolds very differently: Drew throws a stun mine onto the mantis’ leg, detonates it with a shot from his bow and sends Thuban to chew on the now paralyzed enemy. A third sees both legs chopped off with diving cuts before Thuban torches the torso as it thrashes on the ground.
Many of these ideas – limb-specific damage, status effects, the constant stream of numbers pouring from enemies – are common RPG tropes, but seeing them framed by Kamiya’s action-loving eye helps you push past the stats. Transform into Drew’s pumped-up dragon form and he can mount the mantis, bringing the cameraman with him as the view bucks around and the bug resists. Let Thuban deliver the flaming coup de grâce and the camera pulls back to ensure he’s captured in his full majesty. One benefit of moving away from the twitch action that defines many Platinum games is the ability to comfortably drink in the events. Like in Okami – until now, the odd one out on Kamiya’s CV – there’s a sense of wonder to much of Scalebound.
Dragon Quests
With so much of Kamiya’s career spent on blistering action games, we wonder how much RPG can be expected from his action-RPG. And just what kind of RPG are we talking about? The genre is pretty bloated, so we ask Kamiya to clarify. “I have not necessarily played many Western RPGs. My memories come from the Famicom era, where Dragon Quest was a favorite. When I was able to afford games as a teenager, there were two PC games that had a great influence on me and Scalebound. They’re not your typical RPGs: Sorcerian and Hydlite III. They’re both set in fantasy worlds and feature dragons; subject matters I wanted to realize in my own games. Drakkhen [also] left a strong impression.”
It’s easy to see some of that DNA here. Draconis is not just a procession of battle arenas, but an epic land to be explored. The way the team describes it makes it sound less like a sandbox, more like a Zelda game, with regions opening up as Thuban learns the tricks needed to reach them. Our demo concludes with the duo bursting into a dungeon that couldn’t be more Zelda if it tried: a linear path policed by baby mantis creatures leads to tangle of vines only Thuban can bring down. In a slideshow of other areas we see villages swarming with NPCs, ready to sell Drew new weapons (his kit degrades over time) and armor, and new parts for Thuban. Even better, you’ll be able to take your newly empowered dragon back to earlier areas to take revenge on those once threatening foes.
The upgrade path sounds very interesting, designed to make Drew a relative constant through the action in order to shift the focus onto nurturing a Thuban to fit your playing style. Cosmetic skins aside, you can tweak horns, claws and tail – upping the damage of attacks associated with those parts or adding elemental buffs to create new outcomes in battle. Just as Bayonetta handled as a different character when she was armed with guns or a scythe, so Thuban can be transformed. Do you armor him up and add weight to his barging attacks? Do you sharpen that tail and hope he opts to get whippy with it? The challenge of harnessing the power of a slightly unpredictable dragon sounds unlike anything else, although it’ll live and die on the sophistication of Thuban’s AI.
It’s a tough game to demo, in this sense, perhaps explaining why those who saw Kamiya play the scenario a second time probably feel more confident about it than those who watched the single demo shown at Microsoft’s Gamescom briefing. Even by Kamiya’s mad standards, Scalebound feels crazy in its ambition, and that’s before factoring in the notion of three other Drews harnessing three other Thubans in a four-player co-op mode. There’s a lot of work to be done before Holiday 2016, but if anyone can tame this madness, it’ll be Platinum. Matthew Castle