Scalebound
Platform: Xbox One
Developer: PlantinumGames
Publisher: Hello Games
Release date: TBA 2016
Author: S.A.
Straight from the director of the Devil May Cry Games, Hideki Kamiya, we have a whole new world just waiting to be unravelled in 2016. This world is brought to us in the form of his latest creation, Scalebound, and boy does it look pretty. For those of you who might be hoping for a game eerily similar to Devil May Cry itself, I wouldn’t hold my breath. For the only similar notions in the game that may be found so far, remain in the main character Drew. With an arm that is not wholly human, much like the protagonist Nero of Devil May Cry 4, he has seemingly super human abilities gifted to him through its dragonic nature altering his body.
Drew’s Arm looks like one hell of an advantage.
That said, a main character with an inhuman arm is where the similarities end. This world is no one on one monster fight, but rather a massive RPG adventure waiting to be had. The climate of this world is seemingly hostile in nature, but never fear, the game hardly expects you to fight alone. Instead, you the gamer are gifted with a fearsome partner from the onset, Thuban the Dragon. That’s right folks, we get to fight with a dragon as our partner in crime, and boy does he seem to pack a wallop as is demonstrated in the released game play trailer.
Our new found friend.
Their isn’t much to be said currently in regards to the story, it seems the developers are holding those cards close to their chest. However, they have released some information on how the fighting system will work in game. Essentially, this game is a mixture of Monster Hunter and Pokemon in one game. On one side we have Drew, our main character who seems to have a whole host of fighting skills at his disposal. He is gifted with a broad arrange of weapon skills that he can upgrade, and change at a players discretion. If that wasn’t enough, Drew also has a form gifted to him by the dragon cells within his body, his ‘Dragon Form’. The form, while limited in time duration, gifts you with a serious increase in power and ability, without which you never would be able to go toe to toe with some of this worlds inhabitants. These different skills will help you decide whether you wish to be an up close fighter, or a support character for your, can you guess? Dragon. Here comes the Pokemon aspect, for on the other side of the coin we have Thuban. Who is just as customizable as Drew, if not seemingly more so.
Joining up for some cooperative ass kicking.
The player must decide how they want Thuban to throw down in fights. This ranges from being a support character himself, allowing you to come in close and throw in the decisive blows. Or acting as the main heavy hitter, allowing you to stay well and safe out of combat. Either way you and your poke…I mean dragon will be a cooperative force through this adventure.
The main way to help Thuban grow as a character seems to be in the customization of his armour. The armour you gift him will determine what kind of fighter he will be, so you must be very careful in the selection process. If you want him to be the heavy hitter and absorb damage, gift him very strong armour. The draw back from that though is that Thuban is now severely slowed down in comparison to the other monster. If you want him to be a hit and run character gift onto him lighter armour, which allows for higher speed, but lower defence. It will be a careful blend for the gamer to ensure that Thuban is both safe and secure, while also doing what the gamer hopes for. That is to say, kicking monster butt.
The game itself doesn’t have a scheduled release date yet, merely a speculated one, which is sometime in 2016. That said, it still looks interesting and a fun grab, so keep it on your radar folks.
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