Dragon's Crown (Vanillaware)

[CIT]

So is the English localization included on the NTSC-J disc?

[dcharlie]

Can't speak for the PS3 version personally but the Vita version only has English voices - all text remains in Japanese and i hear the PS3 version is the smae.

[evil_ash_xero]

So is the English localization included on the NTSC-J disc?

Just voices. The text is on the disc, but you have to hack it. So, no.

Also, my main concern about the game is it's difficulty. I got two games this year that I really like (Metal Gear Rising and Ni no Kuni), but was disappointed a bit with both because they were too easy.

I've been playing Fire Emblem: Raidant Dawn to kind of balance things out.

[CMoon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UdxgvM11o8

[kid aphex]

I've been waiting for this game for a while. I haven't felt this way about a videogame since I was a child.
Can't pin it down --- it's a relatively complex constellation of characteristics that generate an old-school/classic vibe.

I especially love the art and it's oversexed style --- the internet drama surrounding it has really turned me off to an entire spectrum of people.
(At this point, if Videogames were a house party, I'd be sitting on the curb with a drink, staring at the sky, and trying to ignore the noise)

[CIT]

I especially love the art and it's oversexed style --- the internet drama surrounding it has really turned me off to an entire spectrum of people.

I think it's a cultural thing. Most of the criticism of Dragon's Crown's art seems to come from the US, where there is some kind of unholy alliance between militant puritans and militant feminists.

[opt2not]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UdxgvM11o8

Aww man, that video kinda turned me off of Dragon's Crown.

- "not as fast and combo'y like D&D:SoM"..?
- "loot grinding"..?
- "not too difficult till 40 hrs in"..?

The death mechanic is kinda interesting, though a bit too forgiving for my tastes.

Hmm...

[CMoon]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UdxgvM11o8

Aww man, that video kinda turned me off of Dragon's Crown.

- "not as fast and combo'y like D&D:SoM"..?
- "loot grinding"..?
- "not too difficult till 40 hrs in"..?

The death mechanic is kinda interesting, though a bit too forgiving for my tastes.

Hmm...

It does indeed sound like standard Vanillaware shenanigans, I can already feel the 'oooh this game is great', then 10 hours later...

[BulletMagnet]

Some early overseas "shipped" estimates here.

[CMoon]

Game Informer is streaming it right now:
http://www.twitch.tv/gameinformer?utm_c ... former.com

[Phellan Wolf]

Call me wierd but I'll take Capcom's D&D over this. Altough graphic art wise is fantastic, if the gameplay stills the same as Muramasa is going to be a real shame.

[cj iwakura]

There's some creepy video that seems to indicate the player can feel up an imprisoned female character. Seems kind of perverse, even for Vanillaware.

[Skykid]

Call me wierd but I'll take Capcom's D&D over this. Altough graphic art wise is fantastic, if the gameplay stills the same as Muramasa is going to be a real shame.

Muramasa was a good game. If this plays as well as Muramasa, it will be enough, since the visuals go a long way to compensating for the general simplicity. For me at least.

I couldn't dig Odin Sphere because of the pace, so I'm happy to see another arcade style action game from Kamitani.

[cj iwakura]

Odin Sphere required saintly patience to finish(guilty as charged), but the story was masterful.

[evil_ash_xero]

There's some creepy video that seems to indicate the player can feel up an imprisoned female character. Seems kind of perverse, even for Vanillaware.

I think they react the same way no matter where you click them. I think.

But yeah, Vanillaware's getting their ya yas out with this one.

But seriously, if we look at where their inspiration comes from:





Fantasy art. Frank Frazetta, the master of this kind of thing. This is how it used to be, from the old pulps to Heavy Metal magazine.
People act like they never saw this kind of stuff before.

Anyway, take a look at some more of this totally NSFW art. It's gorgeous, but it's got nekkid people in it.

http://pinterest.com/disarmed/artist-ga ... -frazetta/

[dcharlie]

some of the references in this game are absolutely hilarious and some are unexpected and almost certainly copyright infringing.

Starting to fall into this game being something i can only play in short spurts - having to do a little grinding work and i seem to be terminally starved of coins. Enjoying it though (Vita version) - not sure i'd want to do the rune stuff on the PS3.

[cj iwakura]

There's some creepy video that seems to indicate the player can feel up an imprisoned female character. Seems kind of perverse, even for Vanillaware.

I think they react the same way no matter where you click them. I think.

But yeah, Vanillaware's getting their ya yas out with this one.

But seriously, if we look at where their inspiration comes from:





Fantasy art. Frank Frazetta, the master of this kind of thing. This is how it used to be, from the old pulps to Heavy Metal magazine.
People act like they never saw this kind of stuff before.

Anyway, take a look at some more of this totally NSFW art. It's gorgeous, but it's got nekkid people in it.

http://pinterest.com/disarmed/artist-ga ... -frazetta/

I think that kind of art used to be less of an issue because it was kind of a niche demographic. With gaming becoming more popular, there's more of a spotlight shone on its works, hence the Amazon/Sorceress drama. I prefer classier designs myself(see: Fumiko OV), but I'll hardly get out a pitchfork and take to the streets when someone designs a risque outfit.

[XoPachi]

Call me wierd but I'll take Capcom's D&D over this. Altough graphic art wise is fantastic, if the gameplay stills the same as Muramasa is going to be a real shame.

Muramasa was a good game. If this plays as well as Muramasa, it will be enough, since the visuals go a long way to compensating for the general simplicity. For me at least.

I couldn't dig Odin Sphere because of the pace, so I'm happy to see another arcade style action game from Kamitani.

Muramasa rox my sox.

[Hagane]

Muramasa is pretty bad too. The combat is extremely mash happy, the platforming sections are empty and rather pointless... bosses are decent, but not good enough to save the rest of the game. As usual, nice graphics but poor game. I have no hopes for this either, but I'll still try it at a friend's PS3.

[XoPachi]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... gons-Frown

[BulletMagnet]

Patch incoming.

In local news I picked this up (for PS3) yesterday and gave it a quick test-play before relegating it to my backlog for the time being; in case you needed to hear me say so it looks great, it's a bit weird to think that this is the first "full" HD title Vanillaware has done. I'm not a beat-em-up connoisseur so I can't really say much of value when it comes to how it plays, but off the cuff it felt pretty good in general, at least when playing as the Fighter (who I named "Beefy"), who's supposedly a good choice for beginners. Using the right stick to select stuff for the thief to mess with works fine, but it does slow you down a bit - not a life-threatening thing, as you can simply stop and look around once you've cleared an area of baddies (much as you could plant and mix stuff in Odin Sphere), but you do get a time bonus upon finishing a level, which means that Vita players might have a bit of an advantage when it comes to scoring, since they can just tap the screen and move on.

I'll hafta dig deeper into it sometime later on, but at first blush it's pretty inviting.

[kid aphex]

I think that kind of art used to be less of an issue because it was kind of a niche demographic. With gaming becoming more popular, there's more of a spotlight shone on its works, hence the Amazon/Sorceress drama.

That, and because (for whatever reason) modern, popular, western videogame (internet) culture is a weird hive-mind of tasteless, sexless, and strangely unhuman people. It's very strange that they're 'steering the videogame ship', so to speak, with their dollars (minds).

Without exaggeration, it's frightening to realize I share a hobby with them.
I can't pretend to imagine what their perspective on other aspects of reality is like!

[Necronopticous]

Just played this for the first time with a 3 player group last night. Initial impressions were generally good, but here are my major criticisms so far:

1) Why can't I select Japanese narration? Is there a way?
2) The narration is TOO MUCH. We're constantly cutting the guy off by zoning or doing something because the guy just will not shut up.
3) We all feel like we do too little damage. Enemies take an unusually (for a beat-em-up) long time to kill. Upgrading weapon damage didn't seem noticeable at all.
4) I have heard the complaints about losing sight of where your character is, but dear God do you lose sight of where your character is. Constantly. The game is hectic as hell and it seems extremely difficult to keep track of what is going on and how to react.

Hoping some of these fall of once we've gotten the hang of it a little more.

[cj iwakura]

I love how the UI and general atmosphere is practically just like GrimGrimoire's and Odin Sphere's. Wouldn't have it any other way.

[iconoclast]

I finished my first playthrough earlier today (with the Amazon). Overall, I liked the game a lot more than I thought I would, but it's a little too heavy on the RPG elements for my liking. It would've been great if they managed to keep everything balanced between all of the loot, leveling, and skill trees, but it looks like high level characters can tear right through Inferno mode if their gear is strong enough. Or alternatively, they could've made an arcade mode that has predefined character strength, skills, equipment, and a linear series of stages - sort of like Hard Corps: Uprising. I guess it's not that big of a deal though since the game's pretty fun as it is.

4) I have heard the complaints about losing sight of where your character is, but dear God do you lose sight of where your character is. Constantly. The game is hectic as hell and it seems extremely difficult to keep track of what is going on and how to react.

This is true. I tried playing a few of the missions with allies, but it's very easy to lose track of your character because every battle seems like a huge clusterfuck. I turned them off and went through most of the game solo.

[evil_ash_xero]

I'm still waiting for mine to arrive, but a game like this is begging for an "arcade mode". I think that would have satisfied EVERYONE.

[gct]

I'm trying to get this game but it's just not really carried anywhere. Best Buy's stock checkers lie to me, I've tried reserving at two different stores claiming to have stock but both were unable to fulfill the reservation. Also tried two ebgames/GameStop and they're out or never got any. For what people seem to be hyping up one of 2013's top games, it's awfully scarce. A local GS tells me a shipment might come in next week so I will try my luck again.

edit: make that 3 BB that failed to complete the reservation. I'm not going to bother with any location that takes more than 2 hours to drive to.

[Necronopticous]

Order it online?

[CIT]

If you live in Canada why don't you order from the Atlus store at www.videogamesplus.ca?

[gct]

Well aren't you all full of bright ideas

I think that's what I will do if I can't get it locally on Monday. Might possibly be preferable to order from USA even, to avoid getting some BS bilingual cover.

How does it compare to old beat-em-ups? Traditionally I am terrible at those, even worse that I suck at shooters. I don't think I've ever cleared the second level of any game like Captain Commando or Rushing Beat.