Way across the pond in Cologne, Germany, the annual Gamescom event is soon to take place, and all the big players are present to show off their latest and greatest recent and upcoming games and peripherals. At Microsoft’s Gamescom briefing today, they revealed gameplay footage from a promising upcoming title, Scalebound, from Platinum Games. The game puts players in control of a modern-dressed teenage boy with a powerful dragon friend. Take a peek.
As you can see, the protagonist is a teen with a dragon buddy that doesn’t think very highly of him. The protagonist’s arm and transforming ability are what truly stand out about the character, and having a dragon that takes commands from the player makes for many very interesting mechanics and possibilities. Clearly, the dragon can be ordered to destroy larger pieces of the environment while the player handles smaller fodder enemies, and the two work in tandem to defeat the larger mantis foe.
Saved for the end of the trailer was the big co-op reveal. It has been confirmed that up to four players will be able to take on the challenges within the game together in order to defeat monsters more powerful than even your large dragon friend.
Left in the dark by the trailer is the mythos of the game’s world. Who are the knights? Who do they fight for? What do they want? Who is the protagonist? Why do they have the tech for wireless headphones while using rudimentary melee weapons instead of guns? None of these questions have concrete others, and other viewers surely have others than those, but the hack-n-slash RPG genre hasn’t seen much quality or innovation in recent years, so Scalebound is a welcome opportunity for refreshment.
If the trailer wasn’t enough non-choreographed gameplay or has inspired a hunger for more within your soul, IGN released 8-minutes-long extended gameplay footage.
The game has been born from a partnership between Platinum Games and Microsoft, which marks two firsts for Platinum Games. They’ve never made an Xbox One game and they’ve never worked with Microsoft. Because of this, expect the game to release exclusively for Xbox with fair odds at a PC port. It’s hoped to launch by the holiday season 2016.