..Dragon's Crown..

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Dragon's Crown was announced at E3 2011 as an upcoming spring 2012 release. The 2D action RPG game is designed for both the PlayStation 3 and Vita, another cross game for the home and portable gaming systems. Unfortunately, the initial release date that was given has come and gone. Vanillaware promises the game is still in production and will be released this year, but the official site just claims spring 2012. Despite the setback for those anticipating the game, it looks to be a fun and exciting game once it is available.

Dragon's Crown is set in a fantasy world loaded with complex dungeons to explore, all kinds of evil monsters to slay, and an online adventure that just might never end. Gamers will explore the dungeons fighting villains, collecting treasure, and strengthening their characters while discovering the secrets of the ancient dragon, which is threatening the world. It is a side-scrolling game with characters fighting foes in the foreground or background as needed.

The plot of the game is simple. Bad magic-users are seeking the legendary Dragon's Crown treasure and have linked the ruins of the dungeons together with sorcery to search for it. The playable characters go after these evil-doers to keep the crown out of their hands, because who knows what bad things would happen to the world above if it did fall into their grip, while find their own treasure.

Gamers will be able to choose from six characters in Dragon's Crown: Fighter, Amazon, Elf, Sorceress, Wizard, and Dwarf. Two are buxom females, which will probably appeal more to male gamers, but for a game like this, that might be the intended crowd anyway. The characters travel through the world using both standard attacks and magic to defeat their enemies. As in other RPGs, each character has specific strengths and weaknesses. These include their attack power, movement speed, special attacks, and selection of magic. What is really cool though is that each character's growth will be customizable by the gamer.

As gamers fight and explore their way through Dragon's Crown's dungeons, they will find equipment and weapons, which can aid characters by increasing a character's statistics and battle strength. The dungeons challenge characters with branching paths on each level. These are based on the player's decisions during actual gameplay, so characters could steal from a boss, run instead of fighting a character, or search for secret. All of these decisions will lead to alternate areas. In fact, some dungeons will have objectives just for those areas, and if the players decide to take on that quest, they can find rewards that they otherwise would have missed.

Up to four players, via the PlayStation Network, can work together in Dragon's Crown. With six possibilities, this can make for some interesting combinations of characters. Also, if a character dies during online play, another player may take the dead character's bones to a special merchant who will bring the character back to life. The resurrected character will become and A.I.-controlled partner for the player who brought him back to life. An in-game messaging system will allow players to communicate with each other, via simple messages.

Whenever Dragon's Crown is finally released, it looks to be great fun to play. Solo players can have fun, but the game will truly shine in multiplayer mode. Since it's coming out for both the PS3 and PS Vita and allows for Cross-Play on both systems, it'll offer the possibility of taking the game anywhere, so it's surely going to be played a lot! At least that's what the developers are aiming for.

Diane Brunner   Followdianebrunner I have been gaming since I was in high school, before it was acceptable for a girl to do it. I have been a writer for even longer. It's only natural the two would combine. I prefer RPGs, action/adventure, and strategy games, but I also play dancing, sports titles, and shooters.

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