Different companions will join her at different times on her journey. This companion won't ever die and is unable to heal Zero when she takes damage. Zero also has a companion that will attack alongside her. Combat moves at breakneck pace, allowing for a refreshing level of fluidity not often seen in Japanese role-playing games. Zero can kick, spin, jump, dodge and chain combo attacks with her massive weapons to take down swathes of enemies. On the ground, she's a menace with heavy spears and scythes. The action focus of Drakengard 3 became readily apparent watching Zero in combat. "We really wanted to feed more information about each character to players so people will be more interested in the game as a whole." "JRPG fans really love their characters, and they want to relate to their characters," he said. When players start the game, they will have a better sense of what is going on and who these women are - but players who don't choose to read the comics won't have any trouble jumping in either, Shiba said. These comics will share more details on each of Zero's sisters, painting a backstory for the tortured family. In Japan, as part of the game's marketing, Square will release a new online graphic novel every two weeks leading up to the game's release. Drakengard 3 is more of a dark fantasy featuring an anti-hero."īut there's more to Zero's vendetta, and Square Enix wants players to understand this on a deeper level. Most games have a heroic figure fighting to save the world and fighting for justice. We're exploiting something that typical JRPGs really haven't before - the major difference is that it doesn't follow the JRPG formula. "This isn't your typical JRPG," Shiba said. Zero isn't want you would call a typical JRPG heroine she isn't exactly walking the path of righteousness. Again, this is a major story point Shiba said can't be shared yet, but it doesn't make the ensuing bloodbath any more chilling. Zero's response is to set out on a quest to kill them all, but not out of revenge. One day, Zero is abandoned by her sisters - also named after numbers - but why, Shiba wouldn't say that's a story point to be revealed later. Drakengard 3 - set to launch exclusively on PlayStation 3 in Japan this December and in North America next year - follows Zero, the eldest of six sisters that are Intoners, magical goddess-like beings that use magic by singing. This was evident in the hands-off demo Shiba showed me. There are two key elements to the game: the story and the action, and the development team has sought to seamlessly weave both together to keep the game moving at a brisk pace. This is also why, Shiba said, Drakengard 3 is more action oriented, with much of the game's dialogue running over battle sequences. "We wanted to go against the market trend because we were feeding into the circle." "We were putting out fewer titles because casual games were becoming more popular, and we saw another problem: the JRPG market was shrinking, and we realized we just needed to make more," he said. "The JRPG market was shrinking, and we realized we just needed to make more." Even the production of new Final Fantasy titles has slowed down. Few console games were being released, and that's why we haven't made anything new recently. "But before, there were more casual gamers and the market of console gamers started to sink. "There's a larger market now," Shiba said. Shiba explained that the large time gap was due to a fluctuating market - as casual gaming became more common, less players were willing to sink time into a 30-plus hour role-playing game that required lengthy sessions of grinding for experience points, cutscenes and other parts that failed to hit the instant gratification sweet-spot. It has been eight years since the last game, Drakengard 2, launched on PlayStation 2 and four years since the debut of series spin-off game Nier. Drakengard 3, the in-development prequel to the Drakengard role-playing game trilogy, was developed with "mature, more hardcore JRPG" players in mind, producer Takamasa Shiba told Polygon during a recent event demoing the title.
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