Number 25 - Volume 3/Issue 1 - Defunct Games
Number 25 - Volume 3/Issue 1 - Defunct Games
Number 25 - Volume 3/Issue 1 - Defunct Games
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NIS America announced Dragoneer’s Aria along with Grim Grimoire and<br />
Soul Nomad a few months back. It’s an RPG from the developers of<br />
Blade Dancer, but this time the RPG vets at Nippon Ichi Software are<br />
giving the new kids a hand in development. NIS gave us a little time with<br />
an early build, and thus far, Dragoneer’s Aria isn’t what you’d expect<br />
given its pedigree at all. The screenshots tell the story: Dragoneer’s<br />
Aria sports unusually realistic and detailed character models for a PSP<br />
game, with textures that would be right at home in a PS2 title.<br />
The plot concerns a young man named Valen, who’s about to join the<br />
elite ranks of the knightly Dragoneers. At the Six Dragon Festival held<br />
to mark his induction, a fiendish black dragon appears and wreaks<br />
havoc, fighting the six benevolent elemental dragons that protect the<br />
world. When the carnage ends, the dragons are missing and it’s up to<br />
you and the Dragoneers to find them before it’s too late. Along the<br />
way you acquire the mysterious allies and magic powers that are<br />
required when you’re on a world-saving quest like this.<br />
The gameplay carries over some of Blade Dancer’s style, with similar<br />
enemy encounter, item crafting, and save point systems. The battle<br />
system has gotten an overhaul, and now emphasizes putting your<br />
characters in special “stances” that grant offensive and defensive<br />
bonuses, and a materia-like ability customization system. The<br />
optional wireless battles with up to three friends are back,<br />
allowing players to take items and loot earned in multiplayer back<br />
into their singleplayer campaign.<br />
Blade Dancer was one of the few PSP RPGs<br />
that was neither an ancient port nor a flaming<br />
train wreck of unplayability, so Dragoneer’s<br />
Aria should at least be decent. Whether or<br />
not anyone can care about an original RPG on<br />
the ailing PSP hardware right now is the real<br />
question.<br />
Preview by Lynxara<br />
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