Number 25 - Volume 3/Issue 1 - Defunct Games

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