Scalebound: Kamiya Talks Mixing Platinum’s Trademark Action with RPG Elements

Platinum's Hideki Kamiya and game designer Yusuke Miyata have spoken to IGN about Xbox One exclusive Scalebound and how they're merging their trademark action with deep RPG mechanics.

“It’s not a classic Platinum game where it’s like ‘stage 1 clear enemy, boss battle, move to stage 2,” Yusuke commented. “It’s not a game where you’re going to see a linear progression. So the setting and foundation of this game is very different to what we’ve created before.”

The game is nonlinear rather than open-world – Draconis isn't a sandbox – but there are plenty of opportunities for "tons of combat and exploration." Scalebound's hero Drew and Thuban, his dragon companion, must constantly improve their skills in order to cover the vast area available within the game. 

Drew levels up by battling foes, while Thuban earns a skill point every time he defeats an enemy. These upgrades can be chained by defeating enemies quickly for a bonus. “If you pace your combat in the right way,” Kamiya noted, “if you're successful at consecutively defeating the enemies, the longer that chain will last.”

Villages in Draconis act as traditional RPG hubs, with stores, rest areas, and NPC quest-givers. Platinum says every village in the game will offer a different aesthetic and there are many of them within the game world. 

Enemies in the game won't scale up with Drew, but players will still be offered a sense of victory. “If you scale up," Kamiya said, "you don’t get that opportunity to reward the player in terms of, ‘oh my gosh, I got to this point and was able to defeat this enemy in one attack or one blow.’ So, I want the players to have that kind of experience, where it's like, you know how hard you worked, and this is kind of a big payoff for you.”

There will be a great deal of variety in combat, with weakspots on enemies you've previously battled being moved to different locations or a different type of foe waiting for you when you return to an area. “There’s a discovery element to it,” Kamiya explained. “Even though you think you know it all, you don't. We’re really challenging the player to figure things out.”

Kamiya also stressed that while Scalebound's RPG elements are a departure for the studio, fans will still experience the legendary action Platinum's known for.