Crimson Dragon[lower-alpha 3] is a rail shooter primarily developed by Grounding Inc. and published by Microsoft Studios as a launch title for the Xbox One. The game was initially published in 2013 in the West, with a Japanese release the following year. Set on the planet Draco, the story follows a human soldier who can command the native dragons and seeks the source of a disease that threatens Draco's human colony. The gameplay features the player moving an aiming reticle and shooting enemies while the dragon flies through 3D environments either on a fix track or freely within arena-like zones. The dragon can be moved using either a standard gamepad or the console's Kinect peripheral.

Crimson Dragon
Developer(s)	Grounding Inc.[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)	Microsoft Studios
Director(s)	Yukio Futatsugi
Producer(s)	Yutaka Noma Toshiharu Tange
Designer(s)	Tomohiro Kondo
Programmer(s)	Hitoshi Nakanishi
Artist(s)	Ryoji Nakamura
Writer(s)	Tadashi Ihoroi
Composer(s)	Saori Kobayashi Jeremy Garren
Engine	Unreal Engine 3
Platform(s)	Xbox One
Release	WW: 22 November 2013 JP: 4 September 2014
Genre(s)	Rail shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player Multiplayer[lower-alpha 2]

Crimson Dragon was originally announced in 2010 for Xbox 360 under the title Project Draco. The original version only used Kinect controls before changing platforms and including controller support. Several staff members from the Panzer Dragoon series worked on the game including director Yukio Futatsugi, designer Tomohiro Kondo, and artist Manabu Kusunoki. Composer Saori Kobayashi created the initial score using her established ethnic style, which was reworked and expanded by Western composer Jeremy Garren to focus on orchestral and choral sounds at Microsoft's request.

During its production and promotion, the game was referred to by journalists as a spiritual successor to Panzer Dragoon, though Futatsugi felt the similarities were superficial. A spin-off tying into the narrative, Crimson Dragon: Side Story, was developed by Grounding and released in 2012 for Windows Phone. Dependant on the success of Crimson Dragon, Futatsugi planned a role-playing video game follow-up which would expand upon the lore and story. Upon release, Crimson Dragon was given mixed reviews from critics. While praise was given to its core gameplay and art design, its graphical quality and progression systems saw frequent criticism.

Gameplay

Crimson Dragon is a rail shooter in which players take on the role of a dragon rider on the planet Draco, navigating their dragon through 26 3D levels through seven different locations with varied visual designs.[1][2] Levels are divided into sections lading from one to five minutes.[3] Levels, which feature both enemies and environmental hazards to avoid, are split between two types; traditional levels that take place on rails with automatic progression, and open arenas which focus on boss encounters with a single large enemy or a group of stronger normal enemy types.[1][3][4] Some missions offer alternate paths unlocked on repeat playthroughs of a level.[5]

The dragon, which fires using an aiming reticle, can use its attacks to shoot other projectiles from the air. Attacking is split between a lock-on attack which can hit multiple enemies, and a more powerful attack that must be manually aimed.[6][7] Different attacks are color coded green or red depending on their effectiveness against a selected target.[7] The dragon can perform a dodge role to quickly evade incoming fire, and change its position through standard movement.[3] There are six different types of dragon which can be selected during missions, with each having different statistics and skills useful against different enemy types based around elemental strengths and weaknesses.[4][6][8] Each dragon has a main unchangeable skill, and interchangeable secondary skills.[8] While each mission has a main objective that must be completed, there are also optional side objectives such as completing a battle under a time limit or not taking damage.[7] Clearing a stage rewards in-game currency and experience points, along with items collected during gameplay such as revival gems and food which can be used to raise the dragon between missions.[3][8] Each dragon type has a different evolved form which impacts their gameplay performance.[9]

The dragons is controlled through a standard Xbox One gamepad, optionally incorporating the console's Kinect peripheral. The Kinect functions include moving the body to perform in-game actions, performing actions which trigger attacks, or using voice commands to give instructions to altering dragon position or activate its special attack.[2][6][10] The base game included asynchronous cooperative elements, with players able to hire their dragon from other players through Xbox Live for use in missions, with the mission rewards shared at the end.[4][8][10] There were also online leaderboards where players could post their completion scores.[11] Online multiplayer was added in an update, allowing up to two player to join in on missions.[11][12] The game also incorporates microtransactions, with revival gems being purchasable with real-world money.[13]

Synopsis

Crimson Dragon takes place on Draco, a planet populated by dragons and human colonists; a century prior humans arrived on Draco from an overpopulated Earth, but have since lost contact and now fight a disease called Crimsonscale. The protagonist, a resident of the New Amara colony who can tame and ride dragons due to surviving Crimsonscale, is directed by his superiors Sana and Cadmus to pursue White Phantom, a dragon who is spreading Crimsonscale through lesser dragons called White Reavers. During his missions, the protagonist comes across the first human colony Amara, with Sana protecting him from retribution from the Seekers for finding Amara and warning him to forget about it. In contrast, Cadmus sends the protagonist on missions surrounding the ruins, including finding a body identified as someone who is still alive.

Once the protagonist defeats White Phantom, a portal appears in Amara and he has a vision revealing that Earth are using Draco as an experiment to discover biological immortality using Crimsonscale. With each attempt deemed a failure following White Phantom's death, Earth has been resetting Draco using alien technology discovered on the planet to perform a multiverse transference that wipes out the original population. Before the reset happens again, the protagonist leaves behind a message to seek out the While Phantom and the ancient ruins in the hope that the cycle will eventually be broken. In a post-credit scene, Cadmus finds the message and asks the protagonist to help finds the ruins.

The spin-off Side Story follows Sana as she uses a White Reaver to follow the infection path of Crimsonscale carrier Dark Phantom as part of a secret assignment from the New Amara government. Her narration further details Crimsonscale's effects, which grants a form of immortality to people at the cost of crippling deformity, with her father being one of its victims. Cadmus pursues Sana at one point, revealing that he knows about the cycle Draco is trapped in, and she discovers that the White Reavers are ancient humans converted into dragon-like carriers by Crimsonscale. Sana finally kills Dark Phantom, vowing to keep Crimsonscale from reaching Earth despite wondering if the infected humans were instinctually trying to reach home.

Development

Crimson Dragon was directed by Yukio Futatsugi (pictured 2019), creator of Panzer Dragoon. The game was designed with Kinect in mind, with the original design featuring no traditional controller support.[14]

Crimson Dragon originated during a talk between Yukio Futatsugi, noted for his work on the Panzer Dragoon series and Phantom Dust, and Microsoft Studios about developing a small-scale title for the Xbox 360 that would make use of the Kinect peripheral.[15] Futatsugi had previously worked at Microsoft, which were struggling to break into the Japanese market with their Xbox console line.[16] The proposal coincidentally came when his company Grounding Inc had spare development capacity to work on multiple projects.[17] Many Crimson Dragon staff members previously worked on the Panzer Dragoon series.[18] These included Panzer Dragoon II Zwei director Tomohiro Kondo as lead designer, and lead programmer Hitoshi Nakanishi.[19][20] Concept art was created by Manabu Kusunoki and Phantom Dust art lead Takehiko Yamamoto, the latter joining later in production.[16][19][21] The lead artist was Ryoji Nakamura.[19] Futatsugi acted as director,[15] while Toshiharu Tange and Yutaka Noma co-produced the game.[20][22] The scenario was written by Tadashi Ihoroi of Studio Monado.[19][23]

The game was co-developed by Grounding Inc. and Land Ho Inc., with support from Iron Galaxy.[24][25] Land Ho Inc. is a Japanese developer which had found success working on motion control-based game projects such as Just Dance Kids 2 which had been successful in the West.[24] Active production began in 2010 shortly before its announcement at that year's Tokyo Game Show under the name "Project Draco".[26][27] Its final name was revealed in February 2012.[28] In this form, the game was exclusively controlled through Kinect.[29] Crimson Dragon was initially scheduled for release 13 June 2012 on the 360, but it was delayed indefinitely and an apology issues, though no further reason was given.[30] Following E3 2012, both in response to negative feedback around the Kinect-only controls and to bolster the launch line-up of the in-production Xbox One, Microsoft decided to shift the game onto the new console.[31][32] Futatsugi was informed with very little notice, and while shocked, he felt pleased to be working on a launch title for a new system.[31] The porting process was difficult for the team due to its small size.[9] The game was re-revealed for the Xbox One at E3 2013,[14] and was a console launch title in all regions.[33][34]

Crimson Dragon was first released in the West on 22 November 2013.[33] An update was released in February 2014, adding online multiplayer and a new harder difficulty level.[12] In Japan, the game released on 4 September 2014, with a unique dragon being offered for download for a month after release.[34] A spin-off project for Windows Phone, Crimson Dragon: Side Story, was developed by Grounding Inc. and published by Microsoft Studios on 12 September 2012.[35][36] It is a side-scrolling rail shooter with gameplay adapted to phone-based touch controls.[37] Futatsugi acted as producer and director, Ihoroi as writer, Kusunoki as concept artist, Yasunari Hiroyama as lead designer, Hideaki Takamura as lead artist, and Mark Swan as lead programmer.[38] Side Story began based on the concept of a shooter for Windows Phone that would promote on the 360 release, sharing characters with the main game. It was planned to release the two simultaneously, but Side Story ended up releasing first.[39]

Design

From its announcement through to its eventual release the game was referred to by journalists as a spiritual successor to Panzer Dragoon.[15][18] Futatsugi and Microsoft's Phil Spencer did not use the term, with Spencer saying there was inspiration but no direct references, and Futatsugi stating he returned to a rail shooter similar to Panzer Dragoon as it fitted best with the design premise.[15][40] Like other projects, the game was driven by Futatsugi's interest in new technology.[17] Compared to other titles at the time, Futatsugi was using a fairly small budget for Crimson Dragon, but did not feel pressured into making it something that would sell millions of copies, instead "creating it for and directing it to a core fan".[15] Depending on its reception, Futatsugi was willing to support the game for a long time through downloadable content with new dragons and gameplay features.[14][15]

The Kinect-focused gameplay of the 360 version, which only used the rail shooter format, was a challenge to develop as the team wanted it to be approachable for players.[20][29] This version, only used the rail shooter format, was proving a challenge to develop as the team wanted it to be approachable for players.[20][29] Following platform change, balancing the two styles of control was one of the most difficult parts of production.[14] Other changes stemming from the platform change were the additions of online elements, Kinect voice commands, free flight missions.[39][14] Throughout development, the game was built using Unreal Engine 3, and the final levels were built using a mixture of old and new graphical assets.[14] Just prior to release, based on feedback from play testers, the game's balance was adjusted with increased experience rewards and lower prices for items, and adjustments to the difficulty.[41]

Speaking about the intended audience, Tange requested a project that would appeal to both "core gamers" and a wider audience in contrast to Futatsugi's earlier work which was seen as very niche.[26] Due to an intended focus on multiplayer, the scenario did not focus on a single character.[42] Based on the game's success, Futatsugi expressed a wish to create a role-playing video game sequel, which would feature a strong lead character and follow on from the ending of Crimson Dragon, which also acted as an introduction to the world and enemies.[21][42] Futatsugi included dragons over other potential rides and mount types because the concept was "an awesome thing that everyone would dream of".[43] The dragons were designed to have an organic appearance, contrasting against the weapon-like creatures of Panzer Dragoon.[20] Originally planned to feature just six dragons, this was shifted to have the player choose between six "dragon types".[14] The dragon breeding system was included based on fan requests.[22] In both versions, the role-playing elements of dragon growth were added to mitigate the difficulty for players and deepen the gameplay.[20][39]

Music

The music of Crimson Dragon was worked on by two people; Panzer Dragoon composer Saori Kobayashi created the original score, while Jeremy Garren of Pyramind Studio arranged her score and added tracks of his own.[32][44] Taking her cues from the game's visuals, Kobayashi wrote her score to not be too grounded, resulting in the incorporation of several ethnic elements from both Kobayashi and Warren.[45] Kobayashi was pleased to work with Futatsugi again, and while sharing similar imagery to Panzer Dragoon she made an effort not to mimic her earlier work, producing the score based on art and comments from the staff. Futatsugi gave her complete creative freedom with the score, which she wrote while the game was still intended for the 360.[44] The main theme was given a distinct melodic hook to set it apart from other game music which Kobayashi felt was "pretty flow-centric", with the hook becoming a recurring leitmotif that connected different levels. Kobayashi described her versions of the in-game score as focusing on the feeling of flight.[45] Kobayashi also created both the score and the arrangements for Side Story.[44]

After the transition onto Xbox One, Microsoft brought in Pyramind Studio to arrange and orchestrate the score as they disliked Kobayashi's original orchestration, which had a heavy focus on synthesised instruments. Microsoft requested the score be expanded with live choir and soloists, woodwinds, percussion, and strings, though the latter was dropped for budgetary reasons. Then newly-arrived at the studio, Garren was put in charge of arranging and expanding the score, describing the production cycle as "a big blur" that all happened within a period of six to eight months. While he received the original sound files to help with his work, Garren was not able to consult Kobayashi about the changes. Specific instruments used in the tracks included duduk, bansuri and oud.[32][45] Woodwind solos were performed by Chris Bleth, percussion by Mark Yeend, Jillian Aversa performed the solo vocal work, and chorus work was by the New York Film Chorale.[46] Despite the changes, all of Kobayashi's music was retained.[47]

Garren stated that Kobayashi had captured the game's themes and premise in her music, viewing his part of the job as trying to "fulfil her vision" with the expanded orchestral elements. Under this new direction, the score became more focused on the game's combat, which in 2014 Kobayashi said she liked.[45] Speaking the following year, Kobayashi felt that while the change to her score was not "a bad thing in and of itself", she felt it unfortunate that the original score went unused.[44] Speaking in 2017, Garren felt guilty about the amount of changes he made to the soundtrack, feeling he overdid the choral elements. He also felt the main theme "Draco" was the best example of the hybrid of styles, with Kobayashi's theme and score blending with his "B-side" instrumentation.[32]

A digital soundtrack album was released by Microsoft Studios's music label alongside the game on 22 November 2013.[46] Kobayashi later stated that she would love to release her original soundtrack mixes and the Side Story soundtrack if there was fan demand.[44] She later included remixes of two Crimson Dragon themes in her intended musical style on Journey, an album of remixes created by Kobayashi and singer Yumiko Takahashi for their band Akane that was released on 29 September 2014 by Brave Wave Productions.[48]

Reception

Crimson Dragon met with "mixed or average" reception, with review aggregate website Metacritic giving it a score of 55 out of 100 based on 39 reviews.[49] Futatsugi, Kobayashi and Garren all recalled the game seeing a mixed reaction from players; Futatsugi and Garren in particular attributed the mixed reaction to its online elements, and use of microtransactions.[17][32][44] Several gaming websites outside reviews negatively noted the use of microtransactions in Crimson Dragon in relation to their recurring use in early Xbox One titles and growing presence in gaming at the time.[13][57][58][59]

Destructoid's Chris Carter was very positive compared to other reviewers, with his only complaints being occasional camera problems and the microtransactions, otherwise lauding the title as much better in its gameplay and presentation than it might have been given its development history.[5] The four reviewers for Japanese magazine Famitsu enjoyed the gameplay, but several noted low-quality graphics and control issues and one highlighted the gameplay as becoming "monotonous" after a time due to lack of variety.[52] Martin Robinson of Eurogamer positively noted the art design though faulted its graphical quality, and described it overall as "a thin and troubled tribute to the original [Panzer Dragoon games], slim on the ambition, vision and art that made its predecessors what they were - and some way short of the invention and execution in the games they inspired."[51]

Game Informer's Ben Reeves echoed Robinson's thoughts on the art and graphics, further faulting the music as "uninspired" and ultimately felt the game did not live up to the gameplay legacy of Futatsugi's earlier work due to control issues and shallow gameplay.[53] Jon Blyth, writing for the UK edition of Official Xbox Magazine, praised its art design and core gameplay but faulted its RPG elements and microtransactions as unwelcome additions combined with its short length.[55] Rob Slusser of GameTrailers positively noted the Kinect implementation and found it generally enjoyable, but felt there was not enough content or polish for the game to gather more than a cult following.[6] Edge Magazine noted that the game was most enjoyable in its easy levels, feeling put off by later difficulty spikes prompting either repeated playthroughs of easier levels or use of the game's microtransactions.[50]

GamesRadar's Ryan Taljonick praised the on-rails sections and graphic design, but faulted the free roaming controls and lack of mission variety.[11] Jose Otero of IGN found the core rail shooter gameplay functional if lacking in innovation and enjoyed the dragon growth systems, but faulted the AI-controlled companions, poor graphical quality and control issues in its free flying sections.[54] Peter Brown, writing for GameSpot, praised the later levels for their design and challenge, but cited the shallow dragon growth mechanics and camera controls as off-putting alongside the high difficulty.[3] Justin McElroy of Polygon was particularly harsh, being frustrated and put off the game by both the core gameplay and its additional systems, and concluding that Crimson Dragon "manages to take riding on a sweet flying dragon and make it a bland, frustrating slog."[56]

References

Notes

External links

• Crimson Dragon at MobyGames