Crimson Dragon: Prettier And No Longer Kinect-Only

Crimson Dragon was originally scheduled to be an Xbox 360 downloadable game. But as fortune and Mike Fahey’s prayers would have it, it is now an Xbox One launch title.

Director Yukio Futatsugi was at TGS this year to show off the new Crimson Dragon and comparing the game to when it was for the Xbox 360, you can pretty much tell the team that brought us Panzer Dragoon has worked hard to make the game a richer and fuller experience.

Aside from the aesthetic upgrade, the biggest difference is that the game is no longer Kinect-only — a huge relief for those who don’t want to spend hours standing around and waving their arms. Primary controls are done with a controller, whereas secondary actions, like barrel rolls and voice commands to ally Dragons, are executed with the Kinect. While it is possible to play the game with just the controller, playing with only the Kinect is no longer an option.

While for the most part the game is a rail shooter, now that the game is played with the controller, movement looks far more direct and “controlled.” Free-flying areas for boss battles have been added, giving a lot more freedom in combat.

According to Futatsugi, while base aspects of the game — the title, the world background, the genre, etc — remain the same, Crimson Dragon for the Xbox One is pretty much a completely different game from the Crimson Dragon that was being developed for the Xbox 360.

While plans for an Xbox 360 version have been shelved for now, Futatsugi admits there’s no telling what will come down the line. He did say that if Crimson Dragon sells well, he’d like to maybe make an RPG in the same world setting next.

Crimson Dragon is scheduled for release on November 22 for download. The price tag will be $US19.99.

Additionally, for fans of the original, Futatsugi emphatically stated that he will make a Phantom Dust 2 someday.