Dragoneer's Aria Preview--Thoughts From the Developers

Swords n' Sorcery

See what Dragoneer's Aria is all about in this lengthy trailer.

• Watch
• Download

Disgaea makers Nippon Ichi Software have been big supporters of the PSP so far, with role-playing games like Blade Dancer, Aedis Eclipse, and even a forthcoming small-screen version of Disgaea itself gracing Sony's handheld. The company is also working in conjunction with developer HitMaker on Dragoneer's Aria, another PSP RPG that NIS says is somewhat different than the sort of games in this genre that the company is typically known for. Key players in the game's development will be weighing in on the production of Dragoneer's Aria in this ongoing commentary series; check out their thoughts below.

Sohei Niikawa
Producer, Nippon Ichi Software

Hello everyone! Dragoneer's Aria will finally be released next month! Why do I say "finally," you ask? It's because I'm really excited to tell everyone about this title. Don't you get that epic and grand feeling from seeing the screenshots and the illustrations? I'm a little worried about someone mentioning, "But you're Nippon Ichi Software!" Even so, I feel that this title will help support us as we take a shot at something that's a little step away from the usual NIS titles.

The story itself is a noble sort of fantasy, taking the basic fantasy feel head-on and ramping it up. It's more meaty than many role-playing games nowadays. I don't want it to just have an "epic" feeling--I'd like to see it described as epic itself. So the staff and I are working very hard on the release of this game.

Also, as some of you may have already realized, we used the character designer from a certain well-known online RPG. I think this will be a big selling point for us. Dragoneer's Aria will be coming out soon, and I would be delighted to hear everyone's excitement and support for it.

Nippon Ichi says Dragoneer's Aria is a slight departure from the company's usual style of game.

Yukihiko Hojo
Executive Producer, HitMaker

Hello and nice to meet you...again. My name is Hojo from HitMaker, and I am the executive producer for Dragoneer's Aria. We announced our title on GameSpot to start off with, and since then we've received tons of feedback from our fans and the media. Our staff's motivation has skyrocketed. Thanks!

But that doesn't mean we can just let up now. If we did, we might have to push back the release! It's been a whole six months since we decided to produce this dream-game with Nippon Ichi Software and NIS America. Our staff is sprinting wildly through the summer.

The themes for this game during production were unity, security, and achievement. Everyone loves the world of swords and magic and dragons. The story is one of a dragon knight and the dragons, a dilemma of hearts, and the mysterious dark dragon. It features controls and gameplay that people can feel secure with. We followed this goal, and ended up, as Mr. Niikawa said, with a "meaty" game.

I'm very proud to say we've followed the high road of fantasy here. But if that were the end of it, I'm sure all the Nippon Ichi fans would be disappointed. We've also got exciting characters, an exciting story, and an exciting game system. We hope you'll discover and enjoy the many hidden moments of excitement buried within. And thanks to the PSP system, this game turned out exactly as we'd hoped. I hope you're all looking forward to it.

Lineage 2's Juno Jeong handled character design on the game.

This time, we had a few talented guests supporting us on our high-road adventure. We had Mr. Juno Jeong--who captured the hearts of fans all over the world with Lineage II--to do our character design. And the number one blog idol in Japan and rising TV/radio star, Mimika, sang our theme song.

With the beautiful melody of "Air in G-minor," we'll make sure to deliver "Dragoneer's Aria" to you this summer. Hope you can wait just a bit longer!

Continue to the next page to read commentary from character designer Juno Jeong.