Scalebound Lets You Customize Your Dragon

When Scalebound releases next year, you'll be able to customize your dragon partner exactly the way you want. Platinum Games creative producer Jean Pierre Kellams explained the ways you'll be able to do so in a recent post on the official Xbox blog.

There are three different options for dragon customization: morphing, parts, and armor. There are three core types of dragon to choose from which include Rex, Tank, and Wyvern--each type has its own traits. Morphing lets you combine the types together by using gems at dragon shrines. For example, you can combine the strength of the Tank and the speed of the Wyvern to create a hybrid of the two types. Morphing changes both the dragon's physical and visual attributes.

On top of that, you can grant your dragon permanent buffs with parts. These alter its physical appearance, as well as its elemental characteristics. Parts make a dragon's offensive traits stronger, while armor helps out on defense. Players have to buy armor for their dragon and maintain it, as it can be damaged and destroyed in the middle of a fight.

Once you've customized your dragon, you'll be able to take the reigns of it using Dragon Link, which allows you to control it from protagonist Drew's point of view. All it takes is a button press to activate this mode, though you need to be careful, as Drew is defenseless while Dragon Link is active.

Scalebound releases for Xbox One and PC in 2017. It was originally scheduled for launch this year before getting delayed.

In addition to dragon customization, Scalebound will feature co-op play and giant bosses. Up to four players can join together to take on the game's behemoths.

Scalebound director Hideki Kamiya consistently refers to the title as his "dream game." GameSpot got the opportunity to talk to Kamiya, who talked about what his goal for the game is and what he wants in the projects he develops.