The Xbox One’s sole exclusive Japanese title, Crimson Dragon, sure does look a lot like SEGA’s classic Panzer Dragoon series. The simplest explanation is that Microsoft snatched up the classic series’ creator Yukio Futatsugi from relative obscurity and put him back to work as if nothing has transpired since leaving the series in 1998.
Crimson Dragon takes place in a far future where humans have colonized a world filled with dragons after starting fresh from a destroyed Earth. A generation has passed and colonists have even learned how to tame the dragons and ride them. Only now, a rebellious and ferociously large white dragon has led his kind in a revolt on their invaders, and the humans aren’t going down without a fight, even if the planet is not really theirs.
War on a foreign Earthly body and humans recovering from devastation, all themes that have been tackled by Futatsugi in his past works.
Crimson Dragon has come a long way since its inception as an Xbox 360 Kinect game. Several delays have led to Microsoft wisely dropping the Kinect requirements, since the game does not speak to the Kinect’s current audience in the slightest way, and the magnificent Panzer Dragoon Orta finally has a worthy looking successor on its hands.
Yukio Futatsugi has stated that he hopes Crimson Dragon become a success, so he can take his new franchise into the realm of RPGs, much like his beloved classic Panzer Dragoon Saga.
Crimson Dragon will be launching alongside the Xbox One as an exclusive title on Nov. 22. In the meantime, if you own an Xbox 360, snag up a copy of Panzer Dragoon Orta and give it a quick run-through. Futatsugi left the series before it was made, but many of the classic team members had a hand in it. It will give you a good idea of what Crimson Dragon has in store.
Check for our impressions of Crimson Dragon from the Tokyo Game Show floor.
