Dragon and on and on...

Inti Creates has released a huge update for its platform adventure Dragon Marked for Death. Available to download right now on all platforms, Version 3.1.3 brings a huge list of ??adjustments, bug fixes, and? balance tweaks to the multiplayer title on PC, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.

First and foremost, 20 new quests have been added for Level 120 players, offering increased XP, rewards, and a higher p??ercentage of rare loot for top-tier adventurers. All of the player characters hav??e been tweaked across the board, with Empress, Warrior, Shinobi, Witch, and other classes having gone through an intricate re-balance. For the most part, all characters have been left in a better position than they were before.

The huge catalog of weapons, gear, and accessories has also been re-balanced, with changes made to the stats and effects attached to both Dragon Marked for Death's arsenal of death-dealers and its sharp wardrobe. In addition, several nagging bugs and issues have finally been corrected. There are far too many individual changes to list here, but hardy adventurers can check out the full patch notes over on the official website.

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Co-op adventure headed to PS4

[Update: Inti Creates has officially announced that Dragon Marked for Death will launch digitally on PS4 July 22. (Via Gematsu)]

It would appear that Inti Creates' mythic platformer Dragon Marked for Death is preparing to take flight on PS4 at some point in the near future, after a PlayStation Store database entry was discovered by top-tier leakers Gamestat.

Originally launching on Nintendo Switch in January 2019, (although having been on the cards since way back in 2010), Dragon Marked for Death allows up to four players to venture into the hazardous ??Kingdom ?of Medius, on a mission to rescue their abducted oracle and restore the legacy of their noble Dragonblood Clan. Choosing from one of four distinct classes - Empress, Witch, Warrior, or Shinobi - players sally forth on a fast-moving platform adventure, all realised in colourful and highly detailed sprite work.

While Inti Creates is yet to officially announce the PS4 port, the indie publisher does have a new live stream planned for next week, where it is expected to offer details on Dragon Marked for Death and other upcoming titles within its underdog catalogue. "Inti Creates Live #12" takes place on July 7 at 21:00 JST and can be watched over on the publisher's official YouTube channel. That's pretty early in the morning for?? western folk, but we'll be sure to bri??ng you all of the hottest news in good time.

Dragon Marked for Death is available now on PC and Nintendo Switch.

Dragon Marked for Death PlayStation Store li??sting leaked [Gematsu]

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Quit dragon it out

[Update: In an odd but not unwelcome swerve, Inti Creates has announced that the Nintendo Switch 3.0.0 update is now ready to rock, and will arrive in-game later today. A strange turn of ev?ents, but obv??iously good news for fans.]

Well, the good news is that Inti Creates cool platforming adventure Dragon Marked for Death is now available to purchase on PC via Steam, opening up its fun retro-infused action to a ??whole new audience. The bad news is that Update 3.0.0, scheduled to release on Nintendo Switch today, has been delayed.

Speaking on Twitter, Inti Creates cited that the COVID-19 pandemic has the team working remotely, w??hich has no doubt put hurdles in the way of a smooth development process. The upda??te intends to add both The Oracle and The Bandit as playable characters, as well as raising the player cap and fixing bugs across the board. No new release date was announced, but no doubt the team is working hard to get the cool new content out to players soon.

That's not the only news pertaining to Dragon Marked for Death today, as hero character The Empress will be making a guest appearance in another Inti Creates title, Blaster Master Zero 2. Empre??ss will be made available to purchase in-game for the scant price of just two dollars, bringing the fury of the Dragonblood Clan to the hi-tech platformer.

Dragon Marked for Death is available now on PC and Nintendo Switch.

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Rock the Dragon on Steam April 21

Inti Creates has announced that it will be bringing mystical adventure Dragon Marked for Death to PC (via Steam?) on April 21, following on from its previ?ous release on Nintendo Switch.

Dragon Marked for Death is an action-platformer which tells the tale of a quartet of heroes - the last surviving members of the fabled Dragonblood C?lan - who set out on a quest to rescue their oracle from the oppressive Kingdom of Medius. Selecting from one of four classes, (Empress, Witch, Warrior, or Shinobi), players will battle through enemy territory, while completing a list of side-quests to help out their kin. Four-player co-op allows you and friends to battle against the forces of evil together.

As the (fully customisable) hero progresses through the game, they will level up, acquiring new skills, abilities, and attacks, and pre??pping them for some of the intense and climactic battles that lie ahead. Do not let your clan's legacy evanescence into the night, go forth and ?? reclaim the glory of the Dragonblood Clan!

In related news, Dragon's "Empress" character will also be added as playable DLC to Inti Creates' own Blaster Master Zero 2. Pri??ced at around $2, Empress will go live in-game on April 21.

Dragon Marked for Death is available now on Nintend??o Switch and launches on PC April 2??1. Purchases made before May 4 will qualify for a bonus "Striker Gear" DLC pack.

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This is what we've been waiting for?

Dragon Marked for Death is a game Destructoid has been talking about for a very long time. We first got wind of it in 2011, when it was revealed the game would be coming out for the then-new Nintendo 3DS following a platform change. After that, the world went silent on the title for some time, though it would occasionally pop up in the news. In 2017, six years after it?? made the jump to the 3DS, Inti Creates announced the game had changed platforms once more, dumping the dual-screen handheld for the red-hot Switch.

Now, after more than eight years in development, Dragon Marked for Death is finally out in the wild. It released earlier this year on the eShop with the characters split into two different packs. Last month, the complete physical edition launched courtesy of Nighthawk Interactive and, fo?r the past two weeks, I've been diving deep into the many dungeons of the game, trying to figure out just what the hell went wrong in those eight years of development.

Dragon Marked for Death (Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Inti Creates
Publisher: Inti Creates, Nighthawk Interactive
Released: January 31, 2019 (digital), March 26, 2019 (retail)
MSRP: $49.99 (retail), $14.99 (digital)

Inti Creates is a developer I have no issue supporting day one before anyone has had a chance to review its games. Normally, that works out well for me. Blaster Master Zero, Mega Man Zero, and Azure Striker Gunvolt are three of the most fun experiences I've had with modern developers channeling the more adventurous 16-bit era of gaming. Dragon Marked for Death seems to be right in its wheelhouse, but the longer I played it, I more it became clear it lacked a level of polish I'm used to seeing out of the develop??er.

Dragon MFD is a side-scrolling action RPG where you play as one of the Dragonblood, a group of people who have formed an alliance with the dragon Atruum to gain his powers. The power of the dragon manifests itself differently in each of the playable characters. For inst??ance, the Empress uses her dragon arm to slice at enemies or shoot them from a distance while the Warrior can generate a shie??ld and power up his attacks. There is a nice variety in the playstyles of the four characters and I actually enjoyed getting to know the strategies for each of them.

After forming a pact with Atruum, whic??hever character you choose heads to the unnecessarily large hub world of the castle town to start taking jobs. Their? goal is to work their way to the inner circle of the kingdom to get revenge on the Divine Family for burning down their home town. Jobs are taken at the bar and you can play the game either solo or in local or online co-op. And this is where the game runs into problems.

Dragon Marked for Death is, at its base, a co-op action RPG. It is meant to be play??ed with more than one person. You can play it solo as I did, but it's an uphill battle. This game is difficult. Enemies are damage sponges, many don't react at all to being attacked, and there is no dodge or dedicated block button to help you out in battle. Boss fights can be unforgiving and if you die, there are no checkpoints to pick back up from. While you don't keep any of the loot you find on a failed quest -- as well as any herbs and items you used during your attempt -- you do keep the XP gained. A few of the quests I had to attempt three or more times until I was at a high enough level to actually beat the boss.

In multiplayer, it can be a lot more manageable, yet Dragon Marked for Death goes out of its way to make this option a hassle. For starters, there is no local couch co-op. If you want to play with someone in the same room, you'll both need a copy of the game and your own Switch system. It's a baffling and unnecessary design choice that goes against the easy two-player nature of the Switch. This is a console tailor-made for couch co-op, yet Dragon MFD opts to go about it the hard way.

There is an online option, though results may vary. You can play with friends or strangers, though the latter option didn't work out so well for me. I tried for several days with no luck whatsoever. I know Dragon Marked for Death is a fun game with more than one person as I played it at PAX last year, but I was confined to solo play for?? this review because of t??he unnecessary hoops Inti Creates choose to implement for local co-op.

That's not the only design choice I have issues with. The controls for Dragon MFD work well enough and you have the option to remap the buttons to your liking. Ho??wever, not all of the buttons are supported. LZ and RZ, both of which are much more comfortable to use? than the standard L and R buttons, are useless here. It would be nice to have the option to use those buttons not just because they're more prevalent on the Joy-Con controllers but because of each character's L-move.

The L button serves more than one?? purpose for each character. It dashes when they're on the ground and performs another move depending on the situation. For the Shinobi, it acts as his glide and is simple enough to use. But for the Empress and her swing ability, it can be a nightmare to pull off as you have to hit the L button and up on the control stick or directional button at the same?? time. Sounds easy on paper, but in practice, as I tried to string together several swings in a row, it would absolutely cramp up my hand. Being able to assign this move to LZ would have removed a lot of that frustration for me, but it's just not an option.

The quests themselves have a great variety, both in objective ??and size. Some are incredibly fun, like defeating sea monsters attacking a pirate ship. Others fail to bring the same level of pizzazz and either stretch on for far too long or implement gimmicks that make completing them a hassle. One quest does both and it's without a doubt the most irritating level I have ever had the misfortune of playing. There were more than a ha??ndful of moments when I wanted to throw my Switch against the wall because some enemy would just walk through my attack or I'd die after whittling down the health of a boss for 15 minutes, only to have him smack me with a devastating blow.

Despite being in development for eight or more years, Dragon Marked for Death could have actually used more time in the oven. I'm sure there is a great game buried som??ewhere in there but between its lack of balance, les??s-than-ideal controls, boring levels, and unfortunate co-op requirements, the end product isn't nearly up to the level of the rest of Inti Creates's catalog.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Enter, and then exit, the dragon

Keep your wits about you in this contest for Dragon: Marked for Death for Nintendo Switch!

When Jonathan Holmes says, "Hey, check this out," I check it out. It's a simple rule I follow around here. The dude's been around forever, knows everyone?, and typically knows when something is cool.

Jonathan Holmes said, "Hey, check out Dragon: Marked for Death." I think you ??should listen to the ma??n. We've got some Switch copies to give away, so you have no excuse not to!

This 2D action-platformer sees you playing as one of four warrior classes of the Dragonblood Clan set on enacting their revenge. After their kingdom was destroyed and their oracle captured, they must channel the aura of the Astral Dragon to obtain the powers of the dragon. Using their new abilities, the warriors will fight, defend, and quest their way to obtain higher ??experience and abilities to carry out their mission. The best part -- you can play local or online multiplayer with up to four players at once. Hell yeah.

This game comes in two sets, each featuring two warrior classes. The Advanced Attackers pack includes:

• Shinobi: The Shinobi is a quick and nimble DPS character who bears the power of the Astral Dragon in his legs. Armed with deadly kunai and shuriken, he excels at generating/keeping aggro, and he is well equipped at avoiding damage with his unparalleled speed and by utilizing tricky movement abilities such as the wall kick, glide, and double-jump.
• Witch: The Witch is a spell-caster that bears the extraordinary depth of the Astral Dragon's knowledge. She can damage her enemies with powerful offensive spells and heal her allies with restorative magic.

The Frontline Fighters pack includes:

• Empress: The Empress is a well-balanced DPS character who bears the power of the Astral Dragon in her arm. She utilizes powerful sword attacks at close range and fiery dragon breath attacks at mid to long range to make short work of her foes.
• Warrior: The Warrior is a tank type character who bears the power of the Astral Dragon's scales in his torso. He can deploy an impregnable shield that protects and heals his allies, and can deliver powerful attacks with his two-handed weapons.

Whichever pack you choose, you're getting the ful??l base game with the two chosen warriors right off the bat. If you want t??o add to your repertoire, you can purchase the other pack from the eShop.

We're giving you a?? head start by letting you try out half of the roster for free!

To enter?? to win, use the widget below to drop your name and email address, and specify which pack you want to win. You can enter daily for additional chances to win. For bonus chances, follow Dtod and publisher Inti Creates on Twitter and share our post with your friends.

In the meantime, tell us in the comments below what your warrior class would be, and which of your body parts is imbued with the Astral Dragon. I'd be a Shit??-Talker, since the Astral Dragon gave my li??ps the power to endless talk shit without concern for the consequences. It's gotten me into a few bar fights, for sure, but what's life without a little bit of getting punched in the stomach in public? Not a life I want to live.

We have three keys for e??ach set to give away. Our keys are for NA eShop accounts only. Winners will be drawn on Friday, February ?8.

Dragon: Marked for Death -- Advanced Attackers and Frontline Fighters are available now on the Switch eShop.

Contest: Win a Switch copy of Drago????n: Marked for Death

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Downwell too

If there is one trend I absolutely love with this generation of game, it's the rise of small production publishers that are giving indie games a shot at retail release. Limited Run Games is probably the biggest name in this space, there are other companies doing God's work here. Fangamer produced physical copies of Undertale, Dead Cells reached retailers because of merge, and Owlboy is sitting idly on my shelf between my copy of de Blob and Yoku's Island Express thanks to SOEDESCO.

There's also Special Reserve Games, which announced this week retail releases of indie darlings Downwell, Minit, and The Messenger. All?? three ti??tles will see physical releases next year for Nintendo Switch while the former two will also have discs printed for PlayStation 4. If you've been holding out for physical releases of these titles, your patience is about to pay off.

Meanwhile, Inti Creates's Dragon Marked for Death is also getting a retail release courtesy of Nighthawk Interactive. The physical edition of this game will include all four playable characters, a point we have to make because of how the developer is choosing to handle the digital release of the game. Dragon Marked for Death will feature two versions on the eShop, one that includes the Empress and Warrior characters known as the "Frontline Fighters" pack, while the other includes the Shinobi and Witch characters in the "Advanced Fighters" pack. Each pack? will retail for $14.99 each.

Inti Creates also announced a delay on Dragon Marked for Death. The game, originally set to launch on December 13, will now release on January 31. The move was made to shorten the gap between digital and ph?ysical releases of the game.

New Dragon Marked for Death Information Revealed at Anime NYC [Inti Creates]
Special Reserve Games [Twitter]

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I call dibs on the Empress

Inti Creates is one of the more reliable supporters of Nintendo hardware. Its games are a shining beacon of quality on the 3DS and its Switch output is quickly matching that same level of excellence. The developer jumped on board quite quickly with Blaster Master Zero and has kept pace with the meteoric rise of the platform, churning out a handful ?of niche titles over the past year and a half. Inti Creates' games have? been quite good, but its best title yet may just be a few months away.

Dragon Marked for Death is sort of a dream project for somebody like me who’s been a fan of the developer since its early days. The title reunites members of the Mega Man Zero team, and based on the PAX West demo, they’re creating a title easily on p?ar with everything the developer has created to this point. The game will feature up to four player co-op, both locally a??nd online, and each of the four included characters will control, attack, and progress in their own unique way.

For the PAX demo, there are just two characters available: Empress and Warrior. My first attempt at the game is solo as the Empress. She’s a perfect starting character for those unfamiliar to side-scrolling action RPGs as she’s the most balanced of the group. Her sword takes down foes close up while her Dragon Shot can blast them from a distance. Each character in Death is imbued with the power of a dragon, giving them special abilities. In addition to the Dragon Shot, the Empress can attack with a Dragon Sword downward slash or absolutely tear opponents to pieces with the risky but powerful Charge Shot. Each dragon attack carries with it a certain level of pixel pizazz and seeing her Charge Shot?? come together is cause for celebration of the wonderfully intricate art direction.

The mission I accept with her is a simple “kill the boss” quest with a surprisingly difficult final encounter. At least it’s difficult for a trade show demo. Most of the games I play are turned firmly to easy. The level I traverse with her is colorful, but a bit basic throughout. It doesn’t reall??y do much to make the art direction memorable, at least not as much as design of ?the characters does. The levels do offer multiple paths though based on which character I’m playing as. The Princess has Dragon Hook she can use to swing in certain places, something the Warrior does not??.

The morning I’m meant to write this preview I awake with a horrible headache, leaving my brain too scrambled to ??write an?ything significant. I return on the final day of PAX, hours before my flight out of Seattle, to give it another go. This time, I’m playing co-op as the Warrior. Most of the knowledge I have from my previous session has to go right out the door, as his attacks are quite different from those of the Empress.

The Warrior is more defense-focused, so all of his dragon powers funnel into group protection. He has a basic Dragon Shield to block attacks and a charged Berserk move that powers up his defense and offense. The Warrior’s battle ax can also be charged up for massive damage and he can tackle enemies. What he can’t do is swing, and in this mission where my partner and I must locate a missing boy, I have to find my own way to the target. With co-op on separate Switch consoles, we don’t have to worry about wandering too far off from our partner. In fact, it’??s encouraged. The levels I play aren’t exactly labyrinthine, but the available paths do provide enough separation that I prefer having all my action on my own screen rather than the whole picture cutting in half once we split up.

A section of the level right before we find the boy is a great showcase of how progression can differ between the characters. A chasm of fire separates us from our goal with spiked pillars lining the ceiling above us. The Empress can easily swing from these spikes to the other side, but I have to take each one at a time, knocking them down and using them as platforms. Other levels will feature wa??lls that can only be broken by characters and other similar designs meant to encourage exploration with different characters.

Dragon Marked for Death is set to hit Switch on December 13. That should give you loads of time to beat Smash Bros. Ultimate before it launches. This PAX demo only solidifies for me the excellent work Inti Creates is capable of, but I’ll hold my judgment of the final game un?t?il after I see how everything holds up when three other players and myself are tackling the promised screen-filling boss battles online.

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Now targeting winter 2018 on Nintendo Switch

I've had my eye on Dragon Marked for Death since August 2017, and even with a new winter 2018 launch window announced for the four-player co-op action-RPG, my interest hasn't faltered. This looks like yet another gem from the crew at Inti Creates (Mega Man Zero, Mega Man ZX, Azure Striker Gunvolt).

Co-op support? is online and local, so we're set there. As this story trailer suggests?, you'll play as a member of the Dragonblood Clan seeking revenge against the Medius Empire. There's the Empress, Warrior, Witch, and Shinobi (dibs), each of which have their own complementary attacks and abilities.

"Quests will send the players on a variety of adventures big and small, such as defeating monsters, defending a convoy, searching for treasure, or rescuing a noble. By playing their roles well and dividing tasks, s??killed players will discover efficient and speedy ways of completing quests [in multiplayer]."

That basic loop mixed with leveling means Marked for Death is going to dominate my Switch this winter.

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Marvelous has been working on a game called Dragon Marked for Death. Grand Knights History producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto told Siliconera that Dragon Marked for Death will be an online Nintendo 3DS game, afte??r a recent platform change.

"Dragon Marked for Death is still in development. Right now we are working on the network features. It's coming along quite well, it's just that we&rsq?uo;re not at a point where we can announce anything," Has??himoto said. "The online is going to be amazing, but we can’t announce anything else right now, though."

DMFD is being developed by Mega Man 9 developer Inti Creates. Let's hope we hear ??more about this one soon. More 3DS RPGs!

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