Video Game of the Day is a daily show available on Amazon Alexa devices and here on this website. Each day, we briefly discuss the history of a single game, randomly chosen. If you would like to listen on your daily flash briefing, you can enable Video Game of the Day here: https://amzn.to/2CNx2NJ.
Transcript:
Hello and welcome! My name is Katosepe and I’ll be your host for today’s Video Game of the Day.
Yesterday, Adrian Simple and I released this week’s episode of The Gaming Observer Podcast. This is more than just a simple plug but you should give it a listen if you want to hear about the Xbox Series X games in development! During that podcast, I was struggling to remember a certain Xbox One launch game though. Ironically, it was the game I most looked forward to for the Xbox One but after it released, it just kind of slipped out of my mind. So today, let’s talk about that game, one of the few games still exclusive to the Xbox One today. Today’s game is Crimson Dragon, developed by Grounding Inc and Land Ho and released on the Xbox One in 2013.
Crimson Dragon is a spiritual successor to the Panzer Dragoon series and returns to the on-rails, dragon riding gameplay of those games. The story has humans discovering a world controlled by dragons. They soon colonize the planet and learn to ride the dragons, building a culture around these creatures. You play as a dragon rider who must care for and raise different dragons as well as ride them into battle. While in battle, you fly down a set route, moving your dragon around the screen and shooting anything that moves. When outside of battle, you must feed and raise your dragons, increasing their levels and stats. The dragon rider also has their own level as well that, when increased, allows you to buy more dragons.
Crimson Dragon comes from a strong lineage, being developed by the director of Panzer Dragoon Saga, the standout title of that series. While Crimson Dragon was originally being developed for the Xbox 360 with the Kinect, the game was delayed for release on the Xbox One and did receive a complete overhaul so that it could be played with a standard controller.
Still, Crimson Dragon’s development did not go smoothly and the game was released to fairly negative reviews. The graphics looked muddy and the controls often were cited as being shaky and imprecise. Many critics believe that the game was a victim of the Unreal Engine, something many Japanese developers struggled to use effectively at the time. The dragon raising can offer some appeal but many critics noted that the stats often felt irrelevant in the actual combat segments, with damage increases and movement options feeling minimal.
Ultimately, Crimson Dragon was a flop and when most Xbox One exclusives were ported to the PC, Crimson Dragon was left on the platform.
Thank you so much for listening and thank you for letting me do this episode to try and make sure I wouldn’t forget this name again! If you liked the show and want to hear more, please leave a review for us on Amazon and go check out our archives on videogameoftheday.com. Don’t forget to check back here tomorrow for another Video Game of the Day!
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Devin "Katosepe" Sloane is a long time gamer and host of the show Video Game of the Day. He firmly believes Darklands is the pinnacle of gaming achievement and this is a hill he will die upon. Where his nickname came from is a secret to everybody.
