Inti Creates Announces Dragon: Marked for Death is Coming to Nintendo Switch

Nintendo has just wrapped up their Summer 2017 showcase for Nintendo-partnered independent developers, or “Nindies,” and among those contributing to further Nintendo Switch development is none other than Inti Creates, who have had a pretty good run on the system so far with Blaster Master Zero and Mighty Gunvolt Burst.

Now, on the eve of the release of the Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack on the hybrid platform, they’ve announced a new title called Dragon: Marked for Death. Check it out:

As far as coverage here goes, this one gave me pause as I tried to figure out if this counts as “Mega Man-esque.” Despite eschewing the high-tech and futuristic settings that often go hand-in-hand with titles of that sort, this still has blue fingerprints all over it, and for good reason, as many prominent staff members from the Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX series are back to bring this tale to life. From the press release:

Staff 

Director: Ryota Ito 
Megaman Zero series (Director), Megaman ZX series (Director), Megaman 9 (Director), Megaman 10 (Director) 

Character Designer: Toru Nakayama 
Megaman Zero 1-3 (Character Designer, Illustrator), Megaman ZX (Character Designer) 

Chief Character Graphics Designer: Horikatsu Maeda 
Megaman Zero 1-3 (Character Graphics), Megaman Zero 4 (Character Designer, Illustrator), Megaman ZX series (Character Graphics), Azure Striker Gunvolt series (Character Graphics), Blaster Master Zero (Character Graphics) 

Scenario Writer (Planning), World Planner: Makoto Yabe 
Megaman Zero 3-4 (Scenario Writer), Megaman ZX series (Scenario Writer, Character Designer, Illustrator) 

Sound Producer: Ippo Yamada 
Megaman Zero series (Sound Director, Sound Producer), Megaman ZX series (Sound Director, Sound Producer), Megaman 9 (Sound Director, Sound Producer), Megaman 10 (Sound Director, Sound Producer), Azure Striker Gunvolt series (Sound Director, Sound Producer), Blaster Master Zero (Sound Director, Sound Producer) 

Main Programmer: Akihiro Shishido 
Megaman Zero series (Programmer), Megaman ZX series (Main Programmer) 

Lead Programmer: Shinichi Sema 
Megaman Zero series (Programmer), Megaman 9 (Main Programmer) 

Producer: Takuya Aizu 
Megaman Zero series (Main Programmer, Producer), Megaman ZX series (Producer), Megaman 9 (Producer), Megaman 10 (Producer), Azure Striker Gunvolt series (Producer), Blaster Master Zero (Producer)  

But is it truly Mega Man-esque? That remains the question, as details at the moment are few, and I’m trying to find out more. As it stands, it’s described as “an immersive dark fantasy style action RPG that can be enjoyed solo, or together with up 3 other people in local or online multiplayer!”

While some Mega Man games — including, notably, several of the ones the above staff worked on in the Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX series — have included role playing game elements, one might nonetheless be hard-pressed to qualify them as actual RPGs. I’d also say that the multiplayer aspect is another quirk that separates it, 20XX and “Mega Man 2.5D” have already set some standards there.

I’m going to try to learn more, and will see about updating accordingly if it does seem to fit within the scope of my coverage here.

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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