40 Fun Facts About Dragon's Crown

Which publisher liked the 2009 pitch for Dragon's Crown but passed, doubting it would sell like Monster Hunter?

Capcom's executives liked the idea but turned it down as a weaker seller. The director had once worked there on the arcade brawler Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom.

Dragon's Crown was first designed as a 3D sequel to the 1997 game Princess Crown for which console?

Dreamcast was the planned home of the original version, which was scrapped when the director's studio closed. The idea then went unsold for a decade.

Programmer Kentaro Ohnishi based the loot system of Dragon's Crown on the one in which Western action role-playing game?

Diablo supplied the model for the graded, randomised loot. Its random dungeon layouts were dropped early in development so players could memorise and master each stage.

Which Japanese studio, known for 2D games such as Muramasa: The Demon Blade, developed Dragon's Crown?

Vanillaware made Dragon's Crown its first game for high-definition consoles. It was also the studio's longest and most expensive project up to then, taking four years.

Dragon's Crown was released for PlayStation 3 and which handheld console, chosen for its multiplayer appeal?

PS Vita was picked because the first publisher wanted a portable multiplayer hit. The handheld version went on to top the 2013 digital sales chart on Japan's PlayStation Network.

Dragon's Crown mixes action role-playing with which arcade genre, something its studio had never attempted before?

Beat 'em up brawling was the direction programmer Kentaro Ohnishi pushed for. Every class shares one basic moveset of attacking, dodging and jumping, as in the old arcade games.

Which Japanese publisher rescued Dragon's Crown in 2012 after its original backer pulled out of the games business?

Atlus took the half-built game on and lent staff to help finish it. Its own parent company then went bankrupt in 2013, putting the project in danger a second time.

All three female classes in Dragon's Crown, including the Elf and Sorceress, share a high rating in which statistic?

Luck is the stat they share, and it raises the chance of finding more valuable loot in treasure chests.

Pressing on to another dungeon without returning to town in Dragon's Crown triggers which stat-boosting minigame?

Cooking turns gathered ingredients and seasoning into meals that raise a character's statistics. The option only opens up after the first half of the game.

The publisher that rescued Dragon's Crown lent development help from the team behind which of its series?

Persona staff were loaned to the project when the new publisher stepped in. Katsura Hashino and Yousuke Uda came aboard as the game's new producers.

Revived in 2009 after Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Dragon's Crown was first planned for which console?

Wii was the target when the new pitch was first shown to a publisher. A later backer aimed for an international audience before the game settled on Sony's machines.

Dragon's Crown sends adventurers through nine dungeons surrounding a central town in which fantasy kingdom?

Hydeland is thrown into crisis when its king disappears, leaving his heirs to face a coup while monsters surge out of ancient sites across the land.

Which artist both directed Dragon's Crown and drew its characters, most backgrounds and full-motion illustrations?

George Kamitani founded the studio in 2002 and had directed Princess Crown, the 1997 game this one was first meant to follow.

The muscular, exaggerated artwork of Dragon's Crown drew heavy inspiration from which American fantasy painter?

Frank Frazetta's paintings shaped the look. The director magnified each character's defining traits to give stock fantasy figures a fresh spin, and said the designs were not meant to be taken seriously.

Which composer, best known for Final Fantasy Tactics, wrote the Dragon's Crown soundtrack with his company Basiscape?

Hitoshi Sakimoto treated it as his first solo soundtrack in many years. He sorted the tracks into three groups: humans, nature and monsters.

Alongside the fairy Tiki, which thief follows Dragon's Crown adventurers into every dungeon to unlock chests?

Rannie tags along on every run to open treasure chests and locked doors. Tiki's job is to point out treasure hidden in the scenery.

After finishing Dragon's Crown on Hard, players unlock which third difficulty setting, capped at character level 99?

Infernal opens after a second full playthrough. An even tougher Ultimate setting lifts the level cap to 255.

Loot found in Dragon's Crown is graded by letter, running from the lowest E up to which top rank?

S is the top grade, one step above A. Back in town, players can pay gold to appraise each item, which changes its selling value.

Where in the town of Dragon's Crown do players pay to resurrect bones found in dungeons as allies?

Canaan Temple revives the bone piles as computer-controlled companions for solo play, and also grants boons for the next dungeon run.

Which Dragon's Crown class can absorb damage aimed at allies, a trait one reviewer likened to an MMO tank?

Fighter is the armoured, straightforward class that makes for an easier run, while spellcasters such as the Wizard demand far more finesse.

For the 2018 PlayStation 4 remaster Dragon's Crown Pro, the whole soundtrack was re-recorded using what?

A live orchestra replaced the original recordings, with sessions held in Tokyo, Hyogo and Australia. The remaster's sprites were also redrawn to support 4K resolution.

In Dragon's Crown, which magical abilities are cast by activating three symbols, some hidden in the scenery?

Runes are cast by combining three symbols, up to two of which can be found in the background of a stage. A building in town keeps a record of the ones unlocked.

Which Dragon's Crown class is revealed in the ending as the lost grandchild of a noble family?

The Amazon is hailed by the people and claimed by nobles as their missing granddaughter. In combat her strikes grow stronger and faster the longer she keeps attacking.

Completing Dragon's Crown unlocks which tenth dungeon, whose layout is procedurally generated?

Labyrinth of Chaos opens once the story is finished. A still later eleventh dungeon, with more random areas and bosses, waits on the highest difficulty setting.

The studio behind Dragon's Crown took its present name in 2004 on moving to which Japanese city?

Osaka became home when the company, founded two years earlier under the name Puraguru, relocated and rebranded.

A writer for which gaming site led criticism of the Sorceress design in Dragon's Crown before its 2013 release?

Kotaku's Jason Schreier called the design symptomatic of how the games industry treats women. The publisher defended the art, and one reviewer judged the whole cast equally exaggerated.

Which feature, missing from Dragon's Crown at launch and criticised by some reviewers, arrived in a later patch?

Cross-play between the PS3 and handheld versions came in one of five patches released between August and December 2013.

At the end of the Dragon's Crown story, which princess becomes queen and inherits the now-powerless crown?

Vivian takes the throne after her brother Dean is crowned and then sacrificed by a dragon-summoning cult.

Post-launch DLC for Dragon's Crown let players replace whose voice with any of the six class voice actors?

The narrator can be swapped for any of the six playable characters' voices. The voice pack was free for the first month after the North American launch, then went on sale as paid DLC.

The publisher that saved Dragon's Crown had earlier released which game by the same studio?

Odin Sphere was the link: with funding gone in 2011, the director went back to the company that had released it rather than see the new game cancelled.

Which company published Dragon's Crown in Europe and Australia, two months after its North American release?

NIS America handled the PAL release, with a small artbook for some European pre-orders. The digital version was pulled when the two firms' partnership ended in 2016, then relisted.

What must the adventurer in Dragon's Crown collect nine of to enter the realm where the ancient dragon is sealed?

Talismans became the only way in after the adventurer destroyed the existing magical route to the dragon's prison.

After the king vanishes in Dragon's Crown, which official attempts a coup against the royal heirs?

The Prime Minister moves against the two siblings while the throne sits empty. The king had in fact killed himself to stop a cult's ritual to summon an ancient dragon.

After a certain point in Dragon's Crown, players can pay a fee to reach dungeons through what, instead of the Gate?

The stables become a paid alternative to the Gate, a magical portal that links the town to the surrounding dungeons.

Dragon's Crown lost planned expansion packs themed on Japan's Sengoku period and which ancient land?

Egypt and feudal Japan were both early ideas for add-ons, abandoned because of the extra workload. The director instead packed everything he could into the one game.

Dragon's Crown was announced in 2011 under which publisher, whose exit from gaming nearly got it cancelled?

UTV Ignition ran into financial trouble during 2011, pulling out of game development and then publishing. Its producer Kashow Oda had reported strong overseas interest in the game.

The effort poured into Dragon's Crown cost which earlier PSP game from the same studio its planned Western release?

Grand Knights History never left Japan, because the team had nothing left to spare for its localisation while finishing their biggest project.

Which Japanese magazine praised the nostalgic story of Dragon's Crown, comparing it to a tabletop role-playing session?

Famitsu reviewed both versions warmly. Western critics were cooler on the plot, with one calling the story the game's greatest weakness.

In 2013, the bankruptcy of which parent company of its publisher put Dragon's Crown at risk a second time?

Index Corporation's collapse was the second funding scare of the project. The game survived it and had shipped 800,000 copies worldwide by December 2013.

Which publisher released the Dragon's Crown manga and artbook in English for North American readers?

Udon Entertainment issued the two manga volumes in 2017 and 2018, then the artbook in 2019. The manga's artist played the game himself to get its story right.