Pre-order Dragon's Crown ($50 PS3, $40 Vita), get a free 64-page artbook

Zonic505

CAGiversary!
Feedback
1 (100%)
If you pre-order Dragon's Crown from "participating stores" (most likely the ones listed on the pre-order page, such as Amazon, GameStop, etc.), you'll get a free 64-page artbook:

                   
    
frys_01.png
              
walmart_01.png
   

dragons_crown.jpg

The book includes illustrations of the characters, environments, and commissions from artists Akira Yasuda (Darkstalkers, Marvel vs. Capcom), Kinu Nishimura (Code of Princess, Virtue’s Last Reward), and Gouda Cheese AKA BENGUS (Super Street Fighter II, Darkstalkers).

The game will be available August 10th. Important thing to note is that you can only play online with people who have it for the same system you do, so you can't go online with your Vita to play with PS3 owners & vice versa. However, you can still transfer your saves if you own both versions of the game.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yeah, they do that kind of stuff with the pre-orders. One per order, not one per item. It's not uncommon. I learned that the hard way months ago.

He might be the exception. I haven't heard of anyone else getting shorted art books from Amazon. In fact a friend of mine was asking where he could buy (just the Vita game) and I told him his options were pretty much amazon and gamestop so he placed an order for two vita copies on Thursday and both arrived the next day with artbooks.

 
Preordered from Newegg.  No artbook.

Very disappointed. Emailed them and they said they didn't advertised any preorder bonus and are not responsible.  Emailed Atlus and they never responded.

 
I ordered from amazon last wed the 7th.. Shouldn't have counted as a preorder but they included an art book...awesome!!
 
I know now....if it's not in every copy you wont get it at newegg. I'm ok since the Artbook just looked aight but would have liked it a lot. I got the game decently cheaper at least. I pretty much only go for newegg pre-orders if 1. The game has a good percentage off and 2. I'm ok with no pre-order bonuses or the game never had any to begin with (like the new Mario & Luigi game coming from them). I'm still miffed about Project x Zone standard....and missing out on this too, but yeah if you can get it cheaper and are ok without pre-order bonuses Newegg is ok in my book. Not my go to exactly.

 
fuck no.

While people say I am not the best source of what the "average" person can do (see my Velo comment below). The game is actually about 3 - 4 hours long. It's entirely possible to unlock multiplayer in an hour and a half and without a doubt possible to beat the remaining 9 stages and the end boss in another 2 (I did 1 cycle in 4:30 or so according to my trophies, so take that for what you will). Another 3 - 4 will probably be spent playing hard, since you DO need to level a little bit to actually beat the end boss again / get the talismans again. Another 3 - 5 hours will be spent beating infernal, which is the same story as before. At this point you're looking at 13 hours if you're playing my way or 18 hours if you're doing more. The additional 2 hours to make the "20 hour play though" is actually beating the quests. You might do a few / most of them along the way, but there are a lot of them that you need to take time out of your day to accomplish (like soloing the B route bosses).

Some personal stats...

  • I beat the game as all 6 characters hitting at least level 24.
  • Beat the game on hard / infernal.
  • Unlocked every gallery item / did every quest.
  • Made it to floor 33 (not counting stages that didn't count because it doesn't keep track if you beat something higher than where you're) in the Lab of Chaos.
  • Got 1 character to level 99.
  • Cooked every single item in the game.

and more in roughly 89 hours. Would have been even faster if I could stand to kill the same bosses 20+ times in a row.
Sooooo.... did you like it?

Seriously though, as someone who isn't a big grind fan do you think it got more tedious than fun at some point? I figure at least a couple of run throughs but wondered if there was a real wall to hit before seeing some real content.

I was surprised to find MOST of the soul sacrifice bosses were actually online or in side quests, some of which were going to require some serious farming.

 
Sooooo.... did you like it?

Seriously though, as someone who isn't a big grind fan do you think it got more tedious than fun at some point? I figure at least a couple of run throughs but wondered if there was a real wall to hit before seeing some real content.

I was surprised to find MOST of the soul sacrifice bosses were actually online or in side quests, some of which were going to require some serious farming.
I started off liking it, but towards the end I despised it. To such a point that I actually didn't understand why the game was reviewing so high in the first place. Let me put it like this...

I started off playing every character to see who I liked the most, but none of them really had any charm for me besides the Fighter. The others were fun (save the Dwarf), but they were just not my thing. Like a lot of the wizard / sorc fights were something like... walk to boss, use upward attack as many times as possible, walk away and recharge, repeat. I also had to reunlock online with every new character I played as, which was needlessly tedious (you can't even progress as P2, so signing in another controller just gives you XP).

By the time I actually started to level my fighter to 99, it was reasonableish grind, but extremely boring. It takes 100,000,000 XP to hit level 99 and here's a time table to give you an idea.

Beat the first 9 bosses for story.

Beat the second 9 bosses for the Talismans.

Defeat the end boss.

Beat the second 9 bosses for Talismans.

Defeat the end boss.

Beat the second 9 bosses for Talismans.

Defeat the end boss.

Collect quests and kill roughly all 18 bosses again.

Go back and kill roughly 9 bosses over food needed to see it all / platinum.

Lets say you have like 50,000,000 xp at this point (I really have no clue where to start, so lets just do the middle). Then you need another 50,000,000 xp to max yourself out (mind you, you can cap any skill at like 60). Ignoring all the stats / details / side things that come into play, I was getting 1,000,000 per floor in the lab of chaos. Here you DO fight bosses as random enemies for treasure, but it's impossible to say how many times you fight them. Provided you're playing on infernal at this point, then you're looking at AT LEAST 75 more boss kills just to hit level 99. This is in addition to the roughly 122 (this also assumes you just gunned it without repeating / redoing anything) bosses you fight prior, so to get one character to 99 it's about 197 bosses. Plus another 95 if you want to finish the game as every other character and of course this gives you no room for overlap. So in simple math you're talking about fighting all the bosses a combined 292 times. I doubt many people would say they would be super excited to play more bosses silently with your pals online.

Anyway, the game doesn't have any new content after you beat the game the first time. The only really "unique" thing the game offers you is an optional level 100 boss who I didn't count in my figures above. He is JUST the demon lord you seal prior to fighting the Arch demon and easily the most annoying thing in the whole game. He appears on every 9th floor in the lab of chaos (9, 18, 27, etc) and will take a lot of cash / time / support to kill. Killing him the first time does give you a really powerful item (boosts your stats the deeper you go), but this is the one thing you really need to work towards. By the time you do every quest and beat the game once, you've seen it all besides him.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I am skipping release date purchase for this game. I know I will miss the artbook. But I kind of think George Kamitani will release an Artbook which will make the bonus artbook included with this game release a moot point for me. This is something that people who purchased from newegg should think about. You got the game cheaper, but you can get the artbook when it releases. I'm pretty sure there will be a Muramasa, Odin Sphere, and a Dragon's Crown artbook.

 
I ordered from amazon last wed the 7th.. Shouldn't have counted as a preorder but they included an art book...awesome!!
They still list the artbook on their product pages for both versions of this game, so its most likely Amazon got plenty of artbooks to go with the game. Both my Vita and PS3 copies from Amazon came with artbooks, but I did preorder them a while ago.

 
LoL @ admiralvic. I can't even imagine playing games the way you do. It just seems like work instead of fun and can't see how any game would be enjoyable like that. To each is own I guess. But I'm having fun with Dragon's Crown and taking it slow to enjoy it. If you grew up on the side scrolling brawler it's a really good walk down memory lane with some advancements.

 I do miss the deeper gameplay aspects of Odin Sphere though, but this is more multiplayer focused which makes sense given the tradition of the four player arcade cabinets.

 
I hate the Dwarf. I started off with him because throwing sounded fun but he is terrible.

I already started over with an Amazon and am liking the game 10x more hahah

 
The Dwarf does have horrible skills. He seems to just be a tank in a game where tanks aren't really needed. (Since there really isn't an aggression meter in play.) I may reroll to a new class.
 
LoL @ admiralvic. I can't even imagine playing games the way you do. It just seems like work instead of fun and can't see how any game would be enjoyable like that. To each is own I guess. But I'm having fun with Dragon's Crown and taking it slow to enjoy it. If you grew up on the side scrolling brawler it's a really good walk down memory lane with some advancements.

I do miss the deeper gameplay aspects of Odin Sphere though, but this is more multiplayer focused which makes sense given the tradition of the four player arcade cabinets.
I'm sorry?

Some games are fun, where as other ones aren't. I had a blast playing D&D with my friend, but since he didn't have the game and it lacked voice chat, it was a huge negative for me. Though some games are fun to play like this. I had a lot of fun with Soul Sacrifice and so was Muramasa.

I think it took me 6 days to platinum Mura and that was after getting all the swords twice and taking a day off to see a movie. The thing that makes some games like DC awful, is that there isn't a lot to see. The further you get, the less interesting the game gets. Come level 80 you'll have so many weapons with full lists of abilities. So you'll have something like 36 / 45 additional stats / bonuses in addition to level / skills / stats.

I hate the Dwarf. I started off with him because throwing sounded fun but he is terrible.

I already started over with an Amazon and am liking the game 10x more hahah
Told you he sucked / was my least favorite class.

The Dwarf does have horrible skills. He seems to just be a tank in a game where tanks aren't really needed. (Since there really isn't an aggression meter in play.) I may reroll to a new class.
The Fighter is meant to be the games tank.

One of his skills steals aggro and another one makes you take damage instead of another (if I recall correctly. I never used it and thought it was stupid). Once you have aggro, you're suppose to go into shielded state. In this state you will protect those around you, plus give them up to an additional 100% damage. You can also level your reflection skill to reflect like 50% (I never maxed it so I am just guessing it ends at 50. Might be higher) of projectiles to make sure everyone is fairly safe. There is also the reflex guard, which is meant to protect you as enemies are going to town on you.

I don't think the Dwarf really has a role past being a more in your face Fighter and less technical / faster Amazon.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'll likely just play the game with the dwarf for any trophies...but that's it. Am playing the Sorceress at the moment and she is pretty neat. Her animations are interesting but I'm not any offended by any of the art. Good game for sure though!

 
dont understand the game  once you get half way done  it says you need to find the stones... Do you just keep redoing the maps until the stones pop up or am i missing something ..how do you find the stones 

 
dont understand the game once you get half way done it says you need to find the stones... Do you just keep redoing the maps until the stones pop up or am i missing something ..how do you find the stones
You have to beat the B route bosses to get the talismans. But, these bosses are timed. Once you go over time an event happens that helps you beat the boss and you don't get the talisman.
 
Well I got my dwarf to level 35 and I really enjoy him. He is awesome at the moment but I am seeing larger enemies on Hard now that I can't pick up and throw... which is becoming bothersome because that's one of his main selling points.

My fiancee is playing as the Amazon so maybe I'll go back and start up the Fighter because his skills seem better (than the dwarf's that is).
 
I started off liking it, but towards the end I despised it. To such a point that I actually didn't understand why the game was reviewing so high in the first place.
Well you know they probably put a tenth of the time into it you did. I'm still trying to be optimistic about it but thinking that I'm going to get tired of it a lot sooner than I hoped. Keep having this feeling of "is this it?" with it.

 
Well you know they probably put a tenth of the time into it you did. I'm still trying to be optimistic about it but thinking that I'm going to get tired of it a lot sooner than I hoped. Keep having this feeling of "is this it?" with it.
You do know I use to be a reviewer right? I am perfectly aware of exactly how much time a lot of these people put into the things they're reviewing.

1 site I know gave it a 9.5 and the reviewer couldn't beat the game and didn't play as more than 1 of the characters.

Another site I know gave it a 9.6 and the reviewer beat it / did some quests, but didn't do much with the other characters.

Just because I know most of these people are frauds that care more about status (it's okay to sometimes not finish a game / not put in 50+ hours, but a lot of them put in a few hours if that on everything) than doing their job properly, doesn't mean I accept or want to make excuses for them.

If you're starting to get bored of the game / elements, remember that most / every B route boss has a "you suck so we will help" mechanic.

Arch demon gets rays of light.

Red Dragon runs out of walkway.

Killer Rabbit has the kings army attack and gives you a box filled with bombs.

The Kraken escapes (needed for a quest).

The Chimera falls to its death.

Medusa has a special room (leave the place where you first fight her) where she runs off.

etc

 
I'm torn between snagging this or Muramasa for the Vita. Both look gorgeous, but I don't know if I'd really spend much time with multiplayer...
 
I'm torn between snagging this or Muramasa for the Vita. Both look gorgeous, but I don't know if I'd really spend much time with multiplayer...
Here's the break down...

Muramasa

Pro

Deeper combat system.

2 different stories.

6 endings.

108 different swords to unlock.

Has a future in DLC.

Missions offer a nice change of pace.

Nicer artwork than Dragon's Crown (DC feels more generic, where as Muramasa has more charm to it.)

Difficulties mean something. (easy is easy, hard requires more skill / dodging and fury is 1 hit deaths)

Con

Short. You can honestly finish one of the stories in 2 hours if you know exactly what to do.

There is no point in playing after you get all 108 stories and beat the game a third time.

Fury mode is more of a pain in the ass than fun.

Poor pacing.

No unlockable moves.

Stats don't really change up the game in any real way.

DLC costs $5 dollars and is little more than announced at the moment.

Dragon's Crown

Pro

6 Different characters to play as.

99 floors in the Lab of Chaos for you to conquer.

Skills can vastly change how the game is played.

Always something new to unlock.

Quests offer some backstory / additional things to do.

Online multiplayer.

Con

Not every character is equally enjoyable. (3 people here have posted they hated the Dwarf)

No voice chat online.

Poor online room / host / management.

Bosses are pretty paper thin depth wise.

Stats get out of hand towards the end.

Most characters boil down to set "moves" that you end up always doing.

Looks generic next to Muramasa.

AI is sometimes worse than nothing.

Little to no skill is needed or involved.

Difficulties are a fancy way of saying higher stat enemies.

It's only a matter of time before you stop caring about stats.

Most people ignore runes.

B route bosses can be failed resulting in additional play time.

Cooking stages are a nice change of pace, but are a boring waste of time if you don't care.

 
In modest defense of the poor dwarf, it is pretty fun flying across the screen bombing the shit out of everything. I wish they would have made him more tankish, with aggro management components and everything. Then he'd be downright awesome.
 
Here's the break down...

Muramasa

Pro

Deeper combat system.
2 different stories.
6 endings.
108 different swords to unlock.
Has a future in DLC.
Missions offer a nice change of pace.
Nicer artwork than Dragon's Crown (DC feels more generic, where as Muramasa has more charm to it.)
Difficulties mean something. (easy is easy, hard requires more skill / dodging and fury is 1 hit deaths)

Con

Short. You can honestly finish one of the stories in 2 hours if you know exactly what to do.
There is no point in playing after you get all 108 stories and beat the game a third time.
Fury mode is more of a pain in the ass than fun.
Poor pacing.
No unlockable moves.
Stats don't really change up the game in any real way.
DLC costs $5 dollars and is little more than announced at the moment.

Dragon's Crown

Pro

6 Different characters to play as.
99 floors in the Lab of Chaos for you to conquer.
Skills can vastly change how the game is played.
Always something new to unlock.
Quests offer some backstory / additional things to do.
Online multiplayer.

Con

Not every character is equally enjoyable. (3 people here have posted they hated the Dwarf)
No voice chat online.
Poor online room / host / management.
Bosses are pretty paper thin depth wise.
Stats get out of hand towards the end.
Most characters boil down to set "moves" that you end up always doing.
Looks generic next to Muramasa.
AI is sometimes worse than nothing.
Little to no skill is needed or involved.
Difficulties are a fancy way of saying higher stat enemies.
It's only a matter of time before you stop caring about stats.
Most people ignore runes.
B route bosses can be failed resulting in additional play time.
Cooking stages are a nice change of pace, but are a boring waste of time if you don't care.
Admiralvic comes through in the clutch. Thank you for the breakdown.

I'm likely going to pursue Muramasa. Like the deeper combat and the art does indeed look stunning. Shorter playtime might end up being a boon, as I still need to get through P4G and Soul Sacrifice is sitting on my shelf untouched.
 
Admiralvic comes through in the clutch. Thank you for the breakdown.

I'm likely going to pursue Muramasa. Like the deeper combat and the art does indeed look stunning. Shorter playtime might end up being a boon, as I still need to get through P4G and Soul Sacrifice is sitting on my shelf untouched.
Keep an eye on AWD as the base game has shown up once or twice but the CE has been showing up somewhat regularly as of late for $33-35; if you're interested in grabbing it sooner than later that is.

 
Admiralvic comes through in the clutch. Thank you for the breakdown.

I'm likely going to pursue Muramasa. Like the deeper combat and the art does indeed look stunning. Shorter playtime might end up being a boon, as I still need to get through P4G and Soul Sacrifice is sitting on my shelf untouched.
Glad to help! It's entirely possible to get all the swords / endings / accessories / level 99 / all but 2 trophies in 16 - 20 hours.

 
For that type of game, 20ish hours seems perfect.
Well it boils down to something like...

2 - 5 hours for 1 characters story.

2 - 5 hours for the other characters story.

5+ hours leveling one character / buying swords / beating missions.

2 - 4 hours leveling the other character / buying their swords.

1 hour to beat the game as both characters again.

1+ hours to buy all the middle path swords / beat the game as both characters again.

 
Wow.  I preordered my Vita copy quite a while ago from Newegg (with a $10 discount).  Got shipping notice on Monday Aug 5th and it still hasn't been picked up by DHL.  Contacted customer service on Friday and was told my order shows it's estimated to be delivered on the 14th.  I was then told that there's nothing they can do until then, but if I contact them Wednesday they'll file a claim with the shipper.

:whee:

Definitely the worst service I've received from Newegg over the years.

~KC

 
Muramasa deeper combat system , I normally don't do this but lol. While it is a fun game just like DC the combat system is not deep at all you'll literally do the same moves from beginning to end you never learn anything new aside from getting new swords and most of them are identical anyway.

As for DC well like all games it will get old eventually very few games entertain for longer then a month at best before moving on to something else I'd say for most.. This is a good game but by nature the game is built around loot and grinding i don't think vanillaware ever tried to fool anybody into thinking otherwise

 
lol, i guess this sour your experience with preordering at bestbuy, especially it being your first time preordering from them. Maybe if with this issue/ complaint about your specific store, maybe some changes will happen there.
yea.. it was unbelivable. That bill guy is helpful and he had a copy shipped to store from the wharehouse. I asked him to ship it to my house but i guess tht cant be done direct like that. The manager was supposed to hold it for me when it came in and call today. I also Pm'd bill to make sure they didn't double charge me when I got it, and he assured me it shouldn't be an issue... well issues arrised =P

I got no call but was in the area for a Dr's appointment. Before going to customer service to get Dragons Crown that should be held for me and a store pickup i had, i decided to browse the game section since it looks like they moved it this week. What do i see on the shelf? A copy of Dragons Crown! I grab it in case there are any issues. I found and talked to the store manager and asked if the game was being held at customer service for me. He assured me it was and that he got the email from Bill... i pulled the copy out from behind my back and asked if they got multiple copies in. His eyes got big and he said that no they should have only got one in that was shipped just for me. When i asked if this copy that i found on the sales floor was the copy he just told me they had he said he'd go check in the back. Sure enough, nothing. The copy that BIll went through the trouble of getting and shipping just for me go thrown on the damn floor. No one knew what was going on, not even the store manager it seems. He flat out lied to me that it was being held. If i hadn't happened to be browsing the game section at that time anyone could have bought it and id have been screwed.

To top it all off i got pawned off on another manager and he was insisting that the game had to be payed for >_< They tried to double charge me, after i was assured by Bill that wouldn't happen.

Really un-friggin-believable. Im so don with preorders at BBY, and i think the store in general for a while. Every step of the way they screwed it up. Even after the BBY online rep tried to fix it for me, they almost ruined his efforts. Im waiting for a reply from Bill to see if i can get a giftcard or some money back or something for this ridiculous headache

Blea, what a nightmare. Ah well now to decide if i want to play the vita or ps3. Im thinking vita for now solo and ps3 later with friends

 
Sounds like my normal bestbuy experience. They never hold anything..

I remember a few years ago when Zelda came out my store put all the collectors editions on the floor for anyone to take. There were lots of unhappy customers who preordered and were screwed
 
Just realized I beat this game in about 3-4 days (probably about 10 hours of total play, including beating the game, messing around afterwards, and playing with friends) and I have to admit, I'm not sure I want to keep the game anymore. Yes, it was very fun the first playthrough but the second playthrough is just the same game but add in more grinding and subtract the story. It's worse if you're doing it solo :(

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just realized I beat this game in about 3-4 days (probably about 10 hours of total play, including beating the game, messing around afterwards, and playing with friends) and I have to admit, I'm not sure I want to keep the game anymore. Yes, it was very fun the first playthrough but the second playthrough is just the same game but add in more grinding and subtract the story. It's worse if you're doing it solo :(
Yeah, I'm still having trouble getting into it. Hoping Amazon offers a $30 TIV or GS has a decent price with the 50% coupon next week.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't see any used copies for PS3 on Amazon, oddly enough. I think I'll just throw it on eBay or something and hope for the best.
Because they haven't posted a trade value yet and the way they were packaging it wasn't likely to result in dingers. I'm just never comfortable with eBay if I can get nearly the same after fees for a lot less worry.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm at just shy of 50 hours. I'm just right there at beating it (on normal) with 5/6 characters, and my main character is pretty close to beating hard. The replay value comes from doing all side content, then trying to level up and get loot to actually be able to do the harder difficulties and longer continuous runs. If that's not your thing, then a rental and a playthrough or two would probably do you just fine.

 
Found a complete copy used ( I know blasphemy! support the developers) and damn it's pretty entertaining. Worth it for any fans of D&D and side bashing goodness. The fact that this AND D&D Chronicles of Mystara came out in the same year is fantastic. 

 
Anyone know what the TIV at GS is? I enjoyed it but I'm not sure how much I want to grind sidequests and trophies knowing I'm getting infinity this week and Muramasa in the PSN sale next week.

 
Anyone know what the TIV at GS is? I enjoyed it but I'm not sure how much I want to grind sidequests and trophies knowing I'm getting infinity this week and Muramasa in the PSN sale next week.
I asked last week and it was $21. I'm going there today so I'll make sure to get a new quote and will post it in the GS TIV thread that's linked in Dark_Sage's post above mine.

If the value's decent I think you jump on it because it seems like a lot of people are going to be looking to dump it sooner than later. I still want to like it but it just isn't doing it for me.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I asked last week and it was $21. I'm going there today so I'll make sure to get a new quote and will post it in the GS TIV thread that's linked in Dark_Sage's post above mine.

If the value's decent I think you jump on it because it seems like a lot of people are going to be looking to dump it sooner than later. I still want to like it but it just isn't doing it for me.
Thanks, I dumped it for 21 even though I usually don't like doing that sort of thing. I'm getting Infinity and I wanted all the preorer extras.

 
bread's done
Back
Top