You Can Customize Your Own Dragon In Scalebound

Not content with just letting you have a skyscraper-sized dragon companion as a battle compatriot in Scalebound, PlatinumGames has today revealed at Gamescom that players will have the ability to customize almost every single facet of Thuban’s (that’s his name, by the way) appearance, combat ability and even his general role when you engage any given enemy.

Dubbed ‘Dragon DNA’, the in-depth system has three core components – morphing, parts and armor – that can all be tinkered with individually to generate different effects. PlatinumGames creative producer Jean Pierre Kellams gives a short description of what each one does below (via Xbox Wire):

Morphing

We’ve already shown off our three core dragon types to choose from – the Rex, Tank and Wyvern – but the possibilities are much grander with morphing. These types are connected in an evolutionary circle and by using gems at a dragon shrine, players will be able to blend both their physical and visual attributes, whether it’s the strength of the Tank or the swiftness of the Wyvern.

Dragon Parts

Next up is dragon parts. These are permanent buffs (you are changing the dragon’s DNA, after all) that alter the physical appearance and boost the elemental characteristics of Thuban (you’ll see an example below). Appearing in Berserker Mode, which is like Dragon Form for Dragons (worst name ever™), you can imagine these parts as organic and animalistic extensions of Thuban’s body. These cover offensive buffs, while armor covers defensive.

Armor

Unlike morphing or parts, armor is made by human hands. Players will buy armor using currency that is earned by defeating enemies, completing quests or finding in game, mixing and matching to boost Thuban’s defenses. Armor can also be destroyed in battle, so it must be maintained during the game. One of our favorite armor sets is reflected in the upfront image.

Once you’re happy with your own personal Thuban, you’ll probably be curious as to how the changes you’ve made translate to combat. According to Kellams, it all blends together with another new mechanic called Dragon Link, which lets you control Thuban directly through “Drew’s point of view,” opening up a different perspective on the current challenge you’re faced with.

Scalebound launches exclusively on Xbox One and Windows 10 next year, and will take full advantage of Microsoft’s Xbox Play Anywhere program.