We've been covering Scalebound all month long on IGN First, and now, sadly, the month is almost over. But before the calendar flips to September, we gave you an opportunity to ask questions about the game to project director Hideki Kamiya and creative producer Jean-Pierre Kellams. And they have answered!

Dragon Flight

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World Size

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Dragon Abilities

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Release Date

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Enemy Types

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Character Upgrades

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Thuban's Gotta Eat

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One World?

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Kamiya's Inspirations

The Challenge

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RPG Depth

More Dragons?

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On Co-Op

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Competitive Multiplayer?

Hideki Kamiya: There are quite a few ways to approach this, but right now we are figuring out “Scalebound’s way” of doing things. We want it to feel like something from PlatinumGames, with tight controls that make you feel like you are a part of the action.Kamiya: Our map size is something that we feel is just right for Scalebound, it isn’t too large, but it also isn’t too small; it is the size we think you need to adventure alongside your friends and their dragons.Kamiya: There are definitely more than one way to customize you dragons. Even within those customizations, there will be plenty of levels and variations to choose from.Jean-Pierre Kellams: Our game is still pre-alpha right now, so we are focused on making the game as awesome as we possibly can. That is why we have announced a Holiday 2016 release date. See you at the end of next year!Kamiya: There are a full gamut of creatures in Draconis, from very small, to very large. There are domesticated animals that help the inhabitants of the world, as well as wild animals that try to eat them. As you travel away from settlements and further into the wilderness, you will encounter some of the huge creatures that make Draconis dangerous.Kamiya: Skill points are Drew’s experience points in the game. The more you battle, the more of these points you will be able to obtain, and you will be able to use these points to by the moves or abilities that you’d like. One of the choices you will be to make is to make your Dragon Form skills more powerful.Kamiya: Personally, I think he likes apples. My home prefecture in Japan, Nagano prefecture, is famous for apples, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say the apples in Draconis are probably pretty good.Kamiya: You probably noticed the huge planet in the distance in our gameplay videos. For me, just telling the story of the world of Draconis is a concept that I’m having a hard time fitting into one game, it is so large. So for the first game, I want to focus on creating my vision for Draconis.Kamiya: First of all, this is my, and Platinum’s, first time attempting to make an action RPG. I grew up playing lots of different styles of RPG, and they have all informed my approach to making Scalebound. If I were to pull up some specific examples, Hydlide 3, one of the first games I played when I bought a PC was really inspirational to me. It had a really hardcore game design that no one was doing on consoles at the time, and that really attracted me to the game. One of the next games I played, Sorcerian, had tons of adventures you could try, and there were also lots of amazing dragons you could me. It really drew me in to its fantasy world hard. Draken was also really good, and did a great job of showing how sublime dragons could be. And if you are talking about dragons, you would be remiss to not mention Dragon Quest, right? So yeah, we could talk endlessly about games that have inspired me.Kamiya: First of all, Scalebound is not the same type of game as the pure action games that you associate with us. It is a game with a longer view – taking time to plan your play through over a longer span – so you won’t be living or dying on a razor’s edge. It isn’t a high-speed twitch-action game. What it does keep from those action games is our commitment to gameplay that satisfies and our strength in making controls that work with you instead of fight against you. We are keeping those as strong goals for the project. But for those of you who aren’t great at pure action games, we have a fearsome dragon by your side, so you can get a taste of Scalebound’s world without thinking it isn’t a game for you.Kamiya: As the main character, Drew, to me, is a character that I want to keep very special. He has his own traits and emotions, and that drives our story forward and deeper. He isn’t like the totally invincible superheroes I’ve created up until this point. He is just a normal guy, from our world, not some sort of trained professional fighter. That is why we aren’t thinking of having you customize his appearance or personality. Instead, we want you to experience the world through his eyes and grow alongside him.Kamiya: Drew is the only modern person inside the world of Draconis, and Thuban is the last remaining dragon in the world of Draconis. However, when you see the trailer, you notice that the other Drews and Dragons have different appearances. Why are they there and why they look different is something we are looking forward to explaining little by little over the months ahead.Kamiya: In the trailer, once you are deep in the dungeon and facing off against a huge monster, your compatriots show up; however, the point of that wasn’t to say that you can only join up with them when facing off against a boss like that. We aren’t sharing all the details of multiplayer yet, but we want people to be able to have fun adventuring together. That is how we are approaching multiplayer.Kamiya: We want people to have fun playing together. There are lots of ways we can do that. You’ll just have to look forward to more. :-)