Known in Japan as Drag-On Dragoon, the Drakengard series hasn’t been a massive hit, but it does have a cult following. The publisher of the series, Square Enix, has just announced the release date of the latest instalment in the series, Drakengard 3. The game will be out in North America on May 20th this year and will be out in Europe on May 21st on the PlayStation 3.

Square Enix has also revealed the standard and Collectors Edition of Drakengard 3 for North America, as well as some pre-order incentives. In a really bizarre twist, Square Enix has announced that pre-order bonuses for the game will be rolling out in tiers. The earlier the pre-order, you will get all the bonuses from the later tiers. Here are the bonuses Square has announced:

Tier One: players who place their pre-order from today through March 3 will receive a special Japanese voiceover DLC and automatically unlock the two yet-to-be-announced bonuses;

Tier Two: from March 4 to April 8, pre-ordering the game will unlock the two remaining unannounced bonuses;

Tier Three: from April 9 until launch, players will receive the final unannounced locked bonus only.

It is a really odd decision that the first bonuses is a Japanese voice DLC. Whilst previous Square Enix games hardly had the option to switch languages, since they provide their own English voices, making it a DLC does seem odd. Of course, to obtain all these bonuses you will need to pre-order before March 4th 2014.

The standard edition of the game will cost $49.99 in retail and digital, available from the PlayStation Network Store and the Square Enix Online Store. The collectors edition will cost $79.99 and only 5,000 will be produced. The collectors edition can only be purchased through the Square Enix Store. The collectors edition contains:

All three tier pre-order incentives mentioned above

The Complete Novella

Official Soundtrack CD Sampler

Prequel Stage DLC – Play as Zero’s sister, One, in this additional level

Caim Costume DLC – Protagonist of the original Drakengard (Once equipped, stamina consumption decreases by half when using a skill)

Giant Baby Hat DLC – For your in-game dragon companion

Drakengard 3 Collectible Poster

For Europe, there will be no such thing. The game will only be available digitally from the PSN Store and the Square Enix Store. No Collectors edition or any pre-order incentives have been announced for the European release so far.

Square Enix has also released lots of new screenshots for the game:

Two new videos were also posted; one is the release date announcement trailer and the other is the opening cutscene in English.

Drakengard 3 is the third main game in the series that was announced early last year and released in Japan in December 2013. The Drakengard series, known in Japan as Drag-On Dragoon, are Action Role Playing Games developed by Cavia, before they closed in 2010. The latest in the series is developed by Access Games. The first game in the series released in 2003, with the second game releasing in 2005. A spin-off game titled Nier released in 2010. The series has had a modestly positive reception and sold relatively well.

Drakengard 3 will be out on the PlayStation 3 on May 20th in North America, and on May 21st in Europe. The NA version will be available in retail and digitally, while the European version will be digital only. You can check out the official website of the game: http://www.drakengardgame.com/

“Drakengard”, “Drag-on Dragoon”, images, video and all associated brands and titles © 2014 Square Enix Co., Ltd and Access Games