Building the first Dragon Fantasy was an amazing experience. And after pouring your heart and soul into a project like that, you can only think “Where do I go from here?”. After we’d really pushed the limits of 8-bit gameplay and graphics with the first game, we knew it was time to bump the game a “generation”. This meant being a lot more ambitious with what we wanted to do, and bigger ambitions require bigger support. So with the support of SCEA’s Pub Fund, we’re thrilled to announce Dragon Fantasy Book II is headed for PS3 and PS Vita next year on PSN!

Originally, we had planned to follow the original three chapters of 8-bit style with another three chapters in a more 16-bit style. We planned to do a slow and steady progression, chapter by chapter adding more and more features. But as soon as we started work on the new chapters we quickly found ourselves aiming squarely at the end of that generation immediately. We didn’t want to start out simple again as we had already done that. We wanted to make the best RPG possible. So, we decided instead that we’d combine the three stories into one massive sequel, and add a few scenes here and there to glue things together. It made the story flow more naturally, sure, but more importantly to the player, it let us load this sucker up with hot 16-bit-era eye candy from the get-go!

The first “next-gen” (for the early 90s) feature we threw in was a throwback to what was then known as “Mode7”. For the blast-processing set out there, Mode 7 was a special video mode that let the very 2D hardware make (for the time) eye-popping “3D” effects. We’ve always had an affinity for that look, so it had to be part of Book II. We’re using it for all the traveling scenes in the game,and we’ll be using it for some pretty intense battle scenes later in the game.
After thoroughly stepping up the visuals, it was time to give the audio some love. The 16-bit era of video games are known for some truly amazing music, and we wanted to express that in our sequel as well. And so, our audio director, Morgan Tucker (a.k.a. Crashfaster, and the head of 8-bit SF and Monobomb Records got some very his samples assembled and leaped at the task.

In the original DF game, we used a very static, very traditional battle system that took was very reminiscent of the best 8-bit era RPG battle systems. I thought it turned out very nicely, and it certainly did the trick for the theme we were going for. We even showed an early version of Book II at PAX East. But with all the other new features in the game, the old school battle system just felt out of place. So we built an all-new system from the ground up. Battles now take place in the same world that the player walks around in, and monsters can be seen lurking around every corner. When battles begin, it’s just a matter of a status screen and a menu bar sliding onto screen. The game retains the quirky text descriptions that the first game was known for, but now they’re accompanied by fully animated attacks and highly effect-driven magic spells.

Finally, we added multiplayer support. Up to four players can play together, each acting as one of the four party members in the first player’s party. Each player is free to explore the surrounding areas on their own, and can even engage in separate battles on their own as well. And of course, if they choose to help each other out, any player can just walk right up to another battle in progress and join in on the next round! This works not only in the regular game mode, but we’re planning a coliseum mode where players can form a mixed party of their own party members and those of their friends to fight battles for glorious prizes and honor.

Oh, yeah, we should probably mention the story, eh? I mean, that’s generally the big thing when discussing RPGs, right? As the story begins, the Imperial Armada is closing in on our heroes. It’s not quite clear to them yet why the empire is pursuing them, but they’ll learn soon enough. As they head further and further into the southlands, our heroes will be split up into three teams (representing the original three chapters we’d planned to do episodically), with each discovering important secrets about the war between the Kingdom of Tundaria and the Empire of Sandheim. We’ll see what’s happened in Westeria in our heroes absence! And finally, we’ll learn a little bit about where the Dark Lord came from, how the Woodsman got to be so knowledgeable about things, and just what that purple talisman is all about.

Dragon Fantasy 2 is such a huge, huge departure from the first game stylistically that it’s easy to think that the two games aren’t actually related. But if you spend a little time with both, a lot of the throwaway gags in the first game will turn out to be very serious omens of the things to come in the second. A lot of that is because when Bryan and I first started on this series, we had intended all of this to be one, gigantic game. But we started on the game when we were both 14 years old. And it turns out that making a huge, huge RPG to rival the best contemporary RPGs of the time was a wee bit much for a couple teenagers! After 17 years, we’ve learned to tackle things one step at a time, and Dragon Fantasy Book II is our latest and greatest step towards the completion of our epic story!

Got questions about Dragon Fantasy 2 (or Dragon Fantasy 1?) Want to know what the ultimate fate of Jerald is? Wondering how the biological functions of the Rock Monsters work? Curious where to order Rock Monster plushies? Let us know in the comments!

We hope you like it, and keep an eye out for some great stories about Papo & Yo from Los Angeles over the next week!

Hello good-looking, internet-savvy PlayStation.Blog readers. Now that you’ve been buttered up a bit, DrinkBox Studios is excited to announce that our new Mexican-themed co-op-multiplayer dimension-swapping Metroid-vania beat-em-up platformer, titled Guacamelee!, will be released through the PlayStation Pub Fund program!

If you have never heard of Guacamelee! the best thing to do is to open your mind, relax, and watch the below trailer:

I know what you are probably thinking…“What is this ‘Pub Fund’? And what does this mean for ME?”

Well it simply means that you can expect Guacamelee! to exclusively launch on the PlayStation®Network for both the PlayStation®3 and the PlayStation®Vita. That’s a lot of ®’s! You can also expect the game to take advantage of the special features offered by each of the platforms (details of these to come later – stay tuned).

Set in a world inspired by Mexican culture, Guacamelee! features a down-on-his-luck agave farmer named Juan Aguacate, who sets out to save the world when El Presidente’s Daughter is kidnapped by an Evil Charro Skeleton. The story takes place in and around a small village in Mexico, and has the player travelling through “The World of the Living” and “The World of the Dead” on his quest to rescue the girl he loves.

We’ll be showing the game next week at E3 running on both the PS3 and the PS Vita. And for up-to-date development news, make sure to follow us on Twitter @DrinkboxStudios, and check out our blog here. Also, feel free to shoot us any questions you have in the comments below, and we will try to answer them the best we can!

Finally, we leave you with a chicken.

Hello again! Last time I was here I talked about the redesign of Monster – now I want to give everyone an even closer look at the creative and design process for Papo & Yo in our first-ever dev diary. Please take a look – you’ll get a glimpse of Minority’s office, some new ways you can interact with Monster, and even see the first prototype I designed for the game!

If you’ve been following Papo & Yo‘s development, you know that the game was inspired by my childhood in South America and my relationship with my father. But I don’t want that to be the only thing that people see when they get to play the game. Papo & Yo is also about a child’s imagination, and experiencing “fantastic realities” – transforming the real world into a special world that can both help and challenge you. I feel such joy when I play with my boy and see him imagining his toys coming to life – I hope that everyone will feel this when they play Papo & Yo.

Thank you – and stay tuned! We are working on another dev diary that will give you insight into what went into creating Papo & Yo’s music (hint: it involves a great composer and a big trip to South America). Also, be sure to look out for us at E3 again this year!

If you’ve been following Papo & Yo, you may remember that Monster represents my father, a man I had a difficult relationship with. To tell the story I wanted to tell – my story – I knew that this character had to show the positive aspects of the man I loved… and the negative aspects of the man I feared. This turned out to be challenging – I knew who Monster was, but not what he looked like. Luckily, I’m extremely fortunate to have friends like Nilo Rodis, a man who has worked on the art for movies ranging from Pixar titles to Star Wars, and the man who helped me find my father in Monster.

Nilo and I met during my time at EA, and when I started Minority as a way to make more personal games, he was one of the first people I started talking to. After I came to Nilo with the concept of Papo & Yo, we didn’t talk for a while – I basically buried myself in developing the game. When I finally had a prototype ready, Nilo liked it but saw problems with the way Monster looked – too much like a puppy, he thought. He asked me, “Do you see your father in that character?” and I honestly couldn’t say I did.

Nilo agreed to help us redesign our characters, and our final Monster, which you can see below, is big and powerful. He’s scary, but there is something that attracts you to him – something that makes you want to play with him, help him, even though he’s a beast who could fly into a rage and kill you.

Can’t wait to show you more of Monster and the game in the coming months!

SCEA seeks out the best development talent from colleges and universities through our academic program as well as at industry shows like IndieCade (where our PlayStation Home partnership with Codename was born), the IGF pavilion at GDC and E3. We also host developer mixers, where we’ve discovered some of the most talented developers on PSN. Once developers are discovered, we can determine which development model will give them the best support to help them thrive. PSN has been the only platform to fully embrace indie developers, and in 2012, more indie-developed PSN exclusives are on the way, including Papo & Yo, Retrograde, Closure, Dyad, and many more.

With the 2011 coming to a close, we also wanted to highlight some of the most successful indie game development efforts on the year. If you haven’t already, give these games a shot during your holiday vacation.

SCEA empowers some indie developers to self-publish on PSN, and the results are often very successful. Here are 2011′s top-selling PSN self-published indie games:

Top 10 Best-Selling Indie PSN Games of 2011 – Third-Party Self-Published

1. Limbo (Playdead)
2. Castle Crashers (The Behemoth)
3. TestYourself Psychology (Creat Studios)
4. Marvel Pinball (Zen Studios)
5. Worms 2 Armageddon (Team 17)
6. Dungeon Defenders (Trendy Entertainment)
7. Armageddon Riders (Targem Games)
8. Braid (Number None Inc.)
9. UnderSiege (Seed Studios)
10. Hamsterball (TikGames)

To help keep the indie spirit vibrant, we also incubate some indie developers to give them access to our resources, enabling them to realize their full artistic vision while being able to tap into the expertise and experience of SCEA’s World Wide Studios development ecosystem. Here are 2011′s top-selling PSN indie titles published by SCEA:

Top 10 Best-Selling PSN Games of 2011- SCEA-Published Indies

1. PixelJunk Shooter 2 (Q-Games)
2. Fat Princess (Titan Studios)
3. Flower (thatgamecompany)
4. Aquatopia (Playlogic Entertainment)
5. Hustle Kings (VooFoo Sudios)
6. Eat Them! (FluffyLogic)
7. Top Darts (Devil’s Details)
8. Super Stardust HD (Housemarque)
9. Linger in Shadows (Plastic)
10. Rag Doll Kung Fu (Qi Studios)

For some newer, smaller teams who have creative and innovative ideas, SCEA also has the Pub Fund, which provides additional development budget for those teams that might not otherwise have the footing to make their game a reality. We’ve committed $20 million over the next three years to the Pub Fund because we believe this visionary and unique development mindset will ultimately advance and evolve PSN games as an art form.

Top 5 Best-Selling Pub Fund Titles of 2011

1. Hoard (Big Sandwich Games)
2. Tales From Space: About a Blob (DrinkBox)
3. Joe Danger (Hello Games)
4. Eufloria (Omni Systems Limited)
5. Explodemon! (Curve Studios)

In the coming weeks, we’ll be providing a forum for PSN developers to share their stories in indie game development and why they chose PSN as their lead development platform. Stay tuned!

It’s tough to distill the concept down to a couple of sentences without doing the experience a huge injustice, but this excellent trailer should give you an idea of the mood and visual direction:

Now take that ethereal aesthetic, and the tingling that you’re feeling in your temples, and fold a layer of smartly accessible strategy elements over it. You’ll be exploring, conquering and colonizing enemy asteroids without the need for messy tech trees or arcane controls. It’s a rare game that satisfies both ends of the art game/strategy game spectrum, but I think that Eufloria nails it. It’s also tunable in either direction – play on the less hectic Chilled mode to revel in the ambiance, or give Dark Matter mode a try to grit your tactical teeth.

Check out my previous post for more game details and a list of some of the huge improvements for the PS3 iteration, and be sure to leave a spot for it in your PSN library if the concept intrigues you. Eufloria will be launching October 4th for $9.99, with a trial and unlock so that everyone can give it a shot. Supporting interesting independently developed games is an important goal for us, especially amongst all the blockbuster behemoths this fall – we love bringing you this stuff, and want to do so all year round. With that said, I hope we’ll see you in a few weeks!

(P.S. The little looping song that plays on the XMB before you launch the game has served as my background music for tens of hours of work throughout the year – as you can imagine, the full soundtrack is absolutely stunning.)

So what does this mean for you as a gamer? It means more unique, fun, innovative, edgy and higher quality game experiences on PSN that you won’t find anywhere else! We are excited for the upcoming PSN exclusive titles that are part of this three-year plan, including Eufloria, Okabu, and Papo & Yo, which recently received several accolades at E3, including Best Puzzle Game by both IGN and GamePro. Under this investment, we’re committed to delivering titles that have innovative gameplay mechanics, vibrant visuals, interesting storylines and an artistic element to interactive entertainment that can only be found on PlayStation Network.

Stay tuned to the PlayStation Blog for more exciting announcements around the PSN exclusive games portfolio soon!