Ah, Dragon's Crown. With it's bouncing bosoms and scantily clad sorceresses, it attracted the ire of certain corners of the internet when it hit the Playstation 3 and PS Vita almost three years ago. Getting their panties in a bunch over the apparently sexist imagery contained within, whilst totally sidestepping the issue of the barely covered, rippling-muscled men too, Dragon's Crown quickly became infamous for it's outrageous art style. However, those that refused to touch it with a self-righteous barge pole ended up missing out on on a lot of fun - with a couple of friends for local multiplayer mayhem, it wasn't a bad game at all, made all the more entertaining by its outlandish artwork.
After that debacle, it seems developers Vanillaware have gone back to their roots, quite literally, with a remake of their PlayStation 2 hack-and-slash role-playing game Odin Sphere - imaginatively titled Odin Sphere Leifthrasir (answers on a postcard for how to pronounce that one!). The game follows a girl called Alice, who sits in an attic, reading her way though a number of books, each telling the story of a different one of Odin Sphere's five protagonists, and each steeped in Norse mythology. Whether it's an armoured Valkyrie on a mission, a Prince cursed for falling in love, or a ill-prepared Princess attempting to quell an uprising, everyone's stories entwine as the Armageddon described in the prophecies draws near.
The Valkyrie takes time out of her hectic world-saving quest to stop and smell the... mushrooms?
Each chapter, which tells the story from the perspective of each of the game's main characters, is split into a number of missions, and much like Dragon's Crown, it seems Odin Sphere Leifthrasir is a side-scrolling hack-and-slash, with button-mashy combat at its forefront. Moving from left to right on a 2D plane, against the colourful hand-drawn backgrounds, beating up bad guys and taking on fearsome bosses with over-the-top combos, it's definitely one for those who prefer their role-playing games to be more action-y. Each of the characters wields a special weapon called a Psypher, which can absorb energy from fallen enemies - and the more energy your weapon absorbs, the more powerful it becomes, doing more and more damage to your foes in the process.
While the game itself is hitting all of the PlayStation platforms, PlayStation 4 players can push the boat out and go for a rather fancy special edition, if they're so inclined. This 'Storybook Edition' will be available from "select online retailers" across Europe, and will include the following swag:
- The PlayStation 4 version of the game, obviously
- A 64-page hardcover art book, with full colour renditions of the amazing artwork from the game
- A Potion Recipe t-shirt with a handy reminder of the most basic alchemical recipes
- A collector's metal slipcase for the game
- An Alice and Socrates the cat art print
- And a premium outer box showing off the game's fantastical artwork
Fancy.
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir will be hitting the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PS Vita on the 28th June. In the meantime, why not check out the latest trailer, which focuses on Cornelius, a prince who fell in love with the wrong princess, and has been turned into a rabbit-like Pooka because of it:
