Dragon: Marked For Death may be about to launch as a Nintendo Switch exclusive at the end of this month, but recent findings have revealed that the game's development actually dates back as far as ten years, with the title originally being destined for Sony's PSP.
The news comes from this tweet shared by Inti Creates president Takuya Aizu, in which he reveals that he recently discovered some old drafts for the game while searching for potential promo material. The draft includes the date 18th August 2008, with specific instructions for use with the PSP system.
According to Siliconera, the game was being developed as a multiplayer title which aimed to target an audience of office workers in their 20s who don't have as much free time to play during the day. It was described as a Mario-like 2D side-scroller, with action, mysteries, and character growth all featured; a four-player co-op mode would allow players to take control of their own characters.
Prior to its reveal for Switch, the game was also reportedly planned for Nintendo 3DS as an online experience. It might have had a long, interesting journey, but the wait to finally play the game is growing shorter by the day - it releases on Nintendo Switch on 31st January. A physical release is also scheduled to launch in February.
In case you've missed it, we'll leave you with one of the game's Switch trailers to show you what it's all about.
Have you been looking forward to this one? Will you be grabbing a copy later this month? Tell us below.
[source siliconera.com]
Comments 25
The art and premisse somehow reminds me of 7th Dragon. Maybe it clashed with 2020 and 2021 for PSP?
It’s surreal having this finally come out, I remember reading about it 6 or 7 years ago when it was for 3DS.
But I’m also excited to see what Hakama has planned after this. Rune Factory 5 pls
Looks nice for a 10 year old game that ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ should be have launched on PSP!
It sounds like it never entered development until the Switch version, but this history does explain why it's a sprite-based title in the familiar Inti Creates style all the way into 2019.
I hope this isn't the end of such games from them though, I love them.
I'm sure their patience will pay off in the end. It'll sell more on the Switch than it would have on the PSP or 3DS.
When it was first announced, it was announced for both 3DS and Switch. The 3DS version was cancelled very quickly
@ALinkttPresent Probably the right call there. The 3DS is a great little system but it's kinda dead now, haha. Not worth the resources.
Sadly true, not even first party 3DS titles are selling much any more.
Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn is probably going to be the last major 3DS release, I don't think Nintendo's evergreen strategy can apply to 3DS any longer.
@RupeeClock Yeah, the writing is well and truly on the wall. They've done well at squeezing the system for all its worth before letting it go though. Especially considering they've been directly competing against themselves with another handheld, as much as they'd like us to believe otherwise.
Oh wow. 10 years ago? That's a while, this looks like a cool game.
The art looks nice, but the gameplay really turns me off. It looks very dull.
was interested until I saw it was a 2D side-scroller. That turns me right off
@BenAV You could say that the 3DS is marked for death.
CANNOT WAIT for this game! Inti Creates is one of my most favorite devs!
I am definitely on board on the physical release. Actually I am quite happy about the late February release - that gives me enough time to 100 % Lego Villains on Switch (what a great game for DC fans )
I am going to get the empress pack first on Jan 31st, looks like an awesome fun grindy ARPG.
Sony did their BEST to kill the Vita so I wouldn't blame them for going to the Switch. Game Developers DON'T eat codes and making a game takes years not including the R&D budget needed to insure it works as they want it to work.
woof - publishers really scrapping the bottom of the barrel now looking for what to dump on Switch
So long as it is good I am all in. It sucks how many games get lost in dev ether for all sorts of reasons. A lot of times some gems are resurrected and given new life on later systems.
I remember when this was first shown off during that Direct a while back. Even among a deluge of new games, this one stood out for me. Then, as more and more games filled the eShop, I slowly forgot about it until just now. Still interested in giving it a play, but I've got a backlog building up these days.
Interesting. Well, it's being released in the correct place anyway lol.
You can really tell its an Inte Creates game. They've been really doing well with their games as of late.
Looks pretty cool
@RupeeClock Wow I didn't even realize until you said that. Kirby's Extra Epic Yarn is the last currently announced Nintendo game for 3DS. When the Switch was first announced, I kept a close watch on how many 3DS games were still coming. I guess I must have just stopped paying attention at some point
Somehow completely escaped my attention, this one. Looks very nice anyway. Just hope the single player mode is worth it, and it’s not all about co-op. On the radar anyway.
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