Sega's 7th Dragon Revealed

via IGN


Last week, Sega opened up a teaser site for a mysterious new RPG that was being produced by Rieko Kodama of Phantasy Star fame, directed by Kazuya Niinou of Ertain Odyssey fame, and would feature music from Yuzo Koshiro of Streets of Rage fame. Famitsu managed to unearth proper details on the game, including a name and first gameplay information.

Titled 7th Dragon, this new fantasy RPG is set in the world of Eden, a world that is ruled in large part by seven dragons and their massive armies of dragon minions. The lands that are ruled by the dragons grow a special flower which sucks the life out of the land. When the whole of the planet is covered in these flowers, mankind will become extinct. The only hope for survival for mankind is to hunt down and defeat the dragons.

7th Dragon combines overhead exploration with party-based battles. During the overhead sequences, you travel through the land, visiting different continents, islands and republics. You move about on an overhead 2D map that's shown on the top screen. Meanwhile, the bottom screens houses a world map that's updated in real time to show how much of the world is controlled by dragons and how much by humans.

Battles take place from a side perspective, and feature big-headed version's of the game's characters engaging in party-based fights against large dragon foes. Your party consists of four members, but aside from that details on the battle system are a bit lacking at the moment.

Players will be able to freely create their own characters. You can select from a variety of character types, including fighter, mage, rogue, knight, samurai, healer, and princess (princess?). It also appears that you can freely select skills when creating your party members.

7th Dragon will see its full unveil at the official 7th Dragon website on the 26th. Sega will be hosting a teaser movie on that day, so those who are interested in this latest in fantasy RPG gaming should be sure and check back.

The director of Etrian Odyssey is directing this game, and the mighty Yuzo Koshiro (Actraiser, Streets of Rage series etc.) is doing the music. Also Rieko Kodama who worked on Phantasy star before it was online is also helping with this. She also was heavily involved in Skies of Arcadia. This is sounding nice. I just wish it wasn't on a handheld.