Dragon's Crown is a 2013 2D beat 'em up action role-playing game developed by Vanillaware for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. It was published in Japan and North America by Atlus and in the PAL regions by NIS America. A port for PlayStation 4, Dragon's Crown Pro, was released by Atlus in 2018.
Director and lead artist George Kamitani originally planned Dragon's Crown as a Dreamcast sequel to the 1997 Sega Saturn title Princess Crown. However, following Vanillaware's successes with Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Kamitani restarted the project. Initially set to be published by UTV Ignition Entertainment, that company's withdrawal from the gaming market led to Atlus taking up the project. While Vanillaware's first game for an HD console, Crown is a spiritual successor to the 1994 arcade beat 'em up dungeon crawler, Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom. Journalists praised its gameplay and art style upon release, while the story and repetitive elements drew criticism. It also generated controversy for its exaggerated character designs and sexualized female characters. Nevertheless, the game was a commercial success, selling over one million copies worldwide by 2017.
Players navigate environments from a side-scrolling perspective, choosing from six character classes to fight in the style of a beat 'em up and acquiring loot through repeated dungeon exploration. The game's premise is pretty simple: a group of heroes come to the kingdom of Hydeland in search of adventure, eventually uncovering the mystery of the eponymous Dragon's Crown and why so many want to possess it.
The game emphasizes co-op Multiplayer, with up to four players or CPUs simultaneously venturing through the game's levels. Players uncover weapons and other items to customize their heroes along the way. There are six playable characters, including the Knight, an armored melee fighter based around sword attacks. The Dwarf is similar but has greater strength and more unarmed attack options. The Amazon is a complex melee class with low health, but strikes grow stronger and faster as she continues attacking. All melee-based classes can launch a powerful area of effect attack, losing their weapon for a short time. The high-speed Elf uses a mixture of archery and close-range melee attacks, replenishing her arrows by defeating enemies. The Wizard and Sorceress are both classes based around magical attacks powered by Mana, needing to replenish Mana by using normal attacks or charging their Mana meter while stationary. All female classes (the Amazon, Elf and Sorceress) have a high luck statistic, giving players the chance of finding more valuable loot. In addition, each character can unlock additional skills, divided into two skill tree types; general improvements and class-specific skills.
These six characters are joined by Rannie, a thief who'll open chests and doors for you, and Tiki, a fairy friend who will help lead the heroes to possible secrets and point them in the right direction.
In 2018, the game received an Updated Re-release on Playstation 4 with Dragon's Crown Pro, which included upgraded graphics, a new orchestral soundtrack, and cross-play with the PS3 and Vita versions.
