Atlus

Dragon’s Crown is a cult-classic beat’em up released on the PS3, PS Vita and the PS4. Fun fact: the game started life on the Dreamcast before being cancelled. After the release of Muramasa, George Kamitani revisited Dragon’s Crown years later. The first platform to be considered was the Wii, and the project was pitched to Capcom initially. While a Wii prototype was made, it is unknown how far the game was in development for that particular platform before the team transitioned to the PS3 and PSV. Luckily, there are a few images from the design document we can look at:

Thanks to Siliconera’s translation of the magazine shot, we can learn the following:

• Dragon’s Crown was initially a project for the Wii.
• “It was well-received when I presented it to a senior at Capcom, but supposedly one of the higher-ups asked, ‘But can it sell like Monster Hunter?’ and the project didn’t go through.”
• “That’s where we met Ignition.* They immediately gave us the OK.”
• “Ignition had no complaints. The target was Xbox since we wanted to develop for a worldwide audience, or something like that.”
• “Dragon’s Crown is a title that wasn’t meant to sell that much. The publisher wanted the next game before sales started. Our goal is to continue making games, and the sales come as a result of that, but if we were to flip that around, then…”
• “I’m glad it sold well, but I personally thought it was bad as a strategy.”
• “As work becomes more readily available, but that sets higher hurdles. If we were to fail on a 4-5 year course… then what would we have done?”

Shin Megami Tensei and Metal Max are both some of the best JRPGs in the market, and if you’ve played any of them, you already know that both have appeared in several crossovers, mostly mobile games. However, after scouring the internet, it appears that the Metal Max director once proposed a Shin Megami Tensei X Metal Max crossover. Unfortunately, the idea got nowhere. Only a few documents of the pitch exist, which you can see below:

Translation:

Image 1

Project Proposal
Shin Megami Tensei x METALMAX
An RPG of Tanks, Demons, and Humans
Tomoki Tanai
April 10, 2013

Image 2

Worldview & Story

In the not-too-distant future, the Great Cataclysm triggered by the supercomputer Noah brought about the collapse of global civilization—
But! Humanity did not become extinct.

While devouring the remnants of civilisation left behind in the devastated world, they had managed to survive.
Several years after the Great Cataclysm. A new terror emerged—dimensional rifts appeared worldwide, spewing forth demons. These demons attacked and devoured humanity. People could only cower in terror. But some stood against them. They were known as Monster Hunters. Thus began the war between demons and Monster Hunters. The war saw the Monster Hunters at a disadvantage.

Then, one day, a young man emerged from a dimensional rift.
He called himself…
Devil Summoner.

Image 3

Dream Game System ② ☆Demon & Vehicle Fusion System

The Demon Fusion System from the Shin Megami Tensei series is, of course, present in this title as well.
Building upon the existing system, it now enables fusion between demons and vehicles! A new race, ‘Car-Devils’, is added. Like the vehicles in the ‘Metal Max’ series, Car-Devils can be driven by humans and used in battle.

Fusing a Car-Devil with a demon companion can create either a vehicle-type demon or a demon-like vehicle.