Interview with Dragon Fantasy Series' Adam Rippon

While Dragon Fantasy Book I wasn't the best game I played on PSN the year it was released, but I was hopeful that the praiseworthy mechanics introduced throughout would be included in the sequel and would make for something truly special. I got a chance to play Book II at E3 this year and talked to the Creative Director Adam Rippon briefly, but with the release getting closer and closer it seemed like a good time to sit down again with Adam and PR and Social media Director Anna Marie Privitere for an interview about this interesting throwback RPG and some more general RPG talk.

Karl Koebke: Anna mentioned that you've re-announced multiplayer for Book II recently. What I recall from E3 was decidedly turn based, though, so I'm curious how that would work. Admittedly I only got a chance to play as a one member party.

Adam Rippon: Yeah, it's a mystery to everyone. So, multiplayer in DF2 is fairly simple. Basically at any point after the intro dream sequence where it's just Ogden you can invite a friend to join your game as one of your party members. Even in parts of the game where you only have one main character, you can always recruit monsters. So, for multiplayer, each additional player can control one of your party members. You can walk around on the map fully independently of the other player, explore separately, even get into battles separately. But if you walk up to your friend who is in battle, you will join that battle. Or vice versa. Similar to how monsters that walk up to battles can join in even in single player mode.

Karl Koebke: When you're by yourself with a party do you control just Ogden or do you control every party member?

Adam Rippon: You control every party member. Similarly, when you're in multiplayer, the second player only commands one person, and you command all the rest. We're only supporting 2 player right now, but if the demand for 3 or 4 player is high, we'll likely add it in a patch.

Karl Koebke: So you can't decide to give your buddy half the party and divide and conquer?

Adam Rippon: Not at launch, at least.

Anna Marie Privitere: We're also about to announce it'll be cross-platform PS3/PS Vita multiplayer. It's also totally online.

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