Niche Gamer Plays is an ongoing video preview series where our staff take an in-depth and yet concise look at classic, current, and upcoming games across all current gaming platforms.

I got the first look at Inti Creates and former Mega Man ZX developers new action RPG, Dragon: Marked for Death at this year’s PAX East.

The above gameplay is direct feed of the title running on the Nintendo Switch. This is a development build, and is a small portion of the game cut off as a demo for the expo.

Here’s a rundown on the game, via Inti Creates:

Dragon: Marked for Death is a 2D side-scrolling action RPG game where up to 4 players can play together in either local multiplayer or online multiplayer. Refreshing, feel-good level designs based around intuitive 2D action-based gameplay await!

Key Features:

• Play through the game as one of four Dragonkin characters! – The characters, known as the Dragonkin, have forged a pact with dragons which granted them special new powers. You can choose any one of the Princess, Warrior, Shinobi, or Witch characters to play as.
• Each playable character has different strengths and abilities! – The Princess is a well-balanced DPS character, the Warrior is a Tank class character that protects the party with his high defense, the Shinobi is DPS that places emphasis on movement on tricky attacks, and the Witch can both heal her allies and damage her enemies.
• A fascinating and immersive dark fantasy world! – Carefully drawn pixel art from some of the industry’s best pixelmancers paints the entire picture and brings players right into the dark fantasy setting.

Exclusive Features:

• Work together with your companions to progress through stages! – In Dragon: Marked for Death, working together with your companions opens up a whole new realm of possibilities when it comes to defeating enemies and traversing stages.
• Battle against gargantuan bosses! – Absolutely gigantic bosses that are bigger than the entire screen await our heroes. Work together with your comrades to take down these larger than life baddies!
• Dozens and dozens of hours worth of gameplay! – Make no mistake, Dragon: Marked for Death is a massive game for its genre. With single stages that span 200 tp 400 screens, over 30 main quests, and tons of side quests to tackle, players have tons of playtime to look forward to!

Key Staff:

• Director: Ryota Ito 
  Megaman Zero series (Director), Megaman ZX series (Director), Megaman 9 (Director), Megaman 10 (Director)
• Character Designer: Toru Nakayama 
  Megaman Zero 1-3 (Character Designer, Illustrator), Megaman ZX (Character Designer)
• Chief Character Graphics Designer: Horikatsu Maeda 
  Megaman Zero 1-3 (Character Graphics), Megaman Zero 4 (Character Designer, Illustrator), Megaman ZX series (Character Graphics), Azure Striker Gunvolt series (Character Graphics), Blaster Master Zero (Character Graphics)
• Scenario Writer (Planning), World Planner: Makoto Yabe 
  Megaman Zero 3-4 (Scenario Writer), Megaman ZX series (Scenario Writer, Character Designer, Illustrator)
• Sound Producer: Ippo Yamada 
  Megaman Zero series (Sound Director, Sound Producer), Megaman ZX series (Sound Director, Sound Producer), Megaman 9 (Sound Director, Sound Producer), Megaman 10 (Sound Director, Sound Producer), Azure Striker Gunvolt series (Sound Director, Sound Producer), Blaster Master Zero (Sound Director, Sound Producer)
• Main Programmer: Akihiro Shishido 
  Megaman Zero series (Programmer), Megaman ZX series (Main Programmer)
• Lead Programmer: Shinichi Sema 
  Megaman Zero series (Programmer), Megaman 9 (Main Programmer)
• Producer: Takuya Aizu 
  Megaman Zero series (Main Programmer, Producer), Megaman ZX series (Producer), Megaman 9 (Producer), Megaman 10 (Producer), Azure Striker Gunvolt series (Producer), Blaster Master Zero (Producer)

Dragon: Marked for Death will launch exclusively for the Nintendo Switch worldwide sometime this year, via the eShop.