Compile Heart have announced JRPG Dragon Star Varnir will be heading to Nintendo Switch in Japan.
As previously reported, the game follows the Knight Zephy, who is part of an order that hunts down witches – beings cursed to “give birth to dragons.” After nearly being killed during a mission, two witches revive him using dragon’s blood- granting him new powers.
Zephy ends up reluctantly joining them to save them from the curse, while fighting off the empire, dragon hunters, and “a witch more powerful than any in existence.”
Players can fly around a three-tier battlefield, where physical attacks can only score critical hits while you are on the same tier as your foe, but leave you vulnerable. Keep striking critical hits, and you can make your enemies so fearful you can use your dragon form to devour them to gain their skills. Giant bosses can take up multiple tiers, and destroying body parts will disable their attacks.
The game came to the west on PlayStation 4 in 2019, followed by a PC release a few months later. Now, Compile Heart have announced the game is coming to Nintendo Switch in Japan. The Japanese Nintendo eShop also confirms the release date. While a western release has not been confirmed, the games favorable reviews in the west would seem it a likely possibility.
You can find the Japanese Nintendo Switch announcement trailer below.
Dragon Star Varnir is available on Windows PC (via Steam), PlayStation 4, and May 27th in Japan for Nintendo Switch.
You can find the full rundown (via Steam) below.
Story
In a world where the bones of an ancient beast tower over the land…
The knight Zephy is part of an order whose role is to hunt down witches – people seen as cursed beings for giving birth to dragons.
When he is almost killed on one of these missions, two mysterious witches save him from the brink of death by feeding him dragon blood.
Granted new magic abilities by their efforts, he soon finds his fate intertwined with the witches and reluctantly joins them to fight against an Empire out to destroy his kind, ruthless dragon hunters, and a witch more powerful than any in existence.
Can they fight all this and save themselves, or will his new allies succumb to the dragon’s curse…?
Key Features
3 Tiers to Fear – In this unique take on the classic turn-based battle system, players take flight and charge at dragons in three vertically-oriented tiers. Strategize how you position your party members as certain dragons have strengths and weaknesses depending on what tier you attack from. Some giant dragons can also swipe through all three tiers, so tread carefully!
Awaken Your Inner Dragon – When attacking an enemy during battle, players fill up their Dragon Gauge. Once maxed, they can transform and harness the power of dragons, drastically increasing their armor and unlocking abilities!
Welcome to Devour Hour – Once an enemy dragon is weakened, players can utilize the Devour skill to obtain a skill tree unique to that dragon. With multiple dragons roaming the land, players can explore different dragon skill trees and combinations that can lead you to victory!
Madness or Riches? – Three witches depend on you to bring them dragon’s blood as food. Starve them, and they go mad. Overfeed them, and they become a dragon! Will you keep them alive or sacrifice them to obtain rare items? The choice is ultimately yours, but each decision you make can change your ending.
