Dragon Slayer Project announced: What you need to know

New Dragon Slayer game is coming

• Nihon Falcom announces Dragon Slayer Project for consoles
• Dragon Slayer series pioneered action RPGs and JRPGs
• Platforms and release date for new game not yet revealed

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Japanese video game company Nihon Falcom is celebrating its 45th anniversary, and to commemorate the occasion, it has announced the Dragon Slayer Project for consoles. The game developer, known for pioneering the action RPG genre and its Ys and Legend of Heroes titles, did not specify the platforms or the release date for the upcoming game.

The Dragon Slayer series is known for laying the groundwork for modern JRPGs and action role-playing games in general. The first Dragon Slayer game launched for the NEC PC-8801 in 1984 and is considered the first action RPG. The role-playing game was received well, and its various features and systems were praised. Most notably, it offered action-based gameplay in real time, unlike the turn-based combat of earlier games. Players could use their experience points and items to strengthen their game character. Learning the controls was easy; there were puzzles, too, that required items to solve.

The game was followed by titles such as Xanadu, Romancia, Legacy of the Wizard, and Sorcerian, and ultimately became part of the Dragon Slayer series.

"Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes" was the next in the series. It used a command-based battle system and introduced unique characters to the story. Later, a spin-off series called “The Legend of Heroes” was launched, which became the basis for the story RPG series "Trails".

Unlike the earlier action-oriented Dragon Slayer games, Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (1989) and its sequel Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II (1992) offer turn-based combat, while Lord Monarch, released in 1991, is a real-time strategy game. The Xanadu subseries of the Dragon Slayer received several new titles over the following years, like the action RPGs “The Legend of Xanadu” and “The Legend of Xanadu II”, which came out in 1994 and 1995, respectively, followed by 2005’s Xanadu Next and 2015’s Tokyo Xanadu.