#Scalebound

[royalbabble]

My family didn't have any wifi set up until I was around 10 years old, and I didn't actually get a phone or computer until I was 12. This meant that it was basically impossible for me to keep up with video game news outside of playground rumors and whatever I saw on TV.

However, my family was subscribed to Game Informer, and that shit was a goldmine when I was little. I remember hoarding the magazines and just flipping through them to see the latest in gaming. This was one of the few avenues I had for learning about upcoming video games and consoles, so it was really important to me as someone who found video games fascinating.

However, there is one particular game that has been lodged in the back of my head for years, and I learned about it through a random issue of Game Informer: Scalebound.

For context, I was the most dragon-obsessed child you could have met at the time. And I was HUNGRY for a video game that could let me live out that fantasy. So when I saw that first Scalebound advertisement, I went WILD for it. This random-ass Platinum Games title from 2013 was exactly what I wanted!

And then I learned that Scalebound had been cancelled in 2017. I think a part of me died in that moment because I had spent YEARS waiting for its release. Part of me hopes that another developer will pick up the pieces but I severely doubt it.

Oh well, Kingdom Hearts fills the hole in my heart just as well.

[mutant-blogging]

I made a Scalebound shirt on Redbubble... do you guys hear me? Is anyone out there?

[hardcoregamer]

10 Games We Wish Never Got Canceled

So many incredible concepts and scheduled games have fallen victim to this and we want to take a moment to look back in anger and lament what could have been. So here is our list of ten amazing games we wish weren't canceled.

Check them out!

[talltoontales]

// Scale-Bound \\

Prompt: You are a mighty dragon king, the strongest magical being. You're determined to conquer the world, but a hero turned you into a cute small dragon. Now, you are looking for a human girl to help you get strong again and dominate the world.

Prompt by: u/basafish (Reddit)

Written: 03/13/2024

/////

As the sun sets, a party of adventurers parade through a small dirt road town, victorious from their last quest. The group barrels through anyone in their path, already drunk on their own egos. The largest of the group knocks over a little, raggedy peasant girl with dirt-filled pigtails, causing her to drop her toy.

“Eh?” says the brute as he picks up the toy. “The hells is this?” The toy resembles a baby dragon with bright red scales, a dark brown underbelly, small wings, and bright green eyes.

“My Babby!” yells the girl. She runs over to the brute and tries to get her toy back but barely jumps past the man’s knees. “Give me back my Babby!”

“You know wha?” The brute lifts the toy even higher into the air, putting it in better lighting. “This thing ain’t too shabby. Almost looks like the real thing. How bout it, Ankle Biter? Fancy a trade?”

“No!” yells the girl, “he’s my Babby! My momma made him only for me!” A man wearing a hooded cloak walks over and leans against the brute, glancing at the toy.

“Your momma’s got some gifted hands,” says the rouge, “maybe she can show me a thing or two?” The girl charges at the two men, who easily dodge her attempt. The girl then trips on herself and falls but is caught by a pillow of glowing blue water.

The girl looks up and sees a woman in a teal robe. Her face was shrouded in the shadow of her oversized hat save for one glowing blue eye that matched a gold, jewel-encrusted broach on the collar of her robe.

The light emanating from the witch’s eye quickly fades, dropping the girl into a mud puddle. The rest of the group laughs as they start to walk away, taking the dragon toy with them. As the girl picks her head up from the mud, she feels something hit her head. She wipes her face and looks down to see a moldy copper coin in front of her.

“Thanks for the souvenir, kid!” says the rouge. The girl watches, with tears in her eyes, as the group walks into a nearby tavern. The girl then calmly picks herself up, pulls a rag from her dress pocket, and cleans the rest of her face. She takes a deep breath, picks up the moldy coin, and walks away from the tavern.

“So far so good,” whispers the girl.

\\\\\

A few hours later, the party drunkenly runs out of the bar, some with half-filled mugs in hand. The bartender follows them out the door, yelling at them as they escape. The group stumbles through the town, throwing the dragon toy between them until they barge into a rundown inn.

After finishing the last of their stolen drinks, the party’s room quickly falls silent, save for the snoring brute who snuggles with the toy dragon. Bodies scattered around the room like a crime scene, with the rouge taking the only bed.

After a few minutes, the toy dragon’s eyes blink. Using its long neck, the dragon slowly looks around the room, its emerald eyes illuminated in the darkness. Its head suddenly snaps toward a window.

…they…asleep…window…clear…

A hand lifts the window to the room open from the outside. A short, hooded figure crawls into the room, quietly landing on their feet. The dragon’s eyes focus on the figure.

…hurry…human…FREE…!

“Stop yelling! I’m working on it!” whispers the human. The figure slowly tip-toes through the room, avoiding any of the sleeping warriors. The dragon looks at the human, annoyed.

…what…doing…?

“Trying not to die,” whispers the human. “Shhhh!” The dragon glares at the human before letting out a high-pitched roar, slightly shaking some of the smaller items in the room. The human freezes and their eyes dart around the room, looking for whoever may be waking up first. However, barely anyone moves. The figure looks at the dragon. “What did ya do?” The dragon flicks its tail and small sparkles of orange energy fall from the tip.

…humans…weak…

The hooded figure removes their hood, revealing herself as the little girl with her hair tied back in a bun and her face smeared with black paint. The girl lets out a small laugh as she casually walks over the passed-out adventures toward the brute.

“Ya know,” says the girl, “if I had better morals, I’d probably have a problem with ya, essentially drugging a bunch of people.” The girl and dragon struggle but eventually get the brute's arm off the beast. The dragon leaps onto the floor, stretching its entire body. “All right, do ya thing, Babby.” The dragon lets out another tiny roar.

STOP!

The girl holds her head and crouches in the fetal position as the dragon’s booming voice echoes in her mind. She pulls a rag from her back pocket and covers her nose while the dragon walks around the room. The girl pulls the rag back, finding a small amount of blood.

“Jeez, Bambak, ya going to kill me if ya keep doing that,” says the girl.

…and…?

“And good luck getting anywhere without this adowable face, distracting city guards,” says the girl as she pickpockets the brute. Bambak claws its way up the side of the bed.

…was…face…

“Dragon society must not have hypocrisy,” says the girl as she continues to pickpocket everyone in the room. Bambak pokes its head under the rouge’s cloak until the girl stops him. “Must not have thieves either.”

The girl pulls out a pocket knife while feeling the rouge's arms. She then feels a thin wire attached to a gold ring on the rouge’s finger. The girl follows the wire underneath the rouge’s cloak, finding a device with two vials of yellow liquid on each side.

“A Midas Trap,” the girl cutting the wire. “Take the gold ring, trip the wire, and get sprayed with paralyzing toxins. This guy’s got deep pockets.” The girl starts going through the rouge’s pockets. “let’s see what ya got.” The girl rummages through the rouge’s many pockets, taking whatever she can fit in her own until she pulls out a perfectly square stone. Bambak focuses intensely on the stone.

…Miiiiiiiine…!

The girl rolls her eyes as she drops the stone before Bambak. The dragon quickly wraps its body around the stone and purrs.

“Do I need to leave the room?” asks the girl as she offers Bambak her hand. The dragon glares at her before putting the cube in its mouth and climbing up her arm onto her shoulder.

…disrespectful…

“Ya welcome, Bab,” says the girl.

ENOUGH!

The girl stumbles a bit but manages to stay on her feet. She’s halfway out the window when the girl looks back at the rouge and pulls the ring out of her pocket.

“This look like real gold to ya?” asks the girl, showing the ring to Bambak.

…no…

“Didn’t think so,” says the girl as she grins from ear to ear.

/////

As the sun begins to break past the horizon, the girl walks along the rooftops wearing a cloak that’s two sizes too big for her. She looks at Bambak, his cube still in his mouth, purring on her shoulder.

“You know, ya kinda cute when ya hoarding,” says the girl. Bambak stops purring and glares at her. “I know, I know, the Dragon King isn’t cute. Ya terror incarnate. Ya the strongest magical creature in this realm, ya breath dims the sun, and ya presence withers all life.”

…again…disrespectful…human…

“Imala,” says the girl. " My name’s Imala, not that ya were asking.” The two walk in silence for a few minutes. “Sooooo, the first job went pretty well. You got your rock, and I got paid big time. Guess this is the part where we lay low and figure out which artifact to go after next?”

…hmmmm…

Bambak, begins to smell the air around it and shivers, holding its cube tight.

…lot…rain…

Imala raises an eyebrow as she looks toward the empty sky, even doing a full twirl for insurance. The duo stops above an abandoned shop with a hole in the roof.

“Sure, whatever ya say,” says Imala as the two jump down.

Several feet back, the witch in the teal robes stands on the edge of another rooftop. Her one eye glows as storm clouds begin to float from underneath her hat, spreading across the area. A thick cloud floats just beyond the edge of the rooftop. The witch walks onto it and floats toward the abandoned shop.

. . . . . Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story! If you have any comments, critiques, or criticisms, please don't be afraid to let me hear 'em (as long as they're constructive (or funny)). Stay safe, keep warm, and be kind to yourself and others. ToonMan, AWAY! (PS: I will never forgive Microsoft for what took from me.)

[fate-bound-in-crystal]

Ziero: Twelve, I don't trust him, gives me the Twelve damned creeps.

Ryde: Aye, he's like a snake, and I feel as though he will strike sooner rather than later.

Ziero: I won't let anything happen to Hien.

Ryde: I know, Z, I know.

[milfsoup]

they're not exactly right but they got a point/have their views validated by sony's recent failure with concord

Finally confirming that Xbox is run by people that legit don't know how games are made anymore.

"We fired them because they wanted to make games!"

"No you see, It would be expensive and take time to make games so we would rather fire them"

They could ask for a smaller scope but all they want is AAA, which is inherently expensive and takes a long time.

Literally the end game capitalism of having business people trying to run a company they know nothing about by using the strategies they were taught regardless if they apply or not to the industry they are in.

Beyond moronic.

[naeemscale]

Is that PRINCETON PEREZ? No, that’s NAEEM PYRONIUS. The 287-year-old THUNDER TALON DUAL-NATURED ALPHA DRAGONBLOOD is a JEWELER [OWNER OF LUXE BY DESIGN]. If you ask their friends, they’re known to be GENEROUS & METICULOUS, but beware, they’re also known to be BLUNT & GREEDY. Can you believe they’re from PRESENT? Me either. Their friends also say that they’re into SLOPPY ORAL or DIRTY TALK but don’t you dare trying FISTING or BATHROOM PLAY with them.

BASIC

full-name | Naeem Pyronius age | 287 place of birth | Tepoztlán, Morelos species | Dragonblood subclass | Thunder Talon designation | Alpha gender | Dual-Natured Male sexuality | Homosexual

GENERAL

family | Alive [distant] mate | none children | none pets | none occupation | Jeweler - Owner of "Luxe by Design" languages | English. Infernus. Draconic.

PHYSICAL

eyes | brown hair | dark brown height | ~1.68 m[ 5'6" ] / ~2.03 m [ 6'8" ] [dragonblood] composition | slim / scaled [example] [dragonblood] tattoos | protection wards. piercings | left nostril. ears.

—————————————————-BIOGRAPHY BEING WRITTEN

[zeebreezin]

Cecily has walked behind the mirrors for far, far too long, only allowed to return to the Is on a mission from the Fingerkings. Freed from the Labyrinth of Tigers by a Long-Suffering Linguist, the London she now resides within is far different than the one she left behind.

My Hearts Desire PC Idea - The Scalebound Banneret, Cecily! A sworn servant of the Fingerkings on an important mission that’s finally taken her home. The thrill of being in London after a very long time away (having been lost in Parabola since 1666) has lead her to swear an oath to protect the city she loves… one that might just conflict with her pre-existing commitments to a very scaly court.

[wheremyscalesslither]

My partner bought me a resin 3D printer for an early Xmas present, so while weve been waiting for it to get delivered, we’ve been using hero forge to make some minis!

Pics 1 & 2: I’d like to introduce Bilge, my half-orc and her summoned mount Tsunami who is a giant ethereal mastiff.

Pic 3: Mordego the half-elf. My Baldurs gate 3 character.

Pic 4: Scalebound Spitsinger, my partners dragonborn.

Pics 5-7: rando characters we made for fun.

[mr-downer-2024]

never played it but I can appreciate the sin city style monochrome

honestly sucks they developed it for the Wii. Anarchy Reigns didn’t get much attention either.

besides Bayonetta it’s rather unfortunate the only titles that Platinum gets attention for are games they make for other companies instead of their original ips

it's such a shame madworld wii won't ever get a rerelease or a remake, it was so fun and just unapologetically vulgar, plus it has a bitching artstyle

[witchblade]

anyone else remember scalebound

[oraclememehacker]

@sylviareviar replied to your post “"Fun fact: I paid for Kamiya to block me on...”:

"Who is Kamiya-san, Sakura-san?"

Kamiya Hideki, originally worked for Capcom and worked on Resident evil 2. Then he went on to make the incredibly popular hack and slash, Devil May Cry. He also worked on games like Viewtiful Joe and Okami when Platinumgames was Clover studio. Then when that was shut down, PG was made, and he made Bayonetta, and Wonderful 101. He was working on a game called Scalebound but that got canned. He's a very successful game director and producer, basically."

[fate-bound-in-crystal]

So I figured out what Ryde will look like post Light Corruption...

I'll need to mod her scales white though

[freakshowrefugee]

I be venting about B3. Again.

The camera tracking in Bayo 3 is HORRENDOUS bro. I didn't fully grasp just how bad things are until I played some Bayo 1 to remember the Good Times™️. And bear in mind that the camera on the Switch version of Bayo 1 is objectively worse than the previous versions (had it bug out on me during the first phase of the second Jeanne fight) so... yikes. Even outside of the combat the camera in 3 is... wrong. Again it feels more Astral Chain than Bayo 1 & 2, which to me is an objective downgrade because the camera in Astral Chain was bad on multiple levels (too close to the character, no stable tracking of the enemies OR the player character, general inconsistency).

Enemies can hit you DURING CUTSCENES in Bayo 3 and BEFORE YOU CAN HIT THEM. The boar enemy is a perfect example for cutscene damage and most large enemies apply for the second point while they are forming out of jelly. Like, really?

The "kaiju battle" segments play like pulling teeth. Controls are painfully sluggish and attacks are poorly designed—RNG decides how the fight goes, which is very frustrating.

While I was playing Bayo 1 I realized that 3 has by far the most inconsistencies when it comes to style. And with how important the style is to a game and character like Bayonetta, once you see it you are never able to unsee it. Visual design has always been one of Bayonetta's greatest strengths and I have no idea what possessed PG to make the design decisions they made... actually, that's a fucking lie. I think Bayonetta 3 is a Frankenstein monster of various scrapped ideas and designs (people already know the Scalebound thing, but I think PG really wanted to make Astral Chain 2 but they couldn't because Astral Chain was mid at best and its sales and staying power reflect that. Like, I had a but of fun with Astral Chain, don't get me wrong—the 3 times I played it. Does it compare to my years of playing Bayo? Fuck no. As for the Scalebound thing... feels like there's a reason why it got canned, you know?) TLDR they really built Bayo 3 from the design trash can huh?

This is just a personal theory but I feel like PG purposefully kneecapped Bayo 3 in order to kill the franchise. The amount of character assassination (literal and figurative) that happened in 3 is mind-boggling. Maybe they are just misguided, I don't know, but I just have this gut feeling that it is more than just that. 2 still held the spirit of Bayo 1 in spite of some shitty gameplay design, but 3 just feels... hollow. I think this will be obvious to anyone who's first experience with the franchise was the original, pre-Nintendo release (XBOX/PS3). I don't know why they would do it. Maybe they thought that Bayo's presence was casting a shadow on their other endeavors. Whatever it is, it feels like we're living the worst time-line.

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

Isn’t Xbox having a direct soon? Is it next month?

You know what’d be really sexy Xbox? Announcing Scalebound.