E3 2013: Hands-on with Dragon Fantasy Book II for PS Vita

Creating a sequel to an offbeat homage to NES-era RPGs like Dragon Fantasy Book I isn't an easy job - but that's just what Muteki Corp is planning with Dragon Fantasy Book II.

Technically speaking, however, Book II leaves the early days of 8-bit RPGs behind and instead brings its irreverent satire to bear against the likes of 16-bit RPGs like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, and The Secret of Mana - titles considered all but sacrosanct by JRPG enthusiasts.

Thankfully, Dragon Fantasy Book II is gentle to these games - although it's certainly an elbow-in-the-ribs trip down to the kingdom of nostalgia.

If you didn't know about Muteki's history with Dragon Fantasy, Book II could easily be confused with a Kemco-published JRPG.

Everything about it looks like a serious JRPG, and it certainly plays like a traditional JRPG, but once enemies begin to "valiantly miss" you in combat and you load their carcasses into cannons to be used as impromptu ordinance, you know there's something deeper - and funnier - at play here.

Like its predecessor, Dragon Fantasy Book II is primarily a love letter to the early days of JRPGs - but it adds a few new gameplay features and improvements to help it distinguish it from Book I.

First, there's the addition of area of effect attacks to help you quickly dispatch of an angry mob of monsters.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, is the addition of a multiplayer mode that will allow you to play as a member of a friend's party.

Speaking to Adam Rippon, the creative director of Muteki, at E3, he said that the multiplayer mode may change to allow you to play as a member of your party in a friend's party.

Obviously, this could bring up issues of game balance (especially if your friend is just beginning their quest in Dragon Fantasy Book II), so it's still in consideration.

During my time with Dragon Fantasy Book II, I found the controls to be very responsive and the overall product to be quite polished.

The bright, 16-bit graphics were saturated with bright colours on the Vita's screen, and it was easy to lose myself in the experience of killing rock monsters on a sinking pirate ship (don't ask…)

Muteki Corp is aiming for an August release for Dragon Fantasy Book II, and said that players can expect about 16-20 hours worth of old school questing, humour, and monster stomping from the title when it's released on the PSN.