Knights vs Dragons: Warriors

Promotion logo for the game/book

**Knights vs Dragons Warriors** *(騎士対ドラゴンズの戦士 Kishi tai doragonzu no senshi)* is a hack and slash gamebook for the Nintendo Switch and the New Nintendo 3DS. This collaboration between Sapphire Games Ltd. and Bright Star Gaming studios' Omega Force and Team Ninja is a crossover between the KvD series and Bright Star's Warriors franchise.

## Release

KvD Warriors marks the second time a Sapphire IP has received a Bright Star Warriors styled game, the first being Gormatt Warriors. It also marks the third time Sapphire characters have appeared in a Warriors game: the first was Takamaru from The Mysterious Murasame Castle, who appeared as a guest character in the Wii version of Samurai Warriors 3.

KvD Warriors was briefly showcased during the Nintendo Switch Presentation on January 12, 2017. The trailer briefly teased Sokara from KvD: Legends Awakening. During a KvD Sapphire Direct, gameplay was shown of Sokara in battle. The trailer concluded with a slated release of Fall 2017 and a version developed specifically for the New Nintendo 3DS was also announced for a Fall 2017 release.

The bulk of the game's roster is comprised of characters from KvD Destiny Akardos, Legends Awakening, and Swords of Fate, in addition to original characters created for the game. The game launched with a total of twenty-five playable characters, with nine more scheduled to release as downloadable content.

## Plot

That day, the country of Agnion was covered in uttermost darkness. There was no warning when the Gates of the Other World suddenly appeared in the royal castle. Then, powerful monsters gushed out one after the other, trampling the castle garrison.

—The royal castle quickly fell. And slowly but surely, darkness ate into the country.

However, there is still hope. The two shadows who escaped the royal castle covered in flames were Edward and Elvina, the children of the late king. And then, the thread of fate spun by the legendary heroes began to spin…

Carrying the Shield of Flames given to them by their mother, the two heroes’ journey to confront the powerful darkness begins here.

During a routine sparring match between the royal twins of Agnion, Edward and Elvina, and their friend Prince Darius of Goetia, monsters attack Agnion.

The three are separated from Queen Yelana during the attack, who gives them the Shield of Seals before being captured. The group learns that Darius' father Oskar is seeking to revive the evil dragon Valazark, and they must power up the Shield of Flames with "Gleamstones" created from the power of Outrealm heroes from other worlds in order to stop his evil scheme. Edward and Elvina travel across Agnion, rallying support heroes from the nations of Delyra, Hotaru, Novania, and Yledra. However, during an attack on a Goetia fortress, Valazark successfully possesses Darius and steals the Shield of Flames. Edward and Elvina pursue him to Goetia, where they discover Yelana has been captured and Oskar intends to sacrifice her to fully revive Valazark. Edward and Elvina successfully rescue Yelana, so Darius sacrifices Oskar to complete the ritual and revive Valazark. Now freed from the possession, Darius returns the Shield of Flames to the group before falling to his death. Edward and Elvina then battle Valazark's forces and finally slay him. With their mission complete, the other heroes return to their home worlds and Yelana crowns the twins as rulers of Agnion.

## Gameplay

### Combat

As a part of Bright Star Gaming's larger Warriors franchise, KvD Warriors is a hack-and-slash action game in which the player fights in battlefields populated with hundreds of enemies. The player can execute combos to cut through enemies while working toward completing a series of stage objectives. Each playable character also has a unique Warrior Special attack (called an Avatae Attack) that can be executed when the special attack gauge is filled.

A special stun gauge appears for enemy officers, in addition to their health gauge. When the stun gauge is depleted, the player character can unleash a critical strike, which is accompanied by a flourish similar to the critical attack flourish in titles like *KvD: Legends Awakening*. Players can switch between control of multiple playable characters on a battlefield, and can control up to a maximum of four characters in a given battle. Any player character not under the player's direct control will act as an AI character and can be given directions on the map screen.

The game also features a pair-up mechanic inspired by the pairing mechanic seen in Legends Awakening and Swords of Fate. When approaching another playable character on the battlefield, the player has the option to pair up with that character. This action will remove the second playable character from the battlefield, but will boost the stats of the character under the player's control. When paired-up, characters can perform a dual special attack. The player can also ask the other unit to attack the enemies, or this unit can automatically shield the player from taking a hit, with a gauge system that seems similar to the paired-up defense mechanic featured in Swords of Fate. The player may also swap back and forth between control of each unit in the pair. Additionally, the player may pair a playable unit with an allied unit that is not controllable. This allied NPC unit becomes a Vanguard and will aid the defense of the playable unit, but cannot be controlled directly.

The weapon triangle is featured in KvD Warriors. Characters that face off against units using an opposing weapon type will gain a slight advantage or receive a penalty based on what weapons are employed. Outside of the swords, axes, and lances in the triangle, the game also features units that use bows, tomes, and Drakostones. Certain characters can also use staves as a secondary ability to heal allies.

After filling the Awakening Gauge, the player character can trigger the Awakening state. In this state, the character receives a temporary parameter boost and weapon triangle weaknesses are nullified. When the gauge depletes, the Awakening state will end, and the character will finish up with a special attack. It is not possible to switch control to another character while Awakening is active.

Mounted units such as Cavaliers and Pegasus Knights are playable, with the character remaining on their mount at all times. Flying units can traverse special aerial routes that act as shortcuts inaccessible to other units, but such other units can cross these gaps by pairing with a flying unit. As a counter to this, however, flying units retain their traditional weakness to archers.

### Character Progression

#### Leveling Up

When the player character levels up, the action pauses to display a KvD-style Level Up screen. This can be toggled off in the menu if players don't wish the action to be interrupted. When a character levels up, they receive a boost to their HP and other statistics. A character does not have to be under the player's direct control to earn experience or level up.

At the end of battle, the character declared MVP will receive an extra experience point boost.

#### Technique and Skill Progression

New attacks, skills, and defensive parameters for characters can be unlocked on each character's skill tree. Unlocking a node on the skill tree requires specific materials that can be farmed in battle. To access a character's full skill tree, they must be promoted to a new class. Characters that are at least Level 15 of their base class can promote through the use of a Master Seal.

#### Weapons and Forging

A weapon forging system appears in KvD Warriors. If a weapon has an empty skill slot, the player can upgrade it by transferring an attribute from another weapon to it in exchange for the destruction of the weapon from which the attribute is transferred. Attributes can also be removed from weapons to make space for other attributes. However, the number of slots on a give weapon varies, and some weapons have no slots at all.

Unique weapons such as the Ragnarok and Yato can be upgraded, but they cannot be used as fodder for forging.

#### Supports

A Locktouch support system is also included in the game. As player characters fight in battle together, their bonds will grow. Characters can engage in bond conversations similar to the support conversations seen in the primary KvD series titles.

#### Permadeath

The permadeath mechanic is represented in the game's Classic Mode. Characters lost during the course of the story do not die, but as with story-important characters in traditional KvD titles, they sustain injuries that prevent them from rejoining the battle. It is possible to revive a character within the camp's temple. There also exists a Casual Mode that turns permadeath off. If a player starts Story Mode in Classic, it is possible to switch to Casual, and any lost units will be returned to the active roster. It is not possible to switch from Casual Mode to Classic.

Losing a character in Story Mode prevents the player from using that character in other modes.

#### Sapphios

The game, like Gormatt Warriors, has compatibility with Sapphio. By scanning an Sapphio, the player will receive a random weapon or amount of gold, and up to five Sapphios can be scanned each day. Two new sapphios released in conjunction with the game based on Sokara and the younger version of Lady Elni unlock unique weapons. Using the Sokara and Elni sapphios for the first time after the characters are unlocked in game will grant the player Sokara's Training Sword and Elni's Tear.

### Game Modes

#### Story

An original narrative in which the prince and princess of Agnion search for heroes from other worlds in order to save their kingdom. The story progresses with each battle completed. After a chapter is completed, it can be replayed in Free Mode, allowing the player to use whichever characters they prefer without restriction.

#### History

A mode that reviews battles from across the history of the series. The game mode is divided into maps based on select battles from the games represented in KvD Warriors. Additional maps are unlocked by collecting illustration pieces from Elmeri, who will set up shop when specific conditions are met during battle. Enemy units on these maps represent different sorts of challenges, such as rescuing an ally, defeating a particular enemy, or simply defeating as many enemies as possible within a time limit. The player's performance is ranked upon completion.

#### Coliseum

A challenge mode in which the player faces off against a series of KvD characters.

## Knights vs Dragons Content

### Characters

*See main article: List of characters in KvD Warriors*

The game mostly features the casts from Destiny Akardos, Legends Awakening, and Swords of Fate, who are primarily important to the game's main storyline.

#### Chapters

*See main article: List of chapters in KvD Warriors*

### Classes

*See main article: List of Classes in KvD Warriors*

### Weapons

*See main article: List of weapons in KvD Warriors*

## Downloadable Content

### Eleanore's Bride DLC Costume

Following the release of KvD Warriors, three DLC Packs will release under a season pass. They include the Destiny Akardos Pack, the Legends Awakening Pack, and the Swords of Fate Pack. They are a series of paid expansions that includes numerous additions. Each pack will contain three new characters from the pack's namesake core game, three additional History Maps, additional weapons and costumes, and new support conversations. Purchasing the Season pass for $19.99 USD ($25.79 CA) rewards the player with a Bride costume for Eleanore Kendora. Packs can be bought separately for $8.99 US ($11.59 CA) each. Bright Star Gaming producer Gerardo Hurst stated at TGS 2017 that future DLC beyond these packs are a possibility and will depend upon fan feedback.

Outside of the season pass content, western territories also received the Japanese voice audio for the game as a free downloadable extra.

### Swords of Fate

Estimated release in December 2017. Contains Risa, Nori and Barron, five new costumes, 13 new Broken-Armor Models and 3 new History Maps.

### Destiny Akardos

Estimated release in February 2018. Contains Navaray, Minerva and Linda, four new costumes, six new Weapons, nine new Broken-Armor Models and three new History Maps.

### Legends Awakening

Estimated release in March 2018. Contains Galen, Vivienne and Kelli, three new costumes, Seven new Weapons, ten new Broken-Armor Models and three new History Maps.