A note before we begin, though, given just how many dragons we’ve all fought in games over the years, we can’t possibly include all the best ones in one single feature (unless we make a Top 100 list), so obviously, there are going to be plenty of excellent dragon boss fights that won’t be featured here. So sound off in the comments section below if your favourites didn’t make it in. Also, this list is in random order, so do keep that in mind as well.

With that out of the way, let’s begin!

DEATHWING (WORLD OF WARCRAFT: CATACLYSM)

There is a rich, captivating background of lore surrounding Deathwing, and if you ever find the time, it’s completely worth it to get lost in its numerous pages. But we’re here to talk about the boss fight itself, and that, too, is a very memorable encounter. Though this beast has appeared in the Warcraft series numerous times, we’re talking about its Wold of Warcraft: Cataclysm appearance specifically. Being the final boss fight of the expansion, expectations surrounding the encounter would certainly be high, and it’s fair to say that it doesn’t disappoint.

While the game was officially announced through a YouTube video you can watch below, this is far from a full-fledged reveal. The details are incredibly sketchy, with Atlus only willing to say that this is a new project. The teaser video just shows a kind of emblem that loads up and then eventually recedes.

The video does end with the announcement that more details are going to be coming in September. As Gamespot points out, there isn’t any platform announced for the reveal but the Tokyo Game Show which takes place from September 17-20 seems to be the most likely place for more information to be forthcoming. While this new project might be getting more headlines than anything else in the coming days, both companies are still plenty busy with other projects that are slated for the PS3 and PS4.

Persona 5 was announced as coming to the PS4 at this year’s E3. That game will be coming later this year.  Additionally, Vanillaware just recently announced the next game in its Odin Sphere franchise, called Odin Sphere: Leifdrasir is going to be coming to the PS4, PS3 and the Vita. Keep an eye out for those games, as well as any news on this mystery project right here.

Thanks to an advertisement accidentally shown on the Sony Entertainment Store, we now have an idea about the free titles coming to PlayStation Plus’s Instant Game Collection in June.

PlayStation 4 users will be receiving Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate while the PlayStation 3 will be receiving Lone Survivor and NBA 2K14. PlayStation Vita users will receive Dragon’s Crown. Overall, a very solid line-up of strong releases across the board, whether you’re interested in action RPG beat ’em ups, indie horror titles or sports games. Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate will meanwhile feature both of the original games with revamped visuals, a 60 FPS frame rate, a new HUD and much more.

There will also be Cross Save and Cross Play functionality with the PS Vita. This probably means you’ll be able to access the PS4 version arriving for PS Plus in June on the Vita as well. Are you looking forward to it? Let us know in the comments below.

Dragon’s Crown, the excellent action role playing game developed by Vanillaware and published by Atlus, is now available on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in Europe. The title is being published and distributed by NIS America in Europe, and is currently available only at retail, with the PSN versions due to go live on October 16.

Dragon’s Crown is a breathtaking 2D action game from a developer with a heritage of making games in that genre, which allows for some fun co-op action, and, with the recent update, also allows for cross platform play across the PS3 and PS Vita versions of the game (a feature which was not available for the game at launch).

Dragon’s Crown really is a rather excellent game. We at GamingBolt liked it, and it is a title well suited to both the PS3 and the PS Vita. European PlayStation owners looking for a great looking action game should probably look into this one.

Dragon’s Crown, Vanillaware’s excellent Atlus published action RPG released recently for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, has a lot of qualities, but it also had some glaring omissions. One of these was the omission of cross platform play (which PS3 and PS Vita games support very easily, as evidenced by other titles such as Wipeout 2048 and PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale). Now that problem’s been addressed too.

In a new update for the game in Japan, cross platform play has been added to the title among a slew of other fixes and improvements, and this same update will be made available for North America soon too.

See guys? This is why Atlus is awesome.

We’ll have more for you (including the exact date the patch goes live) as it becomes available. Meanwhile, you can tell us in the comments what you think of the game, or just check out our review for the title.

Director Motomu Toriyama  , who you will note was the one who took the town areas out Final Fantasy XIII because they were “too much work” and wilderness lead planner Yui Umeda, who has a job title that doesn’t even make sense, enthusiastically answered that yes, Lightning is bigger. In fact, she’s gone from a C-cup to a D-cup. We wish we were joking about this, but Toriyama actually instructed his team to make them bigger and even jiggle. Toriyama did clarify though that, “It actually depends on the wear you select. Sort of like supportive underwear.”

Classy.

Of course the world, which needed no reason to hate any Final Fantasy XIII game anymore, found some new ammunition. Square Enix was bombarded and criticized. What seemed like just some fun, if somewhat creepy additions in the form of costumes and poses – some which were throwbacks to previous Final Fantasy games like Cloud’s Buster Sword and SOLDIER outfit, and Yuna’s kimono – have turned out to be yet another insane dive into the worship that Toriyama has for the “goddess”.

Or has it?

Let’s be honest here: Tifa, even by the standards of the 90’s, wasn’t exactly anything less than gifted (and she wasn’t that old either). Ashe from Final Fantasy XII wore a mini-skirt hither tither, battling over-whelming beasts while some of us waited for the inevitable slip and peek. Even Vanille, from Final Fantasy XIII, was constantly revealing her inner thighs and indulging the shadier fans among us with her child-like antics. And don’t even get us started on Final Fantasy X-2, which was a menagerie of fan service in every serviceable form, from the interactions between the three girls, to their dresses, to the villainess’s dress and more.

But then, look at Lara Croft in the latest Tomb Raider reboot. She’s grittier, tougher and goes through far more torture than most mainstream males do (with the exception of Isaac “Did I Just Survive a Moon Being Dropped on Me?” Clarke). But even if her body is fairly more realistic and proportioned this time around, she’s still parading around in tight jeans and revealing an ample amount of cleavage.

Honestly, the game industry is incredibly sexualized, because the core belief – that game developers are catering to males – will always exist. However, great games always have their say as well – whatever we may say about Croft’s exposure, she was part of an excellent adventure. And no amount of fan service could excuse the fact that Final Fantasy XIII was an awful game (Final Fantasy X-2 less so but still). It’s not hard to make money by pushing a mentally strong heroine either, and in fact, it can be argued that games like Portal 2 did better than games with male heroes.

However, it’s important to look at Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII’s attempt to sexualize or fetishize as just an attempt to cater to the more “devoted” fans of the character. Heck, why else would they include a Cloud costume and Yuna costume? It can’t be because of the insane exposure those offer. In the same way, there are plenty of costumes within the game that help conceal or expose Lightning as much as the player wants.

As for the new “physics” adorning Lightning’s assets? Well, is it as exaggerated as Dead or Alive? Is it any more ridiculous than Saints Row? Can it be viewed as a means to cash in on players’ whims to see the female anatomy jiggle? Does it matter? It’s there, and honestly, it would be a whole lot weirder if they didn’t move at all, even if Lightning was a C-cup.

Regardless, the debate is just that: a debate. We can argue over whether Square Enix is committing a travesty when it’s nowhere near as overt as Dragon’s Crown’s sexuality. We can also argue about the developer doing everything in its power to make the game a success, which includes fan service in all its forms and a new “open world” approach. Or we can just argue that the Final Fantasy XIII series at this point has gone way paste its expiration date.

Because when people want to trash your entire game over something like increasing your heroine’s breasts by one size – or even the other way around, where people are reluctant to rush to game’s defence because it’s just another in a line of f**k-ups – well, it’s time to wrap it up, move on and try something else, no?

Dragon’s Crown is easily one of the finest offerings on the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita. There is so much that players can do in the game. For this purpose we have compiled a mega guide which will show how you can unlock trophies and much more.

Check out the entire guide below and let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Complete  Trophy guide for Dragon’s Crown:

Dragon’s Crown:
Earn all trophies!

The Adventure Begins…:
Complete your first mission

The Stolen Scepter:
Retrieve the royal scepter. The video below will help you do the same.  Check it out below:

Lucain’s Bones:
Obtain the bones of the magician Lucain

Subterranean Subterfuge:
Successfully gather intel from Bibaron Fortress

Disappearing Damsels
Unravel the mystery behind the missing village girls

Royal Orb
Retrieve the royal orb

Rune Stones
Acquire the rune stones

Draconic Dissertations
Acquire research on the Ancient Dragon

Talisman
Obtain a talisman

Talismaster
Obtain all talismans

Fantastic Fighter
Complete the game as a Fighter

Amazing Amazon
Complete the game as an Amazon

Dazzling Dwarf
Complete the game as a Dwarf

Epic Elf
Complete the game as an Elf

Wondrous Wizard
Complete the game as a Wizard

Scintillating Sorceress
Complete the game as a Sorceress

Hardcore Hero
Conquer the game on Hard difficulty

Blazing Hero
Conquer the game on Infernal difficulty

Vanquisher
Defeat the Ancient Dragon within 2 minutes on Normal. The video below will help you unlock this trophy:

Conqueror
Defeat the Ancient Dragon within 3 minutes on Hard.

The Destroyer
Defeat the Ancient Dragon withing 4 minutes on Infernal

Crime and Punishment
You were thrown in jail 10 times. Poor impulse control leads to multiple incarcerations.

Oniomaniac
Buy all the items in the store. Ccheck out the video below to see how you can unlock this trophy:

Unsullied
Clear a round without taking damage

Insatiable Adventurer
Clear all 9 rounds in the Labyrinth without returning to town

Savior
Purchase a Life Point for a dead companion

Merciful Fossor
Bury 100 sets of bones

King of the Colosseum
Be the champion of the colosseum ten times

Three-star Chef
Score over 50,000 points during camp.

Gourmand
Eat all the different food that can be made at camp

Paragon
Reach level 99

Legendary Strike
Deal over 100,000 damage in one strike.

Best of the Best
Earn over 5,000,000 points in one adventure

Novice Art Collector
Obtain 1 piece of Treasure Art

Dabbling Collector
Obtain 5 pieces of Treasure Art

Amateur Collector
Obtain 10 pieces of Treasure Art

Art Lover
Obtain 15 pieces of Treasure Art

Art Connoisseur
Obtain 20 pieces of Treasure Art

Amateur Curator
Obtain 25 pieces of Treasure Art

Art Fiend
Obtain 30 pieces of Treasure Art

Art Hunter
Obtain 35 pieces of Treasure Art

Art Expert
Obtain 40 pieces of Treasure Art

Renowned Art Expert
Obtain 45 pieces of Treasure Art

Gallery Owner
Obtain 50 pieces of Treasure Art

Museum Owner
Fill the entire Treasure Art gallery

How to level up faster in Dragon’s Crown:

The video below will show you how you can level up faster in Dragon’s Crown.

Talisman:

• Revisit the Castle of the Dead: Catacombs to defeat the Wraith and obtain the Yellow Talisman.
• Revisit  the Mage’s Tower and fight the Chimera and obtain the White Talisman.
• Revisit the Bilabaron Subterranean Fortress to defeat the Gargoyle Gate and obtain the Orange Talisman.
• Revist Ghost Ship Cove to fight off the Kraken and obtain the Red Talisman.
• Revisit the Lost Woods to take path B in order to obtain the Black Talisman.
• Revisit the Wallace Underground Laboratory to fight the Cyclops and obtain the Aqua Talisman.

Note: This guide will be updated if we have more information about the game in the future.

Dragon’s Crown, the already successful 2D RPG beat ‘em up has been released in North America and Japan to relative success. It’s sales have been profitable, andit’s ratings on most legitimate game rating sites have been in the 8.5 – 9.5 range, which is about as well as any game can realistically hope for.

Today, NIS America has announced that Dragon’s Crown will see an October 11th release throughout Europe, and is offering some special pre-order bonuses, Developers, Vanillaware, who were also behind such hit games as Odin Sphere, and GRiMgRiMoiRe, have created in Dragon’s Crown a huge artistic achieve that merges fun, fast paced action with extraordinary art and visuals.

Some of Dragon Crown’s major features are as follows:

Excellent HD Visual Design – Every detail of Dragon’s Crown is in painstakingly hand painted 1080p HD perfection.

Four Player Multiplayer – Play with up to 4 friends with locally or via the PlayStation Network. Expect a different experience each time you adventure with others

Six Unique Character Classes – Each with different abilities, strengths and weaknesses

Character Customization – Earn Skill points and items to allocate to your characters to build in whatever way you see fit

Dungeon Variety – The dungeons through which you will traverse contain not only monsters, but puzzles, traps and obstacles

Dragon’s Crown is being released exclusively across Sony platforms.

The 3DS XL managed to sell 36,350 units, slightly down from last week’s 41,322 units from when Mario and Luigi: Dream Team Bros. debuted. The PlayStation Vita had a better than expected sales week, selling 19,866 units this week thanks to the release of Atlus’s Dragon’s Crown. The normal 3DS still managed to make a mark on the charts though, selling 18,625 units this week.

Again due to Dragon’s Crown releasing (with the PS3 version of the game managing the third position in the software sales charts), the PlayStation 3 managed to sell 11,900 units this week, as the Wii U slides down to fifth place at 11,373 units sold. Pikmin 3 meanwhile tumbled down to the tenth position in the software charts.

(Source)

Releasing for the 3DS, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies sold 250,216 units in its first week. Atlus’s Dragon Crown also had a strong opening, with the PS3 version debuting at second place with 104,359 units sold and the PlayStation Vita version in at third place with 71,083 units sold.

The other new entry this week was the PS3’s The Witch and The Hundred Knights, which sold 49,209 units in its first week. Meanwhile, previous number one entrant Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros. dropped down to fifth place to sell 43,721 units this week (with lifetime sales at 143,694 units).

This drop is nothing compared to Pikmin 3. After a strong opening week, prompting higher sales of the Wii U console, the has dropped to tenth place in two weeks, selling 14,161 units this week, with lifetime sales at 135,393 units so far.