Writers’ Room—Looking Back at Dragalia Lost

Dragalia Lost, set in a world where humans and dragons coexist, follows the story of a boy with the power to form pacts with dragons. As his adventure progresses, he’s helped along the way by the alliances and friendships he forges. In July 2022, the last half of the story’s finale was released. We sat down with three of the writers to look back on the road traveled and talk about the highlights of the finale.

* This article contains spoilers.

Scenario LeadShougo

Shougo started his career as a freelance scenario writer before joining Cygames in 2017. After writing for other in-house titles, he joined Dragalia Lost as its scenario team leader while the game was in development, writing through to Chapter 9.

Scenario WriterYutaka

Yutaka worked as a freelance novelist before coming to Cygames in 2017. He joined the Dragalia Lost team while the game was in development, penning events and character side stories. He also wrote Chapters 9 to 12 of the main story, as well as the remainder of the story from Chapter 21 onward.

BlazeGamesMuneyuki

Muneyuki joined BlazeGames in 2021, after working in a variety of roles at video game companies in China and Japan, including project director, game planner, and public relations representative. He was tasked with writing Chapters 13 to 20 of Dragalia Lost’s main story.

A Clash of Old vs. New through the Lens of Sibling Rivalry
Behind the Founding of New Alberia

Shougo, you were on the Dragalia Lost team as the scenario lead before its release. How did you go about worldbuilding?

Shougo　By the time I joined the team, most of the story’s framework was already set up; the team was aiming for a casual action RPG that anyone could get into. The first thing I did was build on that framework by fleshing out the details that would underpin it.

As the scenario lead, I was also responsible for training the younger writers. If anything, I was busier coordinating the scenario team as a whole than I was writing the main story.

Yutaka　Come to think of it, I remember you were hardly at your desk in the early days of the game’s development.

Muneyuki　Is there anything from the main story’s early days that left an impression on you?

Shougo　In Chapter 4, “The Lightwyrm’s Roost,” Euden, the protagonist, and his brother Emile duel for the right to forge a pact with Jupiter the Lightwyrm. Euden doesn’t exactly fit the modern profile of a main character, as he’s a prince with no outstanding faults. On the other hand, Emile has always grappled with an inferiority complex vis-a-vis his paragon siblings. Looking at the way the classic and modern archetypes clashed, I felt like I was seeing the intersection of past and present.

Yutaka　I definitely got the impression that Euden was a little too perfect, but from around Chapter 4 onward, we also started to get hints that there’s more to his character than just that trope.

Shougo　Jupiter was a bit of a rogue dragon, demanding that the brothers fight each other to determine which of them would be the pactbearer. How in the world could one convince such a powerful and twisted beast to agree to a pact? To bring the chapter to a convincing conclusion, we put Euden in a situation where his virtue and humanity would help him win the day.

Shougo　This is a sidebar, but it took a long time to settle on the name of one of the six legendary Greatwyrms, Mercury. We went through about 300 proposed candidates before finding one that worked.

Yutaka　At first, we went with something completely original, but it wasn’t obvious from the name that the character had an affinity with water. We went back and forth for a while, and finally decided on Mercury.

Muneyuki　”Bound,” the next chapter in the main story, stood out for me. Zethia, the kidnapped heroine, becomes possessed by the Other and turns on her brother. Up to that point, Dragalia Lost had been going down a pretty standard shonen fantasy manga route, so this development took me by surprise.

Shougo　That plot point was already set in stone when I joined the team. With Zethia’s return looking bleak, and Euden declaring the founding of New Alberia, one major arc ends. After clearing that chapter, the Castle Grounds feature, where you can build facilities to boost your units and dragons, is unlocked. In terms of the story, we wanted Euden and his allies to have a home base, so we wrote out the founding of New Alberia. The castle serves as a base of operations for the players and the characters in the story.

The Siblings Turn on Euden!
Meet the Alberian Royal Family

In addition to Emile, from Chapter 6 onward we’re introduced to more of Euden’s siblings. Muneyuki, I know that the third scion, Chelle, made an impression on you. She shows up in Chapter 9, “The Princess’s Party.”

Muneyuki　That’s right. Especially at the end of Chapter 9, we see Chelle’s, shall we say… shrewdness… at work. Things are never straightforward when you deal with Chelle, and this chapter did a good job of solidifying her character. I first read this chapter before I joined the company, when I was just a regular player. When I became a member of the writing team, I’d refer back to this chapter whenever I needed a refresher on how to write her.

Yutaka　I took over from Chapter 9, so Chelle stands out in my mind too. She initially gives off the impression that she’s a spoiled princess who cares only for throwing extravagant parties, but I also wanted to highlight her political astuteness.

Shougo　Euden’s siblings often stand against him, but even in their role as antagonists, we can see that they each have their own sense of justice moving them. These days, it’s rare to see antagonists who are evil just for the sake of being evil; balancing them out so that players could still relate to them in some way was a challenge.

Speaking of how antagonists are written, in Chapter 10, “Resurgent Despair,” all of Euden’s siblings side with the Other.

Yutaka　We got some insight into each character’s motivation starting in Chapter 6, and those motives led to the choices made in Chapter 10.

Muneyuki　I imagine a lot of players were as shocked as I was to see Euden’s siblings betray him one by one. Between the revival of the Other and the parting with Alberius, this chapter was packed with a lot of twists and turns.

Yutaka　The chapter is a turning point, with Euden preparing to battle his estranged siblings. Even his outfit gets updated.

Shougo　Which of the sibling showdowns stands out the most in your mind?

Yutaka　The duel against Leonidas in Chapter 12, “Destruction and Domination.” We spoke with the scripting team* and we were able to put together an impressive chapter. Leonidas believes that might is right; the clash of beliefs between him and Euden was something we struggled to convey in an impactful way.

*This team uses scripting languages designed for story dialogue to change character movements and facial expressions, as well as other scene elements to bring oomph to the dialogue.

Muneyuki　While we’re on the topic of Leonidas, Chapter 16, “New Bonds,” left its mark on me, especially the scene where Leonidas convinces the enraged New Alberian citizens to disperse. We got to see that he’s not just about force; he can lead people in other ways. We also see a more reliable, brotherly side to him. I feel like this scene wouldn’t have been possible without the groundwork we laid in Chapter 12.

Yutaka　Leonidas’s lines in that scene were pretty cool, huh.

Muneyuki　I’m a younger brother myself, and I wrote the line thinking, “It’d be awesome to have a brother like this.”

What is Dragalia Lost?
Highlights from the Finale

In Chapter 15, “Light and Shadow,” Euden discovers he is not a true member of the royal family, shocking him in a way that even the betrayal of his siblings hadn’t.

Muneyuki　Yuji Okada, the project director, was the brainchild behind that. When I first heard about it, I was surprised too. That said, up until that point, Euden was portrayed as a perfect prince who always prioritizes his subjects, and this revelation turned everything on its head. That gave us more room as writers to delve deeper into Euden’s mind, and through his struggles, redefine who he is.

Shougo　Did you already have an idea of how to get Euden past this huge upset?

Muneyuki　I wanted both Euden and his allies to grapple with the aftermath. Euden is supported by his friends and his father from another world, Audric; his comrades are in turn supported by Euden—they grow and overcome their hardships together. Though he’s no longer a prince, Euden realizes how much he’s loved by those around him, not for his status—but for himself.

Yutaka　Euden is more than just the prince of a nation—he has a much larger, more important role to play in the world at large. This arc was a springboard to elevate him to that next stage.

Muneyuki　Right. I talked about this with Yuji. There are times when life doesn’t go your way; you can’t always become what you envisioned for yourself. But you pick yourself up and find a new path. That’s what we wanted to write. We wanted players to look at Euden moving forward not as a prince, but as a person, and take inspiration and comfort from that.

“Dragalia Lost,” the last chapter, has been released. What was going through your mind as you wrote it?

Yutaka　We wanted to have as many characters as possible get everything they needed off their chests. Of course Euden is important, but his friends, and even foes like Xenos had something they wanted to say. That was an important factor in piloting the story to a good ending.

How did you feel once the last word was written?

Yutaka　We felt like we could finally breathe easy, now that we’d seen Dragalia Lost, as an entire body of work, to its conclusion.

Muneyuki　We couldn’t have gotten across the finish line without the support of the players.

Shougo　For sure. They were on the journey with us from the very beginning, and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.

I have one last question. You named the last chapter “Dragalia Lost.” Could you tell me a little more about that?

Yutaka　The thought of what “Dragalia Lost” means was at the forefront of my mind while writing the final chapter. In Chapter 25, “Proof of the Pact,” the world as Euden and the others know it is destroyed, which is a kind of “Dragalia Lost.” In Chapter 26, however, it also means the loss of the Dragalia—the living proof of the pact that links humans and dragons.

There are multilayered meanings to “Dragalia Lost,” but I didn’t want to end the story on a sad note. I’m hoping that players can find for themselves what was lost, and beyond that, what can be found.

© Nintendo / Cygames