Nintendo's Dragalia Lost reveals action RPG gameplay for the first time

So far, Nintendo's attempts to break into mobile gaming have been centered around the company's existing franchises. Dragalia Lost, which was announced earlier this year, breaks that trend, as it'll be the first new IP Nintendo has created for mobile devices. Late last night, Nintendo detailed Dragalia Lost in a Direct presentation that was entirely dedicated to the game, and it seems to draw inspiration from a number of different titles.

At its core, Dragalia Lost is an action RPG not entirely unlike games such as Diablo or Torchlight, but at the same time, it isn't super similar to them either, as you'll be adventuring with an AI-controlled party. We can also expect summoning mechanics like what we see in Fire Emblem Heroes or Summoners War, along with base building mechanics that feature in a ton of different mobile games.

You'll navigate in-game maps by sliding your finger across the screen to move your character. On the other hand, you'll attack monsters by tapping on them and dodge their own attacks by swiping, so it seems that Nintendo and Cygames tried focus on making the controls simple and at least relatively intuitive. In standard RPG fashion, you'll be attempting to save your kingdom from "mysterious evil forces that are corrupting the realm," but in a happy little twist, you and your adventuring buddies will be able to transform into dragons when the going gets tough.

Players will adventure with a party of four warriors as they explore the world, and the fighters you use with will be summoned from a pool of 60 different characters using in-game currency. Each of those characters are separated into four different classes and each have an elemental property that's strong against one property but weak against another, much like a game of rock-paper-scissors. You'll even be able to group up with other players to run through dungeons in four-man parties or participate in raids with larger groups.

You can upgrade the heroes and dragons that you summon to increase their power levels, and beyond that, you can also upgrade the weapons you outfit those heroes with. It sounds like there's a lot to this game, and plenty of potential for Nintendo to make a lot of money considering that you need in-game currency to summon new heroes. Watch the full Nintendo Direct above for more on the game, and look for Dragalia Lost to launch on iOS and Android on September 27.