Today Idea Factory International released a new batch of screenshots of its upcoming shipgirl-focused game Azur Lane: Crosswave.
First of all, we get to see more shipgirls and even a couple of sirens, including Observer, Purifier, Long Island, Suffolk, San Diego, and Shiratsuyu.
We also take a look at a few gameplay features included in the game.
Here’s what the press release has to say about the sirens and shipgirls.
Observer
Among the Sirens is the Observer whose work involves her namesake: to observe those who are able to connect and interface with the history and lore of the naval vessels. She is rarely ever seen partaking in any matters of the world. She holds a twisted view towards the humans and Kansen that can only be explained as being eerie and complex, which are reflected by her menacing weaponry. What happens after her observation this time is unknown…
Purifier
A member of a mysterious group that appeared from nowhere… the Sirens. Among them, Purifier is very prudent in attaining the group’s “goal.” She has an aloof, holier-than-thou attitude. For some reason, she is upset over the peace in this world. It’s no wonder she would try to cause a stir during the Joint Military Exercise. She’s working on some kind of plan, but will it succeed?
Long Island
A long-haired, lethargic girl who calls herself a ghost. She’s more like an otaku, really, but her unique battle tactic of attacking from blind spots makes her no different than a ghost in battle. She declined the invitation to attend the Joint Military Exercise many times, but she finally caved and joined. Then again, she did want to meet old friends, so it couldn’t be helped. In particular, she really wanted to see Ayanami again.Suffolk
A relaxed, easy-going heavy cruiser of the Royal Maid unit. When the need arises, she can show how she got to be a part of them. With how peaceful the world is, there aren’t many opportunities for her to get serious, but as luck would have it, Suffolk would be involved in a certain major incident at the Joint Military Exercise…
San Diego
San Diego’s naval history within Eagle Union places her next to Enterprise in terms of accomplishments, but… she has a knack of doing whatever she pleases, and often takes action in the most unexpected way, which surprises many around her. Oddly enough, even if she takes things easy, she seems to arrive at great results so often that she’s referred to as a “smart idiot” sometimes. Whether there’s merit to that remains to be seen. Because of her nature, her actions during the Joint Military Exercise will surely cause quite a stir.
Shiratsuyu
A petite, older sister whose memory isn’t very good. She can’t remember things that happened but five minutes ago. Her sense of direction is pretty bad, too. Her traits could make her a burden, but her friends, along with the memos she carries to remind herself of things, help her along quite a bit. In the end, she has proven herself and the results show. Odds are that she doesn’t remember why she’s participating in the Joint Military Exercise, but that doesn’t seem to be bothering her very much at all.
We also hear more about gameplay:
Main and Support Fleets
Choose Your Main and Support Fleet: A Commander can choose 3 possible playable characters to fill the Main Fleet and 3 possible playable or support characters in the Support Fleet. Each character in the Support Fleet will appear in battle when their conditions are met. If all 3 characters on your Main Fleet are destroyed, the Commander will lose. Azur Lane mobile users may notice that in Azur Lane: Crosswave, you can deploy your fleet without using fuel, and negative effects won’t carry on into battle.
Game Difficulties
Adjusting Difficulties: There are 3 modes of difficulty that can be changed any time:Easy: The perfect difficulty for those new to shooting games. If you deploy a battleship, odds of you losing are close to none.
Normal: The perfect difficulty for those who are used to playing shooting games. Depending on your formation and leveling of your skills, you may be able to clear the game without an extensive need of leveling your characters.
Hard: A challenging setting that is best for those who have cleared the game a number of times. All boss characters receive attack and defense boosts, making the entire playthrough challenging. Depending on how well you play, you may even experience battles that emulate what it would be like to face each character based on how strong they are in the story.
Fleet Effects
Players can give their Main Fleet special stat bonuses depending on who they place in both their Main Fleet and their Support Fleet. The buffs players receive can be Torpedo attack power, reload speed, HP, and more!
For example, in the screenshot above, you can see that the Fleet Effect, “Cat Ears”, was implemented because the Support Fleet contains Aoba, Ise, and Shiratsuyu.
Be sure try out different character combinations to see what kind of Fleet Effects you can unlock, and don’t forget, Playable Characters can also be used in the Support Fleet!
Carrier Type
Players will find that each character is designated by a Carrier Type. There are 5 different Carrier Types and the characters chosen for a player’s Main Fleet will impact their battles! Want to play heavy defense, or do you prefer speedy offense? The choice is yours!
Destroyer – Destroyers are very fast, and their torpedoes are exceptionally powerful. They aren’t very resilient, and their ranged attacks aren’t very powerful. They are weak against normal fire.
Light Cruiser – Light Cruisers have features of both destroyers and heavy cruisers. They do well against aircrafts, so they excel using anti-air weapons. They are weak against normal fire.
Heavy Cruiser – They aren’t very fast, but their lock-on gauge charges faster than any other vessels. They can deal more damage than battleships if they can use their lock-on attacks frequently.
Battleship – They are very powerful and can take a great deal of damage, but their initial weapons lack firing speed. They are the slowest of all the vessels, and they use a Guard technique where other types use Dash. They are very resilient against normal fire, but are weak against armor-piercing shells as well as torpedoes.
Equipping your Kansen
A Massive Arsenal of Weapons to Choose From: With Akashi’s Laboratory, and in-game item drops, Commanders have multiple ways to earn, exchange, and equip rare items. Depending on the available equipment slots on a character, Commanders can utilize items crafted at Akashi’s Laboratory or found in-game. Certain items or blueprints may be required to craft special items in Akashi’s Laboratory, so keep grinding through battles to find what you need.
Character-Specific Skills
Unique Character Skills and Item Upgrades: All characters have unique skills, such as Shimakaze’s “Lightning Flash” which boosts the attacks and speed of her allies. Commanders can strengthen these skills to their max potential by using items! You can also experience a boost in a character’s skills if their active skills are of the same category. Explore how far you can push your Kansen by changing up how you form your fleet!
Learn More About Your Favorite Character
Never-before-seen information is added in Azur Lane: Crosswave: Tutorials and character information has been added for Commanders who are unfamiliar with the lore of Azur Lane. Immerse yourself in the world of Azur Lane by learning a ship’s hobby, and even their likes and dislikes!
If you want to learn more about Azur Lane: Crosswave, you should definitely read the interview we pubished a few weeks ago, in which Compile Heart President Norihisa Kochiwa talks in depth about the project. You can also check out more shipgirls revealed a few days ago, a second batch, a third one, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, and a seventh.
The game releases on February 13 on Steam both in North America and Europe, while the PS4 version will have staggered releases by regions: North America will get it on February 13 as well, while European players will have to wait for February 21.
If you’re unfamiliar with Azur Lane, it’s is a free-to-play mobile horizontal scrolling shooter/RPG hybrid currently available for iOS and Android.
If you’re curious about the franchise’s popularity in Japan, you can check out my report about the recent anniversary event that pretty much literally invaded Akihabara.
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