Azure Striker Gunvolt 2

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2
Developer(s)	Inti Creates
Publisher(s)	Inti Creates Yacht Club Games (retail)
Director(s)	Yoshihisa Tsuda
Producer(s)	Takuya Aizu
Artist(s)	Yoshitaka Hatakeyama
Writer(s)	Toshiaki Tai Sakiko Nakada
Composer(s)	Ippo Yamada Ryo Kawakami Aoi Takeda Mina Hatazoe Kotaro Yamada
Platform(s)	Nintendo 3DS Nintendo Switch
Release	JP: August 25, 2016 WW: September 29, 2016 Nintendo Switch WW: August 31, 2017
Genre(s)	Action platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, known as Armed Blue: Gunvolt 2 Sou (蒼き雷霆（アームドブルー）ガンヴォルト爪) in Japan, is an action-platform video game developed and published by Inti Creates for the Nintendo 3DS. The sequel to Azure Striker Gunvolt, it was released in Japan in August 2016 and worldwide in September 2016. A physical release containing the game and its predecessor, titled Azure Striker Gunvolt Striker Pack, was released alongside the digital release in Japan and North America. A Nintendo Switch version is set to be released in August 2017.

Gameplay

The gameplay is directly based on the one in the original game. The main character, Gunvolt, controls nearly identically as in Azure Striker Gunvolt, using a gun to lock onto enemies and then using his electric field in order to attack them. The game, however, now adds the option to play as Copen, a character that played a major role in the previous game. He has an entirely different control scheme, now focusing on his dash attack, which is used to lock onto enemies, then using a gun to attack them. He can also use powers from defeated bosses, similar to the Mega Man franchise.

Plot

Sometime after foiling the plans of Sumeragi Group from controlling the whole population of adepts in called "Project Muse", Gunvolt spent some time to heal both his physical and emotional wounds from the events of the last game. However, this doesn't last long when a new, formidable enemy appears known as "Eden", an international organization of powerful adepts from all over the world. Now, Gunvolt and his rival, Copen, must fight and thwart this new group.^[1]

Development

The game was teased in February 2015, when Inti Creates posted a tweet with the logo for the game. No further info was revealed until over a year later, when a Nintendo Direct on March 3, 2016, showed footage for the game. An official trailer was published the same day, revealing a vague release date of "Summer 2016".

When Azure Striker Gunvolt Striker Pack was announced, the Japanese release date for both versions was set as August 25. Later, when it was announced that Inti Creates have partnered with Yacht Club Games in order to bring the physical release to North America, which will release on October 4. In an official Twitch stream by Inti Creates on August 20, it was also revealed that Europe would be getting the digital version on September 30 as well, but the release date for the physical version remains unknown. As a result of the collaboration with Yacht Club Games, players can unlock a special boss battle against the titular protagonist of Shovel Knight through use of the Shovel Knight amiibo.^[2] In December 2016, Japan released a DLC pack that contains score attacks, a song track and a speed run mode.^[3]

Reception

The game received positive reviews. Inti Creates announced that global eShop sales of Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 have reached 38,000 downloads as of May 1, 2017.

References

External links

• Official website

[[Category:Video games that use Amiibo figurines