Examples of Damage Control in Gaming: An Altered Azure Revolution

Releasing early demos to have the direct audience act as focus testers has apparently become a new trend among Japanese development houses. Team Ninja, for instance, recently held an alpha session for Nioh for a nine-day period, and subsequently collected surveys from players to gauge impressions and see what needed changing for the final version. The result was successful, thanks to the mostly-positive opinions (outside the difficulty from a few territories), and Team Ninja provided a laundry list of changes that would be made to the beta. The final game should be an improved experience as a result.

Less publicized, however, was Sega’s effort with Valkyria: Azure Revolution. That’s mainly thanks to its testing session being held only in Japan, and how it was exclusive to those who purchased that version of Valkyria Chronicles Remastered. (As in, this wasn’t included with the western version when it released in mid-May.) But there’s likely a good reason for that, as most who played the demo claimed it was subpar at best. You only had to see videos of it being played to tell that it needed serious work before it resembled a palatable action/RPG, as it contained frightening gameplay-related similarities to number of games people enjoy giving “kusoge” awards to. Criticism towards it was harsh (in their words, even), but when the developers genuinely want to hear criticism in order to create the best product they can, it’s for an amicable cause.

Now that the verdicts are in, Azure Revolution director Takeshi Ozawa outlined some changes that will be made for the next demo in an interview with Famitsu magazine. Fortunately, they’re far more extensive than many expected.

One of the biggest changes is how they’re making its battles more RPG-like, so it will contain more similarities to the strategy/RPGs this title is based on. They want players to have chances to think while planning their next strategies during battle, and they’ll have to take mandatory breaks thanks to the addition of an action gauge that depletes when players attack. Utilizing too many actions to defeat enemies as fast as possible could result in leaving you and your accompanying characters exposed, which should force players to rest behind various obstacles and alternate between melee and shooting. If this works like I imagine it will, it should show how one ostensibly minor change can seriously alter the tempo of a game’s flow.

To help maintain a sense of action along with the aforementioned strategy, four characters will be allowed in battle instead of three. The player will also be able to assign strategies to AI characters so they can fight more efficiently, a feature which sounds reminiscent of options in Star Ocean and Tales of games. Since the player will have a bunch of options at their disposal simultaneously, they’re also adding the option to pause and give commands, presumably similar to how strategic planning works in many western RPGs.

In addition to those, other minor aspects are being altered, like gun damage, overall AI actions for partners and enemies, and how enemy encounters begin while players are in the field or dungeons. These are options they would have tinkered with for the final game regardless, but it’s always nice for developers to let consumers know precisely what they’ll be getting with the next demo. I’m looking forward to seeing how these changes work in action, and hoping that players enjoy this updated version more than the last one. But I really hope Sega will be confident enough in this demo’s quality to let those outside Japan give it a shot and provide feedback.

Meanwhile, more characters from Azure Revolution’s warring factions have been revealed since the last time I posted about this. There’s Brigitte Ulrich, a Sergeant of the anti-Valkyria unit “Vanargand” who possesses a strong sense of justice, and is serious and intelligent even when times don’t call for it. Alongside her is Private Blum Thomassen, a young member who’s good with this hands (heh), and messes around with products powered by Ragnite. Similarly young is Private Helena Anderson, a showgirl who’s a childhood friend of Blum, who often outwits her despite her high ambitions. (I’m not even going into why they might be good friends.) They won’t be pushing any character archetype boundaries with this cast, which just means they’re keeping it familiar for Valkyria fans.

In addition to protagonist Amleth, four other “Grave Sinners” are spearheading the Azure Revolution from the Jutland Kingdom against the Rus Empire, both on and off the battlefield. There’s Suleyman Kahlenberg, a member of the kingdom’s House of Representatives who made the decision to go to war. There’s also Basil Sabanci, a devious and mischievous individual who handles the kingdom’s pecuniary duties, but is kind-hearted towards anyone on his side. Fleet Eriksen is the kingdom’s resident newspaper reporter, whose word helps shape the mood of the kingdom among the soldiers and commoners. Finally, there’s Violette Szand, the only woman among them, who works as an excellent intelligence operative. The presence of these political figures should lend the final experience a more authentic “Valkyria” feel, moreso than the archetypes mentioned above.

The last character introduced is Emperor Claudius Powlovich Kiev, a man deemed a hero before used his influence to form the Rus Empire and expand its territory through conquering others. Brunhild, the previously-revealed formidable Valkyrie (who bears an assuredly intentional resemblance to Valkyria Chronicles’ Selvaria Bless), works directly alongside Claudius. Together, both are a force to be reckoned with, but that doesn’t mean the Jutland Kingdom isn’t afraid to take them on. All of the characters mentioned above can be seen on the official website.

After impressions from the first demo, I started losing faith in this project. But with the fixes they’re providing, it could be a rewarding experience that will placate those still waiting for another strategy/RPG installment after all. Azure Revolution is currently scheduled for a fall release in Japan, but don’t be surprised if it takes a little delay if they need more time to implement changes. If it’s good, there’s a fair chance that it will make its way outside of Japan, especially since Sega has Atlus USA to handle such duties from now on.