Tag Archives: Azure Striker Gunvolt 2

Features

The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Boy 2018

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The MoeGamer Awards are a series of “alternative” awards that I’ve devised in collaboration with the community as an excuse to celebrate the games, experiences and fanbases that have left a particular impression on me in 2018. Find out more and leave a suggestion here!

This award was suggested by megaapple18.

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“Best Girl” is something I think about quite often. I mean, obviously Nepgear will always be my one true waifu, but that’s not to say I can’t have a personal favourite girl from among an individual game’s cast.

“Best Boy”, however; that’s something I tend to need to think a bit more about. As a heterosexual male, the red-blooded “attraction” factor is much less than it is with female characters — though there have been exceptions to this rule; I’d happily jump into bed with Urabe from Sweet Fuse, for example. We’re all a little bit gay. R-right?

Ahem. Anyway. While physical attractiveness is by no means the only aspect that draws me to particular female characters — the regular Waifu Wednesday column should be evidence enough of that — it can be an effective means of grabbing my initial attention, while the boys will have to work a bit harder to win me over in the first place.

So with that in mind, then, who was my Best Boy of 2018?

And the winner is…

Continue reading The MoeGamer Awards 2018: Best Boy 2018 →

Cover Games

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2: Amping It Up

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What makes a good sequel? It’s a question that there isn’t really a conclusive answer for, because there are so many different ways you can approach it.

In the world of video games, we’ve had titles that completely reinvent themselves from their previous installments, games that simply offer more of the same, and series that evolve, change and improve over time.

The sequel to Azure Striker Gunvolt takes a combination of approaches, building on the good work of the original and expanding it considerably. And, like its predecessor, it’s a cracking good time, particularly for those who grew up in the 16-bit era.

Continue reading Azure Striker Gunvolt 2: Amping It Up →

Waifu Wednesday

Waifu Wednesday: Joule and Lumen, The Muse

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When I asked Inti Creates producer and localisation specialist Matt Papa who his favourite Inti waifu was, he was initially hesitant to answer, saying it was a “REALLY hard question”.

I can understand that response; over the course of the Cover Game features and our previous exploration of Gal*Gun Double Peace, it’s become abundantly clear that not only is Inti Creates a company good at producing high-quality games inspired by classics of the past, it also has plenty of people on staff with a formidable talent for creating waifus.

“I’m gonna have to say Joule/Lumen from the Azure Striker Gunvolt series,” Papa finally decided. “Because she is just the cutest, sweetest character, she was a big part of the first game I ever worked on, her voice actress Megu Sakuragawa is an absolutely delightful person, and the list goes on.”

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Cover Games

Inti Creates: On Being a Truly International Game Developer

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As gaming has evolved, the medium of “video games” has broadened considerably. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that a wide variety of disparate markets have started to overlap and mingle.

One of the most interesting things about gaming today is the wide variety of experiences we can enjoy from creators all over the world. Here in the West, for example, we can enjoy more quality games that hail from Asia than ever before thanks to the sterling efforts of localisation companies — despite the occasional controversy, of course!

But then there’s the odd company out there who does things a little differently; the odd company that “thinks global” right from the beginning rather than making sharply delineated distinctions between “East” and “West”. And one of those companies is Inti Creates.

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Cover Games

Inti Creates: Introduction and History

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cropped-header-6691213-5635196This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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This month on MoeGamer, we’re taking a look at a group of games that are connected primarily through the developer that created them.

That developer is Inti Creates, a group formed by ex-Capcom staff in 1996. It’s a company that is much-beloved by its fans, but which has, over the years, tended to beaver away at things quietly in the background rather than becoming a real household name like some other more high-profile Japanese development outfits.

That’s a bit of a shame, so that’s what this month is all about; specifically, it’s about the company’s recent output, presenting a variety of modern-day takes on traditional side-scrollers from the 8- and 16-bit eras.

Continue reading Inti Creates: Introduction and History →