Azur Lane: Crosswave adds St. Louis, Akashi, and Shiranui; action detailed
The latest on the Azur Lane action RPG.
Compile Heart has updated the official website for Azur Lane: Crosswave with character pages for St. Louis (voiced by Yoko Hikasa), who will appear in the game as a playable character, and Akashi (voiced by Sumire Uesaka) and Shiranui (voiced by Kanae Ikadai), who will appear in the game as a “Secretary Ship / Combat Support.”
Additionally, the company detailed the game’s action:
■ Battle Flow
Fight on leveled stages against the enemies blocking your path.
—Play the game in a style close to that of the original Azur Lane.
—By defeating all of the enemies in the area, you will be able to move deeper into the stage.
—At the last area of a stage, a boss battle will occur. By defeating the boss, you will clear the stage and move to the results screen.
Your opponents in boss battles are mainly other KAN-SEN.
Since the player cannot use the same character as the enemy, your range of choices will increase as you scout more and more characters.
It should be noted that, although difficult, it is not impossible to make it to the end of the game without scouting any characters.
(Note: The following controls are for the “Control Type A” setting.)
■ Movement
Use the left stick to move freely in any direction.
Movement speed differs depending on the character.
■ Reticle (Camera)
Adjust your reticle movement and camera movement settings.
The circle that appears in the middle of the screen is called the “lock-on area.” Enemies that enter the lock-on area are easy target and hit.
You can also freely zoom in and out using the up and down buttons on the d-pad. Maybe it is alright to check out the character’s face every one in a while in battle…? (Enemy bullets are difficult to avoid.)
Move your character at high speeds with a press of the X button!
There is no limit to the amount of times you can use this evasion action, and there is a slight period of invincibility during use.
■ Guard (Special Evasion Action: 2)
Make the best use of attacking and strong defenses.
The characters that belong to the “Battleship” class can guard rather than dash with the X button. You can maintain a guard by holding down the X button, and any damage taking during a guard will be reduced by half.
Also, if you guard at the exact moment an enemy attack hits, the damage will be negated.
■ Weapon 1 / Weapon 2
Fight with freely-equipped weapons.
You can use Weapon 1 with the R1 button and Weapon 2 with the R2 button. A weapon’s power and ballistics depend on the weapon performance when equipping in the status screen.
Some attacks cannot be used until a dedicated gauge is charged. After use, the gauge must recharge before using it again.
■ Torpedo
A miracle blow.
Some characters can use this as their Weapon 2.
Although slow, the torpedo can deal great damage.
■ Aircraft
A surprise attack from above.
This can only be used by characters whose ship type is “Carrier Plane.” After launching, the aircraft will fight automatically. There are three types of aircraft, which you can freely set in the equipment screen.
Fighter: Takes flight automatically. Only intercepts enemy fighters.
Bomber: Takes flight through manual operation. High attack power, but easily susceptible to the enemy’s anti-aircraft attacks.
Attack Aircraft: Takes flight through manual operation. Well-balanced attributes.
■ Skills
Each character has their own innate skills.
When the player-controlled character’s skill gauge is filled, you an activate their skill with the Square button. Skills cannot be changed, but they can strengthened with items. There are also some skill types that activate automatically.
The closer you are to the enemy, the higher your attack power.
The closer you are to the enemy, the more damage you will deal, and the more damage you will take from the enemy.
■ Anti-Aircraft Gun
Destroy the enemy aircraft.
By equipping the anti-aircraft gun, you can fire at aircraft automatically. You can aim manually using weapons, but if the powerful anti-aircraft gun is equipped, this will not be necessary.
■ Lock-On Attack
Don’t let the enemy escape!
This can be used if the lock-on gauge is filled. While holding down the Circle button, the enemies in the lock-on area will be targeted, and by releasing the button, the targeted enemies will all be attacked.
■ Character Change
Don’t overdo it! Pass the baton!
With the left and right buttons on the d-pad, you can switch between the characters in your fleet. There is no limit to switching characters, so do it as you please.
■ Recovery Cube
Emergency first aid.
When attacking enemy characters, they may sometimes drop a recovery cube. These have the effect of healing all party members.
■ Pause Menu
Take a break and rethink your strategy.
Retry or exit the stage and return to the menu or ocean map. Use it when you want to take a break or look at the screen.
■ Minor Enemy Characters
Various enemy fleet escorts will appear in each stage.
—Aircraft
These fly above and drop bombs below. These sometimes drop recovery cubes when defeated.
—Mass-Produced Warships
These fire torpedos and various gunshots. These sometimes drop equipment containers when defeated.
—Self-Destruction Boats
Once these appear, they move across the field in a straight line to unleash a self-destruction attack. If defeated without self-destructing first, these are guaranteed to drop recovery cubes.
Azur Lane: Crosswave is due out for PlayStation 4 on August 29 in Japan, and in 2020 in North America and Europe.
