The New Classics #35: Azur Lane – Crosswave

 

The Backstory: A game developed by Felistella and published by Compile Heart can only be good, now can’t it? Utter lack of objectivity aside, the cover art alone gave me good vibes, as well as the evocative title. I knew little about that game before playing it, apart from the fact that it’s a console port of an Android game and that the featured girls are moe interpretations of WW II ships. But who needs to know more when the gaming instinct claims a game? Let’s ride, baby!

 

 

The Game: Okay now, colour me in love. ALC swept me off my feet right away with its lush soundtrack, splendid character art, zesty dialogues and bright colours. Then came the gameplay, and there was no turning back: by the end of the first battle, I was definitely the game’s b*tch. 

 

 

After a bunch of skippable cutscenes and a smoothest and most pleasant bit of navigation on the world map, I was thrown into my first battle — which was over in a minute, as I cruised in easy mode. But that minute was enough to get a massive crush on the fighting system, which is unlike anything I’ve played before. A picture being worth a thousand words, you can see above what the whole affair looks like. Man, I just love that horizon view! Gimme more! I got more alright, in the form of a boss battle that was over in two minutes. Easy mode really is easy in ALC; maybe I’ll roll in normal mode when I replay the game. Ooops, did I spoil you already? Not quite, I guess; I spilled the beans right from that section’s first sentence.

 

 

The Verdict: When I have such an instant crush on a game, I tweak the New Classic policy and don’t play the allotted two hours. I don’t think anything that happens later can overcome that massively positive first impression — and hey, it frees up some precious time for other contenders!