When you need to talk about a series like that of Azur Lane, you automatically enter a fiery territory for a multitude of factors. This franchise, born in 2017 as a video game for IOS and Android, has quickly incorporated a 'immense group of enthusiasts thanks also to the design of the characters that make up this particular world. Popularity grew like this quickly which have been produced anime, manga, novels and different themed merchandise that have helped to make it a real multimedia universe. In such a context, certainly could not miss the landing of the series also on consoles and PCs, and therefore on the horizon appears Azur Lane Crosswave, title that after arriving on Steam and Playstation 4 in 2020, from today will also be able to entertain Nintendo Switch users in spectacular naval battles.
These flying girls talk a lot
The world of Azur Lane consists of four great nations, all characterized by paramilitary groups with inside them uniquely beautiful girls with the most disparate features. The protagonists of this adventure are Shimakaze and Suruga, two new military recruits from Sakura's kingdom who in the course of their training get lost and fight a mysterious group called "Sirene". From here begins a journey that will lead them to become the face of the army, meeting such a large number of characters that it is practically impossible to count. At this point, however, we prefer to stop and not reveal further details of the narrative, after all, the game is extremely story driven and we want to leave you the pleasure of discovering it step by step. For now, just know the plot it detaches itself from the main lore, thus becoming a sort of what if, a choice made to give even newcomers the opportunity to approach the series.
The gameplay is basically divided into two main phases: one similar visual novel and battles on the open sea. As for the first part, the amount of text and dubbing that the product presents to the gamer is surprising. Most of the time we will have to read countless dialogues between one pre-set image of the characters and the other, with the occasional appearance of some unpublished artwork, in which any girl on screen is fully voiced in every line of her script. This last thing might seem little, were it not that they are available within the production over 30 heroines playable and supportive. Just the huge amount of characters makes most of them too stereotyped, taking up the canons in full in a story of this kind. Fortunately, these entirely narrative sections allow themselves to be followed thanks to a story after all pleasant both in the events and in the jokes. It is also interesting to note the different options offered within this mode, from the simple skip command to the photo mode that removes the text and "freezes" the cutscene. This demonstrates a good customization that few such products offer, even if some element of interaction is missing such as, for example, possible narrative deviations. However, it should be noted that Azur Lane Crosswave is localized exclusively in English, therefore, those who are not accustomed to this language could find themselves in difficulty given the enormous amount of text present.
Fights on the water
The second main phase of the product concerns instead that of actual fighting, which are divided first into a more strategic part and then into the one more focused on action. At the beginning of each internship we are asked to choose three playable characters and three supporting characters, all divided into types such as destroyer, battle ship, aircraft carrier or light cruiser. These sorts of fighting classes are not random, as each has unique moves and characteristics that are capable of determining the tide of battle. It is then up to the player to find his favorite combination, in order to become more powerful by increasing the level of every female soldier in the field. Azur Lane Crosswave then includes the shop, where to buy and sell collected items, and the research Center where to create power-ups with which to increase the power of each single girl. This last feature is not realized to its maximum potential, so much so that the player will risk soon forgetting about this possibility.
The second part is instead focused on maritime clashes inspired by the historical ones of the series. In these missions the player commands one of the girls in the squad, taking control of an ally at any time with the appropriate command, and at the same time completing various main objectives such as destroying enemy soldiers or defeating the boss on duty. At the end of it all, a degree of evaluation which varies from C to S, obtainable with the success of the secondary objectives. Unfortunately, any kind of mission results always the same from the beginning to the end credits. Even the levels, both visually and in level design, are all too similar, a factor that leads to a palatable background monotony. This does not mean that the game system is not fun, on the contrary, but after a few hours every single game becomes all too predictable.
What we have just mentioned is unfortunately not the only problem present in the combat system. Each battle is in fact designed to be completed in less than 120 seconds, for this reason everything is too hasty to leave the player spaced out. Considering then that the enemies are practically always the same with the usual attack patterns, everything seems too sketchy. The battles are then all too simple in practically all levels of difficulty, except in the case in which you always and in any case want to obtain grade S. Another problem derives precisely from the strategic part mentioned above which, although it has several interesting characteristics, on balance it is essentially of little use. In the end, as soon as you have found your ideal team, just use the same technique over and over until the main story is complete, all for a duration that varies between eight and ten hours. Azur Lane Crosswave thus attempts to bring the formula of the original mobile work to PC and consoles, without succeeding really to evolve or expand it.
All posing
In addition to the main story, which is structured in the manner described above, in the menu of the work it is however possible to access two other main sections, namely Extreme Battle and Photo. If the first is simply one increasingly difficult series of battles to face, the second is very interesting for the freedom that is offered to the player. By choosing one of the different adventure arenas, you can take a group of at least six girls to make a real one photographic set. The models can thus be positioned where we like and as we like, with the various poses and expressions that vary for each individual character. This mode certainly proves fun for those who love this kind of extras, also thanks to the excellent care taken by the development team.
Of course, you can then watch any special footage and artwork again within the gallery, as well as the possibility of accessing the additional stories of the Pre-installed DLCs in this edition. The PlayStation 4 and Switch versions of the product landed on the western market a year later than the PC version. For this reason, the publisher has well thought of inserting some of the DLCs released so far, with the others that can be purchased in the appropriate digital stores separately from day one. A certainly intelligent maneuver, which offers a certain greater incentive to those interested in this edition. We also point out that the guest star Neptunia can be collected for free until March 13, 2021.
The developer-managed optimization work appears to be ottima qualità, demonstrating a wise use of Unreal Engine 4. The game on Switch, version we tested, does not present any kind of slowdown or bugs, even showing some light effects in the water that are very pleasant to watch. The models of the various girls are also very well made, also thanks to the design taken kindly by the game for mobile devices. The best part of Azur Lane Crosswave is definitely the soundtrack, which has an impact from the main menu screen. Even the opening and ending used demonstrate a high quality level in this sense, something not many works can be proud of.
