The Alliance Alive: latest details (characters, gameplay systems, etc.), videos, screens

16 March 201716 March 2017 Lite_Agent FuRyu, The Alliance Alive

Earlier this week, FuRyu announced that The Alliance Alive, their next JRPG on the Nintendo 3DS, was delayed to June in Japan (it was supposed to come out at the end of the month). And yesterday, they revealed plenty of new details about the game: new characters, gameplay systems, and more. There’s also a couple of videos and some screenshots to check out! Once again, a big thank to Gematsu for the translation!

Let’s start with the new characters:

Grossa (Male Asmodian, age unknown): a high-ranking Asmodian noble, who is bent on protecting the hierarchical society, and maintaining order. He’s a pretty strict man, with absolutely zero tolerance for any criminal activity;
Wyaat (Male Human, 43 years old): he’s Urusula’s father, and the leader of the Night Crows (though on the surface, he’s just a plain old barkeeper). Open-minded and strong-willed, and pretty good with his hands, he is well respected by the members of the Night Crows;
Citro (Female Human, over 100 years old): an eccentric old woman, who happens to be a linguist (one of the few people who can read the language from the Human-Asmodian War era). She lives in the “Living Forest”, where the tree people are said to live. She’s a misanthrope, and rarely comes out when she doesn’t have to, and certainly not for someone else.

The battle system in The Alliance Alive is a bit special, mainly thanks to a system called “Awakening”. During a battle, if you use a technique, there is a fixed chance the character will have an Awakening. When that happens, two things can occur:

that technique levels up, and becomes more powerful;
your character learns a brand new technique. The more you battle, the easier it is for your characters to learn new ones.

Here’s some of the techniques you can use in battle:

Deflect (for the Sword): you deflect enemy attacks with a slash;
Tornado Slash (for the Great Sword): you jump at enemies and attack them with a circular slash;
Violent Knock (for the Axe): you attack an enemy three times in a row;
Screw Charge (for the Lance): you “charge” your spear, and then throw it at enemies, which are then hit by the rotating tip of the spear;
Battering (for the Staff): you attack a single enemy with 8 quick consecutive hits;
Kitsune Hunting (for the Bow): a special attack that’s quite effective on beast-type enemies;
Death Trap (for the Shield): when an enemy attacks you, you return the blow. What’s more, the enemy is hit by a stun effect, based on the type of their attack;
Gachigachi Punch (for the Martial Arts): you build up your energy, and then hit an enemy with a really strong punch.

The game has 7 weapon types, and each character can equip them all, regardless of their job:

Sword: come in several variants (dagger, rapier, long sword, curved). Relatively easy to use;
Great Sword: a special type of sword that boasts strong attack and defense, which really shines in group battles. Unfortunately, there’s a catch: it can be hard to hit enemies with that weapon;
Axe: a weapon known for its strong attacks. Just like the Great Sword, it can be hard to hit enemies with that weapon;
Spear: a weapon that allows you to attack enemies from afar, before they can even get to you. Just like the Great Sword, it really shines in group battles. A pretty easy to use weapon, that leaves you unprotected against enemies also using spears;
Staff: a weapon for characters focusing on support, as it steals enemies of their battle abilities. That’s why its attack power is low;
Bow: a weapon with high attack power, that allows you to hit enemies from afar, and threfore attack before they can get to you. Be careful though: it cannot be used to defend yourself. Pretty easy to use;
Shield: this is the weapon you need if you want to focus on defense. It can also be used for attacking, though it will leave you defenseless;
Martial Arts: just like the staff, its attack power is pretty low, but you can steal battle abilities from enemies with it. Its focus is on techniques that allows you to evade enemy techniques.

Finally, when exploring the world, you can use various vehicles: those allow you to perform certain action on the field, and even reach previously unreachable places. They can also extend your visibility.

Here’s a video showcasing one of the vehicles: the Ornithopter!