Koutetsujou no Kabaneri - Ran: Early Reviews
A handful of reviews have been emerging prior to the release of the game, so I thought I’d pick out the interesting elements (mostly pictures since I don’t have time right now to try and sift through all the information about gameplay etc). Here are the links to the individual articles:
- The three main characters (Kaname, Haya and Chihiro) each have a painful and bitter past. As the curtain rises, they are assisted by Ikoma and Mumei when the kabane attack. (I’m assuming the next few images are of this opening scenario).
This character is called Ichiko, and she’s saying “Help me!”
- About 1-3 still images have been prepared for each episode/chapter.
- Except for the introduction, there are roughly eight stories per chapter.
- There will be seven chapters available at the start of the game, with a new chapter being added each month. There is a main story that progresses from the perspective of the ‘main character’ but there are also sidestories for the other characters too.
- Each episode/chapter is said to have the same volume of content as three episodes of the anime.
Early conflict between Ikoma and Kaname, who does not know of the existence of kabaneri.
- ‘No abandoned characters!’ (I like this, lol). All characters can progress to 6*. Only three characters start at 1* (Haya, Chihiro and Kaname)
- There will be character gacha in game, where versions with different skills and outfits will be available
- Doubles obtained via gacha will be replaced with the item ‘Soul’ for skill reinforcement of that character
- There are currently around 80 characters planned for the game’s launch. All characters are named, though their names may not be revealed when you first encounter them.
- Collecting characters and reading their backstory etc will provide a full understanding of the game and the motivation for each characters’ behaviour etc
- You can have five characters in your party, choosing from any that you obtain. It is estimated to take around a month to raise a character to 6* (highest rank)
More young residents of the three main characters’ station. Even minor characters are voiced, with one review praising this level of committment.
- Characters from the Koutetsujou appear from the beginning. Since the events of the anime, their trust in Ikoma and Mumei is certain.
There’s a lot of details about game mechanics that I haven’t included in this post, but there are certainly some useful pointers for those of us who plan to try and play the game without understanding Japanese.
