Recently Shane the Gamer was exclusively invited by QVS Software and Koei Tecmo to have a chat with the developers of the video game adaption of the anime series Attack on Titan about their upcoming A.O.T Wings of Freedom game. Our video gaming journalist and anime fan, Judalene Cheetham had a one on one.

Judalene: Can you give us a brief description of the game Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom and what we can expect from it?

A.O.T. Team: A.O.T. Wings of Freedom takes the anime Attack on Titan and puts it into game form.

The story focuses on the first season of the anime, but adds Titans and battles that have not yet appeared in the anime to make the game unique.  With regards to gameplay, there is the exhilaration from flying around using the Omni-Directional Manoeuver Gear, and a battle system that draws upon allies and items to confront the powerful Titans to replicate the tense battles of the manga and anime.

It is a game that not only fans of the original manga and anime will enjoy, but action game fans as well.

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Judalene: Attack on Titan is quite a popular anime series, were there any precipitating factors that brought about this particular adaptation?

A.O.T. Team: One factor is that we worked with the publisher Kodansha on the game Arslan: The Warriors of Legend, and Kodansha also publishes the Attack on Titan manga.

Another factor is that we strongly wanted to reproduce Attack on Titan in game form, and have many gamers play that game.

Judalene: The universe has characters traversing the world in broad amount of ways. Did this versatility in movement on many planes present any particularly challenging aspects in the development process and how much navigational freedom has actually been allowed in gameplay?

A.O.T. Team: Movement through the air, on land, and by horse each has different speeds and elevations so we had a lot of difficulty with the camera controls. In addition, it took a lot of time to adjust the collision detection between objects and characters.

For the Omni-Directional Manoeuver Gear, the anchor needs objects in the environment to point to, so as long as there are objects, the player can freely fly around in any direction.

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Judalene: The art direction is similar to that of the anime series. With such a gruesome and cruel world to work with did you try to stick to the dark themes the universe has to offer as well?

A.O.T. Team: Yes, we wanted to please the many fans of the anime so we felt that it was necessary to keep the anime’s cruel and catastrophic world.  On top of that, we included visual flair that only a game can depict, and aimed for a fusion of realistic and anime-like design.

Judalene: Were there any deliberate deviations from the series, why or why not?

A.O.T. Team: The core of the game covers the storyline of the anime’s first season, but we included additional elements such as Titans that have not yet appeared in the anime and a storyline of Titans attacking Trost District as experienced by the Scout Regiment.

We felt that we needed to add these new elements to give viewers of the anime some new surprises to enjoy in the game.

Judalene: From a story perspective how much of the series does it cover and can we expect anything new?

A.O.T. Team: The first season of the anime is covered.  In addition, there is an original storyline that includes Titans that have not yet appeared in the anime, and the game’s climax is a fierce battle between certain Titans that fans of the original manga have been waiting for.

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Judalene: Summing up can you give us your best description of the main unique aspects Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom has to offer both players and fans of the series?

A.O.T. Team: The game features the Omni-Directional Manoeuver Gear for exhilarating action and freedom to move about, the Titan battle system with tactical elements drawing upon allies and limitation of resources, and battles filled with the same dramatic tension as in the manga and anime.

The visuals and the story of the anime’s first season are recreated in game form, as well as the inclusion of an original storyline.  In addition, there are conversations and events that can only be experienced in this game, so players will feel more emotionally involved with the characters. There are also collection elements such as a Titan Field Guide that displays details of the Titans defeated, so we hope players will play the game and see for themselves.

Judalene: Thanks guys for your time today. We are both excited and looking forward to the release of the game.

A.O.T Wings of Freedom releases on the 26th of August 2016 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as digitally only on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PC via Steam.

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