While not directly Mega Man-related, I am happy to report that the next entry in the Gunvolt series, Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, is currently in development. Not only that, an old friend of ours has returned as both executive producer and action supervisor: the one and only Keiji Inafune.
From Inti Creates' press release:
Inti Creates announced the newest title in their “Azure Striker GUNVOLT” series with the reveal of “Azure Striker GUNVOLT 3” at the online indie game event “BitSummut Gaiden”.
This game is a true blue sequel to “Azure Striker GUNVOLT” (2014, 3DS) and “Azure Striker GUNVOLT 2” (2016, 3DS), and sees the return of action supervisor Keiji Inafune （LEVEL5 comcept CCO）, who worked together with director Yoshihisa Tsuda on the first two games, reprising his role for GUNVOLT 3. Together, they aim to bring the ultra-refined 2D action the series is known for to the next level. Stay tuned for more information as development on the game continues.
Kirin is a shrine maiden with a Septimal power that allows her to seal the abilities of others. In addition to her Septimal powers, she has a unique combat style that combines the use of enchanted talismans and a sword crafted from a pewter staff
Executive Producer/Action Supervisor
Keiji Inafune （LEVEL5 comcept CCO）
Former managing director at Capcom. Worked on numerous hit series like "Mega Man", "Onimusha", and "Dead Rising" among others before leaving to establish his own company, comcept Inc., in December 2010. In September 2016, comcept released its first self-published title, "Mighty No. 9", and contributed many game concepts to many domestic and international titles. In 2017, comcept became a development studio of LEVEL5 Inc., and Inafune became the CCO of LEVEL5 comcept Co., Ltd. where he leads the company's development and operations.
Message from Keiji Inafune (LEVEL5 comcept CCO), Action Supervisor
“Hello, this is Keiji Inafune. How did you like Gunvolt 3? It’s been about four years since the previous game’s release, and I am delighted to bring you this announcement for the third Gunvolt game today. Did you know that I was involved in the Gunvolt series? Since the beginning, I have worked on the series with Inti Creates as the series’ action supervisor. I will be continuing that role with this new title as well. As action supervisor, it is my job to help shape the gameplay together with director Tsuda. We want to craft an exciting game filled with ultra-refined action and deliver something we believe players will enjoy.
“For Gunvolt 3, a new character is making their debut. Her name is Kirin, and I believe she is an incredibly charming character. As you can see, her artwork is very cute and well done. When you see her in action and cutting down enemies, I think many people will really come to like her. The action as well, being based around sword-fighting, is very Inti Creates-like and because they’re at the helm, I have confidence they can make a sword-slashing game that I would love to play. Of course, Gunvolt himself will be appearing as well, and the appeal of Gunvolt is as strong as ever. How his combat techniques interact with Kirin’s will be a major highlight of the game. I’m sure of it. I am extremely happy to be able to announce both the game and my involvement after keeping fans waiting for so long. It will still be a while yet, but I sincerely hope that Gunvolt 3 will be able to meet everyone’s expectations. Please look forward to it!”
Message from Takuya Aizu, Inti Creates President
“Keiji Inafune and Inti Creates present the latest game in the Gunvolt series. We are pleased to announce Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 here today. We have only just begun development on the game, but we will update fans with new information on the game as soon as possible. Please look forward to future announcements.”
Inti Creates confirmed that Gunvolt 3 only just begun development. It may be quite some time before we can get our hands on it. Nevertheless, I'm certain tonight's announcement has put a smile on quite a few faces.
I'm also pleased as punch to announce that, going forward, Rockman Corner will be covering Gunvolt news. From familiar gameplay elements to veteran Inti/Capcom staff, the intersection between Gunvolt and Mega Man cannot be ignored. We look forward to sharing what's new soon!
It'll be interesting to see if people are over Mighty No 9...
ReplyDeleteHonestly, i think it won't have too much influence on this game's success. It's a Gunvolt sequel, so it will be targeted primary at thoses who played and enjoyed the previous gunvolt games anyway.
DeleteProbably. After not being able to live up to the hype surrounding it, it seems to have gotten to that point where it have received enough bad press that people play it and say "It's not THAT bad."
DeleteI want him to bring back Mighty No. 9, he deserves a 2nd chance!
DeleteWell, I certainly wasn't expecting that! IIRC Mr. Inafune has done just fine as an executive producer in the past, so here's hoping that Mn9 wa sjust an unfortunate case of people trying to handle positions they don't have the right skills for.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but this is stupid as all hell.
ReplyDeleteGunvolt is not Rockman related (and unlike Mighty No. 9 doesn't even play like or feel like a Rockman game), Inafune is no longer something Rockman fans should cover (and he's a hack), and Inticreates made a few Rockman games... the "intersection" is miniscule, it can be ignored. Yet every MM fan site feels the need to cover them... its an insult to Capcom. Kazuhiro Tsuchiya and the actual Rockman staff, that have nothing to do with Inti and Ex-Capcom employees, are the ones we should be following.
But something tells me I'm going to be the outlier here...
*sigh*
Expecting Rockman news from a Rockman site, what a ground breaking concept!
The Gunvolt games play a lot like the Zero games. They're not 1:1 copies of them, but the design philosophy behind them distinctly lives on in the Gunvolt games. Then we've had the last two games featuring a clearly Mega Man inspired character in Copen with weapon copying and boss weaknesses.
DeleteSo couple things here. First, additional Gunvolt coverage will by no means take away or deter Rockman news. Rockman news will always be a thing. Second, Gunvolt and pretty much all of Inti Creates in general hail from Rockman. Inti is made up primarily of Rockman series veteran staff, dating back to Rockman 2. Inti Creates developed ten Rockman titles. Gunvolt, while very much it's own thing, is built on Inti's experience with the Rockman series. The DNA is there.
DeleteHow Gunvolt is an "insult" to Tsuchiya, his team and other staff is pretty baseless. Gunvolt coverage doesn't take away support nor sales for Tsuchiya-lead Rockman projects. We're not here to champion one or the other. We recognize that Gunvolt fans are Mega Man fans and vice versa. They want to know what's happening on both ends.
I'm sorry you feel this way.
uhhh have you played Gunvolt? have you even play AS copen? you have to be kidding me man.
DeleteIt's easy to give an anonymous rant. While Mn9 didn't fare well it wasn't a bad game and Inafune knows his thing from Exec. position. I have been following Megaman games since 1988 and this site since I long remember and this announcement is really exciting and I'm glad that is covered here. Go cry on a corner kiddo.
DeleteThere’s always going to be that one that has to whine about everything. Just because this is a rockman site doesn’t mean is has to appease to the capcom fanboys. Go pout elsewhere and let the rest of us enjoy this well aligned content.
DeleteI have a different approach to anonymous' gripe. To me, Megaman Zero and ZX/A were to Megaman what the recent Star Wars Sequel Trilogy is to that franchise. Unfitting designs, plenty of plotholes, and general disorganization utterly mar a few good moments here and there (Z2's desert sequence, the implications of the Omega Zero fight, etc.). Then, after an utterly botched and console-bricking Kickstarter out of Mighty No. 9, this franchise made by those same people has the audacity to continue to show up with its "Xer" pronouns being forced down everyone's throats in fascist fashion by its early fans and sporting an overall concept that is somehow even more lacking in polish and taste than Shovel Knight or Binding of Isaac.
DeleteStill, it's not like Megaman has any kind of news beyond merchandise, so, heck, can't blame Protodude for covering a similar game that (as we can see by the replies) people would still enjoy.
How exactly covering new about Gunvolt is insulting to Capcom, Tsuchiya or the rockman dev team ?
DeleteI mean don't get me wrong, it's fine if you don't like Gunvolt, you're free to ignore non-rockman related news even (that's what i do for news covering topics i'm noy interested in), but there's nothing here disrespecting Capcom or Mega Man.
"But something tells me I'm going to be the outlier here..."
DeleteProbably, since it doesn't make sense to complain about a game heavily inspired by Mega Man being discussed on Mega Man websites and makes even less sense to call the coverage an "insult".
gunvolt himself sure but coppen plays a lot like a Rockman character
DeleteHyper, I think you're being a little melodramatic by calling them 'fascist'. Does it make me roll my eyes? Yes. Do I think that makes them oppressive dictators? No.
Delete"this franchise made by those same people has the audacity to continue to show up with its "Xer" pronouns being forced down everyone's throats in fascist fashion"
DeleteWow. It's almost like the character changed between Male and Female at will and such a word was the most fitting. Someone's trans hate is showing today.
I thought it was a translation error, and they kinda just went with it?
DeleteWell, no matter how you may feel on the inside, @Anonymous, it doesn't mean that you need to act so discourteous to the others. Personally, I must also disagree with you on your opinion as well, but I'm not going to be rude and discriminating about it. Please just try to calm down and be a little more kind.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that it took this long for a sword-wielding character to get added as a playable character.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to see that Gunvolt's aerial dash seems to be a lot smoother and faster now, the guy really needed some reworked mobility options after Copen entered the fray with 6-directional dashing.
Oh heck Keiji Inafune is back. I've never been into Gunvolt but maybe if this works out we can finally get Mighty No. 9 2. That'd be slick. Who knows after that? We could see more totally unique playable characters (like MGB), maybe one who can fly like Gyro Man.
ReplyDeleteHey before we go with that how about red ashe? Anyone remember that? Kenji probably forgot too.
DeleteHahaha, oh my god stop. You're killing me here, Damien.
DeleteMaybe it'll be up there with that 3DS release!
Not counting the Mighty Gunvolt titles, this is the fourth Gunvolt title and the third to come out after Mighty No. 9. This game's success won't realistically have any bearing on whether or not we get a new MN9 game.
DeleteBeen a while since the last time we saw Inafking, so much that his hair got a bit gray compared to last time. Well, with age comes wisdom, and hopefully he learned with Might No. 9.
ReplyDelete(Still waiting the MN9 animation and Red Ash game ;P)
You and I know we won't get the animation or game. Those of us who backed for the 3DS release are screwed and aren't getting our money back.
DeleteKeiji, eh? Say, whatever happened to that kickstarter project, I believe it was called "Red Ash"? or something like that. The crap basket that was MN9 has really made me not really care about that man. Another gunvolt game? Awesome. Keiji Inafune is involved? ....Okay. That's cool, I guess. I feel the gunvolt games would perform the same with or without him, to be honest.
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm down for more Gunvolt. It's not quite Mega Man Zero/ZX but still very good. Maybe Inafune's involvement will nudge it closer to MMZ/ZX-tier greatness.
ReplyDeleteIt was only a matter of time before they announce it. I never really got into GV's universe, but i enjoy it gameplay-wise, so I'll probably give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI'm not too interested in Gunvolt personally, but there's no denying that most GV fans are Rockman fan as well, so i guess it make sense to cover it here.
ReplyDeleteI like to complain about Mighty N.9 as much as any other whiny rockman fanboy, but Inafune worked fine in the previouses Gunvolt games and other games, so i have no reason to assume it won't be the case here.
ReplyDelete60 dollars for a game we're never getting, bro. That's not just whining - that's rightfully being bitter.
DeleteThey apparently put 2 on steam less than a week ago but since Luminous Avenger didn't impress me I won't buy it until it's on a much larger sale. The plot and levels just feel empty and iX's bland soundtrack didn't help.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested. I'll have to wait for it to be ported to PS4 or steam, though. Which will probably happen at some point like all the other games were.
ReplyDeleteWhy this is would be something Inti Creates would proudly announce is beyond me. As far as I'm aware, executive producers are basically marketing hypemen. As for him being the "action supervisor?" Well, so what? Is he actually doing anything important, or just telling people their ideas are crap?
ReplyDeleteInafune's time in the sun is over. Yet, like all good celebrities… he keeps finding ways to come back. Ah, well. At least he'll never go hungry.
Get real, while I understand he bungled the entire kickstarter experiment to hell and back you people who act like Keiji is a hack who was only looking to plaster his name onto everything everywhere he can, like Hideo Kojima or some crap are full of it.
DeleteUnlike that clown, Keiji GOES OUT OF HIS WAY to not take credit for things he clearly has a major role in HE ORIGINALLY DESIGNED, ILLUSTRATED AND GRAPHICALLY IMPLEMENTED MEGA MAN AND FLESHED HIS ACTUALIZATION OUT but because he is humble enough to say he didn't think up the rough concept of a boy robot people act like he had nothing to do with Mega Man's creation. He created/conceptualized and (not in an executive way) produced Lost Planet (a hit game mind you) yet half the time you'd be hard pressed to find out he even had a role in the project. He CREATED Dead Rising (a hit game) yet the first chance he got he tried to hand it off to teams outside of his direct influence to bolster their name. HE built Onimusha, the man's tangible illustrative, graphic designing, planning, original story, directing, general organizing and production roles are staggering.
Yet, now you have people spitting on his legacy because he got overzealous when hit with the prospect of being his own man apart from a company he felt was suffocating his ability to function as a game creator (which may I add that even though I don't have the full account of I still think was a misguided sentiment on Keiji's part). He was working on Gunvolt since the BEGINNING yet only now are they touting his name, that's some real celebrity/s
I could argue that a large part of what you said wasn't the point of my original post, but honestly? You've kind of got me curious, now. Why are they putting Keiji Inafune up there in lights on this, the third game he's worked on in this series? Kinda seems like they're setting him up to take the fall if the game doesn't sell well or if the fans don't like it.
DeleteBut, that's just the conspiracy theorist in me talking~
Given how Gunvolt 1 and 2 were well-received, I'm still willing to see how the third game will turn out, even if Mighty No. 9 was...not particularly good.
ReplyDeleteExcited but also worried. There where no signs of Copen in the trailer and Kirin's "seal the abilities of others" makes me think he will be replaced. It would be a shame, as he is my favorite character and his gameplay was the best thing of GV2 for me.
ReplyDeleteHe did get his own game, Luminous Avenger. Could be a thing where they make both, Copen and Gunvolt games.
DeleteWhat is a "true blue sequel"?
ReplyDeleteI am sincerely happy about Gunvolt 3 and I think this game is a legitimate megaman zero/zx spiritual successor, so no problem to cover the game here; however, I am puzzled by the sudden appearance of Inafune; I hope that Inticreates know what they're doing with this guy on board - Even after MN9, he blew up several chances he had - Yaiba, ReCore, that mobile level5 japan-only game and so on. Failure after failure. Time will tell, I guess.
ReplyDeleteNice! I wonder if it will be a timed Nintnedo Exclusive or just be made for other consoles as well?
ReplyDeleteWell in any case I hope it's being developed for Switch and not the 3DS since with progression that would make sense.
Am I wrong but I don't think they mentioned even one console (I understand it's very early development but I'd assume they'd know at least what console it's being developed for.
They show a Switch logo at the start of the trailer. That's all.
DeleteSo... Inafune comes back and we immediately have a Sword user as a playable character? Following years of Zero bias during his time?
ReplyDeleteInterestingggg...
Lol that said, game looks cool. I'm with it.
His role on this game is the same one he had on the last two games, so really just coincidence mixed with fan demand for it as well, especially after Blade in Luminous Avenger iX.
DeleteHonestly, while I can see why you put Gunvolt here (it is not the same as agreeing) I still don't see how Inafune is even news worthy. Why? What's the purpose? If anything, announcing his involvement only made me from mildly indifferent to angry. It troubled me enough to post a comment, at least.
ReplyDeleteIt needs be said and it is a message for you, Protodude:
The Capcom staff are working hard (I'm sure of it) to bring back Megaman and you are doing a disservice to them by advertising Gunvolt + Inafune, a direct competitor linked to a controversial figure in MM's story. While I don't think Inafune is the main responsible for the Dark Ages of Megaman during the 2010s, I still think he was incompetent at best and disingenuous at worst.
Please, delete this news.
I'll say this: I have covered Inafune's previous new title (Dragon & Colonies) and Gunvolt before (we even reviewed the Copen spin-off). Everything was fine then. Everything is fine now.
DeleteBring back Mighty No. 9 , I want a sequel! I liked the game, and it didn't deserve the criticism it got. At least make a 8 bit game. It worked for Bloodstained with the curse of the moon games.
ReplyDelete