Azure Striker Gunvolt Coming to Steam Next Week

Some surprising and exciting news has come out of Inti Creates today.

Have you wanted to play Azure Striker Gunvolt, but don’t own a Nintendo 3DS? Or perhaps you do and you have, but you’ve wanted to experience it on a larger screen?

If you answered “yes” to either, then you may be happy to know that Inti Creates has announced they are bringing their labor of love and first self-published title to the PC by way of Steam. For $14.99, you’ll be able to get the Steam version of Azure Striker Gunvolt for on Friday, August 28th.

This is “still a relatively rare move for a Japanese developer, especially a smaller one,” notes the press release from 8-4, “but one they are hoping will pay off and lead to a lot more of their games coming to the platform.”

With this release, you’ll be afforded a variety of options in how to play, including both screens (per the Nintendo 3DS) being displayed at the same time, each toggled with a press of the F5 key. A new language option has been added for Russian, bringing the total to eight languages, and the long-awaited option of playing with full Japanese voices and English subtitles (along with all the additional story elements that entails) is now available.

Other additions include a new Speedrun mode, with online rankings, an Extra Hard mode, and an Endless Attack mode still to come in the next six months, along with other as-yet unnamed features. Steam trading cards and wallpapers are available as well.

But wait, there’s more! Just as with the Nintendo 3DS release, those who purchase the game on Steam between 8/28/15 and 9/28/15 will receive the 8-bit “demake,” MIghty Gunvolt, for free. This is the only way to get it for the first month; after, it will be available for $4.99.

Here’s the trailer, with a few words from Keiji Inafune (who served as executive producer here) to lead things off:

For our previous review of the Nintendo 3DS versions of these two games, click here. I’ve got a look at the Steam version and a few codes that I still need to figure out how to give away after the game’s release, so stay tuned for that (and feel free to leave a comment suggesting how to do so. No, “just give it to me” doesn’t work).

Edit: You can view the instruction manual for the Steam version as a PDF here.

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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