Rishabh Borde
Video game adaptations of popular Japanese manga and anime series are all the rage these days, and it would appear as if another beloved anime or manga is about to receive the video game treatment very soon. ‘Fairy Tail‘ is a popular media franchise with a serialized manga running from 2006 to 2017, an anime series from 2009 to 2013, six original video animations and two theatrical films.
‘Fairy Tail’ has also been adapted in video game form several times previously including three action games for the PlayStation Portable (PSP), a couple of fighting games for the Nintendo DS and even a browser game. This time around, Koei Tecmo is working on a full-fledged Role Playing Game (RPG) based on the world of the manga and the anime. Read on to find out everything we know about the upcoming game ‘Fairy Tail’.
Fairy Tail Gameplay: What to Expect?
‘Fairy Tail’ is a Japanese Role-Playing Game (RPG) presented from a third-person perspective. The setting of the game is the mystical continent of Fiore, a land inhabited by magic-wielding wizards. You play as the dragon slayer Natsu Dragneel as he sets about rebuilding the legendary Fairy Tail magical guild.
The storyline will closely mirror key arcs from the anime somewhere during the halfway point of its runtime. Publisher Koei Tecmo has already confirmed that the Tenrou Island arc, the Grand Magic Games arc, and the Tartaros arc from the anime will feature in ‘Fairy Tail’ as well. However, the game will also contain some additional original content presented through certain “unique scenes”.
The webpage for ‘Fairy Tail’ describes it as follows:
“Based on the fantasy adventure comic about Natsu Dragneel, a Dragon Slayer of the rowdy Fairy Tail magician guild and his unique group of friends battling against no less unique and memorable enemies. Fairy Tail was published in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine, selling over 60 million copies worldwide.”
The game begins with a hard-fought battle between the Fairy Tail guild and its former master Hades. The prologue ends with the guildhall completely destroyed and the guild in need of lots of rebuilding. You take on missions at its behest in order to build up the guild’s reputation. Your guild headquarters acts as a base point for all your adventures.
You can even upgrade it by adding new shops or even new guild members. Generally, these new guild members will join your band through story progression but some of them will need to be convinced via a side mission and/or dialogue interaction. Other types of supporting characters will join your guild but will not be available for use in battle. This seems to hint towards some base building gameplay in addition to the usual RPG activities.
Your guild level will be judged by a ranked system and progression will unlock additional quests and activities. The higher your guild level, the more challenging the quests and the more valuable the loot. As for the larger game world, the city of Magnolia is a vast open-world filled with plenty of enemies, secrets, and quests.
‘Fairy Tail’ also has a crafting system, but it is a fairly simplistic one involving magic crystals that enhance your characters’ powers, crafted using materials that are found in-game.
The combat system in ‘Fairy Tail’ is a strategic, turn-based affair in a 3 by 3 grid. You cast magic attacks and chain together combos based on how much mana you have. Different characters will also have different strengths and weaknesses, which are quite often elemental in nature.
This is nicely complemented by the new elemental strikes including fire attacks from Natsu, ice attacks from Gray and so on. Successfully landing attacks build up a special meter that can be used to unleash a devastating combo super attack with your entire party.
Besides the protagonist Natsu, you can play as over twelve unique characters from the anime including Erza Scarlet, Grey Fullbuster, Wendy Marvell, and Lucy Heartfilia. A recent trailer also revealed five additional playable characters in an official description including ‘Sky God Slayer’ Sherria Blendy from Lamia Scale, the ‘Strongest Fencer’ Kagura Mikazuchi from Mermaid Heel, the ‘Handsome’ Blue Pegasus mage Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, the ‘White Dragon’ Sting Eucliffe and ‘Shadow Dragon’ Rogue Cheney from Sabertooth. You can freely switch between characters within the in game towns.
Fairy Tail Developers: Who Are the People Behind the Game?
‘Fairy Tail’ is being developed by Japanese video game development studio Gust. Gust is a subsidiary of Koei Tecmo, who is also publishing the game.
Gust is best known for games such as the ‘Atelier’ series of Role Playing Games (RPG) and the ‘Ar Tonelico’ RPG franchise.
The creator of the ‘Fairy Tail’ manga, Hiro Mashima, has also supervised the game project, which is a rather encouraging sign for the game’s future prospects of success.
Fairy Tail Release Date: When and Where Can I Play It?
‘Fairy Tail’ is set to be released on March 20, 2020. The game will be available to play on a number of platforms including PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC (Steam storefront).
Fairy Tail Trailer:
You can watch the reveal trailer for ‘Fairy Tail’ right here.
Read More: Best Fairy Tail Games
