Azur Lane Crosswave - Switch Review

Azur Lane Crosswave by developers Idea Factory, Compile Heart and publisher Idea Factory International—Nintendo Switch Review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Azur Lane is a franchise you may be familiar with, as it started out as a mobile game and has since spawned an anime adaptation. You may also know the publishers from their other majorly known work: Arknights. Azur Lane Crosswave is a more traditional game compared to the mobile game, which I'm actually quite fond of, but still retains many of the same elements. So then, it's now time to take a look at some of your favorite anthropomorphized ship girls, now in 3D!

Azur Lane Crosswave takes place in the Sakura Empire, the Azur Lane equivalent of Japan, and one of the four (ish) major powers in the game. Crosswave focuses on two specific kansen (the name for ship girls), Shimakaze and Suruga, a destroyer and a battleship respectively. Shimakaze is the upbeat and outgoing type while Suruga is the serious type that doesn't want to be in the limelight. Unfortunately for Suruga, the training exercise that she's on with Shimakaze gets crashed by Sirens, the in-universe bad guys.

Upon destroying a transport ship, a bunch of wisdom cubes are released into the water. In order to collect the large amount of cubes and try to get some help examining the mysterious Siren technology, Atago and Nagato, the leaders of the Sakura empire, call a joint military exercise with the Royal Navy (Britain), Eagle Union (America), and the Iron Blood (Germany), with guest appearances from the Dragon Empiry (China). Needless to say, things don't exactly go as planned when the Sirens are involved.

Crosswave is largely in the form of a visual novel with the occasional battle, at least throughout the first two thirds or so of the game. You control a little chibi character moving around a restricted map, collecting boxes full of equipment and selecting event points. Event points are either battle or text, being labeled as Event Battle if it results in a skirmish.

Battles allow you to bring a total of six units in to the fight, three vanguard and three support units. Each unit has a unique passive effect that will help you in battle, such as passive health regeneration or increased torpedo damage. Unfortunately I can't bring my beloved Erebus as she wasn't included, but hey, I still get Kaga, Akagi, Eugen, and Bismarck. Battles may be rather sparse until the end game, but fans of the series may note that they are rather similar to the mobile game version.

Your three vanguard units will be out on the water shooting at enemy ships and ship girls. You'll have four basic moves you can perform, and while the type and reload speed differs between unit type and what equipment you have on, I'll use shimakaze as an example. Your first move is generally the fast firing low damage type, Shimakaze defaults as a constant bullet stream, while your second attack is usually the longer charge time but higher damage, for destroyers this is the torpedoes. Your other two attacks are rather universal, one being a lock-on attack that has a longer charge time, and a special move unique to the unit you are controlling. Shimakaze increases speed by a large factor, for instance.

Battle takes place in a 3D environment with enemy ships, shipgirls, and flying units, and you are free to move and dash across a square segment of the water during battle. You are free to swap between any of the three vanguard units still alive, and while cooldowns aren't shared, the AI will attack using your other members while you are controlling the third. The closer to your enemy you are, the more damage you do, but the more damage you take.

Battleships can get downright dirty with this, as a couple of times I came across a sturdy opponent, I swapped to Suruga, sidled up next to them, and unleashed a barrage that inst-killed them. Makes sense that Suruga was the hardest to face off against for me, really. Your abilities and weapons can both be upgraded, and you can find new gear, or create it in the shop, to outfit your kansen with better equipment. You also need to pay attention to the type of ammo each gear uses, as some are AP (armor piercing) or HE (high explosive).

You technically have two game modes, although one isn't unlocked for a while and might be challenging to start. On the main menu you have access to all your amenities from story mode, just not in the story proper. You can visit the store, check out the warehouse for items you've obtained, visit the dock where you can outfit your units or pay points to permanently unlock new units (be careful as they can't be used if you're fighting against them), story mode (which allows you to pick up wherever you left off rather easily), extreme battle mode (which is a series of 100+ one-off battles that get progressively more difficult but aren't locked behind walls of text), a gallery and photo op mode, and a scenarios section (where you can see some text only side stories that are rather entertaining.

Honestly, the game only really picked up for me right at the end, as the epilogue chapter is a bunch of fights with almost all the possible units you can get from the base game, except two. This is where you'll probably be farming the parts for the cognitive awakening, which allows you to break the initial level cap of 100 and increase it to 200. For those of you curious, the isomers for the two leftover units can be obtained from Chapter 1 and Chapter 4. While the estimated level requirement for battles certainly doesn't get that high in the base game, the extreme battles certainly do, not to mention the final fight absolutely demolished me the first time I did it in the post game. Good lord, Suruga put the fear of anything cute in me.

For those of you interested in going for the full 100%, let me give you some pointers after having done so. First off, the gallery is only fully complete with all the oathing scenes. This means increasing affection with every single unit, and then presenting them with their character specific ring. Affection increases from: 10 battles fought while in the formation, 10 battles as secretary ship, cognitive awakening. Might not seem too bad, but you also need to earn the isomers for the cognitive awakening through story mode, and the heart tokens for the rings from extreme battle mode. Another pointer: some scenes are tied to rating in battles. Try getting an S rank in every battle. It might sound a little daunting, but by the end game, you can easily replay many of the stages to crush your opponents. All you need is to complete the fight within 2 minutes and not have one of your units incapacitated.

So let's talk a little about the music and graphics here. Graphics first, I was really glad to see they kept the 2D designs from the mobile game for the cutscenes, as it really does keep the fans around. In combat is a bit of a mixed bag. I felt that graphically, the Switch version looked a little better than the PC version, and the water physics weren't as awful. The 3D rendering looked nice when displayed on the TV, but looked a little squished on the “mobile style” screen, although I'm not too surprised by this.

Map movement has the cute little chibi forms that I've grown to love from Azur Lane, and it was interesting to note that all the units that could have retrofits were in their retrofit outfits. Music wise, I've gotta give props to the composers, as there are both new tracks and remasterings of tracks from the mobile game. Yes Iffy, I see your influence here with that one track you put in almost all of your games. No, I don't think it's a bad track, just I'm starting to pick up on this too frequently for my personal taste. Seriously though, the music is actually really stellar. Every nation gets a theme song, the battle tracks are really kickin, the map themes match the setting pretty well, and some of the tracks you just want to groove to.

This all being said, battles are quick and the game is really mostly a visual novel. With a time limit of 2 minutes for an S rank in a fight, of course the battles won't be super long. The Switch port is nice because you can pick it up and put it down easy enough, but I really would have liked to see some more battles in story mode before the finale, even if they were optional. The story is unique in its own way, but isn't anything too spectacular. The characters are true to their mobile game versions at least, which is a positive, but there really is too much talking before you get to the action. The battles also tend to be either super easy, super tough, or drawn out sponge fights, for the most part. Did I have fun? Most definitely. Would I recommend it to anyone who isn't an Azur Lane fan? Probably not. On the plus side, it seems the Switch version comes with the DLC included.

Summary

Overall I have to say I really did enjoy my time with Azur Lane Crosswave. While I couldn't really recommend it too heavily to someone not a fan of the series, it definitely should be something to keep on your watchlist to see if it goes on sale. The gameplay is pretty good, albeit with shorter and sparse battles at the beginning, and the game is primarily a visual novel to start, so if you are ok with that, you'll probably like Azur Lane. There's plenty of post game and extra battles to engage in, and the music is really solid. It feels like the game got a graphics and water physics upgrade from the PC port as well. If you do decide to pick this up for the Switch, I suggest playing on a TV if available. Also, go check out the mobile game so we can get more of these.

Score: 7.5 / 10

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Azur Lane: Crosswave DLC - PC Review

Azur Lane: Crosswave DLC by developer Idea Factory, Compile Heart, Fellistella and publisher Idea Factory International—PC (Steam) review written by Richard with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

For those of you who remember the review of Azur Lane: Crosswave, we're back again with the character DLC pack, featuring five new (or old if you come from the original game) characters to add to the vanguard roster, and fifteen new support units, as well as interconnected side stories focusing on each vanguard member.

So what are you looking at with the DLC? Well, the character DLC come in five parts: Taihou, Formidable, Roon, Le Malin, and Sirius. Each of these characters has their own separate DLC item. They come with three support characters and a side story for their characters, as well as some returning cast. Some characters also make appearances despite not being either vanguard or support units. In case you were curious, the characters are: carrier, carrier, cruiser, destroyer, cruiser.

Gameplay doesn't change from the base game. If you're coming here without knowing or owning the base game, I suggest heading over to the main game review. A brief summary of gameplay for those who don't know: anthropomorphic ship girls do battle in a 3D ocean covered world where they shoot at ships and other ship-girls. It also has spooky jellyfish and sharks with timey-wimey shenanigans. The original game does explain this.

Since gameplay, and by extension how units control, remains the same as the base game, I'm going to break down each DLC in order to tell you what characters you get, a brief overview of the mini plot, and a tidbit or two of info that might be interesting to you. As a general overview, each scenario details something to do with a new Siren, Tester. She is trying to promote the use of Siren technology in order to produce conflict and war. This all happens after the events of the Crosswave.

Generally the scenarios are comprised of approximately 6 battles, and a number of events to view, culminating in a mini resolution to that character arc. Each character in the DLC has their own cognitive awakening items and oath ring components. These can be acquired from the battles in their chapter. Usually the final battle is the best place to get these. It was great to see that each of these final battles is different in nature, with different objective being required in each character chapter.

First let's start with Taihou, the aircraft carrier from the Sakura Empire. Taihou gets called up by Akagi to assist with the filming of a movie in the Vichya/Iris Libre domain upon returning home from vacation. With the Taihou DLC, you also get the supporters: St. Louis, Dunkerque, and Jean Bart. In the Taihou chapter final battle, you will face off against a giant bullet sponge that took me seven minutes to beat the first time.

Taihou's story was probably my favourite, as the story there was a fine balance of: serious, funny, relevant, and actually reasonable dialogue (a point that seems obvious but surprisingly isn't). As a unit, Taihou is an aircraft carrier, a backline unit, that can really dish out punishment if she can deploy her planes. Probably not going to be your flagship, but is definitely a handy unit. I have her in a formation in the source game. Chronologically, the Taihou DLC would likely be 2nd, although it should be played first for some background comprehension.

Second up we have Formidable, the definitely-not-clunky aircraft carrier from the Royal Navy. Formidable is tasked with joining a delegation to Sardegna for a conference on anti-Siren measures. She goes along with Queen Elizabeth (the ship), Warspite, Neptune, and the Sardegnan liaison Zara. With the Formidable DLC you also get the supporters: Neptune, Warspite, and Zara (no Queen Elizabeth for you). The Formidable final battle consists of shooting down a number of aerial units that only take damage under certain circumstances.

Formidable's story was pretty decent, but all in all was a little generic, although with enough key points to pass. As a unit, Formidable is similar to Taihou, an aircraft carrier, and is generally more of a backline unit. Incidentally, I also have Formidable in one of my unit formations in the source game. Chronologically, the Formidable scenario is either 3rd or at the same time as Taihou's.

In the middle of the flock we have Roon, the totally-not-a-hidden-psychopath cruiser with a mean looking rigging and a penchant for beat downs given the opportunity. Taking place in an Academy for the Iron Blood, Roon and her squadron (the Z23 squad) go about their academy life, fending off invading Sirens when required for plot progression. With Roon, you also get Deutschland, Graf Spree, and Graf Zeppelin, three characters I rather liked in the source game, AND YET DEUTSCHLAND STILL ELUDES ME. Yes, I didn't win her in the events, and yes, I'm bitter about it.

The Roon final battle is a fairly standard "destroy x boss ships" that pop up around the arena you fight in. Nothing too fancy here, either in story of final battle. Roon's story serves to give some more insight into the Iron Blood, as well as some info on Sirens and world building in general. As a unit, Roon is a cruiser, a frontline fighter that can hold their own in most situations. Chronologically, Roon's episode actually happens both before and after the main story of Crosswave, and would be the 1st of the DLC sets. You should play the DLC in the order the game gives for clarity of characters though.

Fourth up we have Le Malin, the evil-blade that protects the Vichya dominion. Le Malin's story has her joining in a joint exercise with the Royal Navy. There's not much else I can say that isn't spoilers, but she is joined by Centaur, Essex, and Baltimore. The Le Malin final battle is a survival fight, which was interesting to see. While not difficult at the pre-awakening cap, you certainly can't just sit there and hope to survive.

Le Malin's story takes the opportunity to try and expand on what the wisdom cubes seen throughout Crosswave actually are. Unfortunately, the character interactions weren't all that interesting. I also would've have liked to see more about the nature of the wisdom cubes. As a destroyer, Le Malin falls into the same classification as Shimikaze, a torpedo and sustained fire specialist that is speedy but squishy. Chronologically, Le Malin takes up the 4th position in the DLC timetable.

Lastly we have Sirius, the super clumsy cruiser from the Royal Navy. In the Sirius episode, we see the conclusion to the DLC storylines. A final push by the Sirens to reclaim the PT cube, and a multi-nation pushback against the threat that is Tester. In this DLC you get London, Alabama, and Azuma. The Sirius final battle is a more traditional fight against an actual unit instead of a "mass produced ship". You still don't fight Tester, which is a little bit annoying, to be honest.

I found the Sirius story to be the least entertaining, despite being the conclusion to the side story set. Like Roon, Sirius is a cruiser that can both dish out and take a decent amount of damage, and is generally a front-line fighter. This is the last of the DLC both chronologically and available at the moment.

Summary

Overall, I have to say that there is a lot more in each DLC than I was expecting. With one vanguard and three support characters each, as well as their own mini interconnected stories. Each story only takes about an hour or so, but are usually pretty entertaining. They also provide a look into some more of the lore of Azur Lane. The cost is significantly more than what I would usually consider paying for this kind of thing though.

I suppose it is rather reasonable, compared to some other DLC out there, but unless you're a really big Azur Lane fan, you may want to hold off until a sale comes around. Is the DLC good? Yes, each DLC set has some solid production value being it. Would I purchase the DLC on my own initiative? Definitely not until it went on sale. The writing is pretty good, you get a few characters per DLC episode, a couple of battles, and some more Azur Lane lore. Cost aside, the DLC was quite a good addition to the base game.

Score: 8 / 10

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