What's Inti Creates Planning for The First Anniversary of Gunvolt's Release?

Over the past week, Inti Creates has been hinting (particularly on their Japanese Twitter) towards a special "something" that they're planning for the first anniversary of Gunvolt's release. It's uncertain what this project will be at the moment, but the official JP twitter has stated at least twice within the past week that they'd like to see an official artbook for the game published, so it's possible that this is related to that.

They also posted a very mysterious-looking tweet a few hours ago, which roughly translates to the following:

"A new melody rises up against horror, the blue lightning descends upon a new battlefield."

Pretty enigmatic, huh? I'm really hoping that this is hinting towards some Gunvolt 2 news that we'll be getting soon! The time definitely seems right for Inti to talk more about the game, as not only is the first anniversary of Azure Striker Gunvolt's release coming up, but Inti will also be attending PAX Prime in about 10 days from now. Incidentally, the overview for the panel on the PAX Prime website states that Keiji Inafune and Takuya Aizu will be giving a "peek at other projects". Maybe one of those projects is Gunvolt 2!

In any case, we won't have to wait long to find out. The first anniversary of Gunvolt's release in Japan is tomorrow (JP time), and Aizu and Inafune's panel at PAX Prime is next Friday, the 28th, at 11:30am PST. My advice is to stay tuned to the official Japanese and English Twitter accounts, as well as Inti's Facebook pages. You can also keep tabs on this page for additional updates. I'll bring more news as it comes.

Gunvolt True Ending Speedrun in 55:09 Achieved by Tori (Current WR!)

This is admittedly pretty old news, but since I haven't seen anybody else sharing it on the English-speaking end, I thought I'd go ahead and do the honors.
A while back (and by "a while" I mean as early as March 2015), Japanese speedrunner Tori uploaded a video on his Nico Video channel of a Gunvolt true ending speedrun that he completed in 55:09. This time currently stands as the world record for a true ending run of the game, as it surpasses Greenalink's time, 1:01:33, by about six minutes. This is especially impressive in light of the fact that Tori was using the Japanese version of the game, which sets him at a disadvantage because it has more content that needs to be skipped.

Anyway, it's overall just an extremely solid run! I highly encourage everyone to give it a watch!

The video quality's not the best, but it's not the worst either. You can check out the RTA in four parts via the link below. Bear in mind, however, that you need a Nico account to watch videos on Nico.

Source: Nico Video

What Went Wrong With Asimov?

CAUTION: Spoilers from the true ending of Azure Striker Gunvolt ahead. Read at your own risk.

The Mythological References Regarding Gunvolt's Bolts

A while back, I mentioned that most of the weapons in Gunvolt reference creatures from a wide variety of mythologies and folklores. In this post, I'll be covering this topic in more detail, explaining exactly what each bolt (with the exception of the Technos, which, to my knowledge, wasn't named after any mythological creature) was inspired by, and any similarities they share with their namesakes. I'll be going in order from the weapons you obtain first in the game.

Gunvolt to be Featured as Guest Character in Runbow

It's just been announced that Gunvolt will be appearing as a guest character in Runbow, a multiplayer-focused platformer in which players race to reach the end of a stage first. This is an indie game being developed by 13AM Games and set for release in the third quarter of 2015. You gotta love how GV's in the middle of all the other guest characters in the picture above! 13AM Games must certainly think a lot of Azure Striker Gunvolt!
Anyway, you can watch the reveal trailer below. GV is shown at about 0:33 into the video.

The Biblical References in Azure Striker Gunvolt

Gunvolt is chock-full of references to various different mythologies, folklores, and religions. For example, did you know that almost every single gun is named after a creature or character from Greek, Hindu, Japanese, and even Irish lore? What I find particularly interesting, though, are the numerous biblical references that appear throughout the game. This post will cover the main things I've discovered in this regard so far.

Ten Improvements I'd like to See in Gunvolt 2

I don't think it's any secret that I'm a massive Gunvolt fan. From the very second I started playing the game (and heck, even before), I knew it was going to be my favorite title on the 3DS up to that point. And I knew that I was gonna play the crap out of it. And I also knew that I wasn't going to be able to rest until I'd managed to get the highest rank possible in every single stage. It's an absolutely phenomenal game, filled to the brim with fast-paced action, thrilling music, breathtaking artwork, and clever stage design. In short, everything you'd expect to find in an Inti Creates title!

As much as I love Gunvolt overall, though, I won't deny that it has some problems here and there. In this post, I'll be covering ten things that I'd like to see improved in the game's sequel, which is currently in development. Now, bear in mind, these are all just based on my personal opinion, but having played the game for around 300 hours now, I'd like to think I'm as good of a judge as the next guy.

So, without further ado, here we go!

All 40 English Gunvolt Stickers!

So, a while back, I uploaded all 40 Japanese Gunvolt Line Stickers for those of you who don't use Line, or can't afford to buy all of  the English stickers. Well, since I made that post, it looks like Inti Creates has had the same idea. A couple weeks back, they uploaded all the English Gunvolt stickers to their website, completely for free!

For the sake of convenience, I've reproduced them below the jump. Enjoy! And props to Inti for making these available to everyone!

"Those With Glaives" Drama Track Translated

I'm a bit late with this, but Eclipse aka "Sensei Hanzo" has recently finished translating yet another Gunvolt Drama Track. This one details a discussion between Nova and Jota, his right-hand man, regarding the Glaives that Sumeragi Adepts use. It gives you a really enlightening perspective of the personalities of these two characters. I remember that, when I listened to this track for the first time, I was rather surprised by how calm and gentle Nova sounded. If I didn't know anything else about him prior to listening to this track, I don't think I even would have guessed he was a villain. Jota also has a personality that I find interesting. In the game, his theme is "pride", but when you listen to him in this track, he actually sounds like a very humble guy. It's quite an intriguing contrast, to say the least!

Anyway, definitely be sure to give this track a listen! As always, thanks to Eclipse for translating this!

Blue "Lumen" Butterfly Easter Egg in Mighty Gunvolt! (UPDATED)

It's been a while since I last updated this blog, but I just had to share this awesome little easter egg I found out about in Mighty Gunvolt! In the "Train" stage, around the mid-way point, there's a room with one levitating enemy in the upper-right corner and one orange soldier with a flamethrower lower to the left. After dispatching both enemies, go to the platform where the orange soldier once stood. Now stand there and press up on the d-pad/circle-pad. Surprise! A blue "Lumen" butterfly item will appear in the right corner of the room! Touching this item will grant you a whopping 10,000 points without applying multipliers!

Pretty cool, huh? Man, stuff like this just makes my wanna scour every nook and cranny of Mighty Gunvolt to find out what other secrets lie in wait!

UPDATE: After learning about this easter egg, I decided to go through various other stages in Mighty Gunvolt to see if there were any more secrets to be found. I located a few more blue butterfly items in the process. It's my hunch that there's at least one of these items in every Mighty Gunvolt stage, similarly to the secret icons in Azure Striker Gunvolt. I haven't found them all yet, but I'll update this post as I continue to discover 'em.