Koei Tecmo

Koei Tecmo’s mission to introduce new audiences to famous anime series continues with Berserk and The Band of the Hawk, chronicling the life of lone wolf mercenary Guts and his many battles. Berserk is a button masher’s dream, with hordes of enemies on-screen at one time and combo counters reaching into the thousands. For Koei Tecmo and developer Omega Force it’s unfortunately a step backward, as the innovation in movement that came with Attack on Titan has been replaced with the familiar scheme, which is a disappointment.

The ultra-popular Attack on Titan anime series has finally made its way to the video game world, with the minds behind the Dynasty Warriors franchise --- Omega Force and Koei Tecmo --- charged with the transition. I was hesitant to truly get excited for this new game, as I didn’t think Attack on Titan fit well into Omega Force style of game, but I’m happy to say that playing the game has proven me wrong... for the most part.

I worried a bit about Koei Tecmo taking on Attack on Titan. The publisher’s previous foray into the anime realm, two games based on Fist of the North Star, really underwhelmed me with monotonous gameplay and rehashed ideas. I went into my hands-on demo for Titan expecting to write about more of the same things I’d played before, but I left the demo completely surprised. Attack on Titan is a bold new direction, and if it pans out it could be a new era of success for the company.

It's been a bit since we heard any updates on the western release of Koei Tecmo's Attack on Titan video game, but today the publisher officially announced the game would indeed come stateside. Based on the new trailer hyping the news, it certainly looks like Attack on Titan will focus almost entirely on the action of the manga-turned-anime, and will hopefully leave out all teen angst and ennui that made watching the show a challenge. Though the excruciating narrative looks to have been trimmed dramatically to focus more on actual attacking Titans, much of the anime's style and flair is still present in the footage. Koei's done a great job capturing the look and feel of the series, right down to the whipping speeds with which all the Survey Corps move about the city. Sticking to this cel shaded style works well, and it's a good choice over something more realistic. At least this way all the cartoon blood still looks stylish instead of gross.

Even at just a hair over two-minutes long, there's more action in this new trailer for the Attack on Titan game than there was in the majority of episodes from the first season of the anime. Sure, Eren and Mikasa and the Survey Corps get into it with some titans during a few episodes of the show, but for the most part, each episode is a competition between characters to see who can whine the most. Attack on Titan does have some nice design work though, so even I can't front on the visual appeal. Fortunately, those sweet uniforms, weapons and monsters take center stage in this trailer. Ahead of Tokyo Game Show, which kicks off later this week, Koei Tecmo teased the first gameplay footage of its upcoming PlayStation-exclusive Attack on Titan game. There's not a whole lot to see, but what is shown does give us at least an idea of what to expect from the upcoming action title. First and foremost, the cel-shaded graphics look fairly tight. It's not outside the norm for games based on an animated property to get that kind of presentation, but it looks to be working to AoT's advantage. Since Attack on Titan will be available on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PS Vita, that cel-shaded style also gives the engine some flexibility across the board. It's a similar idea of what Telltale's done with its cross-generational games like The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us.