At the BitSummit Gaiden Online event, Inti Creates dropped a huge surprise on everyone, the return of the Azure Striker Gunvolt. The studio officially revealed the next entry in the 2D side-scrolling franchise, Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, which is being described as a “true blue sequel” to the previous entry. Alongside the eponymous Gunvolt will be a second brand new playable character called Kirin who has her own unique traits and abilities. As of this writing, it is only in development for the Nintendo Switch.
As with the first two titles, the game will feature the collaboration of Studio Director Yoshihisa Tsuda and legendary video game developer Keji Inafune who is mostly known for his work on the Mega Man franchise. We also got a brief glimpse at the gameplay with a new trailer, showing both Kirin and Gunvolt shooting and attacking all enemies in their way. Kirin’s abilities are that of a samurai/ninja as she throws shurikens at her opponents which stun them. She then follows up with her katana that deals a lot of damage. She can also parry and deflect projectiles from certain enemies, something that seems like a huge blessing in a frenetically paced 2D side-scroller.
Gunvolt is still the speedy one though as he can continuously zip through stages while pausing to use his blaster on enemies. However it’s his main offense that always steals the show, being able to launch electric currents into the air and taking out enemies in a single strike. Similar to Mega Man X, Gunvolt can also use a short burst of speed to move across the terrain. He can also utilize this while in mid-air, allowing him to cross over dangerous areas and enemies. Inti Creates mentions in the trailer that the footage in the trailer is from a very early build of the game, meaning it’s more than likely going to be a while before we here anything about a release date. Still, we’re very excited to see the series come back after a near five year hiatus.
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 is currently in development for the Nintendo Switch.