Recently, it seems that both of Sony’s handhelds have served as a primary source for Anime-inspired video games. The PSP continues to enjoy digital success with the localization of titles like Corpse Party, while the Vita’s most arguably relevant exclusive remains Persona 4: Golden. Both handhelds continue to pump out Anime-inspired releases such as Fate/Extra and Fate/Stay Night (on PSP and Vita, respectively), and with Western developers no longer showing interest on PSP and hesitant to commit anything to the slow-selling Vita, this may yet be the case for some time, to the delight of Otakus and the detriment of everyone else.

With only 8 episodes, Black Rock Shooter is an anime that certainly seems to fit that bill. And now it is also a video game, which seems like a logical extension for many anime series. In the game of Black Rock Shooter, you play the title character, a girl who is somehow more than human but who is the last hope for the human race. NIS America has announced their plans to publish Black Rock Shooter: The Game. Click here for screenshots and information.

This current trend continues with the Western release of Black Rock Shooter, an Anime-offshoot with a relatively interesting back-story behind its conception.Originally born from a single fan-art drawing, the character of Black Rock Shooter soon became a licensed icon spanning an Anime series, Manga, and the aforementioned game on PSP. What makes the BRS property unique, however, is that all three media feature a completely separate setting and story, the only link shared between them being the titular character (and even then, her origin stories are completely different as well). Whereas previous iterations featured familiar tropes such as high school girls traveling to alternate dimensions, the PSP adaptation features a significantly darker set-piece: the end of humanity.In the year 2032, a mysterious alien army invaded the Earth for the sole purpose of eliminating the human race. After years of conflict, the surviving human population has been whittled down to exactly twelve individuals, all soldiers of the PSS organization. In a last desperate attempt to turn the tide, the soldiers have awakened Black Rock Shooter, a man-made weapon possessing incredible strength as well as weaponry capable of destroying the aliens, but at the price of a limited memory capacity that makes her almost child-like in innocence. As she travels around the world helping PSS mount a counteroffensive, BRS will also question her life’s purpose as well as the mysterious origin surrounding her creation.The story takes on some surprising twists and turns, though much of it is affected by generic Anime melodrama.

Despite representing the last remnants of the human race, most of the PSS soldiers are faceless drones with one discernible personality quirk (such as getting carsick or naming every mission after fictional movies), making the interactions between these band of brothers feel cartoony instead of camaraderie. This also affects the gameplay in certain cases, such as frequent breaks in the action to insert more pointless dialog, or a mission that requires you to run around and interact with every NPC in order to advance the plot. While not fully realized, the setting still establishes some dark themes and elements, and remains interesting enough to see through to its conclusion.The game also features some decent visuals that may not hold up among the best looking PSP titles, but still suffice in carrying the sci-fi Anime aesthetic. Don’t expect to actually perform BRS’ acrobatic antics in the actual game, though. While the character designs give the impression that the game’s genre would be a third person shooter, it is in fact a third person RPG shooter. When bumping against enemies in the area, the game instantly switches to an RPG battle screen where players must move a targeting reticule that snaps onto enemy targets, pelting them with rifle fire until all the targets are destroyed. While players have free aim over the weapon, their movement is restricted, the only actions to avoid enemy fire being a block button or an evasive dodge that switches between the left and right side of the battle area.All of these actions can be performed instantly, but take up BRS’ stamina meter.

When the gauge reaches maximum, she will overheat and be unable to perform any actions at all, leaving her momentarily susceptible to attacks. To counter this, there are recovery items for both health and recovery dropped by enemies or found in nearby chests, though the real key is learning to pace between shooting and evading.

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Also available at your disposal are skills which can be assigned to specific buttons while holding down the right trigger. These skills make up offensive attacks like the Charge Beam or recovery abilities like Defender Mode or Physical Recovery, as well as more strategic abilities like the Sniper rifle (which can stun enemies for a few seconds). These skills can be swapped out at any time, but only five can be equipped at a time. Players can choose whether to equip an offensive set of skills, defensive, or a combination of both, but there is no key configuration to follow; aside from a few boss battles, the game’s difficulty never gets uncomfortable, with enemies following the same basic patterns over and over.As a result, the gameplay is satisfactory but also repetitive.

Observant players can blast through different enemy types within seconds after establishing their patterns, and the areas in the game are linear in most cases and bland-looking at all times. Each area is divided into stages that make up a chapter, but players will basically be running back and forth between the same areas in order to fulfill multiple objectives. Fortunately, there are a couple of features that encourage repeat playthroughs: the game routinely offers “challenges” that reward players with permanent stat boosts or a new skill ability by meeting the specified conditions.Such conditions typically revolve around defeating a certain enemy X amount of times, or finishing off said enemies with a specific move. More advanced challenges include not taking any damage during motorcycle segments (while not impossible, the length of these segments will result in much hair-pulling should an enemy nick you mere moments before finishing), which include more advanced rewards. Finishing a chapter also unlocks the “free mode” for that chapter, which bundles all of the stages together into one long seamless mission free of dialogue, allowing additional rewards including costumes, music, and more.As one of the last PSP titles, Black Rock Shooter is not the most remarkable game to close off Sony’s first generation portable, but the intriguing story and quick-paced game mechanics may serve as an appropriate handheld distraction.

If you are a fan of its Anime aesthetics, or at least willing to tolerate them, the game will suffice as a budget title with an average amount of content to play through.

Contents.Gameplay Black Rock Shooter: The Game is an action RPG in which players take on the role of the eponymous (BRS for short). The game is divided up into several missions in which the player must clear objectives to progress.On the main overworld, BRS can explore the available areas and look for certain items. Battle begins when the player comes into contact with an enemy on the overworld.During battle, BRS can aim and shoot with her rock cannon at enemies, block against attacks and sidestep to avoid them completely. If the player fires the rock cannon or uses the sidestep too much in a short time, the system will overheat, leaving the player vulnerable to attack until it cools down.Throughout the game, players can earn abilities that can be equipped to BRS and used in battle, each with their own cooldown periods. These include offensive attacks such as a powerful blast, a sniper rifle, or support abilities that can increase BRS' stats such as her attack or defense. Certain sections will also see BRS ride a motorcycle, in which she can attack enemies on either side of her or use weapons to fire in front of enemies.Plot.

See also:In the year 2032, Earth suddenly comes under attack from a group of aliens, turning the planet into a warzone. Nineteen years later in 2051, the last twelve humans alive awaken Black Rock Shooter to help battle against the aliens. However, there is more to BRS' existence than being a mere weapon.Development and release Black Rock Shooter: The Game was first announced on August 15, 2010 and was released on August 25, 2011. It features animated cut scenes. The game's opening theme is 'No Scared' by.A limited edition Premium Box of the game was released in Japan, bundled with a figurine of the game's antagonist, White Rock Shooter. The game was published in North America and Europe by on April 23 and April 24, 2013 respectively via the. The game will not be available in Canada, Mexico and other European countries for legal reasons.A manga adaptation of the game illustrated by TNSK began serialization in the September 2011 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's.

The first volume of The Game was published on February 10, 2012, with the second volume released on September 26, 2012.Reception. August 15, 2010. Retrieved August 15, 2010. November 24, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2010. June 9, 2011.

Retrieved June 9, 2011. February 7, 2011. Retrieved February 7, 2011. We Are Arcade.

December 2, 2010. Archived from on February 15, 2011.

Retrieved February 7, 2011. August 24, 2011.

Retrieved August 25, 2011. September 16, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2014. Anime News Network. Retrieved 26 November 2014. Comptiq September 2011 issue (in Japanese).

Retrieved March 29, 2012.External links. (in Japanese).