Azure Lane Game Features and Tips

Azure Lane is a popular mobile game that offers a unique blend of strategy and role-playing elements. The game is set in a futuristic world where players take on the role of a commander of a fleet of ships.

In the game, players can collect and upgrade various ship girls, each with their own unique abilities and strengths. The ship girls are the key to winning battles and progressing through the game.

Players can also explore a vast open world, complete with diverse environments and enemies to battle. The game's open world allows for a high degree of freedom and flexibility, making it easy to get lost in the experience.

One of the game's standout features is its complex battle system, which requires players to think strategically and make tactical decisions in real-time.

In Azur Lane, gameplay is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up, simulation, and role-playing video game. Players collect characters that are moe anthropomorphic interpretations of World War II warships, mainly from the United States Navy, Royal Navy, Imperial Japanese Navy, and Kriegsmarine.

Players organize these ships into fleets of six and confront AI-controlled enemies or other players' fleets. Ships can gain experience points (EXP) from various methods, such as from battles, completing commissions, or placing them into Dormitories. They require a certain amount of EXP to gain a stronger level, but have a maximum level limit that can be increased via Limit Break.

Most characters have their own set of upgradable abilities that can be activated in battle, and over 600 characters have been introduced to the game as of October 2024, representing ships from nine countries that participated in the war.

Curious to learn more? Check out: Azure Lane Characters

Azur Lane is a side-scrolling shooter, simulation, and role-playing game.

Players collect characters, known as "shipgirls", which are moe anthropomorphic interpretations of World War II warships from various navies, including the United States, Britain, Japan, and Germany.

These shipgirls can gain experience points (EXP) from battles, completing commissions, or being placed in Dormitories, and require a certain amount of EXP to level up.

Most characters have upgradable abilities that can be activated in battle, and there's a maximum level limit on how far players can level up their ships, which can be increased via Limit Break.

Players can organize their shipgirls into fleets of six to confront AI-controlled enemies or other players' fleets.

As of October 2024, more than 600 characters have been introduced to the game, representing ships from nine countries that participated in the war.

Players can select a starter ship, such as the USS Laffey, HMS Javelin, or Ayanami, which are referred to as protagonists in-game.

The game's story is set in a world where the Azur Lane military alliance is split in two due to an alien intervention, with the Iron Blood, Sakura Empire, and Sardegna Empire forming the opposing Crimson Axis faction.

This split leads to a chain of events where the Crimson Axis invades their former allies, resulting in many Azur Lane territories coming under occupation.

The game's main plot partially follows the United States naval engagements in the Pacific War, including decisive battles such as the Battle of Midway and the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.

The development of Azur Lane was a collaborative effort between Yuwan, a well-known uploader on Bilibili, and five of his college friends. They aimed to create something different from previous ship moe anthropomorphism games.

The team intentionally avoided using a turn-based strategy game mechanic, instead shifting the focus to Japanese ships from other countries involved in World War II. They also incorporated shoot 'em up elements, which was a new challenge for the developers.

World of Warships, a World War II naval warfare simulation game popular in China, influenced some of the gameplay design. The developers also drew inspiration from preserved museum ships, such as the pre-dreadnought battleship Mikasa and the Russian protected cruiser Aurora.

Azur Lane's development was a collaborative effort between its producer, Yuwan, and five college friends. They aimed to create a game that stood out from other ship moe anthropomorphism games, particularly those that followed the turn-based strategy mechanic of Kantai Collection.

The developers intentionally avoided using a turn-based strategy game mechanic and instead focused on Japanese ships from other countries involved in World War II. This was a deliberate choice to differentiate the game from its predecessors.

A particular challenge the team faced was incorporating shoot 'em up elements, as there were no existing works to reference. They drew inspiration from World of Warships, a World War II naval warfare simulation game popular in China.

The game's combat system initially featured a five-character fleet in a single or double column line of battle. The developers also sought to feature characters based on preserved museum ships from earlier times.

The team had to balance game balance and rarity with these unique characters, but they were determined to include them. They even introduced more characters like this in the future, including those based on proposed or unfinished World War II warships.

Many young Japanese voice actors lent their talents to the game, including Yui Ishikawa, Rie Takahashi, and Risa Taneda. The decision to employ an all-Japanese voice cast was due to a lack of professional voice actors in China and a desire to give younger Japanese actors opportunities to perform.

The audiovisual design and writing for Azur Lane were provided by Shanghai's Manjuu Ltd. Xiamen's Yongshi Ltd. was responsible for programming, game data design, and content. The two companies share joint authorship of the game and its copyright, with a 65%/35% share of its revenue.

The console adaptation of Azur Lane was a significant milestone in the game's development and release.

Azur Lane Crosswave, a 3D shooter game for PlayStation 4, was announced in September 2018.

Developed by Felistella using Unreal Engine 4, the game features Azur Lane's characters battling against realistic warships and warplanes.

It was published by Compile Heart on August 29, 2019, and later localized for release in North America and Europe by Idea Factory International in 2020.

The localization features Japanese voice-overs and was sold in both digital and retail formats.

A Nintendo Switch port of the game was released in Japan on September 17, 2020, and in North America and Europe on February 16 and 19, 2021, respectively.

Curious to learn more? Check out: Microsoft Azure Features

Azur Lane was a huge hit in its home country, contributing to most of Bilibili's 2018 Q1 revenue, alongside the Chinese release of Fate/Grand Order.

The game earned over $170 million globally on the iOS AppStore from May 2017 to August 2018, with Japanese players spending $139 million, accounting for approximately 82% of the game's sales.

Chinese players spent $28 million, while Japanese players made up most of the game's revenue, with the game scoring within Japan's top five best games of 2017 in a Google Play user vote.

The game's popularity was attributed to its gameplay and game system design, which were generally praised by critics and players alike. RPG Site wrote that the game "acts as an important lesson on how a Chinese-made title can gain popularity in Japan by offering originality in its gameplay".

However, the game was not without controversy, as in February 2021, one of the game's voice actresses, Ai Kayano, was embroiled in controversy on Chinese social media for her visit to Yasukuni Shrine. Her voice was removed from the Chinese servers of Azur Lane and replaced in September 2022 by other voice actresses.

Azur Lane was a huge hit in its home country, contributing significantly to Bilibili's 2018 Q1 revenue. It was also a major player in the Chinese release of Fate/Grand Order.

The game enjoyed a massive surge in popularity in Japan after its release, with over five million Japanese players within just four months. This was despite initial accusations from fans of Kantai Collection that it was a clone.

Azur Lane's success was reflected in its sales figures, with Chinese players spending $28 million and Japanese players spending $139 million, accounting for approximately 82% of the game's sales.

The game's popularity was attributed to its gameplay and game system design, which were generally praised by critics and players alike. It was easy to pick up and play due to few microtransaction elements.

Azur Lane was even awarded third place in Game of the Year in the 15th China Animation & Comic Competition in September 2018.

One of the game's voice actresses, Ai Kayano, was embroiled in controversy in February 2021 after posting about her trip to Yasukuni Shrine.

The shrine is a Shinto shrine that enshrines Japanese men, women, children, and soldiers who died in various wars, including those with convicted war criminals.

This led to backlash from some Chinese fans, resulting in her voice being removed from the Chinese servers of Azur Lane and replaced in September 2022 by other voice actresses.

In April 2021, 18 characters were temporarily made unobtainable in the Chinese version of Azur Lane due to a Chinese government crackdown on "soft pornography".

Chinese government regulations on gaming were also cited in a memo for a state-backed training course for Chinese game developers, which prohibited revealing fan service and panty shots.

213 video game companies signed a self-censorship pact in September agreeing to remove content that would promote the "wrong set of values" and fall foul of Chinese government regulations on gaming.

The comment sections of all Northern Parliament ships were closed down on February 24, 2022, possibly due to the game's event "Abyssal Refrain" premiering on the same day Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.

The comments section for all Northern Parliament ships reopened on September 22, along with the rollout of a new comment reporting feature.

The character Anson was announced in March 2024, but her official design was met with confusion and backlash from fans due to not matching the illustration design of her sisters.

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