Atlus will always be best known for RPGs like Shin Megami Tensei and Etrian Odyssey, but lately they’ve been dabbling in fighting games as well: first they published SNK’s King of Fighters XIII, then they released Persona 4: Arena. Now they’ve announced that they’re bringing the obscure cross-over fighter Aquapazza: Aquaplus Dream Match over to America sometime later this year.
Hardcore otaku may recognize some of the characters from Aquapazza’s mostly female roster of fighters: as the game’s title sort of suggests, the game is a crossover title featuring characters from Japanese game dev Aquaplus’s other titles, including Utawaramono and To Heart, both of which were adapted into anime series’. While the game was developed by a company mostly known for creating visual novels and adventure games, the fighter has managed to attract a sizable and very dedicated audience in Japan, and was even featured in the country’s yearly Tougeki tournament (Japan’s equivalent of EVO, basically.)
Aquapazza features 13 playable characters and 13 “partner” characters that can be tagged in for special attacks. The game will feature all of the modes that players have come to expect from a modern fighting game (arcade, story, training, local and online multiplayer, etc.,) but will be released both digitally and at retail at the budget price of $29.99. No final release date has been announced yet, but Atlus says that the game will be released exclusively for the PS3 sometime before the end of the year.
