Azur Lane: Crosswave

 PC
Metascore
tbd

No score yet - based on 3 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. GameCritics
    Apr 23, 2020
    35
    My sense is that Azur Lane: Crosswave will appeal to established fans of the ‘moe’ subgenre of anime who will happily forgive the myriad problems, boredoms and irritations that will rise to the surface for everyone else. For those who aren’t ready to devote themselves to a seafaring waifu, Crosswave runs aground as soon as it sets sail.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. ShodanSpectre
    Oct 29, 2021
    6
    Pardon my bias as this game is first of it's genre that I've ever played (although I've played very different genres of games), so it's hardPardon my bias as this game is first of it's genre that I've ever played (although I've played very different genres of games), so it's hard for me to compare it to anything else. I'll just rate it based on enjoyment while playing it, as well as some general ideas I have about what could've been done differently, even within this unfamiliar genre.

    First, I'd like to describe the genre - about 80% of the gameplay is dialogue. So, it's more of an interactive story, than a game of any other genre.
    However, unlike other RPGs - there is just one dialogue option. Which greatly reduces the interactivity, and makes it 100% linear.
    With that - this title more of an manga with voice-over, rather than an actually INTERACTIVE story game. Not an anime because there aren't any substantial animations to speak of. Well, sure, people do enjoy reading manga, and books - even though it's (obviously) an 100% linear experience. People enjoy 100% linear games which have a good storyline, too. So this isn't necessarily bad. Although having multiple dialogue choices and branching storylines would increase the title's appeal greatly.

    As for the remaining 20% of the gameplay - 10% of that is actual combat.
    First you form a fleet - 1 or 2 waves, up to 3 characters per wave. You start with just one wave with 2 characters though.
    When the combat starts is the only times you see actual 3D models of any of your characters. The level of detail is OK but there's so much sparks and glittery smoke flying around that you can't really see much of the characters in combat. Combat itself is rather mind-numbing - a dozen or so fights in, on Hard difficulty - just strafe the target and fire away primary attack non-stop. That's it. Literally. 100% win rate with the bonus for winning within a rather lax time challenge. Each time. In a videogame, combat is supposed to be at least a little fun and challenging? But here - the combat is an entirely skippable chore, but it takes on average 1 minute per battle, so not a problem.

    Final 10% is selecting which ship-girls are part of which fleet, which attack wave. On a more personal level - which weapons, armor, and other systems does each one of these girls have. This part of the game is wide but flat - there's a seemingly large amount of equipment and special abilities to equip for each character, as well as many (over 100 I think, once fully unlocked?) characters to select from when forming your fleets' waves. But... given how mind-numbing the combat itself is - there's little incentive to even bother upgrading anything on any of the ship-girls, or figuring out how to use any of the special abilities.

    The waifus themselves and the interactions with them are the only appealing part of this game, hence this generated a ton of puns of quite an obvious nature...

    Overall - this as a voiced-over manga with shiny, fanservice-y characters, with which you can kinda interact to an extent (which is arguably the title's main difference from being a fully passive reader of a manga). And a story which is trying to be cute, or funny - with variable success rate.

    Oh and the ship-girls occasional say things which are related to their IRL-counterparts from WW-2. i.e. Bismark and Hood have a grudge - Bismark has sunk Hood IRL.
    Taihou is awkwardly afraid of fire - IRL the carrier caught fire and burned down, despite having very advanced (for the time) fire-suppression systems.    … Full Review »
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