[Honey’s Anime Interview] Producer Hideo Suzuki of Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle + Gameplay Impression

So, the first thing we wanted to know is about the new updates for Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle. We see there are quite a few and we’d love to hear about them!

Well, first, we have many updates in this iteration of Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle. One of the first things we want to mention that is unique is for the Story Mode, you will have 3 streamlines that you can experience which is the same story in the game but through different perspectives.

That is nice! Do the different/new storylines you can follow come from the manga or the anime?

Well, the game is licensed by the anime committee so there are no direct ties to the story from the manga. With that, these new timelines you will experience are original stories developed specifically for the game but follow the anime storyline!

That is awesome.

Another thing to add, the 3 streamlines are the stories from the characters’ or a group of characters’ viewpoint. The first one is the Scout Regiment’s viewpoint, the second one is from the 104th’s, and the third one is from the Enemy of Humanity. Those are the timelines to experience and they intertwine with each other at some point as well.

We can’t wait to experience the original content made for the game! We notice one of the first things you are showing us is a new weapon in the game that was introduced in the anime not too long ago, can you tell us more about this new weapon?

So, this new weapon, Thunder Spear, is not like a close quarters weapon you get with the Blades. Instead, the weapon provides some distance from you and the Titans you are hunting down. The Thunder Spear actually launches missile-type rounds that do target the area you are locked on to and they have the capacity to take down a titan almost effortlessly. This is in accordance with the anime because, in the manga, you would have to detonate the Spear’s missiles manually to take down a Titan but in the anime, and in turn, the game, it doesn’t honor that so it detonates after a very small amount upon firing the Thunder Spear.

For the Thunder Spear and its use, it seems to be an ultimate weapon you can use in the game but we wanted to know if it follows the same rules of resupplying its ammunition for use in battles much like you need to replace your blades after a while as well?

So, yes, it is an ultimate weapon for the player to use in missions but you would need to complete certain side missions in the story to unlock the weapon itself but once you unlock it, it is powerful. Once you unlock it, there is a burning gauge or meter that slows decreases indicating your time left using that weapon, in this case, the Thunder Spear. By going out into missions and collecting specific items or completing missions will build up the gauge for using your ultimate weapon. This weapon type is only usable when you are equipped with Blades but if you are equipped with another weapon type, then its “ultimate” weapon will be something else.

During this time, Suzuki-san was showing us some gameplay of Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle and the new Thunder Spear and we must say, this new weapon is awesome and definitely makes killing Titans all the more enjoyable. Suzuki-san continued to show us more gameplay and also some more weapons, adding:

In season 3, there were these anti-personnel weapons which were used for security in cities, so ultimately, against other humans. We had the idea of implementing the use of these guns in the game because if they were useful in the anime, they can be useful in the game as well when fighting Titans. So, in order to use these weapons, you simply need to visit a resupply post in missions and you can switch between weapons from there. With the basic gun, you get about 30 rounds each clip with 6 reload clips, and to add some extra challenge, there is no automatic reload so you will need to reload manually.

In principle, the functions with using guns are the same: you can maneuver with the 3D Omni Gear, you have to reload manually, but the only thing is the action button for the guns is the right trigger you would normally use for FPS games. So, when you switch from blades to guns and vice versa, it may be difficult to remember which action-button to press in battle. Also, when firing the guns, you can single press for single shot and if you press and hold, it will activate rapid fire or automatic fire.

Those are some pretty cool additions to the game. Being able to use guns against Titans and not humans is something to look forward to in this new iteration. There is something we are curious about. How does the Hit Damage differ from Blades to Guns? Is one more powerful than the other or are they specifically set at a more or less equal percentage when giving damage?

So, because you are firing from a distance compared to blades which are close quarters, you are, so to speak, safer; so in order for there to be incentive or to be more realistic, we did lower the hit percentage guns can create a bit compared to the blades. We felt this would take away from the terror experience if it were easier so we programmed into the algorithm that as the game progresses, the Titans will react more aggressive when being shot at and spontaneously, they may suddenly target and sprint towards you making it much tougher to complete missions. They may even begin to throw rocks at you which adds to the difficulty.

Oh, so you can say that Titans will react differently depending on the type of weapon being used?

Ultimately, yes.

That is pretty cool. So the target locking system causing the Titans to go berserk on you is ultimately the same with no change but what was stated previously, correct?

Yes! Actually, it is the changes, whether they be small or big, that is something I felt very proud of with this new title and implementing the firearm system to the game was good. Since we’ve experienced 2 games where the blades were pretty much all you can use, I felt people needed something new and interesting in fear of things getting old so we added these new features to heighten the players experience and feeling the exhilaration of the games action-packed theme. I am pretty confident that many players will like this new combat system.

Well, we are excited and confident we will enjoy it. Thinking about new storylines, new weapons, and ultimately, new experiences, are there any new modes added to Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle?

Yes! There is. In this new mode, Territory Recovery, you will be able to experience taking back the wall(s) and being able to see many characters from the franchise. This includes those deceased before and new characters from the third season of the anime, you can now see them again in this new mode. Although the new purpose of this mode isn’t just that, you will have to create and manage your own team/regiment and eventually, an army to retake all the territories the Titans have taken over.

That is a lovely addition to the game. We’re curious then, would you be able to send out squads in real-time to complete missions or would you need to go out and complete these missions one by one?

So, the basic cycle of getting started is with one character first, which is the regiment leader—the player—, and you can only move starting from your base camp to different areas depending on how many “turns” you have accumulated as a reward from the story missions which adds a challenge by having to choose your turns wisely. Also, the more you territory you control, the more you’ll be able to unlock new characters to join/recruit in your regiment. Capturing new territories also grants you the opportunity to upgrade your base camp and research more weapons to build up your army and base camp. In time, this will allow you to go farther away from your base camp in hopes of recapturing all territories.

During this time, Suzuki-san begins to show us the gameplay for the Territory Recovery mode and sheds more light on it, stating:

When starting to choose your squads, you can assign different characters to your regiment, thus, different squads which give them different aptitudes. This includes changing the regiment leader—which you can change at any time during gameplay—, the emblem assigned to your regiment—which the change reflects in-game on monuments or your base camp—, and even the scouts themselves—which each have skill-sets for you to build up and have the ultimate squad. Changing the Leader will also have an effect and the player will experience different dialogue depending on who they are playing as. You will need to manage this to the best of your abilities as it will ultimately affect your gameplay experience by altering the story or unlocking new interactions to experience in the game.

This is due to developing bonds and action based decisions that also affect the total mood of everyone else. To note, this is all approved by the committee for Attack on Titan and Koei Tecmo with Omega Force, so the players experience overall will be like nothing else in the franchise.

In addition, there will be random events that will happen during your missions which pop-up notifications will let you know what is happening in the battlefield or updates regarding the mission itself. When choosing characters, there will indicators letting you know who is recruitable or not. To unlock them, as mentioned before, you will need to complete missions where you earn “Recruit Points” so to speak, that is what lets you unlock new characters to choose and play as.

So far, the interview is going so great that Suzuki-san decided to show us some fun weapons that are now available in Final Battle and that’s when he shows us the Crossbow Gun!!

This gun you could obtain in Attack on Titan 2 but you had to really grind for it and also, not many really knew about it.

Really?! We’ve played quite a bit of it and didn’t even know you could obtain this… Lol

Yeah, it is a weapon that you have to go far into the game to obtain it but once obtained, it is the deal breaker in the game for sure. Also, there are new costumes to uses such as what Kenny is wearing here in this gameplay, a shiny metallic samurai outfit.

Also, about the ammunition, there are different types of ammunition such as an incinerator, freeze, and stun to help you with specific tactics when killing titans.

That is another nice addition, indeed. I like the new types to mix things up and provide a more immersive experience. Knowing how there are some unique finisher cut-scenes when taking down titans, will these new weapons have there own type of cut-scene?

Well, we do have them for mostly blade types and the new gun types, but not really for the other weapons but there are some unique scenes added for the blade and gun types. One instant I can show you is this ultimate for the gun type, which we’ve seen the Thunder Spear from the blade type...

That’s when he activates the ultimate or special weapon and out comes a freaking…

Oh, WOW! A Gatling Gun… Amaze-balls! Lol

This, for the record, was approved by the Kodansha committee! *chuckles*

That is great! *chuckles* We can’t wait to use this and really get down and dirty. Lol

The Gatling gun has rapid fire with huge damage in a matter of moments and this provides more for the players because we are all about the exhilaration so with the Thunder Spear, these are powerful weapons we hope players enjoy.

And one last thing we want to mention is that we received a lot of feedback from fans that some of the casual players and/or fans of the anime, but aren’t too into games, found the battle system to be a bit challenging so we implemented a new assistance button you can activate which makes the attack control more accessible. So the normal steps are to lock on to a titan, aim, traverse around the titan if need be, and with the action button, you charge in and then press the action button again to slice the nape of the titan, killing and defeating it. With this new system to use, it’s just the action button to do everything. Simple.

With this mode, does it affect the camera movement for them? I know sometimes the camera can be tricky from time to time when having to be precise when you aim for a specific spot in scope mode.

No, this shouldn’t affect the camera movement at all. We want this to be more of a welcome for newcomers because if we did try to have a more accessible camera for them, it would kind of break the experience and combat in the game. So we hope the new system helps them want to become more involved with the game and learn to fine tune their skills playing it.

At this moment during the interview, our time was out and we had one more questions to ask so we asked the natural thing to get more hyped for the game:

With the new mode, new storylines, and new characters to experience, how long is the gameplay for Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle?

As far as the Character Story mode and the Territory Recovery Mode themselves, it is around 30 hours to complete both if you will but in order to cultivate all the elements to complete like character interactions, conducting research, etc., it can easily take more than 70+ hours to complete the game.

Well, that was great! Thank you very much for the time and patience showing us the demo and answering our questions.

It was our pleasure!