Idea Factory’s original RPG Black Rose Valkyrie was released on July 21, 2016 as a PlayStation 4 exclusive in Japan and during a recent press event held by Idea Factory International a Western release for the game was announced. Now titled Dark Rose Valkyrie the game will be released in English for NA and EU region audiences in Spring of 2017.
Dark Rose Valkyrie is a turn-based action RPG set in an alternate history in which a virus that turns its victims into monsters has plagued the Earth. Players work as a member of the Valkyrie Force tasked with fighting these monsters called Chimera. Featuring a betrayal mechanic, the game requires players to interview their team members in visual novel style interrogation scenes. These scenes will allow players to interact with the heroines on their team while trying to pick up on the subtle symptoms that preclude the split-personality of someone infected by the deadly virus.
Combat uses a turned based system that will reorder turns in real time as characters affect the turn order. The Tactical Fluid Battle System uses commands to give orders to party members such as “Combos”, “Charge” and “Arts” attacks and abilities.There are also giant customizable weapons capable of exciting attacks.
Some of the talent behind the Tale of series games have worked on Dark Rose Valkyrie as well. Takumi Miyajima is the scenario writer for the project with Kosuke Fujishima as the character designer. The male protagonist is Asahi Shiramine who leads a team of five female soldiers.
In an interview with the game’s director and localization team on DualShockers more details about Dark Rose Valkyrie’s development and localization were divulged. It turns out the title was changed due to copyright issues and the game will be getting English voice acting. Both Japanese and English audio will be available for the Western version. To many gamers’ relief, it was stated that the game will not be censored for Western audiences and that the full game including features like clothing damage will be kept in the game.
Director Kenta Sugano explains in the interview that romance will be an integral and rewarding experience in the game. There are different possible ending depending on your actions within the game and romancing different heroines during different playthroughs will reveal each character's full story. However, he assures players that Dark Rose Valkyrie does not rely on its romantic subplots and that all the characters are well designed and fleshed out regardless of whether they are possible love interests.
Dark Rose Valkyrie will be released in Spring 2017 in NA and EU regions for PS4. The game will include English and Japanese audio and previously released DLC will also be available for Western audiences eventually as well. More information can found at the official website.
