If you're a fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gitaroo Man creator Keiichi Yano, then you're in for a treat. Yano is working on an Evangelion toys-to-life (TTL) game called Evangelion: Battlefields. The game is landing on Japanese mobile devices this month and has some rather interesting tricks up its sleeve.
All the information currently available regarding Evangelion: Battlefields is in Japanese, so deciphering it might be a little tricky. The official Twitter account for the game describes it as a "cinematic 3D battle game" (we're using Google Translate here, so the conversion might not be perfect). You'll be able to pit mechs and pilots from Evangelion against one another, using different weapons and moves to achieve victory. Check out the trailer for Evangelion: Battlefields below:
Perhaps the most interesting element of the mobile game is its toys-to-life controller system. It seems that the devs are dubbing these controllers "ReadCon". They're effectively Bluetooth mouse-like devices that resemble the mechs from Evangelion. The trailer shows off iconic mechs EVA-01 and EVA-00 along with their controllers. There's also a range of pilot toys that you can use with the ReadCon system to activate certain abilities. Again, you can see pilots Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Sohryo in the trailer, but there's also a sizeable range of other characters. You can check out the full range here.
There's no news yet on whether Evangelion: Battlefields is coming to the West. Many major Japanese mobile games don't get localizations despite being based on pretty popular IPs. Dragon Quest Walk, Final Fantasy Tactics S, and Sonic Team's Puyopuyo!! Quest all failed to make it to the West. Evangelion has some things going for it: it's a massive IP still getting lots of love in the mainstream media. Yano's name can't hurt, either; he's a beloved cult icon, responsible for games like Gitaroo Man and Elite Beat Agents.
Unfortunately, the toys-to-life bubble has burst in the West, so Evangelion: Battlefields may be a day late and a dollar short. With that said, Level-5 RPG Snack World managed to make it to the West. Its toys-to-life elements were stripped out in favor of in-game alternatives, so perhaps we'll see the same happen to Evangelion: Battlefields. It's not yet clear if the TTL aspect is absolutely required to play the game, but it's unlikely, so maybe a Western release is possible. After all, Fate/Grand Order took two years to make it to the West and is basically now a license to print money. We'll bring you more on this game as we get it.
Would you play Evangelion: Battlefields if it was released in the West? Let us know in the comments below!
