This is Niche Spotlight. In this column, we regularly introduce new games to our fans, so please leave feedback and let us know if there’s a game you want us to cover!
Today’s Spotlight is Initial 2: New Stage, a hack & slash game with mild RPG elements by Japanese indie developer Restory Studio that came to Steam in October.
You play as Belvia, a soldier for the Philosophia Academy, that is currently engaged in a war with their old rival, the Scientia Empire. Together with two of her fellow soldiers, Belvia will uncover an ancient conspiracy that has been buried by both factions.
The main focus of the game is it’s high speed combat. Belvia has access to 4 weapons that she can swap between on the fly to chain together huge combos. She also has spells and ultimate attacks at her disposal. You can check out a trailer for the game above.
Initial 2: New Stage is available on Windows PC via Steam for $24.99, and its currently 25% off.
Here’s a rundown of the game:
“Initial Ⅱ” speaks of a tale on a continent with super powers. With burdens of dangerous missions, 3 Iudex Soldiers of Philosophia Academy set foot to the realm of their decade-long enemy, Scientia Empire. In this game, you will play as one of the captains of Iudex Soldiers, fight side by side with the other 2 companions and reveal the mysterious secret hidden by both sides for decade. We increased our team from 5 developers to 9 and sought for help from more friends to offer a better game.
Key Features:
- Up to ten chapters stories and levels, with full audio in both English and Japanese – To perform a more delicate storytelling, we present the story with 10 chapters, 30+ real-time rendering Cutscenes. More than 20 voice actors participated in dubbing. Japanese dubbing is led by Kugimiya Rie and Uchida Maaya. English dubbing is led by Kira Buckland (“Nier: Automata” 2B) and Christine marie Cabanos (“Dead or Alive” Marie Rose).
- Dynamically switch between 4 different weapons at your will – The Heroine Belvia wields 4 high-tech combat weapons: Blade, GreatSword, Bow and Gauntlet. Experience the gorgeous battle style of Iudex Soldiers which includes dynamic weapon change, combat action derivation, the ultimate skill, spells and full combat audio. We believe all these combined will present our players a better fighting experience.
- Dozens kinds of enemies and more than 10 stimulating BOSS fights – Abundant enemy types and AI, bring more challenges to the combat. More than 10 unique BOSS fights, includes the killing machines and the most powerful Four Generals of Empire. Players can either play in the simple level and fight aside with AI companions or face all kinds of badass alone in high difficulty.
- Superior Music – All the in-game music is crafted by our friends, CyberJoker (Japan) and StrawberryHilMusic (United States). They co-operate to bring us dozens of BGM and invited the famous music producers, KevinPenkin and RajRamayya to bring 3 songs to the game which vocals by Mika Kobayashi, Emi Evans (singer of the theme in “Nier: Automata”), Christina Vee respectively. Music always plays a big part in games. Hope to bring our players the more delicate visual-audio experience.
If you’re a developer and want your game showcased on Niche Spotlight, please contact us!
