Kadokawa Games followed up their Rodea the Sky Soldier trailer from earlier in the week with a bunch of new information released regarding the game’s story and characters.

The game takes place in the Naga Empire, a place where everything is run and done by machinery, which machinery is run on “Gravity Energy”. The Naga Empire decides to invade Garuda, an island floating in the sky. This is the first time in a millennium that Naga is moving outside its borders.

In the millennium prior to that, during the last invasion, the princess of the Naga Empire at the time, Cecilia, passed her will to a robot named Rodea, and then vanished.

In the present day, a mechanic named Ion comes across the dilapidated Rodea in some ruins and begins repairs. Rodea is awoken again, although his knowledge of the princess, and her whereabouts, are yet hidden somewhere deep in his memories.

Rodea, the player’s character, is a humanoid robot that was given the power of flight. He was once Cecilia’s escort. Before Cecilia vanished a millennium ago, the two were planning to escape to Garuda but failed. Rodea was the only one of the two to make it out after they were forced to escape. A millenium since he was last awake, he sets out to combat the Naga Empire alongside Ion, the girl mechanic who found him.

Ion, the mechanic who comes across Rodea, is somewhat of an outcast in her village. Where everyone else finds machines to be some kind of demonic things, Ion takes a heavy interest in them. When she finds Rodea in an old ruin, she fixes him up, and so awakens him from his long sleep; and then she stands alongside him as he fights the Naga Empire.

Ion seems to greatly resemble Cecilia in her face. Cecilia, the princess of Naga, was determined to stop her father’s invasion of Garuda before she attempted to run away with Rodea, but they failed in their attempt.

A bit of the gameplay was revealed as well, although not at great length. Rodea’s flight is able to be controlled quite precisely, as players are able to fly in arcs, as well as use his Boost Attack, which also deals a great amount of damage to enemies, to move incredibly quickly during tense moments.

The game’s stages are all designed to offer special gimmicks that will change from stage to stage, keeping things fresh. In addition, thinking outside the box about your navigation can lead to alternate routes through an area, allowing players to roam different locales. Gimmicks vary from switches scattered about the stage to rope lines that Rodea can use to get around.

Enemies and bosses come with various abilities and special attacks as well. In one particular zone that is covered in rocks and lava, is a gigantic fire-bird (a phoenix, maybe?) named Zol en Darc can be found. The large avian is the area’s guardian, and uses its location to its advantage. When enraged, the bird envelopes its body with flames, making it one hell of a dangerous enemy. That should be an awesome aerial battle.

Also scattered about are robot enemies, which Rodea has a hard time fighting because they resemble him so much. These enemies are knights fashioned to be useful to the Naga Empire, all with their own special abilities and powers, so they should all prove to be tough challenges, even more so than the guardians Rodea faces throughout his adventure.

Rodea the Sky Solder is coming to Wii U and 3DS sometime next spring, in Japan.