Nutaku is one of the big names these days when it comes to Eroge, especially for Western developed titles. However, at Anime Expo this year Nutaku decided to do something rather interesting. They made Armor Blitz the crown jewel of their show strategy, even making the developers special guests at their panel. Why do I find this intriguing? Well, we need to talk a bit about Armor Blitz itself first.
In short, Armor Blitz is a game that combines elements of lane-battling, real-time strategy, and collectible card games that is played either in your browser for the Nutaku version or for Android devices using Google Play. In fact, originally the game was only available on Google Play. The Nutaku version was launched on July 13, 2017, which means to really understand the title we need to go back… to 2015.
While the release date of Armor Blitz is listed as November 1st, 2016, the developers have been maintaining a devblog since early 2015 and from the looks of it, they’ve been pretty open about the process. In fact, one of the most interesting things is the change in character art from the 2015-era to the Nutaku-era of today. I’ll leave it to you delve through the early posts, but what this does prove is that this is not some fly-by-night dev team. These guys have put in a lot of hard work into the product and Nutaku saw something in that. So that’s the history, but what the heck is this game actually about?
You are the commander of an army tasked with fighting back against an invading force known as “The Corruption”. However, instead of normal tanks and vehicles, you instead have an army of badass adorable girls who represent various vehicles from both World War II and the Cold War. If this sounds a lot like Kantai Collection, you’d be right. That said, there’s no reason another creator can’t come in and try and improve upon the idea.
While I’ve yet to try the game personally, there are a few people here at oprainfall who are fans of the game. As such, I figured why not reach out to Nutaku and see if I could learn a little bit more about the title from a newbie’s stance and see how this collaboration got started. Thankfully, Nutaku was willing to answer my questions, which I now present to you.
Operation Rainfall: What kind of game is Armor Blitz and what is the general premise of the game?
Nutaku: Armor Blitz is a browser game on Nutaku where you assemble an army of cute anime girls for battle! Each girl represents the soul of a historical military vehicle from the WWII to early Cold War era. The player takes on the role as General of the army – so it’s up to you to lead them against the forces of the Corruption.
OR: Originally Armor Blitz was developed for mobile devices before being made available online via Nutaku. Since the game wasn’t originally developed with an 18+ version, what made Armor Blitz an ideal game for Nutaku’s platform?
Nutaku: Nutaku searches for unique games with adult-ifying potential. We opt to look for games in which we can add mature content to seamlessly fit the storyline. The original Armor Blitz had the potential to create intimate relationships with the characters because it already featured sexy tank girls. The H-scenes fit in the storyline and players would be able to build intimate relationships with the cute anime tank girls. The game also meets our criteria in terms of quality- it has beautiful art and addictive gameplay. The elaborate story further contributes to an overall great game that we were willing to put on the adult gaming platform.
OR: What sets the Nutaku version of Armor Blitz apart from the mobile version of the game?
Nutaku: The Nutaku version of Armor Blitz is exactly the same as the mobile version. The only difference is the lewd content that was added for our platform.
OR: Armor Blitz was part of Nutaku’s “Wake Up Your Waifu Contest”. What was this contest and what role did Armor Blitz play in it?
Nutaku: The “Wake Up Your Waifu” contest gave the opportunity for players to get more involved in a game than ever before. By simply taking a photo at our booth at Anime Expo and posting it on Instagram with the hashtag #NutakuAX2017, attendees entered the chance at winning the grand prize of 10000 Nutaku Gold and creating a character for the game, Armor Blitz. The two follow up winners grabbed a bunch of Nutaku Gold and other sweet prizes. With the help of the Armor Blitz team, the top winner is now in the process of dreaming up a character that will be in the game for thousands of gamers to enjoy.
It was the collaboration with the Armor Blitz team that allowed us to offer such an amazing grand prize. Attendees at the expo were very excited for this opportunity!
OR: Armor Blitz was a central part of Nutaku’s Anime Expo presence. What feedback did you hear from attendees of the convention?
Nutaku: Armor Blitz attended Anime Expo with Nutaku before they launched their game. Their presence helped hype up the new title as well as promoted pre-registration for the game. The team developed an interesting way to get players to sign-up early. Depending on the number of people who signed up, all pre-registered players would receive bonus rewards. This puts emphasis on the community working together to get the best bonus. In the end, enough people signed up to get the highest reward!
At the expo itself, it wasn’t uncommon for attendees to take pictures in front of the Armor Blitz backdrop. People complimented the stunning art and were very excited to get prints of the game- the prints were even signed by the developers!
Attendees were also shocked to find out that the song in the trailer of Armor Blitz was performed by AmaLee who is well-known in the industry. Check out the trailer here
OR: Let’s delve a little more in depth into the game itself. The story of Armor Blitz is one of the major features of the game. What sets Armor Blitz’s story apart from other browser titles and roughly how long will it take players to experience the full plotline?
Nutaku: Armor Blitz was designed so the story setting has an expansive mythology. The world takes place in Valhalla, where the souls of weapons ascend and manifest as anthropomorphic beings. While the game focuses on anime tank girls, there are other beings that live in this world. An example are handheld firearms that manifest as cute cats and antitank weapons are rabbits. There are also deeper origins for where the Corruption comes from which will be revealed in the future. The story is currently ongoing and we will be expanding the plot as new zones are opened to players over the next few months. So far, the most dedicated of players have been able to complete the whole story within a month. But it will become more and more difficult as the map reveals itself!
OR: Armor Blitz features a store in which players use Nutaku Gold. What is Nutaku Gold, how does one acquire it, and is the shop required to complete the game?
Nutaku: As members of the platform, players use Nutaku Gold to buy in-game currency as well as downloadable games. So games don’t actually use Nutaku Gold. For example, Armor Blitz uses Cores and Candies which you can collect in the game or you can buy with Nutaku Gold. The platform’s currency just allows players to have a reserve of Gold to spend for in-game currency instead of completing transactions for every game.
OR: Armor Blitz features a combination of real-time combat and collectible card game mechanics. How do these two systems come together and complement each other to form a unique experience?
Nutaku: When the Armor Blitz team designed the combat system, they wanted to combine the excitement of collecting awesome cards with the strategy of real-time decision making. The player’s army acts like a traditional deck in a collectible card game where the player has to strategize and plan beforehand. In battle, you then “draw” from the army and it creates a hand that you must fight with. For combat, you must deploy characters on the battlefield and they will push towards the enemy commander. The team made the battles real-time so players must constantly think about the move, and time their abilities to optimize their strategy in combat. It makes battles feel more interactive than having all the characters stand and act on a turn-to-turn basis.
OR: Another feature of Armor Blitz is the ability to build a relationship with various girls you recruit. How does this system work and how do the H-scenes in the Nutaku version function?
Nutaku: For the relationship system, the player must collect a special resource called Candies in the game. You can gift these Candies to your favorite girls to unlock relationship levels. Leveling up the relationship levels will allow the player to boost the character’s stats and unlocks little visual novel story scenes. Once you maximize the relationship, you will unlock a special character skin and H-scene at the end of the story. Our campaign mode also includes story scenes with H content, so everyone can experience those while gathering Candy.
OR: At the moment only certain girls have H-scenes and stories available for them. Will all the girls eventually be getting these kind of scenes and development or will it only be limited to select ones?
Nutaku: They’re working on it! The team is currently working on adding more scenes and skins for the characters in the game so keep an eye out! No lewding of the Hetzer though!
OR: Some gamers consider browser based games to be inferior to their console and PC-native counterparts. What does Armor Blitz do in general to show the quality that these types of games are capable of and why should more people give the browser platform more of a fair chance?
Nutaku: Browser games serve a different market than most console and PC-native games. Playing Console/PC games is comparable to watching movies, while browser games are like watching YouTube videos. Browser games are accessible to the world in a format that everyone already has – right in your computer browser! Both types of gaming are entertaining, but they ultimately satisfy different needs.
Armor Blitz makes a great use of the browser format by giving the player bursts of action between careful planning and management sessions. The fact that it has full 3D environments and models with real-time combat pushes the limits of what browser games have represented in the past. The Armor Blitz team makes the best usage of both innovative gameplay and technology to back it up. Over time, the quality of browser games will keep increasing as engine tech and Web browsers get better and better.
OR: Finally, is there anything Nutaku would like to say to both our readers and your fans out there?
Nutaku: On behalf of the Nutaku team, we are constantly trying to improve our platform by offering a wider selection of games types and art styles. If you have any recommended games you would like to see on our adult platform, let us know! Follow us on all social media @nutakugames
So, what are your thoughts? Does Armor Blitz seem like more than just another browser based game? Or were you already a fan and have been enjoying building your army since the July launch? Let us know either via Facebook, Twitter or in the comments below.
I’d like to extend my thanks to both Nutaku for answering my questions and to the Armor Blitz team for putting so much visible effort into this title.
You can follow Nutaku via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitch.
Also be sure to follow Armor Blitz as well via Facebook, Twitter, and their Discord channels (Mobile ver. & Nutaku ver.)
Thanks for reading and see you next interview!
