Short Thought: Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time

Recently I was invited to a Bandai Namco press event where I got to try out a bunch of games they’re releasing in the coming months. One of them is: Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time. Being a fan of the anime series, I was rather optimistic with the overall game and its concept of being a side-scrolling brawler despite the weird mix-match of genres. Although the demo build on hand felt really off, the audio was stuttering relatively often and the visuals as a whole were of low quality thanks to the pixeling I noticed. The build I played isn’t something I’m willing to praise, but its premise and overall scope is promising in that regard.

I heard there were some explosive personalities, but that's a whole other level.

It’s hard to describe it without just saying it’s just Little Witch Academia the game. The character quirks and Studio Trigger stylisation is something very prominent within the anime culture/community with its flamboyant and over the top animation of characters. For some, the series does become tiring, but if the combat is refined with the addition of combos and it advances the scope with the charms of the series. It’d be hard to not recommend the game, unless you dislike side scrolling beat’em ups. The method of combat did require getting used to with the Square, Triangle, Circle inputs being your primary attacks as light, medium and heavy. Holding L allowed you to perform spells, if you hold R as well you can perform more powerful and over the top attacks. But let’s be honest, they’re nothing compared to the coveted showstopper of none other than Chariot’s SHINY ARC!

Slated for Early 2018, I really hope the game expands itself and we see a later build that’s more fleshed out.