The Rising of the Shield Hero, like many other super successful anime of late, is an isekai story. An unassuming college guy from Japan suddenly gets whisked away into a magical world of monsters and warfare, and is tasked with becoming a powerful hero in this brave new world. There are a lot of elements in the show that are lifted straight out of an RPG, like the way Naofumi unlocks shield skills throughout his journey. Kadokawa has decided to bring those RPG comparisons full circle, by releasing an old-school RPG adaptation of The Rising of the Shield Hero on Steam this month.
The game is titled The Rising of Shield Hero: Relive the Animation, and it’s set to release on Steam in Japan during September. There will also be a smartphone version of the game available later this fall. Overseas fans don’t need to feel left out, though. The game has English language support, and an official English version of the game will release on Steam later in the fall as well.
What exactly is the game, though? Well, The Rising of Shield Hero: Relive the Animation is an old-school 2D RPG through and through. It was made in the RPG Maker MV, a video game creation toolkit that specialized in making classic, top-down style RPG adventures. While some of the assets in the game, like the world map and town decorations, will be familiar to people who have seen RPG Maker MV before, a lot of the art and assets in the game are entirely new. The main cast has their own unique pixel art, and the various enemies you face in battle sport unique illustrations that are accurate to the style of the anime.
Speaking of the anime, the game isn’t just called The Rising of Shield Hero: Relive the Animation to sound cool. This RPG sets out to adapt the key moments from the anime series, and part of delivering that iconic story comes in the form of included scenes and shots from the anime. There are over 700 scenes and images from the anime present in this game, which you’ll see pop-up during cutscenes and key moments as you progress through the story. It’s a cool way to supplement the normally barebones style of storytelling you see in games made with RPG Maker MV.
Of course, this wouldn’t be an RPG without battles. When you encounter enemies in The Rising of Shield Hero: Relive the Animation, you’ll be whisked away into a Dragon Quest style, first-person turn-based battle. Enemies occupy the top of the screen, while your party window and character portraits appear on the bottom. The Rising of Shield Hero protagonist Naofumi is unique in that he basically only fights using a shield. The game aims to adapt to that unique style of battle by incorporating a lot of unique battle systems into fights. You can use “warning” to find out what your enemy is about to do next, and then activate “covering” to shield your teammates from an incoming attack. You can even use “capturing” to force the surrender and servitude of your enemies.
There’s an impressive amount of detail planned to be put into exploring the world of the game. The Rising of Shield Hero: Relive the Animation lets you explore all of Merlo Marc. Every city and village that appeared in the anime is supposedly explorable in the game. As you explore the vast world of Merlo Marc, you’ll come across “travelers” who you can engage with in order to do some commerce. Buy and sell items, plus craft and trade brand new items in order to make some cash and a name for yourself. A “fame value” system makes your actions in the game change the reactions of the characters you interact with as you explore.
As we reported earlier, a special stage event at Crunchyroll Expo 2019 for The Rising of the Shield Hero confirmed that a lot more Shield Hero action is coming our way. Kinema Citrus anime producer Junichiro Tamura announced that season 2 of the anime is currently in production. On top of that, a third season is already confirmed and ready to go into production as well. The company revealed that they’re hoping to plan special live events for American audiences, such as a live performance of the music of The Rising of the Shield Hero with Kevin Penkin, possibly at Crunchyroll Expo 2020.
During the event, Tamura expressed that he wasn’t surprised by how popular the show has been outside of Japan. In fact, he expected it. He said that he had done an extensive amount of personal research into market trends, and helped plan and produce the series with the intent of bringing in a big overseas audience. He admitted that he was “pleased, but not shocked” by the popularity.
Crunchyroll described The Rising of the Shield Hero as follows:
Iwatani Naofumi, a run-of-the-mill otaku, finds a book in the library that summons him to another world. He is tasked with joining the sword, spear, and bow as one of the Four Cardinal Heroes and fighting the Waves of Catastrophe as the Shield Hero. Excited by the prospect of a grand adventure, Naofumi sets off with his party. However, merely a few days later, he is betrayed and loses all his money, dignity, and respect. Unable to trust anyone anymore, he employs a slave named Raphtalia and takes on the Waves and the world. But will he really find a way to overturn this desperate situation?
Source: KADOKAWA press release
