Tag Archives: Blade Arcus from Shining EX

Blade Arcus from Shining EX Announced for the West on PC via Steam

Draikin July 15, 2016 1 Reply

This is certainly a rather surprising announcement. Gematsu has just posted an article revealing that SEGA’s 2D fighter Blade Arcus from Shining EX, a crossover game featuring characters from Shining Blade and Shining Hearts, will be released on Steam as Blade Arcus from Shining: Battle Arena. The game is scheduled to be released on July 29, and its Steam page can be found here. Apparently Degica Games is responsible for bringing the game to PC, although they’re not listed as the publisher on the Steam page. At the time of writing, there’s also a live stream going on for the game at AnimEVO 2016. Below you can find the info posted on the Steam page, as well as the launch trailer posted on the Steam page! Interestingly, this PC version of the game will in fact support online play, something that was surprisingly absent from the console version of the game in Japan.

While the game was released on PS3 and PS4 last year in Japan, there’s no announcement regarding those versions heading to the West. In recent times, none of the main Shining RPG games have been localized for the West, making it all the more surprising to see this game released. But judging from the lack of announcement from SEGA, it doesn’t seem that they’re really involved with this PC version of the game, as it appears to be handled by Studio Saizensen and Degica Games.

Degica Games is currently running a giveway where you can win various prizes, which include preorder bonus items, such as a swimsuit calendar, the Doujinshi “Shining Heroines Works” and a soundtrack OST, that were included with the limited “Tony’s Premium Fan Box” Japanese PS4/PS3 release.

Thanks goes to Gematsu for their article on this announcement.

Sonia Blanche is Free DLC for Blade Arcus from Shining EX in Japan

InTheSky July 6, 2016 Leave a reply

Late last year, SEGA released Blade Arcus from Shining EX for Playstation 4 and Playstation 3. We haven’t heard much of it since then, until a blog post from SEGA confirmed that Sonia Blanche of Shining Resonance, previously a paid-DLC character, can now be downloaded for free on the PS Store. When the game first launched, Sonia was only available to people who bought first-print copies of Blade Arcus from Shining EX, and these first-print copies contained a code to download Sonia.

Additionally, the blog post mentions that Blade Arcus from Shining EX will be discounted on the PS Store from July 6th to July 19th. That’s less than two weeks, and the discount period has already begun. The discount is 20% for people who don’t have a PS+ membership, and 40% for those who do have a membership.

Featured image and initial announcement credited to this official SEGA news post, dated June 6th, taken from the Shining website.

Arcade Version of “Blade Arcus from Shining” Updated to Version 2.1 EX

Draikin December 12, 2015 Leave a reply

Starting December 15th at Club SEGA: Akihabara in Japan, SEGA will be testing the new 2.1 EX arcade version of its 2D fighting game Blade Arcus from Shining. In particular the new version includes the two characters that were previously exclusive to the game’s PS3 and PS4 version: Misty and Sonia. The test will run for one week, and you can find a batch of screenshots of both characters at the bottom of this post.

There’s been no announcement regarding a localized release for Blade Arcus from Shining for the PS3 or PS4. Admittedly, given the lack of localizations for the latest Shining titles in general, it doesn’t seem all that likely that we’ll see a spin-off title like this released overseas.

Source: Blade Arcus from Shining’s official website

New Blade Arcus from Shining EX Battle Demo Videos

InTheSky November 14, 2015 Leave a reply

It’s less than two weeks until the November 26th launch of Blade Arcus from Shining EX on Playstation 3 and Playstation 4 in Japan. Ahead of this occasion, Sega has released some new battle videos to promote the game.

The videos feature a couple of event scene dialogues for the cast members, and a couple rounds of fighting afterward. Continue reading to check out the two new videos! They make a point to highlight the special promotion for Sonia Blanche from Shining Resonance at the end of each video. It looks like waiting fans will have to keep an eye out for first-print copies!

Sonia Blanche Trailer for Blade Arcus from Shining EX

InTheSky October 31, 2015 Leave a reply

Of the Shining Resonance characters, Sonia was always a clear favorite. She ended up overtaking the other heroine Kirika in popularity despite Kirika receiving slightly more promotion leading up to Shining Resonance‘s release.

So if there were a Shining Resonance character to be included in Blade Arcus from Shining EX, it’d naturally be Sonia. Sega recently uploaded a 2 minute showcasing a bit of Sonia’s fighting style. She is purely a short-ranged fighter, but some of her attacks come out quickly, and she has a handful of options with wide range (especially one of her aerial attacks!) The closer she is to the opponent, the more dangerous she becomes, as Sonia has some follow-up options even if her opponent is blocking. Unique to her character is the ability to play her Armonic (the sword that doubles as an instrument, unique to Resonance) as a violin. In addition, she can also access her “Dress Armor”, the golden armor that shows up sporadically towards the end of the trailer. On the flip side, she seems to move rather slowly when not attacking. So while Sonia is strong once she’s next to her opponent, Sonia also has to get in first.

Continue reading to watch the trailer for Sonia! Do remember that she is a bonus character exclusive to first print copies of Blade Arcus from Shining EX.

Blade Arcus from Shining EX Console Release Will Not Have Online Play

InTheSky October 8, 2015 Leave a reply

The official product page on the Blade Arcus subsection of Sega’s Shining website now lists Blade Arcus from Shining EX as 1-2 players but offline only. It’s a rather quiet and sudden revelation and it’s only recently coming to light.

Word started to spread earlier today when a fan-run Japanese Twitter account dedicated to Blade Arcus news claimed the absence of online play for Blade Arcus from Shining EX. There is a Japanese Shining PR Twitter account, but it made no public statements on online play (or the lack thereof.)

While the experience of online play can greatly vary for fighting games, omitting online play altogether is to be a part of a distinct minority as fighting games go nowadays. For those who would opt to import the game, this course of action suddenly becomes a lot less attractive since it is possible that not many prospective buyers will be within proximity to each other. Online play will also allow people to challenge others across great distances, including skilled players from Japan.

At the end of the day, we’re at the point nowadays where both offline and online play are taken as foregone conclusions for healthy fighting games with the aim of developing a following.

Credit for this featured image goes to this Famitsu article.

New Blade Arcus from Shining EX Character – Misty, (Hearts, Blade)

InTheSky September 15, 2015 Leave a reply

Blade Arcus from Shining EX, the second iteration of Blade Arcus fighting games featuring modern Shining characters, continues to expand its roster with the announcement of Misty from Shining Hearts and Shining Blade. As of now, the roster stands at 16 playable characters. Shining Resonance‘s Sonia will be available to those who purchase a first-print edition of Blade Arcus from Shining EX.

Blade Arcus from Shining EX will be playable at Tokyo Game Show 2015. The build of the game that will be playable here will include Misty as a playable character, too.

A special trailer devoted solely to the character is available for viewing after the break. It’s a surprisingly lengthy four minutes! The trailer is a demo of Misty’s battle capabilities. She’s a character who primarily focuses on screen control through placement of special orbs. She can hit them with an attack to send them in a direction, or remotely explode them.

The video toys with some interesting ideas, including summoning two orbs and then sending one orb to attack while forcing the other to explode, forcing the opponent to block. If she knocks her opponent down, she has an opportunity to summon orbs, but the payoff doesn’t seem especially great even if your opponent blocks since she has to recover. You might at best be able to simply summon more. It might be best not to send the orbs off immediately, but at least have one nearby you in order to control space as it becomes necessary and to keep your opponent guessing.

Blade Arcus from Shining EX Official Website is Up

InTheSky July 23, 2015 Leave a reply

Sega has published a new webpage promoting Blade Arcus from Shining EX under their umbrella of Shining games websites. It features screenshots of the game, the story’s premise (revolving largely around the two new characters Pairon and Ryuuga,) character bios and “battle style” descriptions for the 14 characters that are currently confirmed for the game, and a preview of the Limited Edition contents.

The image above is what Sega used to tease Shining Resonance’s Sonia and her arrival to the game; she will be accessible to those who purchase the first print copies of the game. Beyond that, it’s not known if she will be made available in any other form.

Continue reading to learn more! Some of the content leans toward being NSFW, so be warned.

Blade Arcus from Shining EX Coming to PS4, PS3, Shining Resonance’s Sonia in Tow

InTheSky July 21, 2015 1 Reply

This week’s Famitsu has revealed the first console port of the Blade Arcus from Shining series, to be titled “Blade Arcus from Shining EX.” The game is coming to both Playstation 4 and Playstation 3, which is in keeping with Japanese developers’ greater adoption of the Playstation 4 as a platform moving forward. It is set to release on November 26, and is receiving both a standard edition (¥6,990) and a limited edition (¥9,990.) The limited edition includes a Shining Heroine art book, a special art box designed by Tony Taka (current Shining series artist), Shining Blade OST, Shining Ark character songs, and a Heroine swimsuit calendar.

First print copies of all Blade Arcus from Shining EX will include a code for a new playable character – Sonia from Shining Resonance. Sonia is one of the more popular characters from Shining Resonance, so it is not too surprising to see her here. Other new characters are set to come to the game too, though it’s not specified if they’ll be revealed in the months leading to the release, and whether or not they’ll be on the disc or featured as DLC.

Beyond that, this game will feature all of the characters available in the most recent version of the game, which was scheduled for a summer release in arcades.

Blade Arcus isn’t a major name in fighting games in Japan, though it is consistently supported. Arcades may be dwindling in japan, but they still remain a strong social force and can be a great place to get in long hours of practice. Console versions of fighting games are typically expected to sell to passionate high-level competitors of a certain game in Japan. Let’s see how this does.

Credit for the information goes to this Gematsu article, and Hachima Kikou. Featured image is credited to Famitsu.