Today Bandai Namco showcased plenty of gameplay and revealed new assets of its upcoming MMORPG Blue Protocol.
We learn that the upcoming closed beta test’s purpose is to check the server load for the game.
Registration is already open on the official site, and the beta proper will begin in late March. 50,000 players will be accepted (selected via lottery).
It’ll last 4 days including a weekend across approximately 75 hours with full details on timing coming at a later time.
The beta will include new skills and attributes compared to the alpha, part of the story, mounts, field exploration, a new field named “Bahamal Plateau,” a new dungeon, a raid boss, an arena (which won’t be PvP), and a time attack dungeon.
In terms of new footage, today we get to see plenty of gameplay, starting with the rich character creation that lets you crerate all sorts of really detailed and unique anime-style characters. There are a lot of options available, which you can see below.
Afterward, we saw the opening cutscenes featuring one of the characters created by the developers.
All the cutscenes are in-engine and our custom character is displayed as the protagonist.
Last, but not least, the developers showcased a look at a beautiful city within the game.
We see plenty of lovely environments, NPCs, quest givers, fast-travel shortcuts, the map, and more.
Players can have their characters sits on chairs and even execute gestures while sitting.
There appear to be a lot of freedom of movement, with the ability to jump over buildings and explore every nook and cranny.
The developer then introduced a few screenshots of new skills that will be introduced in the closed beta.
We see “Celestial Pillar” for the Aegis Fighter, “Burning Rush” for the Twin Striker, “Hypno Blast” for the Blast Archer, and “Flame Genade” and “Flow Ballet” for the Spell Caster.
At the end of the livestream we also saw some beautiful real-life reproductions of a sword and shield from the game.
Incidentally the next livestream will be on February 20, with more info and footage.
On top of this, the official website was updated with further videos showing character creation and the four classes announced so far.
Last, but not least, we get a ton of new screenshots and artwork.
If you want to see more, you can watch the previous trailer, the initial announcement trailer and the first screenshots, and the second batch of screenshots, another gallery, another look at the Aegis Fighter class, one at the Twin Striker class, the first look at the Blast Archer, and the reveal of the Spell Caster.
You can also enjoy more videos of the character creation for an older guy, a cute girl, a pair featuring a boy and a sexy older sister-type, and plenty of recent gameplay from the alpha test.
Blue Protocol is an online JRPG in development for PC by a team named Project Blue Sky, which is a joint initiative of Bandai Namco Online and Bandai Namco Studios. At the moment, there is no set release date.
While a western release has not been announced yet, the recent discovery of a career opportunity ad for a localization director strongly hinted to an upcoming English version of the game.
