Muv-Luv Developers Discuss The Series, Future Plans, Upcoming Games, and More

Today, during the Muv-Luv Expo livestream, the developers of the series answered quite a few questions from the fans, providing interesting details.

We hear about the new games code-named Project Immortal and Project Mikhail

Below you can check out a summary of the information they shared staring with series creator Kouki Yoshimune:

• In the world of Muv-Luv Alternative, South America and Africa have been enriched by becoming locations where TSF mecha and equipment are manufactured. They’re host to many governments in exile and refugees because the beta invasion isn’t as present there.
• Yoshimune never felt pressure to avoid negative depictions of countries because he never set out to do so in the first place. History proved time and time again that every country will do the same sort of things when its survival is on the line. Yoshimune-san attempts to depict countries in a realistic and not stereotypical manner. For instance, during the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union were very concerned about their own survival, which is why he depicted them in the same way in Muv-Luv. The action of a country should not be judged by a single action, but across the full scenario. Yoshimune-san actually writes the way he does because he wants the reader to think about other perspectives, not just the perspective of the protagonists.
• If he could write more short stories, Yoshimune-san mentioned that he’d like to feature Marimo, Ikaruga, Takeru, and Meiya from The Day After episode 04. Actually, enough story has been written about them to create a full game on its own, but TDA is a story about other characters so the focus is on them instead. He jokingly added that fans should request to see those stories as DLC for The Day After.
• The plot exists for a cut part of Total Eclipse completing Yui Takamura’s story, and we should look forward to an announcement about that in the future.
• Yoshimune-san doesn’t really like saying which characters are his favorites. He always tries to create characters who are heroes of their own story. Yet, he jokingly mentioned that he tends to like female characters who are good at resisting temptation.

Next to respond was Brand producer Kazutoshi “Tororo” Matsumura.

• Tororo confirmed that Anchor would like to release Muv-Luv integrate internationally.
• Anchor has three games that have already been announced and are being actively developed (TDA 04, Project Mikhail, and Project Immortal). Work of Muv-Luv Integrate is also undergoing but the team is focusing on games that have a specific release window mentioned above. “Two or three” unannounced games are in the planning stage.
• Speaking the Android port of the original Muv-Luv trilogy, the game runs on a very complex engine. The same development team working on Project Mikhail is currently developing a way to run them on smartphones. It’s going to take a while, and the team is potentially thinking about a new crowdfunding campaign in Japan to fund it.
• An adult patch for Muv-Luv Photonmelodies probably won’t be made as the original PC games were re-edited completely to release them on PS3, resulting in the creation of Photonmelodies, which wasn’t an adult game.
• Speaking of Schwarzesmarken and Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse, Tororo mentioned that the localization team is currently working on The Day After. Anchor is interested in hearing the fans’ opinions on what they’d like to see localized next. Feedback will be considered.
• Despite currently working on two action games, Anchor would still like to work on visual novels as it’s a genre that they love and respect. Yet, they still have to keep up with advancements in technology. They’re considering ways to create story-focused games for new platforms, so visual novels will likely have to adapt to the times.
• The evolution of the Ages engine will enable the team to do things that couldn’t be done before.

Speaking of Project Mikail, director Jun Kumano answered some questions as well.

• It’s possible to color TSF parts in the game. You can also add decals and squadron emblems.
• Project Mikhail won’t include full voice acting as the game will receive a very aggressive update schedule, and it would not be possible to fully voice the story with that kind of update pace.
• If you take a lot of missions from certain characters like Meiya and Yuuhi, you’ll grow “fairly close” with them. You’ll also learn more about their story and what drives them, while the state of the world and the story will also change toward what they want to happen.
• There won’t be TSF parts exclusive to a certain character.

Talking about Project Immortal, we get some answers from creator Kitakuo.

• At the moment there aren’t romance options planned.
• A battle royale mode isn’t planned. If Kitakuo was to make a battle royale mode he’d have to simply make a different game.
• The offline mode will be provided when and if the servers have to be shut down at some point. The game won’t have an offline mode while the service is active.
• Support for controllers is planned but the game is not a twin-stick shooter.

During the same event, we saw new gameplay of the new Muv-Luv action game Project Mikhail, Muv-Luv Photonmelodies got a new release window, Muv-Luv Unlimited The Day After was announced for the west, and the Muv-Luv Alternative manga was also announced coming digitally in English.

If you want to learn more about Muv-Luv in general, you should definitely read our interview with creator Kouki Yoshimune-san and producer Kazutoshi Matsumura, alongside our most recent chat with Kitakuo about Project Immortal.

If you’re unfamiliar with the franchise,  you can read my extensive article explaining all you need to know to get into one of the best visual novel series of all time.