Bandai Namco Summer Showcase Panel Overview

There was a lot of gaming news that happened over the weekend and deep within it all was a Bandai Namco panel at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California. More specifically, as they hosted plenty of panels for their games and works, they held their Summer Showcase panel on July 1st that featured updated news and reveals on their upcoming projects. This panel was also Live-streamed on their Twitch channel so others could watch from home.

Although most of these games had debuted their new trailers earlier in the day or in some cases earlier in the week before the panel, producers of the games were present to provide more information. They showed off quite a few games, so let’s get to it.

First off was the “announcement” of My Hero Ultra Rumble. It’s a free-to-play battle royale pitting teams of three against each other using heroes and villains from the popular My Hero Academia series. Each character can use their established quirks and associated techniques to help their team and cover each other’s weaknesses.

If this sounds familiar, I can assure you, you’re not imagining things as it was originally revealed back in January. What’s new here is that we got to hear the English dub for it and see a new logo. They also announced that pre-registration for a closed beta test on the PS4 is now available to be signed up for.

Next was news about the highly anticipated RPG One Piece Odyssey. With designs from the series creator Eiichiro Oda and a world designed around what the Straw Hat Pirates are capable of, the game aims to bring the crew’s sense of adventure to life. When it comes to battle it uses a turn-based command battle system. A unique twist is the Scramble Area Battles mechanic which randomly assigns crew members with enemies and allows them to move around different areas. The new dev diary revealed much of this the day before.

They also went over the new characters for the game. One they primarily focus on is the character Lim and how her power-stealing ability is a major plot point for the game. A video clip showed her taking the crew’s powers and dispersing them around the mysterious Waford island.

After two intense games, we got one that’s quite a lot more relaxing. Doraemon Story of Seasons: Friends of the Great Kingdom was just recently announced during the Nintendo Direct Mini last week and we were able to find out more during this panel. The original developers of Harvest Moon are onboard for development again and a primary focus is still around using Doraemon’s gadgets to assist your farming duties.

In addition to new mechanics, it also features an updated picturebook art style. Some gadgets will also allow you to raise crops in the sky or go underwater to captivate pearls. This time around it’s also possible for another to join in with 2-player offline multiplayer. A demo is set to come out although no release date was given.

Following up on this was JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure All-Star Battle R. It’s a remaster of the PS3-exclusive 2013 title that has new modes and new characters. A new trailer (seen above) was also shown off, revealing the fan-favorite character F.F. from the sixth part of the series.

Not only is she the only new character revealed so far that wasn’t in 2015’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven, but this also represents the first time she has been playable in a game. Her playstyle is unique as she can cancel her specials into other specials at the expense of a special water/plankton gauge.

An update on Sword Art Online: Alicization Lycoris was next. A new DLC expansion called “Blooming of Matricaria” is scheduled to come out later this year and will be the final expansion for the game. It will feature a new original character named Rogu who was designed by the light novel series’ illustrator.

The character uses an all-new ax and shield weapon in combat. Something that helps it stand out is that it can be used for both a tank and an attacker role. For those who have been providing feedback that they would want to enjoy the game on the go, they’ll be happy to learn that the game will be coming out on the Nintendo Switch.

Moving on to the expected final part of the panel was a look at Digimon Survive. A new trailer went further into the gameplay mechanics, including battles and how your choices in dialogue can have effects on friends and enemies alike. It’s even possible to convince enemies to join your side.

The greatly received feedback on the plot of Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth was a direct influence on the game. This resulted in them using visual novel elements to focus on the characters’ interactions with each other. It’s coming out later this month on July 29th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msyi10WPpY4

A surprise announcement at the end of the panel was for a brand-new game on the Nintendo Switch. Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is a collaborative effort between the Monster Rancher series and the ever-popular Ultraman tokusatsu franchise. Players will be able to train, raise, and even fuse the popular kaiju enemies from the latter. These kaiju can be summoned by searching a digital database or by using NFC-compatible cards. The game was technically announced earlier in the week during the Japanese video version of the Nintendo Direct Mini, however, it was omitted from other versions.

That wraps it up for what was shown during Bandai Namco’s Summer Showcase panel at Anime Expo. Even if some of the trailers had already been shown earlier, it was still nice to hear the producers of each game speak about them. If you’d like to watch the panel in its entirety from their Twitch Livestream, you can see it here.