Interviews

We spoke to Ateam about their exciting new JRPG Valkyrie Connect

Norse mythology turned chibi

We spoke to Ateam about their exciting new JRPG Valkyrie Connect

This year, Ateam’s Entertainment Division has been toiling away developing a new game for mobile from its base in Nagoya. Valkyrie Connect is the result – a roleplaying game that features Norse mythology filtered through an anime lens, with real-time co-operative battles and a colourful cast of characters to unlock.

Valkyrie Connect was originally only available in Japan, but is now in app markets the world over in most major languages.
So what can players expect from this latest JRPG? Well, if you played Ateam’s Unison League last year, you’ll find some similarities – there are co-operative battles, chibi warriors, customisable guilds and vibrant visuals. Valkyrie Connect has a Norse twist, however - with the likes of Thor, Loki, and Odin making an appearance.

Gameplay centers around defeating progressively more challenging foes with your band of fighters, leveling your warriors up as you go. Although you can choose to attack manually during battles, there’s also an autoplay function - so you can sit back and watch your assembled team do the hard graft.

You can interject now and then by triggering each fighter’s over-the-top Action Skill on whatever fantastical beast is in the way - cue dramatic animation and rack up some killer damage points. Even better is Limit Burst, which allows you to consolidate the power of your characters into one super-effective attack.

We spoke to Ateam about what makes the world of Valkyrie Connect worth jumping into.

What do you think your game offers that you can’t get from any other title on the App Store?

Valkyrie Connect is an authentic Japanese RPG that plays out in a beautifully animated world with developed characters. One of the features we're most proud of is the co-op Connect Battles, where players team up to take down gigantic bosses in real-time with up to 15 characters total. This is an experience players can only have with Valkyrie Connect.

What challenges did you face during development, and how did you overcome them?

Making the 15-character Connect Battles perform up to our high standards was a serious challenge. We remade the battles over and over again, but after implementing the latest frameworks and development tools it all finally came together. They're in a fun state now, but we're still working hard to improve stability and performance even more.

What characteristics stand out the most about the game?

The exquisitely designed and uniquely Japanese characters definitely make us stand out from other titles. We also can't forget the addictive battle system.

How is Valkyrie performing so far and what has been the reaction to it?

We've already seen Valkyrie Connect steamroll past 3.5 million downloads in Japan alone and we're always floored by how much our players are loving the game! Our development team is working hard as we speak on new features and gameplay modes that we're sure players will enjoy.

Which part of the game are you personally the most proud of and why?

The appealing and unique characters are something that we put a lot of energy into and we’re really pleased with the way they turned out. Each of the characters has a unique skill, animations that suit their personality, and special personal stories which really let you get to know them. In a way, we see them as our children.

Do you have anything planned in terms of future updates for the game and, if so, can you give us any details of what these might include?

We do indeed. In the near future, we'll be implementing an event called Valhalla Onslaught where players will have to use all their characters to progress through a tower in which the difficulty increases with each floor. We also have a new PvP feature, the Grand Arena, where players will fight each other with three teams at a time. And finally, we know that everyone loves guild battles (and so do we), so we're working to implement them as soon as we can. We have plenty more in store for players too, so we hope that everyone enjoys all the features in the months to come.

yt
Subscribe to Pocket Gamer on
Valkyrie Connect is available to download for free from Google Play and the App Store.