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Bandai Namco Ent. to Release Asterisk War PS Vita Game in English This Month

Anime News Network's Anime Expo 2016 news coverage sponsored by Yen Press.

Bandai Namco Entertainment America announced on Friday that it will release the Gakusen Toshi Asterisk: Hōka Kenran PlayStation Vita game in English under the title A.W: Phoenix Festa. The game will be available on July 26 on the PlayStation Network.

Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia announced in November that it would localize the game in Asia, but it has not yet announced what languages the game would have. The company streamed an English-subtitled trailer for the game in November.

Bandai Namco Entertainment America describes the game as follows:

A.W. : Phoenix Festa is based on a popular Japanese light novel — The Asterisk War: The Academy City on the Water, where in the 20th century a catastrophic event known as the Invertia leads to the destruction of many large cities on Earth. In order to recover from the devastation, the Integrated Enterprise Foundation is formed and cities are reorganized including one city called Rikka, also known as Asterisk. Within Asterisk, six academies hold tournaments called “Festas” pitting students from each academy against each other.

A.W. : Phoenix Festa combines dating sim mechanics and combat in one game and features its own original storyline carved from the light novel series. The game will let fans experience a true love adventure with numerous endings. A.W. : Phoenix Festa will also offer players various options to enhance relationships between their favorite characters which can be influenced through battles and conversations with non-playable characters (NPCs). Players may start the game as main character Ayato or an original character and go about daily school life by making friends and competing in the “Phoenix Festa” tournament. Players also train themselves in order to increase their combat abilities as they prepare to participate in the “Phoenix Festa” tournament with their favorite characters.

The game is based on author Yuu Miyazaki and illustrator okiura's The Asterisk War: The Academy City on the Water (Gakusen Toshi Asterisk) light novel series.

The game shipped on January 28 in Japan in both a regular and a limited edition. The light novel series inspired two television anime adaptations. The first 12-episode season premiered in October, and the second 12-episode season premiered in April. Aniplex of America will release the first season with an English dub on Blu-ray Disc this year, and has also licensed the second season. Crunchyroll streamed both seasons as they aired. Yen Press is releasing the original light novel series digitally and in print.