Liberation Maiden

Liberation Maiden
Developer(s)Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher(s)Level-5
Director(s)
Artist(s)
Writer(s)Masahiro Yuki
Composer(s)Akira Yamaoka
SeriesGuild
Platform(s)Nintendo 3DS, iOS
Release
  • Nintendo 3DS
  • Guild01
    • JP: May 31, 2012
    Nintendo eShop
    • EU: October 4, 2012
    • NA: October 25, 2012
    • JP: November 14, 2012
    iOS
    • JP: March 7, 2013
Genre(s)Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player

Liberation Maiden[a] is a shooter game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Level-5. It was originally included in the Guild01 compilation for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012, and later made available separately on Nintendo eShop. A stand-alone high definition version was also released for the iOS in 2013.

Gameplay

The player flies Kamui into the map and the Touch Screen is used to fire missiles or lasers at enemies. At the end of each stage exists a Spike which can be revealed by firing missiles or lasers around its location. They are considered bosses and its thick armor can be pierced using a special technique that requires rapidly drawing circles on the Touch Screen.

Plot

An invading country is stealing all of Japan's energy. The player controls Shoko (voiced by Kana Hanazawa),[1] a high school girl who became President of New Japan after her father's assassination, as she enters the mecha Kamui to fight back.

Development and release

Liberation Maiden was result of its creative director Goichi Suda's interest in developing for the Nintendo 3DS, which dates back to before the release of the console.[2] It features animated cutscenes created by Studio BONES and the main theme song, "Day of Liberation" (解放の日, Kaihno Hi), performed by Marina.[3] Liberation Maiden shares stylistic traits with other material from Grasshopper Manufacture's repertoire, particularly Pure White Lover Bizarre Jelly, an in-game anime within the No More Heroes universe.

The game was released in Europe on October 4, 2012, in North America on October 25, 2012, and individually in Japan on November 14, 2012. A later high-definition version was released internationally for the iOS systems on March 7, 2013.[4]

Reception

In Japan, Liberation Maiden was released as part of Guild01. It has received mostly positive or average reviews on 3DS,[9] but it has sold poorly. In the west, Liberation Maiden also received mostly positive or average reviews on both platforms.

Sequel

A visual novel sequel to the game, titled Liberation Maiden SIN, was developed by 5pb. for the PlayStation 3 on December 5, 2013.[10][11] A PlayStation Vita version was later released on July 31, 2014.[12] Both versions have not been released outside of Japan. It was written by Goichi Suda and composed by Yasutaka Nakamura and Takeshi Abo.

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: 解放少女, Hepburn: Kaihō Shōjo

References

  1. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2011). "First Look: Guild 01". Andriasang. Archived from the original on 2013-05-05. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
  2. ^ "Nintendo News: Suda51 wants to make 3DS game - Official Nintendo Magazine". 2010-05-19. Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
  3. ^ Gantayat, Anoop (2011). "Take control of Japan's schoolgirl president in Suda 51 and Level-5's new 3DS shooter". Andriasang. Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
  4. ^ "Level-5's Liberation Maiden Gets Worldwide iOS Release - Interest - Anime News Network". Anime News Network. 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
  5. ^ "Liberation Maiden for 3DS Reviews — Metacritic". Metacritic. Archived from the original on February 22, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  6. ^ "Liberation Maiden for iOS Reviews — Metacritic". Metacritic. Archived from the original on November 6, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  7. ^ Ponce, Tony (November 2, 2012). "Review: Liberation Maiden". Destructor. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016.
  8. ^ Duyn, Marcel van (October 11, 2012). "Review: Liberation Maiden (3DS)". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  9. ^ "Famitsu Review Scores: Issue 1225 - Gematsu". Gematsu. 2012-05-22. Retrieved 2018-05-26.
  10. ^ "Liberation Maiden SIN announced for PlayStation 3". Gematsu. 2013-04-16. Retrieved 2013-05-19.
  11. ^ "Liberation Maiden SIN Visual Novel's 1st Promo Streamed - News". Animenewsnetwork.com. 2013-09-13. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
  12. ^ "Liberation Maiden SIN announced for PS Vita". Gematsu. 2014-07-31. Retrieved 2015-09-06.