is a series of third-person

hero shooter A hero shooter is a subgenre of shooter games that cover both the first-person shooter and third-person shooter genres. These games emphasize "hero" characters that have distinctive abilities and/or weapons that are specific to them. Game desig ...

video games, developed by Byking and

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It b ...

, and published by

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

. It debuted in arcades on July 12, 2012, with the scenario provided by

Norimitsu Kaihō is a Japanese light novel writer and translator. Born in Kanagawa prefecture. He is from Keio University Fantasy Study Group. When he was a college student, he posted a coterie translation of an English tabletop RPG "TORG" supplement to Shinki ...

(from

Nitroplus Nitroplus Co., Ltd., currently styled as NITRO PLUS, formerly stylized as nitro+, and formerly known as "OKStyle", is a Japanese visual novel video game developer that has developed a number of visual novels, including eroge. They also have been ...

) based on a concept by

Gen Urobuchi is a Japanese novelist, visual novel writer and anime screenwriter. He is known for being the co-creator of the highly acclaimed and commercially successful anime series '' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', which earned him the Tokyo Anime Award for ...

. It uses

Silicon Studio Silicon Studio is a Japanese computer graphics technology company and video game developer based in Tokyo. As a technology company, Silicon Studio has produced several products in the 3D computer graphics field, including middleware software, su ...

's Orochi

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...

, and runs on the Taito Type X³

arcade system board An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arc ...

. Its sequel, , was released on February 20, 2014, featuring new characters, new battle mechanics, and new stages.

Tetsuya Nomura is a Japanese video game artist, designer and director working for Square Enix (formerly Square). He designed characters for the ''Final Fantasy'' series, debuting with ''Final Fantasy VI'' and continuing with various later installments. Addit ...

and Akira Yasuda each created two characters exclusively for the game. A sequel, titled , was announced to be released in 2016 for

Windows PC Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

. The servers were closed on March 29, 2016. A fourth game, , was released on May 12, 2016. An upgraded version, , with four character types and six new weapon packs for each character and several changes to the respawn and awake systems, was released on April 24, 2017. The servers for the arcade version of Gunslinger Stratos were shut down on April 1, 2021. An

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

adaptation of the game known under its expanded title, '' Gunslinger Stratos: The Animation'', made its premiere on April 4, 2015.

Gameplay

All of the games are played from a third-person perspective, and the player must move around the massive battleground (using the

analog stick An analog stick (or analogue stick in British English), sometimes called a control stick or thumbstick, is an input device for a controller (often a game controller) that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joy ...

s and buttons on the two gun controllers), while using the Gun Controllers to aim and shoot at enemies. The goal is to survive and shoot down the rival

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

s to decrease the opposing team's team meter within a given time limit. The round ends when either teams' team meter drops to zero and/or if the timer reaches zero. Players can switch weapons in-battle, utilizing various strategies and tactics, by melding the two gun controllers together into different positions, such as: *Side Style: by clipping the side of the gun controllers together, the players can use their character's secondary arsenal. *Tandem Style: by clipping the tip of right gun controller onto the top of the left gun controller, the players can use their character's powerful arsenal. As the players progressed to the game's multiplayer mode, those who using the

NESiCAxLive is a digital distribution system for arcade video games made by Taito. It is similar to the SEGA ALL.Net game distribution system. Taito uses NESiCAxLive to distribute not only its own games, but also allows other companies to use it as a public ...

card can accumulate "Team Points" by winning battles, and using it to purchase and equip "Weapon Packs". Weapons Packs are a set of weapons that can be purchased and use in battle. Some of the packs has upgraded versions of the character's default weapons with boosted stats.

Plot

Setting

In 2115, the country known formerly as

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

has been split into two parallel worlds: the and the . Frontier S is an outlaw universe in which freedom runs rampant, while the 17th Far East Imperial City Management District is a totalitarian universe completely bereft of freedom and is under constant surveillance. When the two universes are starting to fuse into one, the government of each worlds initiates the , a world-scale protocol wherein a handpicked group of

gunslinger Gunfighters, also called gunslingers (), or in the 19th and early 20th centuries gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in gunfights and shootouts. Today, the t ...

s, mercenaries, and special individuals, each from the two universes, will be sent to the year 2015 to alter the past by eliminating the other side until only one group survives, erasing a parallel universe in the process.

Story

The story revolves on a group of

s, each from the two universes who participate in Operation Stratos, particularly on a group of four childhood friends: Tohru Kazasumi, Kyōka Katagiri, Kyōma Katagiri, and Shizune Rindo, who all must confront their own flaws and differences when they battle their alternate selves in order to survive.

References

External links

''Gunslinger Stratos'' official franchise website

''Gunslinger Stratos'' official English website
* Game websites: *
''Gunslinger Stratos'' official Japanese website
*
''Gunslinger Stratos 2'' official Japanese website
*
''Gunslinger Stratos 3/Σ'' official Japanese website
*
''Gunslinger Stratos Reloaded'' official Japanese website
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