Azure Striker Gunvolt 3

Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, known as Armed Blue: Gunvolt 3 /// Gibs (蒼き雷霆 ガンヴォルト , with the kanji 鎖環 meaning "Chain Rings") in Japan, is a game produced by Inti Creates for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox series, PlayStation series, and Steam, and also marked the return of the mainline Azure Striker Gunvolt series since 2016's Azure Striker Gunvolt 2. Although Gunvolt 3 is a numbered mainline title, it is generally disconnected from the story and themes of the first two games.
While Gunvolt once again returns as a playable character, his usage is limited. Joining him as the new primary playable character is Kirin, who uses a mix of ranged and melee attacks with her sword and enchanted talismans. ZedΩ, the main antagonist, is also playable in the Epilogue ATEMS extra scenario.
With development beginning in 2018, and concepts going back to 2017 at the latest, Gunvolt 3 had the longest development time in the series, and may be the final title that series director Yoshihisa Tsuda will direct before his retirement.May 13th 2022 4Gamer.net interview with Aizu, Tsuda, and Inafune. (English translation) Although Tsuda was initially credited as the director of Gunvolt 3,Gunvolt 3 official site introduction section in the credits of the released game, Hiroki Miyazawa, previously brought on only as action director, is credited as the game's director.
Gunvolt 3 is the first mainline title to have a full English dub.
==Gameplay==
Rather than fully separate playable characters as Gunvolt and Copen were in Gunvolt 2, Kirin is the default character and can switch over to Gunvolt under certain conditions. When not in play GV follows her in a sealed raiju-like form, and saves her should she fall into any pits, with Kirin reappearing on nearby solid ground. When GV is in play Kirin disappears and her staff sword floats behind GV. Who is in play does not affect dialogue, but it does change the portrait displayed. As Kirin her face is normal and Gunvolt is in raiju mode, and as Gunvolt his portrait is human while Kirin's becomes phantom-like. Mission music is slightly different depending on which character is in play; GV has more synths, while Kirin has more pianos.
Kudos, checkpoints, and the conditions for songs playing have been significantly changed. Kudos are not reset when taking damage, using special skills, or touching checkpoints. Checkpoints can't be avoided. When damage is taken or Prevasion is triggered, a Kudos Lock is applied, preventing Kudos from rising any further until enough have been earned to overwrite the lock. The more Kudos have already been gained, the greater the lock. The multiplier for Kudos has significantly increased.
Players are still ranked at the end of the stage based on clear time and score, but unlike previous games, rank has no correlation to rewards acquired. Rank ranges from B to S++, with a special SS rank only accessible by clearing the stage using Special Gunvolt without switching back to Kirin.
Unlike in past games, Lumen and her song are on a timer, represented by a meter below Kudos that steadily depletes. Fully depleting will cause Lumen to disappear. Reaching a multiple of 1000 Kudos replenishes this meter and brings Lumen back if she disappeared. After 4000 Kudos are gained without Lumen disappearing, "song level 2" is reached and Kudos become gold, with Memoria of 'He' playing by default. After 7000 Kudos, "song level 3" is reached, with more visual effects on-screen and the song always being Traces. The first and second level songs can be customized using Image Pulses, which also include songs from past games.
A new mechanic added to the game is the chance for bosses to get an Anthem-style revive. Upon taking a fatal blow, most bosses have a chance to be supported by Luxia, who invokes Djinn's Wish, reviving the boss and overriding the BGM with Boundless Myth. Bosses that have been revived have less HP than before. If an SP Skill was on cooldown before the boss was revived, it will be immediately ready to use again. If GV was active/his Special Skill was used to finish the boss, the Fetters Gauge will be automatically set to 100%, though the available Special Skill will remain the same as what GV could use before the boss revived. Upon defeating a boss with Djinn's Wish active, the player is guaranteed one extra Image Pulse as a "Resurrection Bonus." The odds of Luxia appearing increase with the song level.
Skill cut-ins use a combination of LAiX2's animation and GV1, GV2, and LAiX1's chants, though most chants are no longer arranged in the 5-7-5 haiku format of previous games.
Bosses have victory quotes like in the LAiX series.
After achieving the True Ending at least once, Hard and Very Hard mode are unlocked (listed as "Demanding Task" and "Merciless Task" respectively). On Hard Mode, Kirin's max HP is capped at a certain level, and bosses will have altered patterns. Very Hard Mode grants an additional restriction by disabling Passive Image Pulses and making Skill Image Pulses single-use and unswitchable after they've been used. In exchange, the rate of rare Image Pulses is increased, a specified 3-star IP is guaranteed the first time you clear a stage, and some IPs are exclusive to harder levels. Unlike LAiX2, there is no separate save system for higher difficulty levels, nor are endings gated by difficulty level.
Added in one of the post-release updates is Trial Mode, a gameplay mode separate from the main campaign that follows the rules of Merciless Task with additional constraints. IPs are unusable regardless of type, Fetters gauge is capped at 100%, Anthem is disabled, and Luxia's "Song of Djinn" is disabled. Almost any level can be played by Kirin or Gunvolt, with both characters additionally having normal and hard versions of an All Missions stage, and Kirin having Boss Rush. Bosses and playable characters added in from post-release updates are unavailable, however. Along with the Epilogue ATEMS update, Trial Mode received an online leaderboard, which allows players worldwide to compete with each other in measures of either score or clear time (leaderboards differ across separate platforms). 
===Kirin's gameplay===
Kirin fights using a sword and throwing enchanted talismans which tag enemies. Her basic 3-hit combo is fast (much faster than Copen's Razor Wheel), and deals passable damage. Talismans are very fast, can be aimed diagonally up and down, and use a semi-auto firing system (according to Inafune, they were too hard to use otherwise). An enemy that has been tagged with a talisman will have part of its HP bar discolored, representing how much damage will be dealt to it by the next sword strike. Multiple talismans can be placed on an enemy to build up potential damage. When an enemy is marked with enough talismans to fill their HP bar, that enemy will become "sealed." Sealed enemies are denoted by the purple chains attached to them, and will not inflict contact damage (projectiles/melee attacks still hurt, though). Most enemies will be instantly killed by a single talisman enhanced sword strike, but some require stacked talismans. Kirin has a base capacity of 7 talismans, which can be increased using certain Image Pulses, though it should be noted that even with increased capacity, particularly durable enemies (such as Medium or stage end bosses) will not hold more than 7 tags at once. Striking a tagged foe will automatically return all talismans applied to that foe. Talismans that miss will eventually return, but talismans consumed by Prevasion will not regenerate, requiring a manual reload. Reloading will also remove any tags currently applied to enemies and objects.
Kirin gains the Arc Chain technique after encountering GV, which enables her to instantly teleport up to and slash any/all enemies tagged with talismans. She gets one free air jump after doing this and can tag and Arc Chain more enemies before touching the ground, allowing her to stay in the air for long stretches of time as long as there are still enemies to tag. Successive aerial kills build up a Chain bonus (x4.0 at maximum) that multiplies Kirin's Kudos gain (though a single Arc Chain will only build the Chain bonus by one stage no matter how many enemies it defeats). This is Kirin's main method of scoring.
Kirin can equip Skill Image Pulses to invoke attacks of past boss characters, and Passive Image Pulses to give general buffs and expand her abilities, such as Prevasion to nullify damage from attacks at the cost of a number of talismans. Some even let her cling to walls or get extra air jumps.
As the game progresses, Kirin unlocks new attacks by defeating bosses.
*Strong Talisman Infusion: Gained from BB. A charged version of the standard talisman that stacks more damage.
*Perfect Talisman Infusion: Gained from Serpentine. A charged talisman packing even more damage.
*Ressen Slash: Gained from Shiron, this attack sends Kirin rocketing down with a slash.
*Rapid Ressen Slash: Gained from Grazie. Hold the slash button while performing Ressen Slash to fall faster and hit harder.
*Issen Dash: Gained from Apollo. An enemy-penetrating dashing slash attack that can be performed from a reload stance.
*Fierce Issen Dash: Gained from Sistina. Perform an invincible dashing attack after reloading.
*Tensho Slash: Gained from Cayman. A rising slash that sends Kirin into the air.
*Air Tensho Slash: Gained from Prado. Tensho Slash can be used midair, but its attack is reduced.
===Gunvolt's gameplay===
Gunvolt possesses extreme power and has no HP bar, but cannot use Skill Image Pulses, causes Kirin to lose her Chain, and his appearance is limited and dependent on how much of the Fetters Gauge is built up as Kirin before switching. 100% is the minimum required to switch, and the normal maximum available is 300%. All of Kirin's successful attacks cause the gauge to rise, and when below 100% it naturally rises. Touching a checkpoint sets it to 100% if it is below that. Transitioning from one half of the stage to the next switches back to Kirin. If GV is manually switched back to Kirin, the gauge is reduced to 0. When in play, the gauge passively decreases, and drains further when GV attacks or uses Prevasion. When it reaches 0, he is forcibly switched back to Kirin. By double-pressing down and holding on the second press, Gunvolt will stop and focus. This slows the decay of the Fetters Gauge, but prevents Gunvolt from moving, attacking, or doing anything besides Prevasion. GV has one special skill available--either Astrasphere, Luxcalibur, or Voltaic Chains--based on how high the gauge is, and using it switches him back to Kirin.
Clearing the True Ending unlocks the "Primal Dragon Gunvolt" Image Pulse, which when equipped allows the player to begin stages as him and regain fetters with kills. Clearing a stage as only Gunvolt awards the player with a special SS rank.
Kudos gain is significantly nerfed as Gunvolt. When fighting standard foes, Gunvolt gains only 80% of the Kudos Kirin would from attacking foes, and his only Kudos bonuses are for multi-kills. When fighting bosses, GV can only get Skill Finish bonuses, and even those are reduced compared to Kirin's bonus.
It's been said that as part of the game's balance, Gunvolt doesn't start out at full power at the beginning of the game. The meaning of this is unknown.
When switching to GV, he performs the Arc Unleash skill and covers the entire screen with lightning bolts, wiping all enemies present. GV has infinite air dashes and jumps. Like in previous games, GV can fire darts at full-auto and hold up to 3 tags, but he can now fire them diagonally-upwards or downwards. GV's Flashfield is now always active, and will automatically zap enemies and projectiles in its radius, but no longer slows his descent to the ground. It is retracted when using lightning bursts, which slows his descent. He no longer has an EP gauge; a barrage of lightning bursts on a tagged target lasts as long as the tag or the target does. Unlike the previous iterations of the tagged Flashfield, these lightning bursts have a travel time rather than instant damage. Retracting the Flashfield when no enemy is tagged causes lightning bursts to fly in random directions (these don't damage enemies).
GV now possesses a new set of skills known as Voltaic Arts. One is the Spark Dash, which depending on the level causes GV to tag enemies with his dash, phase through and damage them, or perform a devastating flying suplex move called the Voltaic Buster that damages nearby enemies too. Voltaic Buster can only be used on bosses when their HP falls to a certain point, denoted by a change in the boss' tag marker. This threshold can vary based on GV's Fetters Gauge. Defeating a mid-boss or boss with Voltaic Buster counts for Skill Finish bonuses. For Special GV, Spark Dash is the most Fetters-efficient means of dealing damage.
The second Voltaic Arts skill is the Lightning Assault, which is like Kirin's Arc Chain. GV can instantly teleport to and strike any tagged enemy while simultaneously sending out a Crashbolt in a random direction (which deals no damage as Special GV). The downside is that unlike Kirin, GV doesn't automatically strike every tagged foe, requiring one button input per attack, and precise positioning is much harder to control. Additionally, repeated use against stronger foes is extremely inefficient with Special GV.
GV is the recipient of Lumen's Anthem, becoming "Awakened" and gaining unlimited usage if Kirin falls in battle. Under Anthem, GV freely floats instead of running and jumping, his darts are replaced with auto-lock "Flash Darts," his Flashfield now generates an Astrasphere, his Spark Dash produces a Luxcalibur, Voltaic Chains can be used repeatedly with no cooldown, and Voltaic Buster can be triggered regardless of remaining boss health. This state can also be triggered by D-nizing in D-nizer Mode, although the use of Voltaic Arts becomes extremely risky.
If GV uses too much of his power or takes too much damage while Awakened, he'll lose control. Transforming into a Primal Dragon, GV activates a "skill" named Vanishing World, engulfing the screen in white before sending the player back to the title screen, basically acting as an extended game over sequence.
===Image Pulse===
Main article: Image Pulse
Image Pulse () is a gameplay system introduced in GV3 as a replacement for the Equipment and Gunvolt's support Skills system of GV1 and 2. A power born from Gunvolt's Azure Striker and Kirin's Radiant Fetters combining, Gunvolt's memories of friends and enemies are given form and sealed in talismans to assist them. Image Pulses are gained by collecting Image Chips () in stages and completing the mission, at which point Image Pulses will be randomly generated based on the stage's list of potential Image Pulses. Each stage's Image Pulse list varies by difficulty setting, and all Hard and Very Hard missions grant a specific Image Pulse for completing them for the first time.
Image Pulses are divided into three categories: Skill, which summons characters for attacks or buffs, Passive, which replaces Equipment, and Song, which determines the songs that can play at different Kudos levels.
===Missions===
Image	Name 	Description 	Boss
 	Dragon Slayer (Futures Institute) 	A facility belonging to Sumeragi Futures Institute of Technology that Kirin raids at the beginning of the game. She encounters and seals Gunvolt here. The intro stage. 	Gunvolt (Primal Dragon)
 	Holy Night XIII (Downtown Christmas)	The first main stage. A Primal Dragon's appearance renders the most wonderful time of the year into a nightmare of death.
The second half is a Gunvolt tutorial, as there are electric door panels and a portion that requires his aerial movement abilities, and the Fetters Gauge does not deplete during this half.	Black Badge "The Dancing Dead"
 	Cyber Daydream (Cyber-Kowloon) 	An arcade so enormous it more resembles a theme park. Shiron's rampage has turned the once-bustling game center into a fortress bristling with killer machines. 	Shiron “The Wizard Operator”
 	Pride & Battle (Old Capital Temple) 	An ancient temple within the city, modernized with various mechanical defenses. Cayman sought ever greater power here, but all he found was madness and Dragon Radiation. 	Cayman "The Iron Delinquent"
 	Pendulum Heart (Stormy Megafloat) 	Shipping facility port area with a yellow sky, rainfall, and lightning. Shifting platforms, some of which are explosive, must be hopped across over deep water. The second half of the stage is inside the shipping facility. Has an amphibious patrol plane medium boss.	Apollo "The Swinging Jester"
 	Another Sun (Ballistic Missiles) 	A series of missiles flying toward the country that somehow bypassed the barrier. Aboard them, the Golden Trillion and his knights... 	ZedΩ
 	Phantom Mist (Forest) 	Deep in the misty woods, one of the sacred Binding Brands is kept away. Having beaten the Dragon Saviors to the punch, ATEMS has had plenty of time to set up defenses and surveillance. 	Serpentine "The Mystic Mist"
 	Trick Shot (Abandoned Factory) 	Derelict oil refinery. Part of the floor is on fire due to explosions, yellow gas permeates areas, and run down pipes collapse when stood on. 	Sistina "The Fatal Gunwoman"
 	Sandstorm (Desert Base) 	A desert base holding one of the brands. Unfortunately for the Dragon Saviors, the sand makes it the perfect battlefield for the Knight sent here... 	Grazie "The Sand Fortress"
 	Hot & Cold (Megafloat "Neptune") 	A hidden part of the Megafloat "Neptune" where the Binding Brand is kept. What GV and Kirin find within is a gauntlet of ice and fire... 	Prado "The Dual Knight"
 	Sunrise Palace (Sunrise Palace 1) 	The UTU Media Tower, once a symbol of Sumeragi's dominance and prosperity, now a monument to the radiance of ATEMS and its king. 	Prado "The Dual Knight"
 	Karma (Sunrise Palace 2) 	As GV and Kirin venture deeper into the palace, they find that the past has a way of catching up to you... 	Viper & Jota, Zonda & Tenjian, Merak & Teseo (hidden, optional), Serpentine "The Mystic Mist"
 	Heliacal Rising (Sunrise Palace 3) 	Even as allies fall one by one, Kirin and GV cannot stop their advance, finding themselves against the last of ATEMS' Knights... 	Grazie "The Sand Fortress", Sistina "The Fatal Gunwoman"
 	ZedΩ (Sunrise Throne) 	The throne room where the Golden King awaits the intruders. The "Child of Hope" ATEMS seeks also sleeps here. 	ZedΩ
 	Moebius (World Moebius) 	The True Ruler of the Primal Dragons has awoken, and it promises destruction. Only azure lighting and golden chains stand in defiance to its edicts... 	Moebius, Nova Tsukuyomi "The Third Revenger" (hidden, optional), Asimov "The New World Order"(hidden, optional), Gunvolt (Moebius-GV)
 	Secret Missions 	Boss battle only missions. 	Various
==Story==
===Pre-Game===
Following the Adept supremacist union Eden's destruction at the hands of Gunvolt in Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 (there is no indication that Copen's route is canon), Gunvolt began awakening to a new level of power beyond Septima and ceased physically aging. It is not known why exactly this occurred, but his prior merging with the Muse and/or absorption of Azure Spirits (fragments of Asimov's soul and Septima which caused Gunvolt's own Septima to degenerate and gain new abilities) are cited as possible causes.
Eventually, Gunvolt's power grew out of control and he accidentally hurt his close companion Quinn, resulting in him willingly leaving her behind and surrendering to the Sumeragi Group to be contained. Sumeragi used numerous Glaives to control his power and keep him dormant, and at some point his body changed into a mindlessly violent and large dragon-like form; a "Primal Dragon", a type of monster which is the fate of Adepts. While Gunvolt was held in Sumeragi's custody, they harnessed the electricity generated by him and distributed it across Japan, completely cornering the energy market (while the English localization mentions an official department named Gunvolt Electric, in the Japanese version that is only a nickname for the whole operation). Although Sumeragi discovered a type of wave emitted by Gunvolt's electricity called "Dragon Radiation" (龍放射), it was believed to be harmless in small amounts.
An unknown number of decades passed with Gunvolt sealed, and during that time Adepts seemingly became a much larger portion of the population. It is not known what became of Copen, Mytyl, Xiao, or QUILL during that time.
===Main Story===
Shadow Yakumo, a secret sister organization of the Sumeragi Group specializing in supernatural powers below Septima, and responsible for the creation of the Glaives, became aware of the imminent awakening of a "Dragon Ruler" and appearance of Primal Dragons among Adepts as a result of Dragon Radiation thanks to a prediction by their soothsayer. Following the failure of attempts to cooperate with Sumeragi, Shadow Yakumo dispatches the battle priestess Kirin, an Adept with the sealing Septima Radiant Fetters, to assault the Sumeragi Futures Institute of Technology under the belief that Gunvolt is the Dragon Ruler and sealed within. Kirin encounters and battles Gunvolt just as the Glaives fail, and manages to subdue him with her Septima. Although he briefly returns to human form, for unknown reasons he transforms into a dog-like creature. Shadow Yakumo has Kirin liaised to Sumeragi, and with Gunvolt forms a new two personnel department known as the Bureau of Dragon Saviors to deal with the emergence of Primal Dragon Adepts.
On the night of Christmas Eve, the Geist Adept Black Badge (BB) transforms into a Primal Dragon and goes berserk. Secondary Dragon Radiation contamination from him causes not only the Adepts among the Sumeragi Peacekeepers deployed ahead of Kirin and GV to go berserk too, but robots and city defenses as well due to the Azure Striker's electronics influencing power. When BB is found, they are surprised to see that he retains some consciousness, although he has lost all control of his emotions. Just as BB is on the verge of defeat, a Muse-like figure resembling a djinn suddenly appears and restores him. Upon BB's final defeat, Kirin seals his Primal Dragon awakening and he is recruited into the Dragon Saviors. Similar incidents result in the Overclock Adept Shiron, Pendulum Adept Apollo, and Duelist Adept Cayman all being defeated and recruited as well.
Following this, the leader of ATEMS, ZedΩ, is given a report by his secretary Sistina about the Primal Dragon incidents occurring in Japan, obtained thanks to the reconnaissance work done by Layla's Djinn Septima. He attributes the emergence of Primal Dragons to "that child" and laments Sumeragi's refusal to share tech or cooperate with overseas countries. With cooperation not possible, their research showing that Layla's Djinn can control Primal Dragons that are weakened or unconscious, and Layla knowing the location of the "Child of Hope", Zed makes the decision to invade Japan and breach its national defense barrier using special missiles.
The Dragon Saviors are alerted about five missiles slipping through the defense barrier, with border defense forces failing to intercept them due to a mysterious forcefield surrounding the missiles. Gunvolt asks Shiron if he can figure out the missiles' coordinates with his Overclock, believing that if he knows that he can warp to them using his Azure Striker, similar to the ability of a past Adept he met. Despite the risks, he and Kirin successfully make it to the missiles and maneuver across and through them, destroying the forcefield generators. Upon reaching the fifth missile, they are confronted by Zed and Layla in the air, with the former demonstrating his Golden Trillion Septima by creating a miniature sun that lights up the night sky, and the latter revealing herself as the Djinn Adept. Zed introduces himself and decides to test their strength in battle, and is impressed. When Gunvolt demands to know his motives for shooting missiles at their country, Zed clarifies that they really functional as transport planes, apologizes for the rough entry, and claims his comrades must already be on the ground. He refuses to reveal ATEMS' goals, and leaves.
Not long after, reports begin coming in of sightings of ATEMS across the country, and Kirin recognizes the locations as the sites holding Binding Brands. The Dragon Saviors move to stop them, with Kirin and Gunvolt fighting the executive members of ATEMS known as the ATEMS Knights--Sandstorm Adept Grazie, Trick Bullet Adept Sistina, Hot & Cold Adept Prado, and Phantom Mist Adept Serpentine, whose ability to read memories and conjure phantoms of the Dragon Saviors causes Gunvolt to want the fight over before she recreates "them." Despite suffering defeats in battle, all of the ATEMS Knights succeed in stealing the Binding Brands and are warped away with them by Zed.
Zed calls all of the ATEMS members to the old UTU Media Tower, and claims that with the four Binding Brands the path to the "Child of Hope" has been opened. He has Grazie use her Sandstorm Septima to convert the tower into a colossal fortress crafted out of sand, called Sunrise Palace, drawing massive public attention. All members of the Dragon Saviors except Shiron, whose Septima isn't suited for combat, invade the tower. After Kirin and Gunvolt deal with Prado again in the first area, they are confronted by phantoms of Viper and Jota, followed by Tenjian and fake male Zonda, most of whom berate Gunvolt for his past actions and failures, leading to him reflecting on being called a terrorist before joining Sumeragi and the doubts he still feels about his past battles with Nova and Eden. Once all of the phantoms are destroyed, Serpentine is encountered and defeated once more, as are Grazie and Sistina in the third area.
Reaching the top of the tower, Kirin and Gunvolt confront Zed and Layla. Zed welcomes them and remarks that it's good timing, as they've just finished bringing over "him" from the Sumeragi Futures Institute of Technology. He reveals that Gunvolt is not the true king of Primal Dragon, and that something else was hidden and kept sealed at the institute by the Binding Brands. Telling Layla to wait there, Zed takes Kirin and Gunvolt to the top floor.
There they find an alien-looking baby sleeping within a capsule surrounded by Glaives. Zed introduces him as Moebius, the true king of Primal Dragons, one who was born in that state instead of awakening to it like Gunvolt did, and has gone even higher; Zed claims that Moebius possesses an Octima instead of a Septima. Moebius emits a wave that resonates with Gunvolt and shows him the possibilities of many futures, all of which show Gunvolt destroying everything. Zed asks if he saw something, and reveals that the name of Moebius' Octima is Astral Order, which allows him to see countless possible futures and choose which one will actually occur, having an effect range of the entire world. Zed also reveals that if Moebius awakens, the world will be engulfed in Dragon Radiation, causing Adepts to transform and go berserk like the prior incidents. Refusing to entrust it to Sumeragi, he states that the goal of ATEMS is to control Moebius and his Astral Order while he's asleep with Layla's Djinn to guide the world to an ideal future, although he admits the transformation of Adepts into Primal Dragons ultimately can't be avoided.
Gunvolt and Kirin dispute the validity of Zed's goals and motives and defeat him in battle. Kirin urges for them to cooperate to figure something out, but the clash of powerful Septimas and/or resonance with Gunvolt results in Moebius awakening, shattering the Glaives restraining him. Moebius begins remaking the surrounding world out of instinct as his Astral Order is amplified by the tower's equipment and spreads. Undeterred by the extreme power level felt and Zed's claims of Octima being on another level, Kirin still resolves to seal Moebius with her Radiant Fetters. Moebius' capsule is eventually shattered and Kirin casts a seal on him directly, but he negates it, resulting in Gunvolt's own seal being undone and him returning to human form. Moebius charges, but Gunvolt intercepts him and is "absorbed", with Moebius taking control of his body and powers and attacking Kirin. Fearing that Moebius will use him to destroy the world as he saw in the vision, Gunvolt urges Kirin to kill him, although she doesn't want to kill either him or Moebius. As Gunvolt is resolved to die and reflects on his repentance and days with the Dragon Saviors not being bad, Kirin tells him to stop saying that and resist, and Gunvolt trusts in her resolve and ability to find a future he didn't see.
When Kirin either futilely exerts all of her sealing power, or the battle drags on, Moebius fully invokes Astral Order, becoming completely invincible and projecting a hazardous space which Kirin can't endure. Suddenly, Zed and Layla intervene and boost Kirin with their Golden Trillion and Djinn Septimas, allowing her to resume fighting.
====Bad Ending====
If Moebius himself suffers any real damage during the final battle when emerging from Gunvolt, it ultimately concludes with Gunvolt beginning to lose his mind too, but he gains enough control to rush forward and impale himself on Kirin's sword. As Kirin apologizes for failing to figure out something, Gunvolt assures her that with this the Octima and Astral Order will disappear, and that if he lived the fate of destruction would be unavoidable--that this is the best outcome. 
As Gunvolt slumps over and fades away, Kirin drops to her knees in grief.
====True Ending====
If only tag seals are applied to Moebius when he emerges, Gunvolt will say Kirin really persisted to the end, followed by her throwing a fully charged seal at him. This results in Gunvolt silently transforming into a baby partially obscured by a ball of light and then flying off into the sky. Version 1.2.1 (Steam) and 1.3.0 (Switch) explain this transformation with a new scene right beforehand, in which Moebius reveals to Gunvolt that Gunvolt destroyed the world on his own in the future they both foresaw, and Moebius was trying to prevent that future all along. Gunvolt and Moebius combine their powers to "reverse [their] inescapable fate" and buy time for Kirin and the Dragon Saviors to find a way to prevent the outcome of destruction without taking Gunvolt's life.
A few weeks later, Kirin mentions how the Octima and Azure Striker were lost and the world crisis has momentarily gone away. Sumeragi, with Shadow Yakumo's support, is dealing with the fallout of the attacks by ATEMS and Moebius being revealed to the public. Primal Dragons continue to appear as a consequence of Moebius' awakening. Zed and ATEMS reached an agreement with Sumeragi and returned to their country, where Kirin thinks they'll be busy dealing with Primal Dragons.
As the Dragon Saviors are busy dealing with numerous Primal Dragon appearances at once, Kirin says she won't waste the bond she forged with Gunvolt, and that she'll bind the world to the future for sure with her Radiant Fetters.
====Secret Ending====
(Triggered by collecting 150 non-DLC Image Pulses and clearing the True Ending)
Referred to as a story from the past, Mytyl narrates how she used to be a normal girl, but one day a stranger named Xiao appeared and gave her a pendant and she transformed into a magical girl. What will become of a magical girl in a world of powerful Adepts?
"Striker Princess Mytyl", Episode 1 - "My Heart-Racing First Transformation!"
===Epilogue ATEMS===
Main article: Epilogue ATEMS#Story
Epilogue ATEMS' story begins shortly after Gunvolt and Moebius disappear in the True Ending, and before ATEMS leaves the country. ATEMS is staying for the time being in order to gather Azure Spirits, fragments of Azure Striker Septimosome with Astral Order's power mixed in, left behind by Gunvolt and Moebius. ZedΩ wants ATEMS to collect and analyze Azure Spirits before Sumeragi can discover them and keep them all to itself, thus forcing Sumeragi to admit their existence. ZedΩ hopes that researching the Azure Spirits will shed light on mysteries like how Moebius was able to take over Gunvolt, or even the root cause of Primal Dragonization.
Guided by Layla's Djinn, ZedΩ and his Knights seek out the Azure Spirits - though along the way, ZedΩ clashes with Sumeragi and the Dragon Saviors. Once ATEMS has collected a total of nine Spirits, Kirin finds their base of operations, but after they explain the situation to her, she agrees to cooperate with them to secure the remaining Spirits. Together, ZedΩ, Layla, and Kirin make their way to deep beneath S-FIT, where more Spirit signals have been detected.
In the bowels of S-FIT, the trio find an Image Pulse-like recreation of Primal Dragon Gunvolt formed by the Azure Spirits. After ZedΩ defeats it, however, he receives a call from Sistina reporting that the Spirits in ATEMS' possession have disappeared. The missing Spirits then arrive at S-FIT and join with the Spirits already there to take control of Layla and make Luxia fight ZedΩ. ZedΩ defeats Luxia and dispels the Spirits, freeing Layla from their control. However, one Spirit remains behind tucked in Layla's sleeve, which ZedΩ and Layla give to Kirin before ATEMS leaves the country.
==Characters==
See also: Minor Characters#Games
===Sumeragi Dragon Saviors===
Profile	Image
Kirin - Voiced by Yu Sasahara (篠原侑)(JP) / Kelly Baskin (EN).
The new protagonist and default playable character. A shrine maiden and only Adept in the world with the Septimal power Radiant Fetters which can seal other abilities.	
Gunvolt - Voiced by Kaito Ishikawa (石川界人)(JP) / Sean Chiplock (EN).
Once known as "The Azure Striker", as a result of his prior battles he became immortal and began losing control of his powers. After surrendering to the Sumeragi Group, he was sealed away for many decades and warped into a monstrous dragon form, only regaining his mind after breaking free and being sealed by Kirin into a dog-like form.	
Lumen - Voiced by Megu Sakuragawa (櫻川めぐ)(JP) / Diana Garnet (EN).
Lumen is (on paper) a cutting-edge AI based on the cyberdiva of the same name, offering Kirin and GV support in the office. In actuality, she is an advanced Image Pulse, a projection of GV's memories captured in Kirin's talismans, and provider of Anthem support in the field.	
Black Badge - Voiced by Nakano Taishi (中野大志)(JP) / Ryan Colt Levy (EN).
An Adept with the Septima Geist, he is the first berserk Adept encountered and is fought in Holy Night XIII on Christmas Eve. After being rescued he becomes Kirin and GV's ally and begins following them around. He's a mood maker who uses a lot of outdated slang, and tends to get carried away. BB remains cheerful even when his lame attempts at being a ladies' man get shot down. He boasts a varied resume of part-time jobs in his efforts to elevate himself from poverty.	
Shiron - Voiced by Toyosu Rio (豊洲りお)(JP) / Risa Mei (EN).
One of the masked berserk Adepts, he is fought in Cyber Daydream. A cutting-edge pro gamer good at resourcefulness, he's an Adept with the Septima Overclock. He admires “cool men” and he thinks he speaks like one, yet…	
Apollo - Voiced by Harasawa Kouichi (原澤航一)(JP) / Howard Wang (EN).
One of the masked berserk Adepts, he is fought in Pendulum Heart. A young man with a shady past he wants to leave behind. He has the Pendulum Septima. He’s somewhat strict with regulations and manners and fussy yet at his roots he’s a kind person. He’s in charge of keeping an eye on the other pals due to their great individuality.	
Cayman - Voiced by En Shitan (閻子丹) (Japanese) / Todd Haberkorn (EN).
One of the masked berserk Adepts, he is fought in Pride & Battle. He possesses the Duelist Septima, which forces the opponents into a fair and square infight. He’s a quarrel leader who loves duty and empathy, and training is his “hobby.” He’s a specialist in 1 vs 1 fighting battles.	
===ATEMS===
Profile	Image
ZedΩ - Voiced by Shun Horie (堀江瞬) (JP) / Casey Mongillo (EN).
Successor to a mighty authority, he is the young leader of ATEMS. He possesses the Golden Trillion Septima, the highest flame type ability which also has the power of the sun, and in turn nuclear fusion, making it a source of infinite energy similar to Gunvolt's Azure Striker Septima. ZedΩ is the main protagonist of the Epilogue ATEMS scenario.
To further his research into Septimas, he gathers technology and information produced by countries around the globe. Upon the unusual happenings at Sumeragi, he begins a plan to invade their host country.	
Layla/Luxia - Voiced by Rico Sasaki (佐々木李子) (JP) / Michaela Laws (EN).
Layla: A young girl who is seen at ZedΩ's side. While Layla herself doesn't get too many lines or screentime, she has an integral role in the plot as the wielder of the Septima Djinn, a song-based empowering ability that can summon an avatar named Luxia, similar to The Muse, Lumen to further ZedΩ and ATEMS's goals. Although she and ZedΩ are generally on the same wavelength, Layla does not speak much for herself, making her difficult to communicate with. She also seems to be the cornerstone for whatever goal ZedΩ has his sights on... 
Luxia: Layla's Septima. She is a similar type to The Muse, Lumen, and is able to bring forth various powers with her song such as enhancing others' abilities. The Djinn is also capable of performing reconnaissance at long distances, unlike The Muse. It is possible that "The Djinn is a more powerful Septima. She has a carefree personality and does not pay much mind to anyone other than ZedΩ.	LaylaLuxia
Sistina - Voiced by Saori Onishi (大西沙織) (JP) / Alba Ponce de León (EN).
The chief officer of the ATEMS Knights, often acts as strategic commander for ATEMS's Knights' operations, she is also ZedΩ's personal secretary after gaining the position partially by force to curry favor with him. She possesses the identically named Septima Trick Shot, which lets her summon bullets with many different special properties such as homing in on targets or creating tornadoes upon impact. She is the boss of the mission Trick Shot.	
Grazie - Voiced by Haruka Terui (照井春佳)(JP) / Lizzie Freeman (EN).
A member of the ATEMS Knights, she has a strong inflection when she speaks and calls ZedΩ "Mr. Zeddy". She possesses the Septima Sandstorm which is capable of controlling sand, equal parts offense and defense. She is the boss of the mission of the same name.	
Serpentine - Voiced by Shizuka Ishigami (石上静香)(JP) / Morgan Berry (EN).
A member of the ATEMS Knights, she oversees ATEMS's construction projects. Serpentine has a dark and devious personality and will do anything to achieve her aims. She doesn't get along with Sistina. Serpentine possesses the Phantom Mist Septima, which creates illusions from fog, among other abilities such as reading memories. She is the boss of the mission Phantom Mist.	
Prado - Voiced by Sumire Uesaka (上坂すみれ) (JP) / Hayden Daviau (EN).
A member of the ATEMS Knights, she has a fondness for beautiful ephemera and speaks with a pompous tone. Prado refers to ZedΩ as "the exalted Sir ZedΩ" and calls Kirin "little kitten". She believes ZedΩ is the most beautiful thing in existence. Her Septima is Hot & Cold, a dual-element ability that manipulates ice and fire. She is the boss of the mission of the same name.	
==Soundtrack==
Main article: Armed Blue Gunvolt Gibs Soundtrack
The Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 soundtrack features 58 tracks in the base game, and was composed by Ippo Yamada, Ryo Kawakami, Aoi Takeda, Takumi Sato, Ryo Yoshinaga, Yusuke Sakai, and Hiroyuki Sato. Included in the 58 tracks are special versions of the stage themes when playing as Gunvolt, arranged by Hiroaki Sano. A Gunvolt version of the opening stage theme, unused in-game, is also included as a bonus track in the Limited Edition soundtrack release. All vocal songs with confirmed credits were written by Hakofactory.
GV3 introduces seven new Lumen (Megu Sakuragawa) songs, including a new version of Reincarnation. Unlike Lumen's songs in past games and the standalone album Butterfly's Journey, s-don served as the arranger instead of Yamajet, although the latter was the arranger for the original version of Memoria of 'He' that appeared in the announcement trailer. The full versions of the final songs were released in the album Akashic Record.
Gunvolt 3 also has the debut of Luxia (Riko Sasaki) in the song Boundless Myth, with the violinist Coremocha as the arranger.
Epilogue ATEMS introduces some new tracks, ZedΩ-based arrangements of five stage themes, the Medium Bosses battle theme, and the mission complete and results themes, and three new Luxia songs. In a first for songs appearing in the games, at least two of Luxia's new ones were not composed by Ryo Kawakami or Ippo Yamada. In another first, the basic boss battle theme in Epilogue ATEMS (ZedΩ's own battle theme as a boss in the main game, "Phoenix Wings Sun Deity", composed by Hiroyuki Sato) is the first basic boss battle theme not composed by Kawakami or Yamada.
Lumen songs:
Song Name 	Lyrics 	Composer 	Arranger
Memoria of 'He' (Main theme)	Hakofactory	Ryo Kawakami	s-don
Traces 	Hakofactory	Ryo Kawakami	s-don
Ergo Sum 	Hakofactory	Ryo Kawakami	s-don
Liberator 	Hakofactory	Ippo Yamada 	s-don
Glass Paradise 	Hakofactory	Ryo Kawakami	s-don
Struggling to Dream 	Hakofactory	Ippo Yamada 	s-don
Reincarnation Fateful 	Hakofactory	Ippo Yamada 	s-don
Luxia songs:
Song Name 	Lyrics 	Composer 	Arranger
Boundless Myth 	Hakofactory	Ippo Yamada 	Coremocha
Virtue of the Dawn	Hakofactory	Ryo Yoshinaga	Coremocha
Ardent Eyes 	Hakofactory	Hiroyuki Sato	Coremocha
Celestial Paean 	Hakofactory	Ippo Yamada 	Coremocha
Unlockable returning songs:
#Beyond the Blue
#Nebulous Clock
#Azure Door
#Pain from the Past
#Scorching Journey
#Rouge Shimmer
#A Zip to the Moon
#Sakura Efflorescence
#Indigo Destiny
#Multi-Universe
#Iolite
#Vast Circle
#A Flash of Azure
#Stratosphere
===Music Videos===
Similar to Luminous Avenger iX 2, live action music videos featuring Megu Sakuragawa and 3D videos with Lumen have been released, along with a live action music video with Rico Sasaki and 3D videos with Luxia have been released, all with official English translations of the lyrics as subtitles. The stage in Lumen's 3D music videos is based on the one in the anime.
====Lumen Music Videos====
====Luxia Music Videos====
==DLC==
=== DLC Pack 1 ===
Released August 11th (NA/PAL) and 8/12 (JP/Asia), this pack adds new Skill Image Pulses for Ghauri and Stratos, as well as 4 new Passive Image Pulses, all of which will be added to the drop pool of various stages. The pack was free until August 24th (NA/PAL) and August 25th (JP/Asia), after which it went on sale for the equivalent of $1.99.
=== DLC Pack 2 ===
Released September 2nd in all regions, this pack adds new Skill Image Pulses for Elise and Asroc, as well as new 3 Passive Image Pulses, all of which will be added to the drop pool of various stages. The pack was free until September 15th, after which it went on sale for the equivalent of ¥200/$1.99.
=== DLC Pack 3 ===
Released September 30th in all regions, this pack adds new Skill Image Pulses for Teseo and Merak, as well as new 3 Passive Image Pulses, all of which will be added to the drop pool of various stages. The pack was free until October 13th, after which it went on sale for the equivalent of ¥200/$1.99.
=== DLC Pack 4 ===
Released November 11th in all regions, this pack adds new Skill Image Pulses for Nova and Desna, as well as 3 new Passive Image Pulses, all of which will be added to the drop pool of various stages. The pack was free until November 24th on Switch and Xbox, after which it went on sale for the equivalent of ¥200/$1.99. The Steam release of the pack did not have a free period.
=== DLC Pack 5 ===
Released November 24th in all regions, except on Switch in Europe which will be December 26th. This pack adds new Skill Image Pulses for Carrera, Gibril, and Milas, as well as 4 new Passive Image Pulses, all of which will be added to the drop pool of various stages. The pack will be free until December 24th on Switch and Xbox (until January 8th on Switch in Europe), after which it will go on sale for the equivalent of ¥200/$1.99. The Steam release of the pack did not have a free period.
== Development and Promotion==
===Overview===
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 was developed using Inti Creates' Imperial Engine.INTI CREATES 25th Anniversary Special! - Hangin' at Inti HQ 5/11/2021 (44:56) With initial development beginning in 2018 and concluding in 2022, Gunvolt 3 had the longest development time of any Gunvolt or spinoff/spinout title. By the end of April 2022 its budget was the highest of any title by Inti Creates, although it wasn't AAA level.April 29th 2022 Gamer.ne.jp interview with Aizu, Tsuda, and Inafune (English translation) Although it was never officially said, when GV3 began full development and was announced in 2020 the goal was to release it in 2021, the 25th anniversary year of Inti Creates' founding.Aizu's 2020 new year comment on Gamespark. The then unannounced Gunvolt 3 was not outright named, but instead referred to as the "flagship title."Luminous Avenger iX 2 Soundtrack notes
While Yoshihisa Tsuda was the director for the majority of the game's development and remains credited as such on the official website, Hiroki Miyazawa was ultimately listed as director in the game's credits roll. Miyazawa was originally brought on the team as action director to help only with the stagnant gameplay development, which would free up Tsuda to focus on other aspects like worldbuilding and character settings, but in the credits roll Miyazawa is also listed as one of the writers alongside series newcomer Nobuo Yoshimoto (who co-wrote Blaster Master Zero 3). Between Tsuda, series scenario writer Toshiaki Tai, Miyazawa, and Yoshimoto, Gunvolt 3 had more writers than any other game in the series. Unlike all the other Gunvolt and Luminous Avenger iX games with voice acting, Tai did not co-direct the Japanese voice acting. Instead Yoshimoto took the roll.
The "Gibs" part of the Japanese title, which Kirin's Japanese Septima name also shares, is a made up term that came after Tsuda brought in the concept from the kanji which means "Chain Rings." He wanted a name that would be Gunvolt-like and chose Gibs out of several titles that came to mind.May 2022 GameWatch Interview with Aizu, Tsuda, and Inafune (English translation) Miyazawa was unaware of the name's meaning over a year after joining development.Gunvolt News Channel Episode 40
Contrary to common fan belief it was not the story development which made the game take so long to come out. It was the gameplay instead.August 2019 Gamespark interview with Aizu (English translation) Specifically, it was uncertainty over Kirin's original gameplay concept that caused development to drag on for years. This led to the development of the spinout game Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX with Tai as director to try to buy time for Tsuda to come up with ideas, full development of GV3 beginning and it being publicly announced to try to stimulate the stuck team, the sudden development of Luminous Avenger iX 2 when GV3 was still seeing no progress and was delayed to be rethought, and finally the appointment of Miyazawa as action director.
In the months before the game's release, Inti Creates had an extreme policy of story secrecy. Elements such as the several decade timeskip, Primal Dragons and Dragon Radiation, and GV and Kirin forming the Bureau of Dragon Saviors and recruiting the first four bosses were never revealed on the official website or in press releases, although tidbits did slip through via other sources like stage demos. This was done because the mainline series' genre is "Light Novel 2D Action" and the story is one of the main elements, so they wanted to limit exposure.Dengeki Online interview with Aizu, Tsuda, and Inafune (English translation) Additionally, Tsuda ordered that the existence of Layla/Luxia be completely hidden to surprise players,1st tweet by Aizu about Luxia although Luxia was featured prominently on a store bonus image. Aizu was not aware that Luxia is never named in the main game.2nd tweet by about Luxia (In fact, even the soundtrack and pre-update game credits only list her as "The Djinn"/"Cyberjinn").
Unlike all other main Gunvolt and iX games, series illustrator Yoshitaka Hatakeyama had little involvement with character design this time.Tweet by @chingis_khanzo This left design work to Munehiro Araki and the younger artist Yusuke Ootsu.Dengeki Online interview with character designer Araki Munehiro Like Gunvolt 1 and GV2, all of the staff had input on character design. It also appears that unlike in other games, Hatakeyama did not draw any of the cutscene images, as their style resembles that of Gal*Gun director and artist Masanori Ito, who is listed in the credits as an illustrator.
According to concept art notes, the main theme of GV3 boss characters is Tarot cards, with the four Dragon Saviors also having specific dragon motifs and the ATEMS Knights also having a four elemental spirits motif. The designs of the Dragon Saviors' primal dragon states were intended to be distinct from past boss characters to reflect their status as out of control monsters. Araki tried to avoid any major conceptual changes so that it would fit the "near future sci-fi" category and feel like a continuation of the previous games' world, but also felt that with the long gap between releases and the development of the iX series in the meantime that just going with the flow from GV2 wouldn't be best, so he took Kirin's Japanese image and scattered elements of it throughout the setting. Kirin and ZedΩ continue the theme of playable characters having a Four (Five) Beasts motif--Kirin represents the Yellow Dragon of the Center, which is replaced by a kirin/qilin in some systems, while ZedΩ represents the Vermilion Bird of the South.
=== Conceptualization and Early Development===
Following the completion of Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, Tsuda was left with a strong feeling that he wouldn't be able to top it, and that he'd already essentially made Gunvolt 3. Although Inti Creates CEO Takuya Aizu hoped they could make a trilogy when the series began, everything intended for Gunvolt 3 had wholly been poured into Gunvolt 2, with the original ideas they had for Gunvolt 2 vanishing somewhere. Tsuda didn't have any idea about how they'd proceed from there and was at a loss when asked "What will you do next?"
At the time of the release of Gunvolt 2, in an interview Tsuda expressed that due to believing the story of GV2 to be beautifully put together, if he made a sequel he might set it in a totally different world, and that 300 years in the future would be best, although he admitted everyone else was cold whenever he spoke of the idea. Sound director Ippo Yamada questioned if there would even be a "GV" in "3". When asked if there was anything he couldn't achieve with Gunvolt 2 that he'd like to do with GV3, Tsuda stated he'd like to reconsider the original GV2 idea of three playable characters, which was proposed and deemed impossible before GV2 development began.Inside-Games interview, part 5
The earliest conception of what would become Kirin was during development of the Nintendo Switch version of the Striker Pack. Tsuda wasn't satisfied with just bundling the games together again, and wanted to include a new melee focused playable character, a sword wielding girl, in the pack's version of Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 alongside Gunvolt and Copen as a bonus for those who'd already played the games. Due to scheduling and many other reasons, this did not happen. Tsuda can't recall if the name Kirin had been chosen yet, and Aizu believes it was still undecided at the time. Kirin being a girl was already decided by Tsuda when the Striker Pack proposal was made, as he believed adding another boy would make it unbalanced. In particular, he wanted to add more Japanese elements to the series and had the idea of a battling miko (Japanese shrine maiden). He supposes that's the biggest reason for Kirin being a girl.
The reason Gunvolt was made extremely powerful is because after the release of Gunvolt 2, there were opinions online that Copen was stronger than him. This concerned Tsuda, and he set out to reassert Gunvolt's strength and show he's stronger than Copen through things like the Voltaic Arts. Aizu noted that although it's not good to let such online views influence a developer too much, the perception of Copen being stronger than Gunvolt, who is supposed to be the strongest Adept, was something that undermined the story's setting. This did lead to concerns that players would be unmotivated to use Kirin, so balancing them became an important point during development. Some of Gunvolt's story concepts borrow from past ideas. His affiliation with Sumeragi and the 1000 Glaives are similar in some ways to the original plot of Gunvolt 2, where Gunvolt was to be the game's villain after becoming the new top dog at Sumeragi, would transform with 1000 Glaives in the final battle, and be unlocked as a playable character after clearing the story. His new state has also fulfilled an early series concept discussed in the Armed Blue: Gunvolt Complete Works, where as a homage to the manga Locke the Superman (which heavily inspired the series to begin with) they considered making a story where Gunvolt would eventually become the ultimate superman, unaging and undying, just as Locke does.
Gunvolt 3 officially began development in 2018, when Aizu told Tsuda "I wish we began to make it already." The scrapped Striker Pack concept was used, and with a small team Tsuda began working on it, but ran into heaps of issues actually trying to make it work in-game. The basis for Kirin's gameplay, "weaken foes with talismans and cut them down", was present from the very beginning, and lead to them getting stuck in a long period of uncertainty as they couldn't figure out how to make it interesting or come up with a proper use for the talismans in relation to the sword. They remade it countless times with sleepless nights. Something would be made, "This won't do", and the cycle repeated many times. When development began Aizu asked Keiji Inafune to again be the game's supervisor, but as the action had yet to be solidified, they were unable to show him anything. Inafune was told "We'll do it!" by them, but due to the long time before a follow-up he did once wonder if it had been cancelled.
Development of Gunvolt 3 was publicly discussed in May 2018 in a Bitsummit interview with Aizu. Admitting he might be scolded for saying it, he claimed Tsuda was having a difficult time with GV3. Knowing they couldn't keep fans waiting forever, and stating it would be hard to have someone else make a main series game, the decision was made to develop the spinoff Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX, directed instead by series writer Toshiaki Tai, in order to tide fans over and give Tsuda more time to come up with ideas.May 2018 Gamespark interview with Takuya Aizu (English translation)Inti Creates panel at Anime Expo 2019 In a later interview, Aizu stated that he honestly believes that Tsuda is the only member with the experience and recognition to coordinate the top names in each section of Inti Creates who are involved in the development of Gunvolt.
In the Armed Blue: Gunvolt Complete Works staff interview, released in June 2018, Tsuda, Tai, and Aizu discussed the potential conceptualization of GV3. Tsuda revealed that development of the two protagonists game Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 had left staff almost dead from exhaustion and feeling that they'd overdone it, and Aizu mentioned they'd discussed going back to single protagonist games. Tsuda remarked that thinking inversely, they even considered having a 5 protagonists game, with Aizu laughing and asking him if it was really okay to say that, since people would take him literally. Tai stated that it was a struggle; making Gunvolt 3 would require overcoming the hurdle of GV2.
In a June 2019 interview, with a laugh Aizu stated that at the time Tsuda wasn't working on anything, and that it seemed it would take a while for another entry in the main series to come.June 2019 Gamespark interview with Aizu In an August 2019 interview, Aizu stated that Tsuda was steadily coming up with ideas, but still wanted more time and refused the assembly of a development team yet. Aizu revealed that despite common fan conceptions, the progression of the story after the end of Gunvolt 2 was not the problem. It was the gameplay that was holding back full-scale development, as Tsuda wanted to devise a new way to reinvent the series' formula, uncomfortable with simply reusing the same system with different stages and bosses.
On November 22nd, 2019, Aizu visited a shrine dedicated to Raijin and prayed for Tsuda to be able to make Gunvolt 3.Tweet by Aizu about his shrine visit. In his end of 2019 comments to 4Gamer.net, Aizu stated he would be rubbing the vice president's (Tsuda's) shoulders so that a title of the company's flagship series (Gunvolt) would start to move.4Gamer annual project, a collection of comments from celebrities in the game industry. 157 people look back on 2019 and their thoughts on 2020. (Takuya Aizu section) (English translation of Aizu section) When looking back on development, Aizu believes that by Christmas 2019 they didn't even have any ideas yet.October 2020 Nintendo Everything interview with Aizu
=== 2020 ===
Eventually, production would begin sometime in early 2020.Gematsu press release Kirin's character design was finalized by March 30th, 2020 and was one of several different designs. Other concept art dates the finalization of Gunvolt's design to March 14th, with BB and Shiron's human designs largely being finished by May 13th. BB was the first boss character to be designed.March 2021 gameplay stream Soundtrack development began in the first half of 2020, occurring alongside work on Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2.
It seems that during the character designing phase, the several decade timeskip may not have been decided on yet. Early design concept art notes for Grazie (who was originally imagined as a male character) proposed the idea of her meeting Tenjian when she was about 5 years old, based on the thematic similarity of her gnome motif to his Snow White (ie seven dwarves) motif.
Prior to announcement, the team was finally able to hand Inafune a ROM with what they'd done so far so he could begin supervising, and Inafune noted that Tsuda did not seem confident. Checking the ROM, he saw its contents were full of hesitation and uncertainty, thought "This is it?" and was pretty blunt with them. Looking back on this, Aizu believes they'd wandered aimlessly for a long time.
Close to 2 years after development had started, Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 was officially announced with a teaser trailer on June 27th, 2020 on stream at Bitsummit Gaiden, as is series tradition. This trailer featured an early version of the main song Memoria of 'He', and showed several gameplay elements omitted from the final game, such as Kirin's tags leaving enemies in a dazed state, her being able to tag all enemies on screen at once, and the emission of an electric attack from an empty space behind her (presumably Gunvolt in dog form who didn't have a sprite yet). A Japanese article also described Kirin's sword as being able to parry optical weapons.4gamer article about the game's announcement Although the announcement was meant to serve as stimulus for the development team who were still stuck, hesitation continued.
On October 20th that year, in-development glimpses were shown, including part of BB's boss battle and some stages, in an Inti Creates livestream about several games.Inti Creates October 2020 live-stream On that same day, they announced that they would showcase a public demo of GV3 on November 29th. On November 12th, Inti Creates posted a image on Twitter showcasing Kirin in a different pose.
On November 29th at the Digi Games Expo, the demo featured parts of the missions Holy Night XIII (Downtown Christmas), then only referred to as Winter Christmas, and the Trick Shot (Abandoned Factory) stage. BB and Cayman were the respective bosses, and while BB's battle mostly resembled the final version, Cayman's was missing attacks such as his SP skill Duelist Dimension. The demo did not have any dialog or voice acting. Nothing beyond gameplay was revealed about BB or Cayman. Purportedly, the game was said to only be 5% complete. On December 25, 2020, Inti Creates had its new year stream, with small segments showing the Abandoned Factory and Downtown Christmas. On December 28, 4gamer.net published an article showing the screenshots of the GV3 demo, including the cut-in art of BB's SP skill.
The sound team spent most of the second half of 2020 focused on the game with the expectation that it would be released in 2021, when about half a year after its announcement the decision was made to rethink GV3 and development of Luminous Avenger iX 2 suddenly began. Development of iX2 began at the behest of Aizu when Tai was working on the plot, user interface, and other aspects of GV3 in a slow and methodical way. Late 2020 to early 2021 saw the recording of the planned for Lumen songs, along with work on Lola's new songs for iX2.
=== 2021 ===
As the producer, Aizu expressed concern over all the aspects Tsuda had to oversee as the director, and how things other than gameplay action couldn't progress with them fixated on it. After talking with Tsuda about the matter, it was agreed to bring in an additional director who would focus on the action only. Aizu wanted to appoint Hiroki Miyazawa, the director of the Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon series, and with Tsuda's approval decided on him. Aizu was nervous and worried that Miyazawa might not fit the role, or would tell him to pick someone else, but he was incorporated and gained the approval of others like Inafune. Although Miyazawa being brought onboard was a good thing, it didn't solve all existing issues, and brought a new period of trial and error. Tsuda can't forget how the first thing Miyazawa said to him was "This is a mess, sir." Seeing how things ended up consistent afterwards, he believes that Miyazawa did an amazing job.
On March 4th at the New Game Plus Expo, Gunvolt 3 was given a 2022 release date, Miyazawa's appointment as Action Director was publicly announced, the demo from the previous November was played on stream, and a development update video was released. According to Aizu, at this time they were still wandering in the darkness.
Young, avid programmers were also appointed to handle programming of the playable characters. Each day they had a "man to man" with Miyazawa changing the programming. Every 3 days or even less there was a new playable character. Sometimes the character's movements would be changed several times in a single day before it would be shown to Inafune for supervision.
At some point after this during Summer, Kirin's Warp Slash/Arc Chain technique was conceived. Until then, all things lacked consistency. Each action was standalone and it was hard to find the “what’s fun about it?” part, which Inafune compared to simply lining up ingredients and telling someone to eat. The Arc Chain's introduction was when they finally felt "We might make it."
At Bitsummit 2021 on September 1st, another gameplay update discussing the finalization of Kirin's gameplay design was released, introducing then tentatively named Warp Slash, Kirin's technique that allows her to warp to enemies that are tagged and strike them. Inafune estimated that at the continued pace of work on the game, it would be ready for release by Summer 2022. Additionally, they revealed a new game in production following the announcement, Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2. According to Tsuda, GV3 was around 60% complete at this point and the movements weren't good enough yet.
Between September and October, the company shifted into "Gunvolt" as the whole business became focused on it.
On 2021/11/14, Inti Creates returned to the Digi Games Expo with a new demo of GV3, with the Holy Night XIII mission and a number of new elements. Below is a compiled list of additions based on reports from those who attended the event.
*Live Novel (stage dialogue) is back. No voices due to it only being a demo. In it GV serves as Kirin's mission control. Lots of jokes dialogue and meta stuff, such as the B.B. declaring that it's the end of Christmas and telling couples to go home.
**Because of that the demo probably won't be shown elsewhere.
*The Japanese name of the trailer song, Memoria of 'He', was revealed. (At the time it was translated by fans into English as "His Memories.")
*The raiju is the source of the electric attacks. (As only GV's human portrait was used in the demo, his raiju form was not interpreted as talking.)
*When hit, Kudos are locked based on the amount of damage received (-20 displays, get that many kudos, it unlocks). Retry markers don't turn Kudos into score (doesn't unlock the lock either).
*After Kirin warps and slashes, you can 1 mid-air jump.
*There are lanterns like the ones in Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon.
*Kirin can throw up to 7 seals. Afterward icons on the bottom remain static until you beat foes. Seals can be shot upwards. Seals can be restored with reloading.
*Controls:
**B jump
**Y, throw seals
**R, sword
**L+R or A, electrical attacks
**X button not usable in this demo
*Kirin's UI was upgraded.
*BB has a special entrance animation coming down from the house's roof.
===2022===
====Pre-release====
On February 26th, Aizu tweeted about working on a trailer and Tsuda being happy.February 26th tweet by Aizu
On March 9th, the Gunvolt News Channel Episode 38 stream ended with a teaser for the next March 23rd Luminous Avenger iX 2 info stream, showing Kirin's art and revealing that her voice actress is Yū Sasahara. On March 18th, Aizu tweeted about planning something big for April Fools, and the following day apologized in case they don't make it in time.March 18th and 19th Aizu tweets On March 23rd, the Gunvolt News Channel Episode 39 stream confirmed Kirin being the 5th DLC of iX 2, and that Episode 40 on April 6th would be the first GV3 stream.
On March 31st, the premier trailer for Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 was shown at the New Game Plus Expo 2022, confirming a release date of July 28th and revealing new gameplay and story details. Coinciding with it being April 1st in Japan, the trailer's dialogue also included BB's line about cancelling Christmas and an out of context line from Apollo about paperwork procedures. Pre-orders for the Japanese physical and limited editions became available. Aizu tweeted about the announcement, commenting that it was hard making it in time for April 1st. He replied to a number of users, revealing that any DLC would be up to Tsuda, and with there being work on porting the game to other platforms after the Nintendo Switch release, they'd have to decide their priorities.April 1st tweets by Aizu.
On or prior to April 5th, it was discovered that Japanese site product pages for GV3 had an expanded version of the official site's Story Mode+ (stage dialogue) description. The expanded version featured a short description of ZedΩ alongside Kirin and Gunvolt, and had a longer cast list revealing both his voice actor and the names and VAs of BB, Cayman, Shiron, and Apollo.
On April 6th, the Gunvolt News Channel Episode 40 stream aired and showed some new gameplay. On April 20th, the Episode 41 stream revealed lore details about Sumeragi, Shadow Yakumo, and Binding Brands, and showed more gameplay of Abandoned Factory stage, revealing ATEMS grunts but not revealing what they are. The stream officially debuted the main song Memoria of 'He' with a music video and production photos. The music video teased the characters BB, Shiron, Cayman, and Apollo, with actors cosplaying as them making brief appearances. The stream concluded with a teaser for BB's, set to air on May 11th.
On April 11, in response to a tweet wondering if the Image Pulse system would see the sprite debuts of past characters who didn't have any, Aizu replied "If Mr. Tsuda cared about cost performance, life would be easier for me... You can infer the rest." Not long after, Aizu said "He recently scolded me for tweeting uncalled for stuff, yet I did it again. (I didn't learn at all)"1st and 2nd April 11th tweets by Aizu
On April 27th, a leaflet distributed to stores alongside other promotional material was leaked. Its information essentially confirmed that not only are BB, Shiron, Cayman, and Apollo the masked bosses, but they're all spared and become allies.
On May 7th it was revealed that free updates and paid DLC were planned, but no details had been decided yet. On May 11th, the Episode 42 stream formally debuted BB and the song Traces. All released information kept BB being spared a secret. On May 18th, Episode 43 debuted Cayman, revealed more information about the Image Pulse system, and similarly kept him being spared a secret. On May 28th, a demo event was held at Trader Akihabara 2nd store, with the previously leaked leaflet being distributed to visitors.
On June 1st, Episode 44 debuted Shiron and the song Ergo Sum. On June 15th, Episode 45 debuted Apollo, and concluded with a small preview of an entirely new character, Serpentine. In both streams, the conclusion of the boss battle was again not shown. On June 25th, a demo event was held at the Gamers Namba store. On June 29th, Episode 46 debuted Serpentine, the enemy faction ATEMS, the song Liberator, and Xbox ports of GV3, GV2, and GV1. While the stream concluded with a preview for another ATEMS member, Grazie, a few days later her voice actor became sick, and a week ahead of the stream it was announced that her appearance and Grazie's debut were pushed back to a later date, with the July 13th stream being changed to debut Sistina without guest VA instead. Episodes 47 and 48 debuted Sistina and Grazie on July 13th and the 27th.
On July 28th, Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 was finally released worldwide.
====Post-release====
On July 30th a public demo event was held at the Bic Camera Nagoya Station West Store. Aizu was going to attend it like other events, but cancelled his plans that day while citing being busy with office work as the reason he couldn't go.July 30th tweet by Aizu
On August 10th, Episode 49 debuted Prado and revealed the first Image Pulse DLC pack and its release dates. On August 24th, Episode 50 showcased new Skill Image Pulses for Elise and Asroc (4 each), and 3 new Passive Image Pulses. They also revealed that for the 1.1.0 free update, there will be two new features; XX Trigger and D-nizer mode.
* XX Trigger is unlocked for the main game after clearing the True Ending at least once. This mode gives Kirin a new outfit and alternate moveset based off her attacks as a DLC boss in LAiX2, including her Special Skill from that fight. XX Trigger disables Passive Image Pulses while in use.
* "D-nizer Mode" is unlocked by clearing at least 3 stages with SS Rank. It is a Gunvolt-centric challenge mode where players are asked to use only Special GV to clear stages (Kirin is unavailable). Under certain conditions, the player can activate Anthem, dubbed "D-nize" in this mode. It offers the same power as Anthem in the main game, but gradually fills up a "G-counter" in the corner, which prematurely ends the game once the counter hits 100%. The mode seems to keep track of high score, clear time, and G-counter of successful runs. Playing D-nizer Mode earns credits that can be spent on equipment for enhancing runs.
On September 8th, Episode 51 guest starred Rico Sasaki, the voice actor for Layla/Luxia. The music video for Boundless Myth was premiered, though no information was given regarding when the video would be released. The release date for the PS4/5 versions of Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 were confirmed for December 15, 2022, with a physical limited edition containing special goods based on which retailer the bundle was purchased from, the majority of which prominently features ATEMS.
Inti Creates participated in the TGS 2022 expo (September 15-18) with their own booth and events. The booth featured an in-development preview from the upcoming Epilogue ATEMS, showcasing one of the levels (Megafloat "Neptune") and ZedΩ's gameplay, which seems to be a mix of both Kirin's and Gunvolt's, being able to tag enemies and barrage them with fiery birds, slash them with a flaming sword, or warp-slash them similar to Arc Chain. The Special Skills demonstrated are all based off his attacks as a boss. It also showed that Luxia will follow Zed similar to Lumen, singing songs when the Kudos counter reaches certain milestones and reviving Zed when his HP runs out, much like Anthem. While there was a 10-minute countdown on the upper center of the screen, it is currently unknown if this is going to be an element in the full release. Both the day 1 and day 2 events concluded with the LUXAIR LIVE concert premiering a number of songs sung by Luxia.
On September 21st, Episode 52 guest starred Tomonori Ishihara, the voice actor for Teseo. 4 new Skill Image Pulses were shown for both Teseo and Merak, alongside 3 new Passive Image Pulses. As part of the 1.2.0 update, Teseo and Merak will be added to the game as a hidden boss fight in Sunrise Palace. Trial Mode will be added, appearing on the main menu after the unlock condition for D-nizer Mode is fulfilled. High score and clear times will be recorded similar to the Speedrun and Runner Modes of previous games, but there is currently no confirmation on whether this mode will have online leaderboards.
On October 5th, Episode 53 guest starred Yuta Kasuya, the voice actor for Merak. It showcased the hidden boss fight with Merak and Teseo in Sunrise Palace 2 on Normal Mode. A demo of the game allowing people to play up to Holy Night XIII will be added to Steam as a part of the platform's Next Festival promotion, with the game itself slated for full Steam release October 13th. The final highlight of the broadcast was the announcement for the Gunvolt 3 Halloween character poll, where the winner will be made the spotlight character for 2022's Halloween wallpaper.
On October 19th, Episode 54 featured new content from the upcoming 1.3.0 free update, including an extra boss battle in the form of "The Third Revenger" Nova, which is accessible by fighting Moebius while a certain Image Pulse is equipped. The update will also include an extension to the true ending, while the original ending sequence can be viewed by clearing World Moebius while the "GV?" Image Pulse is equipped. The final piece of new content was the premiere of the music video for one of Luxia's new songs, Virtue of the Dawn.
On November 2nd, Episode 55 guest starred Koji Kawakami, the voice actor for Viper. The primary new content highlights elaborated on details for the "Third Revenger" Nova hidden boss, as well as a trailer for DLC Pack 4. Further details were given on the digital release of Gunvolt 3 for PS4/5, alongside a PS4-only limited physical edition containing extra items and pre-order bonuses.
On November 16th, Episode 56 guest starred Masashi Yukita, the voice actor for Asimov. Before the guest star was revealed, a trailer was shown revealing that Asimov will be added to the game as a hidden boss under the codename "The New World Order" as part of tomorrow's 1.4.0 free update. The boss fight itself is accessible by fighting Moebius while a certain Image Pulse is equipped. Beyond the usual promotions, the last piece of content was the music video for Luxia's new song, Ardent Eyes.
On November 30th, Episode 57 guest starred Maya Enoyoshi, the voice actor for Gibril. Aside from showcasing the new Image Pulses released with DLC Pack 5, none of the content, from the Ergo Sum music video to the promotions for ASG3 on other platforms, was different from previous broadcasts.
On December 14th, Episode 58 promoted the upcoming 2.0.0 update, which would include the long-awaited Epilogue ATEMS gameplay mode. The broadcast showcased the mode, which has its own saves separate from the main game, and a brief portion of the mode's version of the Holy Night XIII stage.
On December 28th, Episode 59 warned of some issues, as physical copies of the Playstation 4 version of the game could not be upgraded to/played on Playstation 5. The episode itself was a review of the update roadmap for the game, as well as promoting the game being ported to other platforms, while Gunvolt 1 and 2 would also be ported to other platforms as a Striker Pack bundle.
=== 2023 ===
On January 11th, the 60th and final episode of Gunvolt News is slated to premiere, guest-starring Rico Sasaki (voice of Layla/Luxia) and Shun Horie (voice of ZedΩ)
===Localization===
As Matt Papa had already begun working on Gunvolt 3 prior to leaving Inti Creates to work at Limited Run Games following the release of iX2, it was arranged for him to continue translating the game as Localization Director alongside Andrew Singleton.Tweet by Matt Papa
On May 17th, following fan speculation due to the English premier trailer not listing voice actors and B.B.'s site profile specifying "Japanese VA", it was confirmed that GV3 would receive a full English dub, making it the first mainline title with one. Like iX2 the game has both English and Japanese audio settings. Both Matt and Lumen's English VA Diana Garnet voice directed the dub of iX2, but only Diana voice directed the GV3 dub while Matt was one of the supervisors. According to Gunvolt's English VA Sean Chiplock, his work required two sessions that were 3 and 2 hours long respectively, with a payment of $2000 total. At $400 per hour, this was significantly above the standard rate of $250 per hour.Tweet by Sean Chiplock about recording (archived)
Diana was interested in localizing the game's songs,Tweet 1 by Diana GarnetTweet 2 by Diana Garnet but this never happened. When Layla/Luxia's English VA Michaela Laws tweeted about the role, one of her tweets mentioned singing.Tweet by Michaela Laws about role A few weeks prior, she tweeted about an audition that required singing an idol song.Tweet by Michaela Laws about an audition
After the initial game's release, no English dub was available for update campaign bosses or Image Pulse DLC packs due to issues with production schedule.IntiCreatesEN tweet about post-release dub voices English voices were later added with the version 1.4.0 update on November 17th.
In the initial website update and press release, Glaives were renamed to Binding Blades without explanation. The April 20th update changed the name back to Glaives.
===Ports to Other Platforms===
Originally GV3 was only announced for the Nintendo Switch. Following the release of the premier trailer, in response to a question on Twitter about potential DLC for the game, Inti Creates CEO Takuya Aizu replied that that is up to the director Tsuda, and that after the Nintendo Switch release they'll be working on porting the game to other platforms.Tweet regarding DLC and ports by Aizu In later interviews Aizu confirmed his intention to port the game to other platforms such as Steam and Playstation 4 at a later date once the Switch version is done.
On June 29th, an Xbox series port of GV3 was announced for August 2nd, with ports of GV1 and GV2 also coming to it ahead of the date.
On July 20th, a Steam port of GV3 was announced for Winter 2022. On October 5th this release date was revised, and the game was released on October 13th. The port came with an expanded version of the story's true ending, and the first three DLC Image Pulse packs were free for a limited time. Similar to the initial Steam release of Luminous Avenger iX 2, Gunvolt 3 did not have regional pricing, leading to a large number of complaints on the Steam community forums and in user reviews about the game being unreasonably expensive in certain regions. Unlike with iX2, Inti Creates remained committed to the prices, citing price consistency across different platforms as a major concern.Inti Creates post on the Steam forums regarding regional prices The temporarily free DLC campaign on other platforms did not apply to Steam beyond the initial three packs, with Inti Creates posting an apology and explanation on the community forum.Inti Creates post on the Steam forums regarding the DLC campaign
==Physical and Limited Editions==
A Japanese standard and limited edition physical version for Nintendo Switch was announced with the March 30th trailer and preorders opened the following day, with the release date being the same as the digital version. A variety of promotional illustrations come bundled with pre-ordered versions depending on the retailer.
The Japanese limited edition comes with the following items:
*Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 Fullcolor Settings Document Collection. Story material book with designs from the game. Contains spoiler content, so checking it before clearing the game is not advised.4gamer.net article about the limited edition
*Soundtrack CD (2 disks) containing the entire BGM of the game.
*"Pupvolt" (わんボルト) 50×50mm acrylic keychain.
Limited Run Games will be releasing a standard physical and collector's edition as well, with identical bonus items. Pre-orders began on May 17th and will close on June 19th. It will take 4-5 months for the standard and 8-9 months for the collector's edition to ship.Limited Run Games Gunvolt 3 standard version pageLimited Run Games Gunvolt 3 collector's edition page
==Trailers and other footage==
===English Trailers===
===Japanese Trailers===
===Update and DLC Trailers===
===Development Updates===
===Demo Gameplay Footage===
==Cut Content==
*The collaboration with the Gemdrops game COGEN: Sword of Rewind in Luminous Avenger iX 2, which resulted in Kohaku Otori becoming an iX2 DLC boss and Copen becoming a DLC playable character in COGEN, was originally meant to be with Gunvolt 3 instead--this was based on Kohaku Otori and Kirin both being sword wielding heroines. The planned collaboration ran into difficulties and was shifted to iX2 due to delays in Gunvolt 3 development.Denfamico interview with Gemdrops staff, part 2
*Gibril and Carrera were planned to be added as dual bosses, but didn't make the cut. Their Image Pulse quotes reference this. All the DLC Image Pulse pack characters were considered for potential tag battles, but for several reasons only Merak and Teseo were implemented.Gunvolt News Channel Episode 57 (Japanese)
*A blank stage select icon with "St11" scribbled in purple on it can be found on the stage select graphics sheet. The save file stage icon sheet similarly has a white icon with a black X scribbled on it. Internal mission lists for Kirin and GV skip from MissionNoSt10 to MissionNoSt12, and data for mission intro poems skips from 10 to 12. Modifying the game to force St11 data to be shown in stage select reveals the name Prism Highway (or the stage's Japanese name Highway (ハイウェイ) in Japanese language mode), and the icon for the Zonda/Tenjian VS Mission (the icon itself is 11th on the graphics sheet, but that VS Mission stage is 26th in the files). Whether or not this means the stage was intended to be revisited is unknown, and there is some speculation that rather than cut content, St11 may have just been used for importing and testing old stage data in the game's new engine since Prism Highway has special lighting effects. 
*In the announcement trailer, a quadrupedal variant of the Plasma Legion appeared as a medium boss at the end of the first half of Holy Night XIII (Downtown Christmas). Later game footage showed it in a slightly different position and with improved joints connecting its legs and feet. The Plasma Legion was absent from the 2020 demo of the stage, and despite continuing to appear in advertisements for some time afterwards it ultimately did not appear in the final game. The only remnant of its existence is a blue drone common enemy possessing an attack extremely similar to the one seen in the trailer.
**In the game's exe file, the Recreation Room, Hornet, and Aspis appear to be designated MBS02, MBS03, and MBS04 respectively, but there is no data for "MBS01" aside from a single mention on a list of enemies. 
*Many of Kirin's gameplay mechanics shown in early trailers and demos were dropped. These included: Talismans putting enemies in a dazed state when fully applied, her being able to automatically tag all enemies on screen at once, parrying energy attacks and each consecutive parry having a different animation, and making Gunvolt in his dog form electrocute enemies tagged with her talismans. Dogvolt's electric attacks were reported to be in the game as late as the November 2021 demo.
*As seen in the premier trailer, it was once the case that when Arc Unleash was used in mid-air, Gunvolt would inherit Kirin's Chain bonus and maintain it even on the ground, which would give him higher scoring potential than her. Although this feature was alluded to in the Gamer.ne.jp interview by director Tsuda on April 29th, just a few weeks later the dub trailer showed that it had been removed.
*The opening cutscene image of Kirin overlooking the Futures Institute has an unused cut-in of her face.
*In the announcement trailer, GV uses his old dash animation.
*The profile cards beneath Sumeragi and ATEMS character profiles on loading screens differ from the ones used for the characters. The concealed Sumeragi one has a date and time starting with 20XX in place of a character stat pentagon and rank insignia, while the concealed ATEMS one has "TOP SECRET" instead of "WARNING" and lacks the stat pentagon.
Gallery:
ASG3 Gameplay 3.jpg|The Plasma Legion's original appearance.
Gv3 plasma legion new screenshot.jpg|The Plasma Legion's updated appearance.
Gunvolt 3 GV kudos chain bonus.jpg|GV getting a Chain multiplied Kudos bonus.
GV3 stage select icons.png|Version 1.2.0 stage select sheet, showing St11.
GV3 save-load menu.png|Save file icon sheet, showing the white icon with an X on it.
GV3 opening cutscene.png|Opening cutscene.
Sumeragi blank under profile card.png|Hidden Sumeragi blank profile
ATEMS blank under profile card.png|Hidden ATEMS blank profile
==Character Ranking Poll==
Like most Gunvolt and iX games, a character ranking poll for Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 was held by Inti Creates' Twitter accounts in the October following release to determine placements on a promotional Halloween wallpaper by series illustrator Yoshitaka Hatakeyama. Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English votes were counted separately using their own hashtags. Like the Striker Pack and iX1 polls, only the top six characters got on the wallpaper, and like iX1 only certain characters were listed as eligible. The English account did keep track of votes for specific ineligible characters, but they were all pooled together for the final English results, and not listed in the final combined rankings.
BB came in first place, but this occurred after poll interference--someone bought off Korean users to vote for BB, resulting in a him receiving a massive amount. During the poll Inti Creates acknowledged the problem and nullified Korean votes for BB up until that point,INTI CREATES Official tweet about poll interference but by the end of it he still received several times the number of Korean votes for other characters combined and they were counted. (It is worth noting that BB was a popular choice even outside of the Korean votes, so he would probably have been in the top six regardless of the interference.)
Along with the wallpaper's release, Hatakeyama was given permission to post several design drafts for the Luminous Avenger iX and Striker Pack Halloween wallpaper character designs,https://twitter.com/chingis_khanzo/status/1586661690493763587https://twitter.com/chingis_khanzo/status/1586662727006965760 while the drafts for the GV3 wallpaper were posted by Inti Creates' own account.https://twitter.com/GunvoltOfficial/status/1586553484718899201
Character	Costume
BB 	Grim reaper
Gunvolt 	Devil / Hunter
Kirin 	Devil
Shiron 	Little devil
Lumen 	Necromancer
Grazie 	Witch
Japanese, Chinese, and Korean votes: 722 (19 invalid), including BB ballot stuffing.GunvoltOfficial Halloween poll results tweet
English votes: 269 (24 invalid).IntiCreatesEN Halloween poll results tweet
Final rankings:IntiCreatesEN tweet about final Halloween poll results
Rank	Character 	Votes
1 	BB 	188
2 	Kirin 	164
3 	Gunvolt 	137
4 	Shiron 	71
5 	Lumen 	66
6 	Grazie 	50
7 	Apollo 	45
8 	Luxia 	40
9 	Pupvolt 	35
10 	Serpentine 	31
11 	Prado 	29
12 	ZedΩ 	27
13 	Layla 	25
14 	Cayman 	16
15 	Sistina 	14
16 	Azure Beast/Dogvolt	10
Invalid votes:https://x.com/IntiCreatesEN/status/1578610767758516225
Character 	Votes
Copen 	8
Xiao Wu 	4
Asroc 	2
Plasma Legion	1
Null 	1
Moebius 	1
Kohaku 	1
Zeno 	1
Viper 	1
Crimm 	1
Jason 	1
Other/Unknown	2
==Reception==
Administrator Notice:
This section's purpose is to give a general, descriptive overview of Gunvolt 3's reception among reviewers and fans. Please refrain from using edits to argue for or against any of the opinions documented here, or otherwise making edits that are likely to be inflammatory.
An interview with localization editor Andrew Singleton claimed reception was positive,https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/growing-the-gunvolt-franchise-through-the-lens-of-localization while in an article about the series' hiatus NoisyPixel claimed fan reception was mixed.https://noisypixel.net/azure-striker-gunvolt-series-come-to-a-close/ ShadowRockZX rated the game 9/10 as "Gunvolt Chronicles: Battle Priestess Kirin" but declined to rate it as an Azure Striker Gunvolt game due to Gunvolt's diminished role as a protagonist.Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 REVIEW (Switch) - How to Train a DragonVolt Thegamer.com rated it as #1 on their list of Gunvolt series games.https://www.thegamer.com/every-azure-strike-gunvolt-game-ranked/
Critics reacted positively to the game's new Arc Chain mechanic, the higher fidelity stage graphics in comparison to previous games in the series, character designs, vocal and stage soundtracks, and the addition of a full English dub which made Story Mode+ much easier to follow. As an equipment system, Passive Image Pulses have been positively received, although Skill Image Pulses were mostly regarded as a novelty with only minor gameplay use. At launch, the game's inability to guarantee new Image Pulses when completing missions was criticized (though this was later amended by version updates). The song playlist system was criticized compared to the simplicity of Luminous Avenger iX's jukebox system due its customizability being locked behind Image Pulses (and therefore the game's gacha-like system). Additionally, the inability to customize songs past the first two Kudos levels was criticized. The phrase "Traces Prison" emerged among players targeting high scores due the song Traces' locked status at the level three Kudos slot and its perceived repetitiveness.
The free update campaign and its new bosses were generally well-received, especially compared to the expensive DLC campaign of Luminous Avenger iX 2 earlier that year. Reception to the final update Epilogue ATEMS was fairly lukewarm due to ZedΩ only being playable in five stages.
===Story Reception===
The mainline Gunvolt series markets itself as a "Light Novel 2D Action," and as such Inti Creates' CEO and Azure Striker Gunvolt 3's producer Takuya Aizu claimed they put a lot of effort into the story.https://twitter.com/t_aizu/status/1549969220590772224 Despite this, reception of Azure Striker Gunvolt 3's narrative has ranged from mixed to overtly negative. New protagonist Kirin as well as the Dragon Saviors were positively received both as individual characters (as evidenced by the popularity poll) and as a group dynamic, while Nintendo Life listed "Story can be a bit of a mess" as one of the game's cons. KeenGamer additionally stated "very little happens in the story compared to the first two main titles."
One of the most common points of contention is that despite being extensively advertised as a true sequel and culmination (with the English site even saying "picks up where 2 left off"http://gunvolt.com/en/GV3/introduction/) the story is more of a soft-reboot for the series. Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 is set several decades after the previous mainline entry and actively refuses to follow up on any of the sequel hooks and loose ends found in Gunvolt 2. This was especially contentious among long-time fans, for whom several plot threads were left unanswered, including:
*Xiao acquiring Mytyl's Glaive and having his own plans for the world changing power of the Muse in Gunvolt 2's secret ending, which is only acknowledged by a controversial joke secret ending in Gunvolt 3.
*Copen's fate after continuing his anti-Adept crusade. Copen is only recalled once by Gunvolt as a powerful past foe who inspired some of his new moves.
*The status of the Adept rights and anti-Sumeragi resistance group QUILL. QUILL is never named in Gunvolt 3, and is only briefly mentioned by Gunvolt despite him now working for the very organization it opposed.
*The state of Adept and human relations, which is glossed over.
Thegamer.com featured an article with a list of unanswered plot points in Gunvolt 3, with "Was This Truly A Gunvolt Sequel?" at #1, and suggested the game be named "Gunvolt Chronicles The Battle Priestess" if it was meant to be a passing the torch story.https://www.thegamer.com/azure-striker-gunvolt-3-post-game-lingering-questions/
Fans have noted that Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX, an official spinoff game advertised as an independent story, had more returning characters, story connections, and thematic similarities to the first Gunvolt and Gunvolt 2 than Gunvolt 3 does. Some felt that Gunvolt 3 would have been better received if it was a spinoff, while others thought it worked as the start of a new saga but felt as though the conclusion to the previous one had been skipped over. Those familiar with Inti Creates' past works made the comparison that Gunvolt 3 was as if after Mega Man Zero 2 (which in its epilogue foreshadowed the plot in the next games) they had skipped over Zero 3 and Zero 4 directly to the Mega Man ZX series (set 200 years after the Zero series and featuring Zero as an object used by the new protagonist) and named it "Zero 3" instead.
Even as a standalone story, the plot received significant criticism. The true ending, during which Gunvolt wordlessly turns into a ball of light (which upon closer inspection is revealed to be an infant version of him) and flies off into the sky without any explanation was a point of harsh criticism. Many even claimed the bad ending, where Kirin is forced to kill Gunvolt, was a more satisfying and "better" conclusion. When Gunvolt 3 released on Steam roughly three months following the game's initial release, the true ending was altered slightly to better explain the ending's events, with the ending itself remaining roughly the same. Version updates to Gunvolt 3's console releases were released around the same time, bringing this change to them as well. It's worth noting that this kind of post-release update is unprecedented in an Inti Creates game (previous games received updates with mechanical fixes, such as Luminous Avenger iX 2's Assist Mode, rather than adjustments to story events).
Gunvolt 3 was additionally criticized for vague and/or underexplained story beats. Fans criticized several points, such as:
* Lumen's return in Gunvolt 3 being glossed over by the main cast, particularly by Gunvolt himself.
* The rushed pacing in the main story.
* Moebius' existence in general.
* Sumeragi's rehabilitated positive image despite them consistently being at fault for the crises faced in Gunvolt 3's story and it being stated they still operate human experimentation labs.
* Gunvolt receives undully harsh criticism for his past actions and current existence (particularly when compared to the game's handwaving away of Sumeragi's) from others and himself. However, some argue the Nova and Asimov update fights did somewhat alleviate this issue, at least with regards to Gunvolt himself.
==Trivia==
*GV3 sets a number of milestones for the franchise (outside of crossover spinoffs), being the first game--
**To have a female playable character.
**To have three playable characters.
**In which Copen plays no role in the storyline (only appearing as Image Pulses and mentioned briefly by GV).
**Where a group of bosses become allies.
**In which no named characters die, except in the bad ending.
**To feature multiple groups of main bosses from separate factions.
**To not have any confirmed non-Adept characters.
**In the mainline series to have both an English and Japanese dub.
**To not receive an official soundtrack release, only a promotional one.
*In Toshiaki Tai's initial draft for GV3, Corvette apparently had a bigger role than what was in the final game. It was not elaborated what this role would have been."Loose Talking, the Targets are AiTsu! #29"
*The limited edition Switch and PS4 cover artwork depicting Kirin, Gunvolt, and ZedΩ with their beast motifs is a callback to the cover art of the Armed Blue Gunvolt: Sou Soundtrack, which depicted Gunvolt with a dragon and Copen with a tiger in the exact same style.
*Given how the COGEN collab boss Kohaku Otori was switched from Gunvolt 3 to iX2, one of the endings of Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon had Zangetsu be isekai'd to a spot overlooking the Sumeragi Group building, and in GV3 Gunvolt speaks of fighting an opponent like Zangetsu in the past, it is speculated that a Zangetsu collab fight may have once been intended for GV3, and like COGEN the collab plan shifted to iX2 as GV3 was delayed, but in the end it was cancelled for some reason. The developer of Bloodstained, Artplay Inc., is listed in the iX2 credits alongside other collaboration character owning companies.
**Bloodstained and Blaster Master Zero artist Yuji Natsume made a comment on his personal Twitter account (withheld for privacy reasons) that hinted that a collaboration with Curse of the Moon and appearance by Zangetsu was planned for iX2, but he was very critical of the concept.
*It is speculated that a full soundtrack release of Gunvolt 3 may have been planned but was either cancelled or currently in production. There was an unexplained three disc product code gap between the GV3 Lumen vocal album Akashic Record (INTIR-059) and the Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon Soundtrack (INTIR-063~066). With the announcement of The Glorious Golden Rule, which is designated INTIR-060, it is possible that the INTIR-061 and INTI-R062 are the standalone soundtrack release. This would align with the limited edition promotional soundtrack having two discs.
==References==
==External Links==
*English Site
*Japanese Site
== Navigation ==
===Series Navigation===
===Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 Navigation===
Category:Games
Category:Main Series
Category:Azure Striker Gunvolt 3