Soul • Cutter: Dread Hive

Soul • Cutter: Dread Hive (魄 • カッター：恐怖のハイブ Tama • kattā: Kyōfu no Haibu), also simply known as Soul Cutter, is a japanese action role-playing game developed and published by GSS. It is to be released on The Nintendo Switch on September 21, 2018 worldwide.
== Gameplay ==
The game's progression is chapter-based and in most chapters, the player will see the story through different characters' view. The character controlled in a chapter is usually the party leader for most to the entirety of the chapter. Players can move around the field map while controlling the party leader (which may change depending on the chapter), the other members moving independently, sometimes running ahead, engaging in dialogue, or stopping to look at objects on the field and pointing things of interest out to the party leader. Other party members being far away from the leader does not affect their participation in battles that take place in a separate module. 
Global enemies (creatures etc.) appear on some maps (usually non-urban areas) and battles with them initiate only when the player comes in contact with them.
Party member customizing, saving, and more can be done in the “start menu”.
The game gives the player lots of freedom in where they can go due to the large environments and maps. When it comes to the more important cutscenes, beautifully animated CG cutscenes occur. The game’s general graphics take huge advantage of the engine and console’s power. Environments appear quite realistic and characters are well designed.
=== Character Level-Up System ===
Leveling up is done by participating in battles and gaining exp. When a character levels up, they gain a specific amount of T-Exp (or True Experience) points which can be used to upgrade weapons (if the character has any equipped) and boost stats. The characters and their used weapons do indeed gain stat increases on level up based on their base stats so T-Exp is just a little bonus. Speaking of weapons, some characters have unique and exclusive weapons to them which cannot be unequipped and equipped on any other character. The max level for every playable character is 30 or MAX.
=== Soul Drive Battle (Battle System) ===
Main article: Soul Drive Battle
The game’s battle system is real time action-based similar to that of Xenoblade Chronicles, Final Fantasy XV and the Kingdom Hearts series and there is a heavy focus on using the battle environment to the player’s advantage.
Each playable character has a specific set of unique regular attacks they can do at all times (animation, execution etc.). These moves are quite weak when compared to special moves and are linked to 3 buttons. Each button for normal attacks has a unique animation of strings (similar “3-hit combos” in Smash Bros. but most are much more than just a mere 3 hits).
Special moves, on the other hand, have a limited use. Special moves are learned by leveling up (especially the character-exclusive ones) and some (only the universal, non-character-exclusive ones) can even be bought in the form of Tarima-dotes (similar to TMs and HMs in the Pokémon series). The Soul Power gauge allows special moves to be used. It is filled up by racking up damage and taking damage. When special moves are used, a bit of the Soul Power gauge is depleted. The amount depleted is dependent on how strong the special move is. Most special moves each character learns as they level up will be same type as their Tama Type. For example, Nate mostly learns Fire Soul special attacks but he’ll also learn other Tama Type attacks, just not as often as Fire Soul attacks.
Characters also learn a special type of special move known as Soul Bursts. These are stronger than the average special move and are usually exclusive to characters and a bit more unique compared to a regular special move. Instead of using up an amount of the Soul Power gauge, the Soul Burst has it’s own gauge. It is actively charging and depending on the strength of the Soul Burst, the bar would take a longer or shorter period to recharge. Only one Soul Burst can be equipped on a character at a time.
Each playable character also has a particularly strong move they can do unique to them known as the Alleviation Drive. It can only be used when the character’s health is extremely low, but is usually rarely needed, especially during the earlier stages of the game’s story and with the presence of healing moves/items etc. Playable characters are able to be equipped with various stat enhancing equipment and such in a party menu outside of battles.
Only up to 4 party members can be in a battle at a time. The player can switch the character they control actively while the rest are AI-controlled and do actions based on both their moveset and their stats. For example, more support-based characters (like healers) will usually back off enemies and, if they have weapons or can use damaging special moves, execute hit-and-run tactics. Characters with a relatively low defense stat will try to stay away from the enemy’s attack range as much as possible while characters with high strength or speed stats will usually be the ones rushing the enemy down. The AI-controlled party member system is known as AI Correlation.
== What is Soul Cutting? ==
== Setting ==
Souledia is a planet brought into it’s place by “the Gods of Life and Death”. Once a peaceful, natural world led by the great Kamikatta (roughly God Cutter in english), the first mortal to tap into the full potential of a human being and regarded as the strongest Soul Cutter to ever live, it is now a high-technology and conflict-driven world. As aftermath of the wars the planet has seen, Dread Hive has risen. Due to the carelessness of the world’s main government-like structure, Dread Hive has become quite a massive force and now take almost complete control of the Locust region of Souledia, from which they plot various operations, commanded by Don Grim, as part of their ongoing goal to bring an end to the current state of Souledia and back to how things were in the beginning, known as Finis-Souledia.
== Characters ==
Main article: List of Soul • Cutter: Dread Hive characters
There are three playable characters confirmed. Although the game focuses on each of the playable characters equally, the majority of the story is told through the perspective of Nate.
=== Playable characters ===
*Nate Redbean — No information available at this time.
*Olivia Maylife — No information available at this time.
*Han Bluerod — No information available at this time.
=== Unknown playablity ===
*Don Grim — No information available at this time.
== Story ==
To be added.
== Trivia ==
To be added.
== Gallery ==
File:SC_Dread_Hive_Logo.png|Soul • Cutter: Dread Hive Logo
SC_Dread_Hive_JP_Logo.png|Soul • Cutter: Dread Hive Japanese Logo
File:SC_-_AlphaBoxArtJP.png|Soul • Cutter: Dread Hive Japanese box art (Alpha)
File:SC_-_AlphaBoxArt.png|Soul • Cutter: Dread Hive box art (Alpha)
Category:Role-Playing Games
Category:Action Role-Playing Games
Category:Original Games
Category:Games
Category:2018
Category:Nintendo Switch Games