Wario: Battle for Diamond City

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All box art covers for the game were designed for me by @Potted Plant. Thank you, Potts!
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 is a 2022 open world action-adventure platforming video game with beat 'em up, dungeon crawler and role-playing elements. It was developed by Trinity Studios (With additional work by Intelligent Systems and Nintendo EPD) and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch video game console.
The game crosses over the Wario Land and WarioWare series; it takes place within the world of WarioWare (Diamond City), but is an adventure game and features characters and elements from all over the Wario franchise. The game follows the misadventures of Wario in Diamond City as he sets out to become a superhero and defend the city from danger. The game mixes action-based platforming and beat 'em up sections with puzzle sections and role-playing systems. Between the game's Missions, the player can engage in Afterparties; these are sessions inspired by the Persona series wherein the characters of the game can hang out with each other and strengthen their friendships and bonds, which leads to in-game advantages such as faster Level-Ups or bonus abilities or effects when certain characters are paired up in the levels.
Battle for Diamond City is notable for being the first WarioWare game to not be based around minigames (Although a large swathe of microgames is present as bonus content). More notably, it is the first game in the entire Wario series wherein Waluigi appears. Quite ironically, Waluigi had never appeared in a Wario game before, despite always featuring with Wario elsewhere. It is the first game of the so-called "Trinity subseries" of the Wario franchise, comprising games that merge elements of both Wario Land and WarioWare; it would be followed by a turn-based, tactical RPG in 2025. (Name TBD)
==Plot==
In the present day, WarioWare, Inc. has been decreasing in popularity and success. Jimmy T, Mona, Dribble and Spitz, 9-Volt, Ashley, Dr. Crygor, Penny, Orbulon, Kat and Ana all leave and go work for competitor Diamond Software once more (See WarioWare: D.I.Y.). Diamond Software has been rising to success since the appointment of its new CEO, Gordon Hoffman, who took over from Joe. Now bankrupt, Wario decides that he shall restore his fame — and pass the time — by becoming a superhero and fighting crime.
Sadly for Wario, Diamond City has no natural dangers to speak of, so Wario instead sneaks into Dr. Crygor's lab while he's at work and steals a failed experimental machine known as the Crimilator, which can summon villains from all over the world to its location. Wario activates the machine, summoning Captain Syrup, Rudy the Clown, the Black Jewel and dozens of other villains from both the Wario series and beyond, both returning and new, to Diamond City.
The monsters go on a rampage through Diamond City, but Wario arrives to defeat them. He travels all over the city, defeating them one by one along with his friends and gaining more and more respect as he does so. Waluigi also joins them, having arrived in the city as well. However, after Wario defeats the Black Jewel, Dr. Crygor shows up on the scene and reveals to the public that he just found out that Wario stole the Crimilator and was the one responsible for the invasion. Everyone is disgusted at Wario's actions and they yell and boo at him. Wario is eventually chased away by an angry crowd as he has eye contact with his disappointed friends and ex-employees.
A thunderstorm starts as Wario pulls back in a shack a bit outside the city, regretting his action. Meanwhile in Diamond City, machines programmed by Diamond Software are fixing all the damage done to certain parts of the city during Wario's battles with "evil". Ashley vents to Mona about how heartbroken she is, following the selfish actions of the friend she thought she could trust. Mona consoles her and decides to go for a walk with her to hopefully make Ashley feel better. When they arrive at the park, they overhear Gordon Hoffman talk to an employee about how to activate the "secret switch" on the machines for them to capture the citizens of Diamond City and assume control over the city. Ashley and Mona realize that Diamond Software is evil and they try to warn the public, but are caught by Hoffman and kidnapped. Hoffman reveals that his ultimate plan is to assume total control over the city and its economy and populace so he can maximize Diamond Software's profits and become a billionaire.
In no time, Diamond Software's machinery assumes total control of Diamond City. Hoffman starts apprehending citizens and brainwashing them using special chips. 9-Volt, Kat, Ana, Ashley, Mona, Penny, Spitz and Orbulon are also brainwashed. After running into a young boy who fled the city and begs for his help, Wario returns to Diamond City to find out about the situation. He barely escapes Hoffman's forces and is pulled into a hidden garage by Dr. Crygor. Crygor reveals that he has gone into hiding along with Waluigi, Dribble, Jimmy T. and 18-Volt and is preparing a counterattack. The "Resistance", consisting of Wario, Waluigi, 18-Volt, Dribble, Jimmy T. & Crygor, sets off to defeat Diamond Software, taking down most of its officers and liberating parts of the city one by one. Wario incapacitates Ashley, Penny, Mona, Kat, Ana, 9-Volt, Spitz and Orbulon after fighting them and saves them from Hoffman's control. The heroes march to Diamond Software's central offices.
After destroying the control panel in the company headquarters, Wario confronts Hoffman in his office, who gloats about how he will personally fight Wario himself using his gadgets. Wario and Hoffman battle, after which Wario shoulder bashes Hoffman out of the window, into the streets of Diamond City. There, Hoffman, still alive despite the fall, emerges in a giant mech suit powered by the same Nasty Garlic that powers Wario-Man. Wario turns into Wario-Man, but is severly outmatched by the robot.
Just as Gordon is about to finish him, the citizens of Diamond City encircle the arena and cheer on Wario, saying that he can do it, that they believe in him and that he is and will always be their hero, motivating Wario-Man sufficiently for him to gain a massive power boost. Now tripled in power, Wario-Man destroys Hoffman's mech as Wario's friends and the rest of Diamond City wreck all the remaining machines on the battlefield. Hoffman begs for mercy, but Wario-Man punches him using all his might, sending him flying off the continent, over the ocean and all the way straight into jail, where he is imprisoned for his crimes.
Now with Hoffman in jail, Wario and his friends are hailed as true heroes by the citizens of Diamond City and are given the Key of the City by its major. Following an apology for his past actions, Wario is forgiven by his friends and the citizens, after which he and his friends return to a resurgent WarioWare Inc.
In a hidden post-credits scene, a portal opens in an abandoned skyscraper in Brooklyn. Two urban explorers are investigating the building, with one of them noting that "according to rumors, this building is said to have some link thingy to Infernum". He repeatedly tries to scare his friend by elaborating on the rumor. His friend demands he stop and says that she doesn't find it funny. The boy calls her out for being "too stern all the time", but as the two prepare to argue, they notice several monsters appearing around them. The monsters make way for none other than Abigor, the villain from the obscure Club Nintendo comic Super Mario in Die Nacht des Grauens. Abigor extracts the souls of the unlucky teens as they slump to the ground, before exclaiming that "Wario will be in for a sweet surprise", and that Wario's "little payback plan" will not go without "unforeseen consequences".
==Gameplay==
=== The Hub ===
The Wario Chronicles is largely an open-world game. An outskirt of Diamond City serves as the game's hub, from where the levels can be accessed. Many characters are present in the hub that the player can talk to and complete Quests and Missions for. Wario and his friends may freely roam the Hub as soon as Boom, the first boss faced near the game's start, is defeated. Usually, Wario will be the player's character in the Hub, but as new characters are unlocked, it will become possible to swap to them. Some NPC's will act differently towards different characters, and some may only hand out Quests to one character, or exclude some characters.
In the Hub, one may find the following locations:
* Dr. Crygor's Lab: Here, the player can craft new or merge or upgrade Gear (See Crafting) and other items. In order to craft Gear, the player must supply Dr. Crygor or Penny with the required materials and often wait a few in-game days before the item is complete. 
* Ashley's House: In Ashley's house, the player can brew a large plethora of potions that can be consumed in the levels to grant several stat boosts. Once again, Ashley will need ingredients for this. (See Potions)
* Joe's Store: A large shop run by Mona's usual employer, Joe. Here, the player can use Coins to buy all sorts of items, including Gear, Amulets, Potions and other items. They can also sell items they no longer need in return for Coins.
* The Gelateria: A gelato restaurant (also) owned by Joe, where the player can hang out during Afterparties.
=== Time System ===
All gameplay in BfDC is designed to match an in-game time system and calendar. The calendar starts on March the 16th, 2022, when Wario releases the villains. Each day lasts 24 hours as is normal; time advances whenever the player heads to a certain location. Going to Joe's Store, Crygor's Lab or Ashley's House will not advance any time; heading elsewhere however, will. For example, heading into a level will advance the clock by 3 hours, regardless of wether the player completes it or backs out. This time system is relevant for several reasons. 
For one, several stages will differ depending on what time of the day it is, and less commonly on the date. There are several applications of this:
* Stage layout changes. The Cemetery just outside the city is completely uneventful during the day and will not allow the player to proceed beyond the first section, but at night, the gates to the real stage will open and the player will be attacked by Skeletons and several other monsters. In late December of 2022 to early January of 2023, the Diamond City Marketplace will have a Christmas market. On Halloween, all of Diamond City will be rebranded for Halloween, sporting decorations and exclusive enemies. Et cetera.
* Stage accessibility. The Diamond City Park is closed at night owing to "security" reasons, but is freely available during the day. Conversely, Club Sugar and Club Spice are only available at night, and closed during daytime. From 26th August to 19th September, the Business District will be largely blocked off due to construction and renovation going on (A construction site level becomes temporarily available then).
* Quest and NPC timing. Certain NPC's will only appear at certain times of day, or during certain time periods. This ties certain quests to time frames.
In addition, stages may differ further due to the Seasons:
* Spring lasts from 20th March to 21st June. 
* Summer lasts from 21st June to 21st September.
* Autumn / fall lasts from 21st September to 21st December.
* Winter lasts from 21st December to 20th March. 
Seasons can also have their own effects; for example, the Diamond City Park and the forest outside the City go through a complete aesthetic change in autumn, and the city's inhabitants will change outfits in certain seasons. More practical changes include the ground becoming slippery in winter and the Ski Resort becoming accessible, and the river outside Diamond City flooding over in autumn, rendering the farmland outside its suburbs inaccessible.
The time and calendar has further effects through two ways: Availability and Deadlines.
The Availability system renders certain character (un)available to either play as or interact with depending on the time and day. For example, on each Tuesday outside of vacations and rarer days off, 9-Volt, 18-Volt and Penny (As well as eventually Ashley) will be at school from 9:00 to 14:30, and are unavailable during this time. Kat and Ana have school on Thursday from 9:00 to 13:30. Dribble and Spitz are at work on Thursday from 15:00 to 18:30, and Mona on Monday from 9:00 to 13:00. Other events occur throughout the game that may render characters temporarily unavailable. A character cannot be selected if they will be busy later in the day; this is to ensure that the player does not return to the Hub after the character is supposed to be occupied (E. g. Returning to the Hub with Dribble at 16:00, 1 hour after he is supposed to have gone working). 
The Deadlines system (Which, just like the Afterparty mechanic, was inspired by Persona) places maximum dates by which certain bosses must be defeated or certain missions completed. While the player has a large degree of freedom to play as they wish, they ultimately must complete the Deadlines on time; else, a Game Over ensues. For example, failing to defeat Rudy the Clown by 16th November will lead to a Game Over. If such a Game Over happens, the player may skip back to a maximum of 2 weeks prior to the Deadline.
=== Combat ===
Battle for Diamond City is an action-adventure game with a heavy focus on exploration and beat 'em up gameplay. This has as its result that many of the character abilities are based around these two gimmicks. Pivotal controls include the usual suspects of walking, running (Achieved by rapidly moving the left control stick in the desired direction twice and then continuing to hold it) and jumping. The camera is controlled through the Right Stick. A variety of different moves are added that the player will need to master.
The first is the ability to Dodge. This is a pivotal ability, as usually, it will be very difficult for the player to "simply walk" out of danger's reach. A Dodge is performed through the D-Pad and essentially takes the form of quickly dashing into the specified direction. By quickly tapping a certain button on the D-Pad twice, the player can Roll, which covers a greater distance (But is significantly slower, having lag both at the very beginning and the very end). It is possible, and sometimes even encouraged, to Dash or Roll into an enemy to damage or stun them; but this is not always the case, as some enemy types (E. g. Armoured enemies) resist this. Furthermore, some other enemies can immediately react to such an attack, intercept the player character, and counter-attack while avoiding damage themselves. This is done to prevent the player from using the Dodge or Roll absolutely everywhere.
Each player character has two types of attacks: Light, and Heavy. These function largely as one would expect, using comparison to other games; Light attacks deal a decent amount of damage and are fast, allowing them to be somewhat spammable to a degree; and Heavy attacks deal much more damage, sometimes with the ability to stun, but are very slow, leaving the user wide open for attack if misused. Light and Heavy attacks can tie directly into combos with each other, given the right button presses. Each character naturally has eight standard attacks; two of them are bound to the X and A buttons, while the R trigger serves as a "toggle" button that maps the other two attacks to A and X (B is the jump button). Hitting X or A while in mid-air activates the aerial attacks, and the final two are dash attacks that require the player to be running. In order to prevent the system from getting cluttered, the aerial and dash attacks remain fixed and do not change upon hitting R.
The L trigger maps another set of attacks to X and A: The Paladin Cards. Paladin Cards are cards that add special abilities or items to a character's moveset, but they must be unlocked or acquired first. One can take a maximum of five Cards with them into a level; once selected, the Cards cannot be discarded, changed or switched, and the player is unconditionally stuck with them until they leave the level. Paladin Cards are mapped differently than normal attacks; the X button swaps between the player's five Cards and A uses them. All Paladin Cards run by a cooldown to prevent their repeated usage.
The Y button serves as the general-purpose Interact button. The player can use it to pick up items from the ground, talk to NPC's, activate switches or levers, and — most importantly — grab and lift enemies. After grabbing an enemy, the player can walk around with them temporarily until they break free (Albeit at a very slow pace, and running is not possible). At this point, one can hit the X or A button for two different throws, or by clicking and spinning the left Control Stick, swing the enemy around and around before letting go and throwing them. An additional two throws are available by hitting X or A in mid-air (E. g. while jumping): A "slam dunk" of sorts where the character spins forwards and slams their feet / legs into the enemy to send them down to Earth; and the Piledriver (A la Wario World). Throws, swings, whips and other attacks initiated with grabbed enemies can also hit other enemies.
Another key mechanic in Battle for Diamond City is the Shield ability and the Shield Breaker mechanic. The player character can bring up their "shield" (== blocking) by holding down ZR; this shield functions a lot like Super Smash Bros., in that holding it for too long or taking too much damage will 'break' the shield and render the character stunned. An addition is the ability for a Shield Break to occur also if any character — the player's, an enemy or otherwise — is struck while they are preparing or executing certain Heavy attacks. For example, if an enemy is charging up a heavy punch, and the player strikes them with enough force, the enemy's "shield" will break (Even though they aren't blocking) and they will be dizzy, leaving them open for attack. This also applies to the player in reverse; their shield can break if they are struck by an enemy while charging up a Heavy attack. In addition, whenever anyone's shield breaks, their Defence stat drops and they take more damage; this only ends when the character / enemy recovers from their dizziness. Breaking a boss's shield is usually the key to beating them and accomplished by striking a weak spot. Lastly, some of the more dangerous enemies in the game have special attacks that always break the player's shield, even if they aren't blocking or charging an attack. 
Furthermore, a Retaliation mechanic lets players and enemies strike someone in the middle of a combo, achieving a shield break. If an enemy is about to Retaliate, an exclamation mark will appear next to their head — this is the player's only warning to move out of the way.
Whereas enemies have standard health bars, the player character's health functions differently, instead using the Armour System initially created by Trinity for their isometric run and gun game Synthesis. The Armour System is an extended derivation of the Ego system from Duke Nukem Forever, which itself is a combination of two different health systems:
* The HP System. Characters have hearts, a health bar or something similar that do not recover by themselves and instead are replenished with power-ups / items or by defeating enemies. If the player runs out of HP (Empty health bar or no hearts), they "die" / lose.
* The "Cooldown System". This is a system most commonly seen in "mainstream" and "realistic" first-person shooter franchises like Call of Duty, Battlefield and Medal of Honor. Rather than having a fixed health system, the player character dies only if (s)he takes too much damage in a short span of time; this is usually indicated by blood splatters appearing on the screen and through audio / video filters (Beeping noises are common as well). The player must not get hit for a short amount of time in order to "regenerate" their health (Health indicators are uncommon in the genre, except in newer Call of Duty games). This means that the player can theoretically get hit by a huge spray of bullets, yet live (Albeit with a reddish screen, a beeping noise and audio / video filters), quickly find a safe spot, and then have their 'health' regrow, with the blood wiping from the screen.
The Armour system in Battle for Diamond City blends these two systems together. What appears like the player's health bar (Surrounds the character's circular character icon, and hence is round) is actually the Armour Bar, which decreases if the player gets hit by enemy attacks. When it’s empty, the character’s Armour “breaks”, and the next hit they take will kill them. If the player avoids damage for long enough, the Armour Bar eventually regenerates. The Armour bar only regenerates if it is empty, otherwise the player must use health powerups. Furthermore, the Armour Bar will not go back to full health every time. When the character's Armour breaks for the second time, it will only go up to 75%; 50% for the third time; and finally, 25% for every single instance of it beginnning from the fourth time. This means that with every recovery from an Armour break, the player will receive less health, and is increasingly required to tend to health powerups. Put simply: You don't die immediately if the "health bar" is empty, but you do die if you get hit while it is empty. Avoid damage for long enough, and either all or part of your "health" will grow back.
Lastly, all playable characters have their own Super Strike, a "super move" of sorts that becomes available when an amber-coloured bar is filled fully. The Super Strike Bar fills whenever the player deals or receives damage or smashes objects, and when the Super Strike is used, the bar empties. Some characters have a transformation rather than one attack, and the Bar will — rather than emptying immediately — empty slowly but surely, with the character turning back when the bar has completed its depletion. For example, Wario becomes Wario-Man for his Super Strike.
By default, the player will venture into every stage with two characters. The second character is controlled either by the CPU or by a second player. If the CPU or P2 "dies", P1 can revive them up to two times through a lengthy and risky process (Stand by their body and hold down A for 6 seconds). The third time, whoever goes down stays down. Furthermore, the opportunity to revive expires if it has not been done within 20 seconds; so if an unconscious player is awaiting revival from their teammate, but they are cornered by enemies or stuck, they are likely to remain down.
If both characters have a full Super Strike Bar, they can execute a Team Attack, in which they combine their powers for an insanely powerful and wide-hitting attack. The Team Attack differs per pairing and is locked by default; in order to unlock it, the player has to achieve a Bond between the characters of at least Level 3 through the Afterparties.
Throughout several parts of the game, the player will be thrown into Vehicular sections, wherein they will have to use a transport method to cruise through the stage and evade or kill enemies. Certain such segments are races. Each character uses their own transportation method; for example, Wario and Mona ride their motorcycle (The Wario Bike) and scooter respectively, Ashley flies on her broom, 9-Volt rides his SK8, Dribble and Spitz ride the Dribble Taxi, etc. 
=== RPG Elements ===
Battle for Diamond City not only draws its inspiration from the beat 'em up genre, but also from role-playing games. Each character, when unlocked, starts at Level 1 and has the following stats: 
* ATK (Attack) — Determines the character's attack power (== damage output).
* MOT (Motor skills) — Determines the character's attack speed.
* DEF (Defence) — Determines how much damage the character will take. (HP is fixed per character and rarely upgrades)
* DEX (Dexterity) — Determines how quickly and effectively the character can use items.
* SPEED — Determines how fast the character moves.
* LUCK — Determines the character's chances of finding quality loot, rare items, and scoring Critical Hits.
By doing things like completing Quests / Missions, defeating bosses, clearing levels, unlocking Achievements, finding secrets, and generally just using characters, one can level them up, increasing their stats and unlocking new Paladin Cards. Additionally, just like the Mario & Luigi games, after all stats have increased the player can upgrade another stat of their choosing manually (But only one).
Despite this, some characters will still be naturally stronger, faster or tougher than others.
=== Playable Characters ===
Image	Name	Description	How to Unlock
 	 	Unlike other main characters in most others (Who tend to be quite balanced), Wario is of the tanky type. He is strong, beefy and can take quite a beating, but is significantly slower than most other characters in the game, and does not jump as high. 
Wario's standard moveset is based around punches, shoulder bashes and body slams; his Paladin Card collection expands his moveset with abilities and techniques from across the Wario series and beyond, like the Chomp, Hyper Suction, Garlic Breath, Corkscrew, Wario Waft, Metal Wario, his Hats, Bob-Ombs, and so on and forth.
(More tba)
 Stats 
: Strength 
: Durability 
: Speed 
: HP: 500	Default character.
 
=== Crafting ===
=== Potions ===
=== Afterparties ===
== Development ==
Battle for Diamond City was initially conceptualized in 2018 by "Wither", the CEO of Trinity Studios and a major fan of the Wario series. Wither loved the setting and characters of the WarioWare subseries, but also enjoyed the platforming and exploration gameplay of the Wario Land series and its spinoffs, Wario World and Wario: Master of Disguise. Inspired to cross the two subseries over, Wither and his entourage began secretly developing a playable prototype of the game, with the intent of pitching it to Nintendo. By the end of 2018, the prototype had been finished, and Trinity Studios submitted it to Nintendo. Nintendo liked the concept, and after a period of negotiations, a license was granted to Trinity to develop the game in collaboration with Intelligent Systems and Nintendo's internal WarioWare team.
Development began in early 2019 using Trinity's proprietary Nuclear Engine (Usually dubbed Nucleus). Most of the game was written in Haxe; smaller portions were written in Lua. By 2022, the game was ready to be shipped and was published by Nintendo.
==Other Boxarts==
These used to go in the infobox, until this for some reason caused it to expand to full page-length.
Wario Battle for Diamond City (PEGI Portugal).png|Portugal
Wario Battle for Diamond City (USK).png|Germany
Wario Battle for Diamond City (ESRB).png|North America
Wario Battle for Diamond City (ACB).png|Australia
Wario Battle for Diamond City (GSSR).png|Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong
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more tba
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