Strinova is a 5v5 anime shooter from iDreamSky, which launches on 21 November, 2024 at UTC-8. Strinova is available to download via the official website and their own launcher, or via Steam.
The 2D Mechanic
Strinova features a unique mechanic which allows your 3D character to turn into a 2D character. While 2D you can glide in the air, climb walls, but also dodge shots and take less damage. I thought it might be a bit of a gimmick, but I actually found myself enjoying the flexibility of turning into a piece of paper halfway through a gunfight. A perfect example is in a recent match where I turned 2D, climbed up a wall, and then hung out there in 2D while enemies walked underneath me, allowing me to drop down and execute a neat little flank.
The 2D mechanic is called ‘Stringification’ and is the bedrock that the game is built around. It provides a high skill ceiling for play, as it literally adds a new dimensional element to typical arena shooters. It’ll be interesting to watch how skilled players utilize the 2D transformation in games, and how the meta develops once the game gets into the hands of some experienced shooters.
Once you get past the paper anime characters, you’ve got a functional modern arena shooter with characters, abilities, and multiple game modes. The characters, known as Agents, have a range of different playstyles. I spent my time with Maddelena, a character who specializes in paint bombs and tracking enemies. The abilities are impactful and require the sort of coordination that might make Strinova a pretty enjoyable competitive game.
Game Overview
Each character, or Agent, is locked to a certain weapon type, but you can customize your secondary and grenade loadouts. During the match you can choose upgrades for your skills and weapons, much like CounterStrike’s ‘buy’ system. You earn points in-game that rely on your performance between rounds. There’s ranked matchmaking, a payload game mode, the classic bomb-planting arena mode, and team deathmatch. While you play you’ll earn Dream Tokens, which can be used to purchase new Agents.
You’ve got a health bar but also a shield which can be upgraded to either light or heavy armor, which provides you with some armor regen. Health can be restored in-game with healing grenades or via support characters. It’s a formula that has been tried and tested, and outside of the 2D paper mechanic, this is your fairly standard shooter. That’s not a bad thing by any means – the game feels polished and responsive, and I didn’t experience any lag or frame issues while playing.
Characters
The agents have their own personalities in a way that fans of anime always connect with. These are your run-of-the-mill anime characters but each feels unique, with back stories that are intertwined with their abilities in-game. It’s quite refreshing to see such a diverse range of characters in an anime game, and it’s clear the developers have put a lot of time and effort into building out this cast. Their designs are polished as well, with great voice acting and storylines that weave in with the wider story of Strinova and its factions.
The agents belong to one of three factions in the game: P.U.S., The Scissors, and Urbino. These factions have their own motives in the story of the game. P.U.S want to retain the universe as it currently is, whereas The Scissors want to return to the world before everyone was being turned into a piece of paper. The Urbino remains mostly neutral. There are 17 different characters at official launch, and the factions do actually impact the gameplay: certain characters can’t be used based on the faction, or even if the player is defending or attacking in a certain game mode.
At launch, there are five different game modes and 14 maps, although there are plans to add more as the game changes after the official launch. There are a few new features that are arriving at launch, including a Portal system that allows players to string themselves and teleport to different parts of the map, two new characters, Eika and Fragrans, and a new map, Cosmite.
Overall, Strinova has taken me by surprise as a very thought-out and complete anime shooter. I can see this being a sleeper hit with competitive shooter players. To commemorate this launch, Strinova will be offering over $1,000,000 worth of in-game items through Twitch drops from now until December 15th in Japan, United States, Germany & France. Selected streamers who broadcast Strinova will also be offering high-value rewards totaling around $10,000.