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The last few months have been a good time for Attack on Titan fans. Season 3 Pt. 2 was amazing while a new volume of the manga and two video game adaptations have been released. That is not the end of it as fans could expect to play Attack on Titan: Tactics sometime in Fall 2019.

During Anime Expo 2019, I got the chance to preview Attack on Titan: Tactics during a special session. Here I got to learn about the game (in regards to gameplay mechanics along with what to expect) and experience the full game in the given time limit.

An Introduction to Tactics

In a presentation by Derrick Kuan of DeNA, members of the press got the chance to learn about Attack on Titan: Tactics. The game is currently out in Japan and it has had over 1 million downloads. The American release is set sometime in early Fall 2019 and will be published by Crunchyroll Games.

The game itself is a tactical tower defense mobile game that follows the events depicted in Season 1. The main campaign will feature eight chapters overall along with several original side stories that focus on other characters. Visually, the story will be told using clips from the anime while the in-game design will be chibi influenced while also keeping the games tone.

Playthrough of Tactics

Attack on Titan: Tactics takes the concept of a tower defense game and adds the mechanics of a real time strategy (RTS). Players set up a team made up of characters from the series (like Eren Jaeger, Erwin Smith or Annie Leonhart) along with heavy weapon emplacements.

The goal of each level is to defend your base from a wave of Titan attacks. Players could only use a limited number of characters on the battlefield and must be strategic on where they are deployed. After each battle, players could unlock new characters while leveling up the ones they currently have.

It should be noted that I got to demo this game using a tablet and that several chapters had already been unlocked.

Final Thoughts

Attack on Titan: Tactics had a great first impression in regards to the gameplay and the design. Compared to Attack on Titan: Assault, it avoided the mistake of having a cluttered home screen and having slot machine sound effects. The gameplay itself is easy to learn but difficult to master as it will force players to think critically and learn from their mistakes.

Overall, this is going to be a game that fans of Attack on Titan are going to enjoy once its launched on all mobile devices.

Disclaimer: Anime Expo provided a media pass for the weekend.

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