You Got Served
Finally… It’s been two whole months (feels like 20 years) since we last heard the holy news that Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid was being adapted into — of all the fucking things — a bullet-hell shmup. Publisher Bushiroad, in association with developer Kaminari Games, has finally resurfaced with a new trailer, giving us our first look at the GOTY 2022 contender.
Presented by none other than Tohru herself, the new video offers up the first in-game footage of the succinctly titled Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Burst Forth !! Choro-gon Breath, which will see the hard-working housemaid and her scaly pals take to the skies for vertically scrolling, wave-blasting action. My dragonese is a little rusty, but from what I can gather from Tohru-chan, Choro-gon Breath will allow players to take the lovely trio of Elma, Kanna, and Tohru as they battle through intense shmup gameplay, played out against the backdrop of a wholly original narrative set within the Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid universe.
The shmup will feature selective power-ups and the mighty “D-Gauge” mechanic, which allows our heroes to unleash their innate dragon powers. The story mode features multiple endings and offers up over 30 unlockable illustrations and “mini-dramas,” crafted specifically for the game by a slew of artists familiar with the anime and manga series. I have to admit, the footage shown here is hardly scintillating, but for Miss Kobayashi fans — and maybe shmup fans in general — this is looking to be a perfectly fine time filler. And we Kan all use a little more Kanna in our lives. What a cutie-pie.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Burst Forth !! Choro-gon Breath launches in Japan on PS4 and Switch March 24. It is unlikely to receive a localization, but the franchise does have its fair share of fans on these shores, so never say never.