A.W. Phoenix Festa2016

A.W. Phoenix Festa

2016 Bandai Namco Entertainment56Mediocre

Playtime

ModerateIt typically takes about 15 hours to finish the game.

Playable on

PlayStation Vita

Game modes

Single player

Details

Launch: January 28, 2016
Developer: APLUS Co., Ltd.
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Themes: Action
Genres: Role-playing (RPG)
Simulator

Overview

A.W. : Phoenix Festa – PS Vita – Available Now!

In this action RPG game, play the events of The Asterisk War animation series! Live the life of hero Ayato Amagiri and experience Rikka Academy and the Phoenix Festa storyline. Players will go through simulated high school experiences while fighting in over the top tournaments.

Press54

Mediocre

Metacritic55from 17 reviews
OpenCritic53from 13 reviews

I’ve played a lot of anime games through the years with varying degrees of enjoyment, but I don’t even think being a super fan of the Asterisk War franchise would entice me to play Phoenix Fiesta any more than I already have.

A.W. Phoenix Festa does a decent enough job at transferring the characters and setting of the anime to the Vita but does a terrible job of explaining those things for newcomers. The combination of dating sim and battling works well but no individual part excels.

A.W. Phoenix Festa isn't bad, as some elements are mildly amusing. The building up of the character to compete in the final tournament is a cool element, but the game lacks depth on so many levels while punishing mistakes so hard that the whole thing becomes a grind. There is not much to see, not much to do, and how often scenes repeat is grating. What...

The game becomes pretty repetitive after a few hours. If you’re a fan of the series then this is likely worth buying, but otherwise you might want to check the anime out first or wait for a sale.

The ability the play not only through the main story but also as a different character entirely will please fans of the show. However, Asterisk War: Phoenix Festa is ultimately a very generic affair, riddled with tropes that will do little to draw in new fans to the series and will likely leave most gamers not familiar with its content confused.