Many don’t know that the popular sci-fi visual novel franchise Muv-Luv by Age actually has a mobile/browser game hybrid in Japan named Muv-Luv Alternative: Strike Frontier.
While the game is available only in Japanese, published by the local giant DMM, it’s definitely interesting because it doesn’t just follow the original storyline, but expands on it. At the moment the story of the game reached the end of Alternative and more to come has already been teased.
For now, the game was only available for Android and directly on browser in two versions, an all-ages version and an R-rated one. This is going to soon change, as DMM just announced that a iOS port and a native Google Apps version will be launched in late January, which will make the game a lot more accessible.
The original game was launched for Android and browsers at the end of 2016, and it gets a very active chain of weekly events to keep Muv-Luv fans entertained. It goes without saying that the main business model is the usual gacha, which is what you can expect for a waifu-filled series by Muv-Luv.
Differently, from the main PC series, the main mechanic includes creating a squad of pilots, associating each with one of the series’ wonderfully-designed “TSF” mecha, and then have them fight against the Beta in brief 3D real-time-strategy missions.
At the moment, only the R-rated version of the game (warning, the site is not safe for work) is freely available to play worldwide, while the all-ages version requires a VPN to play. It’ll be interesting to see if this will change with the new version.
If you want to play, registration for a DMM account is the same that you have to do for Dead or Alive Xtreme: Venus Vacation, but I’ll probably write a dedicated guide when the Google App version comes out.