News roundup: Events and more and more live gameplay broadcasts

I'm spending far too much time recently writing these endless news reports!

A series of fan meetings is announced for Basara Club members

A new set of events called was announced by email this morning. The full details are available on this special event website, and here's a summary.

Basara Club Fan Meeting 2015 Autumn in Osaka

Venue: Sankei Hall Breeze.
Date: 27th September 2015 at 14:30 (afternoon performance) and 18:00 (evening performance).
Guests: Ookawa Tooru (Tokugawa Ieyasu), Okiayu Ryoutarou (Toyotomi Hideyoshi), Koyama Rikiya (Kuroda Kanbee), Kobayashi Hiroyuki (series producer) and Yamamoto Makoto (series director).

Basara Club Fan Meeting 2015 Autumn in Tokyo

Venue: Nissho Hall.
Date: 12th October 2015 at 14:00 (afternoon performance) and 18:00 (evening performance).
Afternoon guests: Morita Masakazu (Maeda Keiji), Hayami Shou (Tenkai/Akechi Mitsuhide), Tsuboi Tomohiro (Maeda Toshiie), Kobayashi Hiroyuki (series producer) and Yamamoto Makoto (series director).
Evening guests: Morita Masakazu (Maeda Keiji), Ishino Ryuuzou (Chousokabe Motochika), Nakahara Shigeru (Mouri Motonari), Kobayashi Hiroyuki (series producer) and Yamamoto Makoto (series director).

As for the activities on offer, there will be talks with all of the seiyuu (touted as including things you'll only be able to hear if you attend), Q&As (including requests for them to speak particular lines), live dialogue performances and prize draws for signed goods. There will also be special merchandise for attendees to buy at the venue.

Club members who want to attend can enter the ticket lottery between 17th and 26th July 2015. Tickets are priced at ¥5,000 and come complete with a badge as an exclusive bonus.

It's good to see Tsuboi and Koyama listed with the other guests, they very rarely attend these events! I wish I could go...

The Famitsu website posts an report about KobaP's visit to San Diego Comic-Con

Series producer KobaP was in attendance at SDCC yesterday to sign copies of various books distributed by Udon Entertainment, so the Famitsu website took the opportunity to ask him a few short questions about his trip. There are some nice pictures in the article showing KobaP posing with fans and signing items at the Udon booth.

KobaP revealed that another reason for his visit to the US is that he's currently managing an as-yet-unannounced movie project relating to one of Capcom's titles. Of course, he's still going to be working on games as well; he has even more games planned for the future but he can't talk about them yet.

Brief notes from today's Nico Nico relay broadcast

Today's Nico Nico relay broadcast was the fourth in the series. This time, the hosts were Parumira and Purukogi T. O. They played through with Mogami Yoshiaki and Yamanaka Shikanosuke on Naotora's dojo stage, then Kingo and Tenkai on Itsukushima Sanbee Occupation. There was more drill action! The anger gauge started to go back down once it was apparent that the player wasn't doing too well.

I still love this scene.

There wasn't much of note in the demonstrations themselves, but the hosts obligingly went through the stage menu in a different direction and confirmed that Mogami Yoshiaki is the boss of Oushuu: Ushuu Annexation, as anticipated. In addition, I can confirm that all of the Sengoku Basara 4 stages were present in the list as expected. So all of the 48 stages in the list are accounted for; 42 from Sengoku Basara 4 and 6 new ones.

(This fact is slightly more interesting when combined with OneSanitarium's incredibly eagle-eyed observation earlier based on a modified Shizugatake map. It seems that the 48 stages we've seen in the list so far might not be the final number, after all.)

Edit: At some point, the official site added the information that there are more than 50 stages in the game. Credit goes to sjyune for noticing this.

They also scrolled through the entire Play Book list and it looks as though all of the Sengoku Basara 4 books have returned. I didn't see any new ones listed.

The next relay broadcast isn't until Tuesday next week when Shima will be hosting at 20:00 Japan time. The time shift can be booked now.

Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi will feature on next week's Capcom TV

The 25th episode of Capcom TV will air on YouTube, Nico Nico and Twitch on Wednesday 15th April 2015 at 20:00 Japan time, and Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi is going to be the main feature this time since it's being released just one week later.

Edosan" and Fumiichi from the Monday NGC Nico Nico Game Jikkyou Channel shows will be appearing as guests, and the article promises that fans will be able to see some Kyougoku Maria gameplay as well as the medal rewards and skill revisions for Masamune and Naotora.

That means there will be broadcasts on Monday (NGC), Tuesday (Relay) and Wednesday (Capcom TV) next week, plus the last (?) major Weekly Famitsu bulletin before the game's release date. It's going to be busy.

News roundup: More Kanetsugu footage and a few other updates

Naoe Kanetsugu is the star of today's Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi video, (Approximately) 10-second Theatre: You're The Great Protagonist.


There will also be a brand new promotional video for the game tomorrow, except it's debuting on Japanese television this time so I'm not sure when we'll get to see it properly. They're airing a rerun of Production I.G.'s Sengoku Basara anime this month and to sweeten the deal each episode will finish with a short clip for Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi. The screenshots shown at the link show a Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi Latest Information Corner (the traditional name for KobaP's news updates), and a Sneak Peek (Approximately) 10-second Theatre: Flame Shingen, Ice Kenshin.

That's all for this morning, though I'd like to draw attention to the Sengoku Basara Jubilee project on Tumblr as several artists and writers have started posting their contributions. If you've been wanting more fan fiction and art for the series, there are several great new works in there and it's helping me get in the mood for the series' tenth anniversary! Check it out.

News roundup: Trains and a little more Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi news

The official Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi website adds more character profiles

The official website posted its weekly update last night, adding character profiles for more of the returning Sengoku Basara 4 veterans. As well as the pictures and quotes, there are more (slightly silly) nicknames:

Oda Nobunaga: Absolute Lord Demon King
Matsunaga Hisahide: Explosion Meister
Toyotomi Hideyoshi: The End Of The Sengoku Era's Conqueror King
Takenaka Hanbee: Short-Lived Beautiful Charismatic Strategist
Azai Nagamasa: Hero With Problems With Women
Oichi: Masochistic Yandere Little Sister
Chousokabe Motochika: Surfing Pirate Big Brother
Mouri Motonari: Ruthless, Self-Serving Tactician
Sarutobi Sasuke: Overly-Conspicuous Ninja
Ootani Yoshitsugu: Telekinetic Mikoshi
Mogami Yoshiaki: (Self-Proclaimed) Renowned Gentleman

Yesterday's new weapon for Sakon is confirmed on Twitter

The tweet includes a picture of the new weapon, and seems to imply that it will be limited to those who purchase the next issue of the magazine. There will probably be some more detailed information available later.

A Sengoku Basara x Keikyu stamp rally is announced

Today's bizarre Sengoku Basara tie-in is a collaboration between Capcom and Keikyu Dentetsu, a rail company in eastern Japan.

The Showdown! The Way of Battle Leading to Haneda! Stamp Rally campaign will run between 18th July and 27th September 2015. Special 'Keikyu x Sengoku Basara' tickets can be purchased during business hours at Keikyu Kamata or Haneda Airport Domestic Terminal stations and cost ¥1,000 for adults or ¥500 for children. They're valid for the whole line between those two stops. When you purchase the ticket you'll receive a stamp rally sheet...

...a sticker...

...and one of a choice of three clear files. My favourite part is how they've chosen Masamune, Yukimura and Keiji as the main characters for this campaign and matched them with the colourful Keikyuu trains.

You can then rush around inside the stations on the line to collect all of the stamps to complete the challenge, while learning about each location from the information on the sheet at the same time. There's a silly roleplay story behind it all; you're 'defeating' the warriors who have occupied each of the stations. Therefore, when you finally get to to Haneda you have qualified as a famous warrior in your own right. The main reason for participation is simply to have fun.

The reward for turning in a completed stamp rally sheet at Haneda Airport International Terminal station is a certificate and a ticket for entry into a lottery to win some decent prizes, such as a copy of Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi or merchandise relating to either trains or Sengoku Basara.

Finally, a special 'station master Date Masamune' illustration will be used to promote the campaign. Naturally, he's wearing a Keikyu uniform (though I don't think I've seen many staff at the stations equipped with swords).

Observations about two more stages from today's Nico Nico relay broadcast

There were two sets of gameplay demonstrations in today's broadcast with Sepia and Neko Maguro.

The first was Masamune and Kojuurou on the new Itsukushima Sanbee Occupation stage, while the second was Muneshige and Sourin on Naotora Women's Dojo. Since they had some extra time left over, the hosts finished off the broadcast with a combo challenge on Keiji's festival stage like before.

There were a couple of awkward moments where the hosts accidentally triggered a debug menu of some kind while playing the test version.

The dojo stage has quite a few text pop-ups so I've included annotated screenshots below and popped it below a link to avoid spoiling anything.

News roundup: Dengeki PlayStation reveals a new DLC weapon for Sakon

I read this week's magazines a little late today thanks to a transport strike in my country. There wasn't much new Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi content since it's a Dengeki PlayStation week, but there are a few things worth noting down.

This week's updates from Dengeki PlayStation magazine

The main news is that Shima Sakon is getting a new DLC weapon called 「ピン」・「キリ」('Lows/Highs'), a set of nunchaku with a flame design and three red/white dice stacked on the ends. When equipped, this weapon changes his element from wind to fire. There's no information about its future availability but the next issue of Dengeki PlayStation is going to bundle a DLC code for the weapon as well as featuring a huge 20 pages of coverage about the game.

I wonder whether the dark weapon Katsuie was seen wielding in one of the early trailers will be revealed to be DLC too?

If you want to buy the magazine as a keepsake (and to get the DLC code for Sakon's weapon), you want to look for Dengeki PlayStation #595 which will be released on 23th July 2015 - the same day as the game itself. It can be ordered through all good import bookstores or you can visit Book Walker to buy a digital copy and save on shipping. It's also available through iTunes or the Kindle Store if you have a Japanese account for one of those, though check carefully before buying. Some digital marketplaces don't always include DLC codes with magazines.

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The magazine article is also the first time I've seen mention of the main story mode being called Sengoku Creation: Extreme. The upgraded name was visible on one of the recent streams but they just casually dropped it into the article text today as part of an explanation about how the anime routes worked.

Everything else was reiterating information we already know, so it's a short magazine roundup this week!

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As for the regular charts of upcoming games, Weekly Famitsu is ranking the PS3 version of Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi in 30th place this week (the PS4 didn't chart) while Dengeki PlayStation has it in 8th place (26.1% PS4 to 73.9% PS3).

Last week's episode of Capcom TV (#24) can now be viewed on YouTube

If you missed last week's Capcom TV and wanted to see the new Shimazu Yoshihiro gameplay adjustments in motion, you can now check the full clip on Capcom's YouTube channel where it's been added to the archive.


Further information about Saitama's Sengoku Zukan -Cool Basara Style- exhibition

The series' 10th anniversary website updated earlier to add the final touches to the information about the Sengoku Zukan -Cool Basara Style- ('Sengoku Reference Book -Cool Basara Style-) historical exhibition at the Saitama Prefectural Museum of History and Folklore. As previously confirmed, the event will run between 18th July and 30th August 2015. The purpose is to educate people about the real historical figures by blending traditional artwork and armour with imagery from the Sengoku Basara games.

Visitors will be able to see the mounted Date Masamune statue and a gallery of the sumi-e artwork used for the Giga Basara attacks in Sengoku Basara 4. There will also be pamphlets and a pair of character cards on offer, while stocks last.

The museum is open between 9:00 and 17:00 but closed on Mondays (except for 20th July 2015). Admission costs ¥600 for adults.

Don't miss tomorrow's Nico Nico Relay broadcasts

There are two links for tomorrow's gameplay relay broadcast(s) which begin at 20:00 Japan time. Neko Maguro and Sepia will both be demonstrating the game; I believe this means that both clips will be identical but I'm including both links in case they're not. Or in case one of the streams gets messed up. Both of the streams can be reserved for later viewing using Nico Nico's time shift feature.

Video: (Approximately) 10-second Theatre: Do You Like It Like This?

Today's new Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi video clip highlights two of Maria's R2 special moves while she speaks provocatively over the top. The next video is scheduled for Friday.

News: Today's Nico Nico relay broadcast showed off a new Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi stage

I managed to watch the time shift of Sentosu's contribution to the Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi relay after getting home from work and decided to record my observations again. Weirdly, it was hosted by Gatchman - he seems to be everywhere.

A lot of the commenters seemed really excited when the Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi PV started playing after an hour and a half of handheld gaming discussion - which I skipped. Sentosu was introduced and the hosts fooled around with a green screen and joked about how he was playing 'Sentosu' No Rikyuu.

I wasn't expecting much from the broadcast but for once, they showed a different new stage instead of just spamming Kawanakajima again. I got to see Sakon's Sawayama Castle: Chouhan Defense!

The rest of this post contains mild gameplay spoilers so if you want the stage to be a surprise please stop reading here.

News roundup: A Sengoku Basara 10th Anniversary broadcast and KobaP at SDCC

A special live stream is planned to celebrate the series' tenth anniversary

The Internet was ablaze with excitement this morning after Capcom announced a special two-hour Sengoku Basara anniversary broadcast would be taking place on Nico Nico Namahousou. It will start at 20:00 on 21st July 2015 and the time shift link is already up. A free Nico Nico account is needed in order to watch the stream.

The guest list is pretty good! Host Kobayashi 'KobaP' Hiroyuki will join director Yamamoto 'YamamotoD' Makoto, seiyuu Nakai Kazuya (Date Masamune), Hoshi Souichirou (Sanada Yukimura), Morita Masakazu (Maeda Keiji), Morikawa Toshiyuki (Katakura Kojuurou) and singer T.M.Revolution. There will be Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi gameplay, a look back at the last ten years and information about the latest Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi collaborations.

It's like a mini Basara Matsuri!

Series producer KobaP is in the US for San Diego Comic Con

It seems that KobaP is visiting the US for a signing event at SDCC this week on 9th July 2015, in conjunction with Udon Entertainment. If you happen to go to the con and meet with KobaP, please report on how things went. I'm really curious.

Thank you to fan VegaManX4 for the news!

News roundup: A few minor tidbits spotted in the NGC gameplay demonstration

A brief summary of today's NGC Nico Nico Game Jikkyou Channel show

As mentioned earlier today, this week was the first in a series of NGC episodes featuring gameplay from Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi. I was at work when the video aired so I caught up later with Nico Nico's time shift version.

Hosts Edosan" and Fumiichi started off by talking about the latest Dai Gyakuten Saiban and Devil May Cry updates for a while, then the show finally began its Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi coverage with the most recent full-length trailer.

This kicked off around an hour of gameplay demonstrations, starting with Yoshiteru and Rikyuu on the Battle Of Kawanakajima Intrusion stage. They joked about Yoshiteru's time stop being like The World from a certain popular manga title.

The hosts were less cautious than Capcom so we got to see a few new screens from the game, like the title screen here.

Pressing the touchpad takes you to the standard mode selection screen. Their version of the game had all of the characters unlocked at around level 100 but only the first two difficulties were available, so this isn't necessarily the final version of the mode selection; they went straight into Free Battle Mode so it was impossible to see more.

(I apologise for the terrible colours for my annotations today, it's not a very subtitle-friendly picture with the tools I have to hand.)

Personally speaking, I think it would be weird to have so much empty space on the mode selection screen when there aren't even any pictures on the left aside from the stylised map of Japan. There have to be some more modes, right?

I'm screengrabbing everything I can to make updating my guide easier when I finally get around to it (I'll update it tonight). There were lots of small details shown, like confirmation of the buttons for each of Rikyuu's moves and the addition of a description for his Hold Square move.

This picture also confirms the skill revision controls I mentioned a couple of days ago. You can see the skill revision shortcut highlighted in red.

They cycled through the stage list a few times so I managed to pull out these details for a total of six confirmed stages exclusive to Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi.

Stage	Japanese Name	Enemy Commander
Battle of Kawanakajima: Intrusion	川中島の戦い　乱入	Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin
Battle for the Nation's Peace	国家安康の戦い	Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu
Itsukushima Sanbee Occupation	厳島三兵衛占拠	Takenaka Hanbee, Gotou Matabee, Kuroda Kanbee
Naotora Women's Dojo	直虎女道場	(Unconfirmed: Ii Naotora)
Oushuu: Ushuu Annexation	奥州・羽州併合	(Unconfirmed: Mogami Yoshiaki)
Sawayama Castle: Chouhan Defense	佐和山城・丁半防守	Shima Sakon

The two listed as unconfirmed didn't load the enemy commander portrait before they were skipped past, but I'm reasonably sure that my guesses are correct. The others are 100% confirmed. In addition, I noticed that all but six of the stages from Sengoku Basara 4 are still there. The missing six are probably included too, it's just that the hosts never scrolled that far down the list in this particular video.

At one point a trophy message popped up. The trophy is called Acting Invincible and I would guess it's earned by transforming into Kanetsugu during the battle (and possibly achieving something with him).

There was also an interesting kind of chest on the battlefield when Battle Roulette was switched on.

When the player broke this chest, a message appeared explaining that it would increase the chance of earning a particular result in the next roulette. The first one they broke promised a higher chance of a Transform (black) result, while the second gave Tenka (red). In both cases, the skulls and opposing colours were removed from the next Battle Roulette wheel, so it was completely black/gold or red/gold.

For people not painstakingly writing every detail down to create a guide the show was probably not essential viewing, yet I had fun listening to how much the hosts seemed to be enjoying the game. Their enthusiasm was infectious.

There will be another of these broadcasts at 19:00 Japan time next Monday, and the time shift version can be reserved now. Don't miss out if you'd like to watch.

Animate reveales a new Sengoku Basara tote bag

The Nipponbashi, Osaka branch of Animate has tweeted about a ¥2,500 Sengoku Basara rope tote bag with a design inspired by Date Masamune. It's being released to commemorate the second year since the shop was renovated. The bag will go on sale on 31st July 2015 in very limited quantities so reservations are highly recommended when they open in the morning.

Video: (Approximately) 10-second Theatre: Pursuer, Miyamoto Musashi

Today's Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi video is the same one featured in the weekend's long report, so it's not quite as exciting as usual. At least we get to see Musashi with slightly better video quality.


Another new live stream will take place later today

Tonight is the first of the NGC Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi broadcasts on Nico Nico, which will showcase more gameplay. It start at 19:00 (Japan time) so if you happen to be around then, you can take a look here.

A Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi strategy guide is on the way

It's not a big surprise but a listing has now appeared for Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi: The Complete Guide. ASCII Media Works will be releasing the book on 31st July 2015 and the price is still unconfirmed. Amazon Japan is charging ¥2,160 for preorders.

Event report: Japan Expo 2015 (Paris)

Iconic yuru-kyara Kumamon in the flesh

It's been a whole year since I first made the trip to Paris, France for Japan Expo, just to watch Sengoku Basara Judge End a few days early. The event ran again this year - it's now celebrating its 16th anniversary - and given the sorry state of the UK convention scene I decided to drag two of my dearest friends along and give it another try. That's how I ended up making a fast-paced overnight trip to France on Thursday and Friday last week.

Paris - like much of the rest of Europe - is extremely hot this week, and gathering together with thousands of excited fans is never an effective way to stay cool. The organisers had done what they could to warn people to dress appropriately and bring plenty of drinks yet we still witnessed several people passing out in the entry queues and the lines at the stands selling slush drinks and other refreshments were impressive. I dread to think how hot it must be this weekend when even more people will have been descending on the convention halls to see the biggest guests. The dilapidated RER trains back to central Paris were stifling, too. It was almost unbearable.