Hexad Powers: Cosmos Raid

Hexad Powers: Cosmos Raid (Japanese: ヘキサドパワーズ：コスモスレイド Hepburn: Hekisado Pawāzu: Kosumosu Reido) is a 2D fighting video game co-developed by French-Bread and Ecole Software and published by Capcom. Based on the anime franchise, the title was released on February 15, 2018 in Japan, and was made available March 6 for the North American and European markets.

Gameplay
Cosmos Raid is a one-on-one installment where two competitors duke it out whether one side's health is reduced all the way to zero or whoever has the most cumulative life when time is up. There is a possibility of ending rounds in a "double KO." Rounds in this game are referred to as "phases", and a single match alone can last up to seven. About every playable unit in the title is employed with weaksauce, okay, and fierce normals, which can be cancelled into one another for chain comboing. Normal attacks can also transition into special moves, which have EX variants that use half a bar. To throw the opponent, players must get close to an opponent and press either a fierce punch or kick. A few participants will have access to command grabs. Each character carries taunts, altogether having three different ones: the standard, a secondary that can be triggered when hitting the aforementioned taunt button in conjuction with a horizontal input on the control pad/stick, and a third which can be activated when pressing the TB with Up or Down commands in tow. Another mechanic that can be found in CR is the Evasion Roll: players will be able to perform dodge rolls by hitting the weaksauce punch and kick buttons together. A manuever that this game dubs the Aerial Dash is also present, and there are both forward *and* backward variants. To execute aerial dashing, the player is expected to tap left or right twice on the d-pad or control stick whilst airborne... duh. The Hyper Rave Gauge, found at the bottom left and right parts of the screen, is filled up whenever a player launches regular or special attacks (even when the hits don't connect). It is comprised of five meters. If one bar is gained, you get to unleash a powerful, flashier-looking strike called the Hyper Salvo, which of course costs a full bar. Most of the playable cast has up to four different HSs, although there are a few exceptions to the rule that possess six at the highest and merely two at the lowest. If all that wasn't enough, everyone in the game can launch much more cinematic, one-hit KO blows at the expense of all five levels within the HRG. These are named Supreme Bashes, and can only be activated when a) the player has his/her gauge completely full; and b) said player's lifebar is in the red zone (i.e. close to defeat).

All characters in the game can not only perform regular and special moves, a couple have access to abilities that are distinct to them. For instance, Ultima drinks booze to enhance the strength of her regulars, Chris is able to temporarily switch places with her grandfather Shirotane, sub-boss Lazlo can teleport across the plane, and Arnold can choose whether to battle by his lonesome or fight while riding Edgar (his pet warhorse).


 * Additional mechanics

When both combatants try to land an HS on one another, they will trigger a feature known as Rapid Fire Turbulence, where players are encouraged to mash the attack buttons as quick as possible so that one side can overcome the other.

The game boasts Arcade, Versus, Class Smackdown, Timebattlers, Survival, Training, Tutorial, Net Rumble, Hue Alteration, and Gallery. Acting as Cosmos Raid's makeshift story mode, Arcade Mode provides prologue illustrations and FMV epilogue sequences that are unique to each participant, fully-voiced dialogue exchanges before matches go underway, and is also comprised of eight stages leading up to the sub- and final boss. Prior to the fourth bout, you go through a bonus level where you're expected to destroy an endless row of mirrors. By smashing ten or more, the player is instantly rewarded after time is up, though the opposite is true if you don't meet that requirement. In Versus Mode, you have the ability to pick whether you want to fight a CPU, human-controlled battler, or simply watch the AI go at each other's throats. Class Smackdown is a fancy-shmancy title for what is essentially Team Battle: the player assembles a group of characters and squares off against other parties. The maximum amount of competitors allowed in a team is 5, and it is the only mode in Cosmos Raid where Divine Amigos are prohibited from use. Like Versus, Class Smackdown is multiplayer-enabled. Timebattlers is another term for Time Attack: it's a second version of Arcade without the prologue/epilogue sequences, banters before the fighting starts, and victory text screens. The main draw of this mode is that you're graded depending on how fast you can finish it. Survival Mode is where you choose a character and merely fight AI-controlled warriors. It can take as long as you make it last, plus for every third match you win, your character regains some health (assuming your lifebar isn't 100% full). Training is actually broken down into two "sub-modes": typical Sparring sessions where you're able to practice and master a character's moveset, and Trialocalypse which lets players select a character and go through at least thirteen combo-centric missions; the closer you get to clearing a character's Trialocalypse, the more harder it gets. Net Rumble enables the player to duke it out with others all around the world, and is broken down into two "sub-modes": Filthy Casual and Ranked Bloodbath. Tutorial Mode teaches players about the basic in-game mechanics and more advanced systems. Unlike other modes, you can't choose your own character: only Vivi is controllable by default, whilst the practice dummy is Niles. Hue Alteration Mode lets the player customize a character's default color palette utilizing a variety of... umm, hues for a participant's hair, eyes, skin tone, and whatever else apparel he or she has on. There are ten alteration slots in all. Not unlike Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late – another game conceived by French-Bread and Ecole Software – these schemes have unique monikers attached to them. Gallery Mode consists of official character renders, concept art, miscellaneous drawings done by various animators and illustrators, biographies for each character (counting the unusable last boss), Sound/Music Test, the ending credits lifted from Arcade, and epilogue FMVs.
 * Modes

Plot synopsis
A tournament has been announced. Sponsored by Lazlo Bianchi, the kaiser of a dimension called Phi Galactica, the person in question dislikes battles that he perceives as "wishy-washy", so he sends out invites to competitors from all over the world (including some of Fusionbuster City's locals) that he finds intriguing. Whoever wins all eight fights gets the opportunity to face the sponsor himself at his home field, and the challenger is unable to return from whence they came unless they claim victory over the boss.

CR has a standalone story that is apparently set sometime after Meringue's death in the TV show's second season.

Roster
According to the game's director and main producer Nobuya Narita, the dev team promised that CR would feature a total of 26-28 playable combatants. The selection in itself features characters that have been made specifically for this game as well. As of this writing (January 26, 2018), the final roster has been revealed to peak at 27: twenty-six usable competitors plus the final boss character in Arcade Mode. There exist characters in-game that are not playable, but function as a Divine Amigo: they pretty much work in a similar way that Assists did in Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes, and deciding whether you want to assign a DA to a controlled character or not is optional. In-game, these competitors can be used up to four times per round, and they can even be attacked. If hit, the chosen Divine Amigo will flinch instead of striking a pose and retreats from the plane for a while. DAs are also useful for players looking to extend their combos, and using them helps fill up meter.


 * Playable cast


 * Unplayable Final Boss


 * List of Divine Amigos

Stages

 * Fusionbuster Outskirts
 * Genesis Academy
 * The Albright House
 * Spirit Cross Hideout
 * Gnarly Grotto
 * Nucleus Shipyard
 * Gigue Family Residence
 * Brothel of Allure
 * Passionate Kings of the Ring
 * Weirdness Within the Circus
 * Haunting Hour
 * Brawl Inside a Nutty Mall
 * Dancefloor Delirium
 * Phi Galactica Battleground
 * Galaxy in Ruination
 * Cookie-Cutter Practice Zone

Updated version(s)
At this year's TGS expo, the first revision of Cosmos Raid was announced for a January 2019 launch window, with a trailer showcasing a couple changes made to the mechanics and overall presentation. Every character in the base game will return, many of whom sporting either buffs or nerfs and retweaked movesets. The core roster's total is also being bumped from 26 to 34. The title for this upcoming edition is Hexad Powers: Cosmos Raid Excelsior. For those who have already purchased CR vanilla, it is free DLC. Overseas releases are scheduled for release between June-August.

Trivia

 * The game's announcer voice is supplied by Peter von Gomm, an American voice actor based in Japan.
 * Cosmos Raid's opening sequence was handled by Production I.G, the studio that produced the anime's first season. Yoshimichi Kameda did the key animation work for the opener. The main theme is "Warning," as performed by Silhouette from the Skylit.
 * I.G provided the Arcade mode epilogues, too.

Hexad Powers: Cosmos Raid details

 * Developer(s): Ecole Software, French-Bread
 * Publisher(s): Capcom
 * Director(s): Nobuya Narita
 * Producer(s): Nobuya Narita, Yoshinori Ono
 * Artist(s): Kinu Nishimura (Arcade prologues), Tomonori Inoue (source material)
 * Composer(s): Raito, Takatsugu Wakabayashi, Noriyuki Asakura
 * Series: Hexad Powers
 * Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows
 * Release: February 15 2018 (JP), March 6, 2018 (NA/EU)
 * Genre(s): 2D fighting game
 * Mode(s): Single-player, multiplayer