Star Fox:The Lylat War

DISCLAIMER: In case you couldn't tell, this isn't a real game. I wish it was.

Game Summary
Star Fox: The Lylat War is a new game that acts as a reboot of the Star Fox series (Yes, again!), incorporating elements and lore from many of its previous entries to tell the biggest version of the Star Fox saga yet, from the formation of the original Star Fox team and James McCloud's death and betrayal at the hands of Pigma Dengar, to the second Star Fox team headed up by Fox McCloud and the war against Andross.

The game is a joint effort between Nintendo and Ubisoft Toronto. Ubisoft Toronto was chosen due to having developed Starlink: Battle For Atlas, a game which has several of its elements like planetary freeroam, base building, resource gathering, loot, and ship customization incorporated into this new Star Fox entry.

Story Synopsis
The Lylat System, led by the Cornerian government, is about to see its long period of peace shattered. After Dr. Andross causes untold devastation with an experiment gone wrong on Corneria, he is exiled to the planet Venom, a planet of outlaws and mercs that is seen as an undesirable part of the Lylat System. Andross makes waves on Venom as he uses his genius to rapidly improve the planet's living conditions and develop new weapons and technology for Venom in exchange for the planet's loyalty. Andross soon finds himself governor general of Venom, and begins to build an army to expand and conquer Lylat as a whole...

After a recon mission gone wrong takes the life of Cornerian ace James McCloud, his son Fox takes up the mantle of Star Fox in order to take back Lylat from Andross with the aid of General Pepper and the Cornerian Army! The Lylat War has begun...

Playable Characters
The player has the ability to play as any member of the Star Fox team, although some missions may require playing as a specific character. Every pilot in the Star Fox team and the allies they recruit has several stats that determine what they specialize in. Each pilot also has a unique Pilot Skill they can use to turn the tide in a desperate situation. Pilots level up with use as they defeat enemies and complete missions, making them stronger and able to take on tougher challenges.

Fox McCloud
Star Fox's leader, and main character of the game. Fox is a well rounded pilot who doesn't excel in any one area, but performs well across the board, making him able to adapt to any situation thrown his way. His Pilot Skill "Never Give Up, Trust Your Instincts" grants him a temporary boost to attack and defense, letting him both deal more damage and take less for a period.

Falco Lombardi
The loose cannon of Star Fox, Falco is loud, rude, and a braggart for sure, but he has the skill to back it up. Falco excels in Aerial vehicles and is less effective in Ground vehicles, performing best with high agility craft that complement his speed. His Pilot Skill "From the Shadows" allows him to temporarily vanish from sight and attack from stealth. Using a Charged Weapon, Subweapon, or Special Weapon will remove the stealth effect, but it will gain a significant damage bonus, making Falco great for sneak attacks that can quickly take out heavy targets, or even take out a massive chunk of a boss' healthbar.

Peppy Hare
Peppy is another well rounded pilot, though as former Cornerian army he also has a slight advantage in ground vehicles like the Landmaster. He specializes in defense and can take more punishment than the rest of the time. And with his Pilot Skill "Vanguard" he can send that damage right back at his enemies, generating a powerful forward shield that reflects attacks right back at the attackers.

Slippy Toad
Slippy is the brains of Star Fox, as he is a talented engineer who helped design the Mk2 Arwing, Landmaster, and Blue Marine all used by Star Fox. He lacks a vehicle specialty, performing reasonably well in all vehicle types. His Pilot Skill "Repair Field" allows him to repair damaged armor and restore lost shields not only for him, but any allies as well, keeping everyone in the fight.

Playable Vehicles
There are two main vehicle types in the game: Aerial such as Arwings, and Ground such as the Landmaster. That said, they do share some gameplay aspects.

All vehicles have Main Weapons, Charge Weapons, Sub Weapons, and Special Weapons. As the player advances through the game, they'll be able to find new, stronger weapons of various types to customize the fighting capabilities of their vehicles, as well as other equipment to enhance their performance, and mods to tweak their fleet of vehicles even further!

Arwing Mk2
Standard aircraft of Star Fox. The Arwing Mk2 is a balanced aircraft designed to handle any situation thrown at it. The most notable piece of equipment on the Arwing is the G-Diffuser System, a prototype not approved for use in the Cornerian army due to lack of testing. The G-Diffuser grants the Arwing remarkable speed and agility for a fighter craft, and allows it to perform barrel rolls that cause the G-Diffuser's gravitational energy to spin around the Arwing, repelling incoming low yield weaponry.

Its standard loadout consists of twin blasters mounted on the wing hardpoints as its main weapon, a homing plasma cannon mounted on the nose as its charge weapon, twin micro missile launchers mounted on the hardpoints on the sides of the Arwing's main body for its Subweapon, and a Nova Bomb launcher mounted on the underside as its Special weapon.

Landmaster
A prototype assault tank used by Star Fox. It also makes use of the G-Diffuser to give it the ability to perform advanced moves such as side rolls and hovering via its boosters. Its design breaks many conventions though, as the tank's main gun can only freely aim vertically, and is incapable of turning on a horizontal axis. As such, the tank must be facing its target to shoot. This design choice was made due to the surprising agility of the Landmaster, since its G-Diffuser and boosters allow it to strafe left and right via quick rolls to evade oncoming fire as it approaches its targets head on. While it has limited ability to deal with aerial threats, it is more than a match for any ground targets it comes across.

The main gun of the Landmaster is a Variable Plasma Cannon that can fire uncharged plasma bolts for its main weapon, and charged plasma bolts as it charged weapon. Its subweapon is an anti-aircraft blaster mounted alongside the main gun, while its special weapon is a Ramming System that projects a powerful energy field in front of the Landmaster, allowing it to temporarily ram through enemies to inflict high damage without harming the Landmaster itself.

The Great Fox: Your base of operations
The Great Fox serves as the hub and operating base of the Star Fox team. Players can freely explore the ship as Fox McCloud, interacting with the rest of the team to advance the storyline, discover side missions, and learn more about the Lylat System and the people that inhabit it.

From the lounge, the player can listen to any unlocked music from the game's soundtrack, view the game's galleries, or use the arcade machine to replay completed Story Missions.

In the Hangar, the player can assign the main pilot for a mission, and what pilots will accompany them, although some missions may require a specific pilot selection to undergo. The player can also choose the team's vehicles here, as well as customize said vehicles' equipment and appearance.

The Bridge and Star Map are where the player will go when they're ready to move to a new location or undertake a mission at the current location, and is described in more detail in its section.

The Star Map: A tactical view of the galactic struggle
In Star Fox:The Lylat War, the Star Map is a crucial interface that will constantly be used. The war for Lylat is an ongoing conflict where gains and losses will happen as the Star Fox team travels from planet to planet, with the Star Map providing realtime data on the war to determine where the team is needed most.

From the Star Map, the player can see the current state of the Lylat War, and the situation on each planet, as well as any deployed forces in space that Andross has sent to try and attack Cornerian held areas.

Travel through the Lylat System via the Great Fox is handled in the Star Map, with the player choosing a location to travel to. During travel, time will pass and feedback from the conflicts on each planet and space sector of the Lylat System will be relayed to the player. In addition, the Great Fox may come across anomalies or distress calls during travel, which the player can choose to divert to and investigate. These random events can range from rescuing allies under attack, to finding an abandoned cache of loot, to being ambushed by enemies, though they are never forced on the player, the player may freely choose to ignore these events, but may miss out on great rewards by doing so.

Once the Great Fox arrives at a planet or space sector, the player may choose to undertake missions in the area, or free roam if the first story mission in that area has been completed.

Missions and their Types: Getting down to business
Every planet and space sector in the game features several missions, with some key missions on each planet needing to be taken to advance the story.

Story Missions are tied to the main story and required to advance the game's plot as well as unlock further missions for the game's locations, but every planet and space sector have two crucial story mission types: First Strikes, and Final Battles.

First Strike missions are the "opening act" of every major location in the game, and must be taken to unlock further activities in the area. The purpose of these missions is to give the Cornerian forces and Star Fox a foothold in the area to establish bases of operation. Once a First Strike is completed, Free Roam becomes available for the location in question.

Final Battle missions are the grand finale of a location, and how Star Fox completely removes Andross' hold over an area by taking out that area's commanding officer who is typically acts as that location's final boss.

Along with these two story missions per location, there's also Free Missions and Side Missions. Free Missions are simple missions that can be undertaken for quick money and resources and typically occur in the Free Roam mode. Side Missions are storylines that aren't directly connection to the main story's progression, but can provide notable rewards like equipment, and even new vehicles and allies for Star Fox.

Missions can play out in two ways, those being:

Attack Run Mode: These are traditional "on rails" levels where Fox and company will fight through an area on a fixed path, and may have branching pathways for the player to discover as well.

All Range Mode: In these situations, the player can freely fly through the mission area. All Range mode is primarily used for boss fights and dog-fighting type situations, but may also be used for missions that involve attacking a fortification or defending an allied location.

Free Roaming: Explore, discover, and conquer!
Free Roam is a major aspect of Star Fox:Lylat War that allows the player to explore and fight in the Lylat System on their terms, at their pace. After Star Fox has gained a foothold in a major location by finishing its First Strike mission, the player may choose to explore this location's Free Roam area, a large open worldspace filled with things to discover, and bases to attack and conquer for Corneria to use in order to gain a stronger hold over the planet. Once the Cornerian Army's strength in a location is high enough, the player may choose to engage in the Final Battle for that area to fully liberate it from Andross' control, and further strengthen the Cornerian Army. In Free Roam, All Range Mode is typically used.

Free Roam provides plenty of opportunities for Star Fox to make the money they need to keep their equipment in top shape, as they'll come across Cornerian forces in need of assistance, as well as other potential allies local to each planet. There's plenty of resources and loot to find by exploring as well, such as abandoned mines, mysterious ancient ruins, enemy supply caches, and of course the enemy bases themselves. One may also find various challenges like races that challenge the player's piloting skills, having them try to complete a difficult run through a tough course by going through several checkpoints along it.

During Free Roam, if Andross' forces are present on the planet, they may try attacking allied bases. The player will need to divert to these locations if allied strength isn't high enough to repel the attack in order to ensure the base stays under Cornerian control. Though with enough work by gathering resources and donating them to Cornerian allies in the area, they'll become strong enough to handle the enemy without Star Fox's assistance, allowing the player more freedom in exploration and side activities without having to divert to aid allies.

The player is free to use any vehicle they want for Free Roam, though some missions may require an air or ground vehicle specifically. Some areas in each Free Roam location may also be easier to access or navigate with an air or ground vehicle, due to the environment's layout, or due to a strong anti air or anti ground presence in the area. Enemy fortifications designed to specifically repel a ground or air vehicle must be destroyed to make the area safer for that vehicle type. If an area has a strong anti-air presence, something like the Landmaster will be need to be used to deal with it. If the area has a strong anti-ground presence, it means it's best to use the Arwing to clean it out.

A number of base types exist that will influence the conflict in each area, as well as provide aid to Star Fox in various ways if they're under Cornerian control.

Supply Bases are locations the player can stop at to repair any damaged craft, as well as re-supply their weapons and change what vehicle they're using.

Monitoring Outposts monitor a large area around them, and can warn the player of enemy movement in advance, allowing the player to intercept a potential attack on a base before it even happens.

Resource Processing Centers will provide a passive income to Star Fox, and the player can also purchase various resources from these locations to help strengthen other base types.

Forward Operating Bases will defend other allied bases in the area from enemy attack. With enough Forward Operating bases at high levels operating in an area, the area effectively becomes safe from enemy attacks, as the Cornerian army will be strong enough to repel them without Star Fox's help.

The player can take over enemy bases of these types to have them contribute to the Cornerian side, and also mark un-occupied locations for the Cornerians to build additional bases to assist in the war effort.

The Story Mode Campaign
The player's ultimate goal in the campaign is to carve a path from Corneria to Venom by re-taking planets and space sectors under Andross' control, until the player can finally lead an allied assault on Venom itself to defeat Andross. How this is done will depend on the locations the player chooses to visit and liberate. Not every location needs to be liberated, but in story mode the player will be able to liberate every location if they so choose, as they are not locked down a particular story path based on their choices. If the player wishes to quickly fight their way to Andross by only doing the bare minimum, they may, but players who want to see everything Lylat has to offer in a single run are free to do so.

Prologue and Flight/Combat Tutorial: James McCloud
The opening of the game has the player taking the role of James McCloud on his ill-fated mission to Venom. The original Star Fox team, consisting of him, Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar are tasked with a reconnaissance mission to Venom to gauge Andross' military capabilities. The mission serves as a tutorial that teaches the player the basics of All Range flight and combat as the team fights an unmanned drone patrol in orbit of Venom before entering its atmosphere. Unfortunately, the team is ambushed and forced to try and escape its pursuers through a narrow canyon on Venom's surface, this segment acting as the tutorial for Attack Runs. At the end of the canyon however awaits a large Venomian attack force, and Pigma attacks Peppy from behind in his betrayal. Fox orders Peppy to escape and tell General Pepper what they saw, and that Corneria needs to prepare for war. The tutorial concludes with James McCloud's last stand against the Venomian forces, an unwinnable fight, although Pigma can be shot down before James is overwhelmed if the player is skilled enough.

Corneria: Free Roam and Conquest Tutorial
The first real mission of the game opens with Fox McCloud and the new Star Fox team as they attempt to break through Andross' attack fleet using their newly designed Arwing Mk2s. Andross' fleet is bombarding Corneria from orbit on top of deploying forces for surface attacks, and must be dealt with before the team can further assist Corneria City. The mission begins with an all range mode battle against the enemy fleet and its fighters, with Fox being tasked with doing enough damage to one of the enemy capital ships in order to force their way inside and destroy its reactor from within. Upon destroying the ship, Star Fox descends to Corneria's surface to engage in an Attack Run against Venomian forces in Corneria City. At the end of the mission, the team faces off against an Attack Carrier leading the assault on the city.

After defeating the Attack Carrier, Fox and company dock at a Cornerian Field Base to repair and re-arm. From here, the player is introduced to Free Roam and Conquest. The goal is to take out the forward operating bases that Venom has established for its siege on Corneria City, with the ultimate goal being to attack Granga's Field HQ, and drive the commanding officer from Corneria entirely.

Upon liberating enough of the Free Roam area of Corneria from Venomian occupation, the Final Battle mission will become available, and Fox will lead the assault to drive the Venomians from Corneria. Granga's HQ being heavily fortified against aerial attack, Fox is tasked with using a Landmaster to destroy the HQ's aerial defenses and give the rest of Star Fox the ability to support the offensive from the air. The mission ends with a boss battle against Granga's Urban Assault Walker.

Once Corneria is liberated from Venomian occupation, the player is given a new story mission to help Corneria destroy the remaining capital ship blockade orbiting Corneria. Upon completing this story mission, the player is given free reign to choose how they wish to begin the push to regain neighboring territory from Venom by heading for Sector Y, Titania, or Meteo.

Arcade Mode
Arcade Mode is unlocked upon finishing the story mode campaign for the first time, and offers a much more traditional Star Fox experience for players looking to enjoy a quicker version of the Lylat War that focuses on high scoring and branching level paths based on your actions, much like Star Fox 64's campaign.

In this mode, the player fights their way from Corneria to Venom while taking on a variety of the major story missions from the campaign, with new objectives that will determine the path the player progresses through the game: Harder levels will be available by accomplishing difficult objectives and finding hidden paths. Failing these objectives or not finding the hidden paths will result in the player being put on an easier route. In this mode, vehicles use fixed loadouts and Pilot Skills are not available, with the player taking on the role of Fox McCloud throughout Arcade Mode's runs.

VS Mode
VS Mode consists of several PvP gametypes that pit players against one another in various competitive battles. Up to four players can play locally on a single switch system via splitscreen, with LAN/online allowing for up to 8 players.

The gametypes include:

Deathmatch: A free for all, with the winner being whoever gets the most kills before time runs out, or reaches a kill limit first. Team mode also available.

Last Man Standing: A free for all in which every player has a limited number of respawns: The winner is the last one alive. Team mode also available.

Mercenary Competition: A gametype where the players do not fight each other, but instead compete for kill counts. Each player takes the role of a Cornerian friendly mercenary fighting Venomian forces. Players cannot harm each other, and can only win by destroying the most enemy units. A team mode is also available. There's also a Co-op version of this mode where all players are working to achieve the best combined score. In this mode, events can occur that can turn the tide such as a high value boss target showing up that grants extra points to whoever does the most damage to it.

Conquest: A team only gametype. Both sides must defend a main HQ while trying to take out the enemy's HQ. Bases can be built to assist in each side's efforts, and said bases can be destroyed to remove their benefits. The arena is divided into two halves, with each team only allowed to build bases on their half of the arena.

Race: A non combat PvP mode where instead pilots must see who's the fastest by racing through various courses throughout Lylat. Those who want weapons can enable them, though all weapons, even mains, have limited ammo and pickups must be used to restore them!