Bloody Roar: End Zoan

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  "Unleash your beast. — Official Tagline"

Bloody Roar: End Zoan is the sixth installment in the Bloody Roar series of fighting video games''. ''It is a reboot of the franchise and was developed by Ars Nova and published by Konami. The game will first be released in arcades as well as on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Ars Nova has given hints to a possible port to the PlayStation Vita, Wii U and 3DS at a future date. Like the previous game, this one will have an M rating for blood and violence and adult themes.

The game will once again focus on ‘zoanthropes’, warriors who can transform into half-man half-animal beasts. Characters from different installments will make an appearance in the game alongside new characters. The creators have said that ‘while the game is going to have instances of nostalgia, call backs and easter eggs from previous games this is an entirely a new look and direction. Not everything is going to be as you remembered it.’ To further the point they further said that Tylon Corporation is no more and has been replaced with Evolution Enterprises. The creators also said that the game will touch on themes of masks, racial tensions, scientific experimentation, and physical pain.

Gameplay
Bloody Roar: End Zoan is a fighting game in which players control characters with different fighting styles and special attacks, engaging in one-on-one combat to deplete their opponent's life gauge. The game features 3D graphics on a three-dimensional plane. Unlike the traditional fighting game design involving multiple rounds with regenerative life bars, Bloody Roar uses a scheme similar to the Killer Instinct and Injustice: Gods Among Us games. Each match consists of a single round with each player bearing two life bars. When one player loses their first life bar there is a pause before the fight recommences. The player to have his first life bar depleted will get back 50% of their beast gauge.

The game engine has been redone to create a faster experience with more emphasis on impacts from hits. The game uses a five button layout: Punch, Kick, Guard, Unique Attack, and Shift. Unique Attacks are attacks unique to characters and Shift allows characters to transform into their Beast forms. Through various timings and positions many moves can be unlocked. Transforming into Beast form also gives characters additional moves as well as changing the properties of moves from their human form.

Beast Mode, now known as Shifting, and animal forms have been redone from scratch. Below the health bar is the feral gauge. This gauge is broken into three sections. Both players start off with the gauge at maximum. When a player shifts into beast form one section of the gauge is used. Also shifting into animal form takes up some of the health bar when using a section of the gauge for the first time. Health is regained over time while in beast form to a certain point. The used gauge decreases each time the player takes damage. Once the gauge runs out a player shifts back to their human form. A player can shift back to human form by pressing the Shift button so as to not lose anymore of that sectioned gauge. Shifting between forms between moves and combos can create new devastating moves. Characters gain and lose certain properties between their forms. For instance Alice in her rabbit form gains a dramatic increase in her jumping ability and control of her air descent speed while Dragana gains increased defense and if attacked while guarding the opponent takes chip damage.

The feral gauge has more uses. New to the game are ‘Shifting Strike’ and ‘Blitz Drive’. Shifting Strikes are similar to enhanced attacks from Mortal Kombat. They use one section of the feral gauge and are unblockable attacks. Blitz Drive requires the use of two sections of the feral gauge. These attacks function as super moves seen in other fighting games. They are only accessible in the human form. Beast Drive makes a return and function the same way as the Blitz Drive, but only in beast forms. Beast Drives are more powerful, but are easier to dodge.

Hyper Beast also makes a return. This mode uses the entire feral gauge and costs twice the amount of health from when shifting normally. It also continuously drains the player’s health bar till death or till they come out of Hyper Beast. Once used, the feral gauge takes a longer time to fill. In return for these penalties the character’s attack and speed are greatly boosted in addition to whatever properties are in their beast form. Startup and recovery time from moves are also shortened allowing for combos that would not be normally possible.

Game Modes
Arcade Mode: The player picks a character and goes through eight stages. The seventh stage is a fight between a rival character and the last stage is against the boss. With the right conditions a bonus ninth stage maybe unlocked. Through this mode extra colors for characters, extra art and videos, extra information on characters are unlocked in this mode.

Story Mode: The actual story of the game. This mode is similar to Injustice: Gods Among Us where the player will control different characters at certain points to further the story. The story is told in anachronic order and events are shown in their respective perspectives. Extra costumes, extra music, videos from story mode, and secret codes to change some of the game settings are in this mode.

Vs Mode: Local play between one or two players. Contains Single, Team, Time Attack and Vs Time

Survival Mode: The player tries to defeat as many enemies as possible with increasing handicaps. There is also Time Survival which has is how fast the player can go through 100 enemies with increasing handicaps.

Online Mode: Online play with players from around the world. Includes Vs, Team, King of the Hill, Spectator, Trial Modes

Practice: Where players can practice with characters. Includes Free Practice, Training, and Trial Modes

Options: To change the game settings. This mode has both Video Viewer and Juke Box to watch videos from the game and listen to the music of the game. You can also adjust the game music settings for different songs to play. It also has Code Input where players can input codes found throughout the game. These codes will change various settings of the game till it is taken off. Such things can be done such as Classic Mode, which turns the game graphics to PlayStation 1 era polygons much like the original Bloody Roar, Playground Mode, which turns all the characters into little kids, Anime Mode, which gives the game an anime look similar to what is seen in Bloody Roar Primal Fury.

Story
Zoanthropy. At its simplest it is the ability for a human to transform into a monstrous animal. Not much is known about Zoanthropy or Zoanthropes. Is this a genetic mutation or human evolution? Is this something recent in the era or has this been around since the beginning of human history? Many questions unanswered. There is one thing known for sure. Zoanthropes are dangerous.

Because of events such as ‘The London Massacre’ and ‘The Assassination of Peace’ human and zoanthrope relations are at its worse, with much of humanity calling to end all zoanthropes. In these dangerous times Yugo, a wolf zoanthrope, sets out to find the mystery of his father’s death. His search leads him to the corporation Evolution Enterprises and the words ‘N Zone’. To continue will only lead to tragedy, but Yugo persists. The tale of beast warriors renewed. Blood will fall.

Terminology
Zoanthropy - Humans with the ability to transform into beasts. Despite being public knowledge for twenty years there is still very little known about the ability. Some see it as a disease or a curse that needs to be eradicated. Others see it as a blessing and joy while still others think it could be the next evolution of humanity. Others see it as a divergence in humanity, treating those afflicted as a different race or species. Those with this ability are known as Zoanthropes.

The Unmasking - Twenty years ago there was a terrorist attack in which hostages were taken. During this attack two individuals would, as described by witnesses, ‘transform into a bird demon and some type of monstrous insect’. Film footage taken at the time shows the two creatures indiscriminately killing both terrorists and hostages. It would come to a point where the terrorists teamed up with the police force to kill the insect monster. The body transformed back into a person and was identified. This caused a panic throughout the world and tactics were formed to find similar individuals. Zoanthropes would begin to make themselves known, changing the era of the world. The ‘bird demon’ escaped and has never been identified.

The London Massacre/Disaster - A tragedy in London that happened during a peace conference between nations. While not the primary topic, one of the main topics was zoanthropy. The conference was going well and looked like it was going to be a breakthrough but that all changed when a human ambassador’s daughter was killed. Asha Smriti was killed in front of the entire conference by her bodyguard who was then revealed to be a zoanthrope. What followed next was chaos between human and zoanthropes leaving 64 humans and 40 zoanthropes dead. This event would ripple across the world.

The Assassination of Peace - Following the events of The London Massacre hate groups against zoanthropes, like the HOPE, gained more power. In reaction to this zoanthropes and their movements became more tense and fervent in protecting their kind. Drastic and rapid efforts on both sides had to be done to maintain peace. Ohran Wilfred, a world leader of peace, headed the efforts. Though he made great strides in these high tension times it would not last. At the end of a peace conference he was assassinated. This would cause the fall of the ZFM and P4A and the rise of the ZLW. After the assassination it was reported a zoanthrope said ‘They didn’t just kill a man. They assassinated peace. There is no world for humans and zoanthropes.’. The assassin has yet to be found.

Zoanthropy Freedom Movement (ZFM)- The longest and largest movement for zoanthrope rights. They were an aggressive but nonviolent movement. Strong in passion, but lacking leadership they gained momentum when joining up with P.4.A. All members were zoanthropes but they did give temporary sanctuary to humans who were persecuted, the sick and runaways. This group would eventually disband and reform into the ZLW.

Peace 4 All (P.4.A)- A group created by Ohran Wilfred. This group strove for total pacifism for everyone, not just zoanthropes. Rather than just focus on one group’s interest they managed to pull all groups together like a family. The ZFM was the first and most loyal members to join them, but many other organizations would join. With the assassination of Ohran, Peace 4 All eventually dissolved within the rising flames of anarchy.

Humanity’s Opposition Prevention and Extermination (HOPE)- A military organization created by the U.S., British and Japanese governments to deal with the problem of Zoanthropes. The organization was created in reaction to The Unmasking. While it started out as a reaction and retaliation force to zoanthrope crimes, hate groups have influenced the ideology of the organization. The London Massacre was the breaking point that changed the group into more aggressive and suppressive tactics. Originally called ‘The Preventers’, the organization’s name was changed to HOPE in tribute to Asha Smriti.

Zoanthrope Liberating World (ZLW)- The aftermath of the Assassination of Peace caused members of the P.4.A and ZFM to become disillusioned, disheartened, embittered, and enraged. These growing feelings would lead to the dissolution of the P.4.A and for a splinter group within the ZFM to rapidly grow. This splinter group would eventually overtake and absorb the ZFM, becoming the ZLW. They are an infamous group viewed as heroes and freedom fighters by many zoanthropes but terrorists by humans. All members are zoanthropes with zero tolerance to humans.

Evolution Enterprises - A corporation in all parts of the world that deals in the business of technology, genetics, medical, and communications. The company has earned a strong following for many of its great achievements such as eradicating rabies, asthma, and strains of ebola and its smaller breakthroughs such as a pill that can change a person’s hair and eye color for a few days. They also openly support zoanthropes. Despite all of this there are rumors of shady dealings, such as kidnappings, every once in a while. These rumors usually die out quickly. The CEO is Aldeer Darwin. Slogan: Enter Evolution / Go Beyond Human

Kāità zhě Manufacturing - The R&D department of Evolution Enterprises. They have a remarkable success rate in their findings and draw from all parts world. Top members of this department include: Ishii Mengel, Steven Goldberg, and Hajime Busuzima. Slogan: Vanguards of the Future / Evolution or Extinction

Wild Hunt - A group of mercenaries renowned for their ability to hunt and capture the most elusive bounties all of the world. They grew in public popularity for capturing rogue and convicted zoanthropes. They have also been criticized by humans and zoanthropes alike for treatment of their captives as well as killing some of their bounties. The group disappeared from public eye after being recruited by Evolution Enterprises. It has been split into two divisions: The Company Defense Force that works specifically under the CEO and the Human Resource Acquisition Department that works with the HR and R&D departments.

Grandis Hunter - An unofficial title given to those who hunt and kill zoanthropes without any affiliation to any governments or political agendas. Most of these lone wolves and single groups are the equivalent to big game hunters and poachers, doing it for the thrill of going after a dangerous animal. Others do it for more nefarious reasons. The title and people given these titles are very controversial. While many say these hunters are doing the world a favor exterminating pests, others say this is glorifying killers and perpetuating violence between species.

Characters
Bloody Roar: End Zoan features 14 playable characters with 6 returning characters, 6 new characters and 2 secret characters each with English and Japanese voice actors. The developers have stated that “the roster will be primarily from the first two Bloody Roar games, but characters from the entire Bloody Roar universe will make an appearance in the game. Any characters missing are due to story purposes and may make an appearance as DLC or in future games.”.

DLC skins will also become available in the future that will change the appearance and voice of some characters. 3 DLC characters were added to the roster that will be available in the future.

List
Returning Characters: Yugo the Wolf, Alice the Rabbit, Long the Tiger, Bakuryu the Mole, Reiji the Crow, Shina the Leopard

New Characters: Cuán the Hound, Vulpez the Fox, Michaël the Silverback, Dragana the Ouroboros, Dieter the Humanity, Bart the Kraken

Special Characters: Mitsuko the Boar (Secret Character), Gado the Lion (Secret Character), Uriko the Evolution (Boss)

DLC Skins: Gregory the Gorilla, Hans the Fox, Fang the Wolf, Mashiro the Rabbit, Shirakumo the Tiger

DLC Characters: Langstrom the Man-Bat, Leonardo the Ninja Turtle, Zitz the BattleToad, Felicia the Darkstalker

Character Profiles
- The Best is Yet to Come-

Ohran Wilfred
Voiced by: Paul Eiding

A pacifist who believed in the world coming together and everyone treated equally. He dedicated his life to trying to create total peace and formed the organization, Peace 4 All, in his attempt. When zoanthropy became known to the world and prejudice arose between zoanthropes and humans, he sought to mend their differences and bring them together. Ohran believed ‘no one should be left out of this world’. His constant work and charisma was one of the leading advances towards peace in the world. His assassination would set the world on a dark future.

Asha Smriti
Voiced by: Christina Puccelli

The daughter of an Indian ambassador, Asha never saw a difference between humans and zoanthropes. They both laughed and cried. They both have dreams and fears. Despite her young age she always treated her zoanthrope peers as equals. Her parents documented her behavior and showed it to the world to help promote peace and co-existence. Her innocent words and actions even impressed Ohran Wilfred. Asha soon found herself as the youngest peace ambassador. A symbol of peace, her death was the catalyst for disharmony. The developers have said that Dragana tries to emulate her.

Yuji Ogami
Voiced by: Lex Lang

A kind-hearted Japanese soldier, Yuji may have been a second-rate soldier, but his heart was second to none. One of his most notable actions was being able to stop a shootout from erupting between his division and a town of armed civilians. By just talking and risking his life in enemy hands he was able to tame the feelings of both sides. This action caught the attention of the legendary mercenary, Alan Gado. The two became brothers in arms from that day on. Years later a mission goes astray, killing many citizens. One of the citizens was Yuji’s wife. Disillusioned by the military, Yuji left  his life as a soldier behind and to raise his son. The government reinstated him into the military for one last special mission with Gado, Golan Draphan and a few other soldiers who have had experience with zoanthrope individuals. Yuji and the rest of the special task force died on this mission. The developers said they would give Yuji more characterization in this game and touch upon his relationship with Yugo.

Frañseza Shina
Voiced by: Jennifer Hale

A French soldier who worked as a combat medic. She met the mercenary, Alan Gado, while tending to his wounds against orders. Since then the two have been close even if they are not always on the same battlefield. When Frañseza became pregnant, she opted for a reserve position to spend time to raise her daughter. Combat and war made Frañseza see and do things she never wanted her daughter to experience. She did her best to steer her away from that life. Frañseza is called back as combat medic to aid as a supervisor of other medics on a mission. The mission went astray and Frañseza was killed in the conflict. Because of her death, Alan drowned himself in combat while Jeanne became lost on the battlefield.

Aldeer Darwin
Voiced by: Daran Norris

The CEO and creator of Evolution Enterprises. His grandfather became too old to run his company and named Aldeer as his successor. Using the skeleton of his grandfather’s company, Tylon Corporation, Aldeer created Evolution Enterprises in its ashes. A stern and mysterious man, Aldeer has been known to be aggressively passive. A visionary that looks far ahead into the future, not many can see the world as he does. The developers have said that Aldeer is a looming presence throughout the game, but one you don’t see or interact with. This can be seen with the viral marketing of the game and in-game scenes where you hear his voice in commercials and characters talk about him, but he is never seen.

Vera Baris
Voiced by: Laura Post

An Albanian high ranking executive in Evolution Enterprises and Aldeer’s left hand. She is able to grasp the CEO’s ideas and visions and able to execute his desires independently with little to no orders. A mysterious woman, no one can read what she’s thinking or what she’ll do next. Developers have stated that Vera stands in place of Aldeer who is never seen. She plays a vital role in some of the character’s backgrounds and what brought them to the present story.

Huntsman Team 03
Voiced by: River (Phil LaMarr), Ciel (Lara Jill Miller), Erden (Troy Baker), Ash (Erica Mendez)

A five man HOPE unit lead by Dieter Rask. The other members are River Dalton, Ciel Tolbert, Erden Fleischer, and Ash Bolivar. Each of them have past experiences with zoanthropes and joined HOPE for their own reasons. River is the longest member on the team, having worked with Dieter in different units within HOPE and military units outside of HOPE. The developers have given outside information on the team to further flesh them out. River is dark skinned and of British descent. He’s the most easygoing and lax of the group but can become cold in a heartbeat. Ciel is Canadian with a bubbly personality that always tries to keep a positive outlook. Erden is German. He is the newest member to the team and hard headed. He is very adamant in his beliefs and his ideas. Ash is a Spaniard with a hot temper and a trigger finger. She is the first one to jump into a fight. Each member has a small patch on their uniform that is homage to another series. River has a Foxhound patch (Metal Gear Solid), Ciel has the witch, Charlotte, as a patch (Madoka Magica), Erden has a Wings of Freedom patch (Attack on Titan), and Ash has a patch of a red and purple scissor blade crossing each other (Kill La Kill).

Lin Li Shin
Voiced by: Lara Jill Miller

Long Shin’s younger sister. She has lived a distressful life due to her brother’s zoanthropy. Her feelings towards him are complicated. Lin Li rests in an advanced hospital with all her expenses being paid for by Evolution Enterprises. She battles for life against an unknown disease contracted from a zoanthrope.