Rise of Incarnates
Developer(s)Bandai Namco Entertainment
Publisher(s)Bandai Namco Entertainment
Producer(s)Daisuke Murano
Michael Murray
EngineOrochi 3
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • WW: July 1, 2015
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Rise of Incarnates was a multiplayer free-to-play fighting video game developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Announced early 2014 and presented at the 2014 Electronic Entertainment Expo, the game featured two-on-two gameplay. The game was developed by the same staff that worked on the Soulcalibur, Tekken, and Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. series, three major fighting game franchises of Bandai Namco. It was released in July 2015.[1] The game was pulled from Steam in October 2015, and its servers were shut down in December 2015.[2]

Gameplay

The game's playable characters were the so-called Incarnates, humans who have awoken mythical powers. Players could apply long-range assault with close-quarter combat. Their powers allowed them to transform into a creature or summon a being to assist them in battle.[3]

Battle arenas were set in places like:

Synopsis

Setting

Rise of Incarnates is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth. A string of "cube phenomena", which saw objects and spaces appearing as perfect cubes, attract multiple catastrophic events, including meteorites falling from the sky and massive cold fronts sweeping across the land which brought about the collapse of cities around the world, leading the people in the planet to live in a state of perpetual fear. Among the people are those known as "incarnates"—humans who can draw powers from daimones; spirit manifestations of the gods, demons, and monsters from all of the world's mythologies. General public fear incarnates for their supernatural powers, not helped by the fact that the cube phenomenon is sighted every time the incarnates use their powers, while the authorities attempt to harness their powers for their own deeds.

For this reason, several different factions have been formed in reaction to the rise of the incarnates. The U.S. government has formed the "Phantom Unit", an experimental incarnate deployment program that seeks to become the incubator for incarnates and place them in various agencies based on their aptitude, as well as the "Wild Hunt", a covert organization in several squadrons answering directly to the President of the United States, created with the goal of apprehending and exterminating unregistered incarnates. Across the pond, the British government has also formed the "Were-Legion" with the same purpose as the Phantom Unit but is composed of incarnates that take the form of shapeshifters. In the wake of the hostility and persecution that occur between the incarnates and the powerless, two competing organizations were formed: Akohr, an elite organization that considers the incarnates as abominations to the human race and seeks to annihilate them with the "Slayer"; and Vikarāla, an India-based industry corporation that had stepped in as the main facilitator of communication between individuals free of cost with a hidden agenda: ensuring that the incarnates rule the world.

A battle of dominance between each incarnates is triggered when one day, an enigmatic voice speaks in the mind of every incarnates, requiring them to defeat the "sovereign of this era" to avoid a certain destruction.[4]

Plot

While driving with his girlfriend, Emily, incarnate Jedrek Tyler has to watch her getting captured by a convoy of Wild Hunt, a U.S. government paramilitary organization. Resolving to find her, he teams up with Terrence Blake, a Wild Hunt renegade. The two receive help from arms dealer Mireia Valentin, who informs them about "the Prophet", a classified profile in the U.S. government; the U.S. government in turn is trying to locate "the Herald", a being connected to the Prophet. The three later learn that Emily, despite not being an incarnate, has the ability to channel the incarnates' lamia energy.

The case about the Prophet, a being contained in the body of a man named Oswald Coleman, attracts numerous people to try to delve into its identity and potentially seek its power, including Reinhold Kruger, a British commander of the "Were-Legion" interested in using the figure to bring about a world revolution. Concerned, U.S. President Sanders tasks Erendira Queen, the leader of the Wild Hunt, to protect the Prophet at all costs. At the same time, there also exists Kanat, a mysterious incarnate who has the ability to turn people he heal into incarnates. Kanat is protected by Ricardo Abascal from the attack of Akohr, an experimental organization intending to eradicate incarnates once and for all.

Eventually, the Prophet summons a demonic being, Red Dragon, who is actually Jedrek from a parallel universe. The Red Dragon is controlled by the Herald, revealed to be none other than Emily, an artificial human created by the Prophet to turn humans and incarnates against each other; the real Emily, President Sanders' daughter, had died a long time ago. Sanders kills her to stop the Red Dragon's rampage, though this only earns him Jedrek's hatred. Seeing Sanders overwhelming Jedrek in a duel, Mireia kills the former. The remaining incarnates attempt stop the Prophet from escaping, to no avail. The Prophet then reveals that he has been using Sanders, "the Sovereign", all along, his goal being to reign over a new world.

Characters

Playable

His daimon is Mephistopheles.
His daimon is Ares.
Her daimon is Lilith.
His daimon is the Grim Reaper.
Her daimon is Brynhildr.
His daimon is Odin.
His daimon is Ra.
His daimon is Fenrir.
Duran does not have a daimon, but is able to fight on equal grounds with other incarnates by his robotic equipment that controls lamina energy.
His daimon is Loki.
Her daimon is Kali.
His daimon is Zeus.
Her daimon is Utsuta Hime.
The Prophet used to be his daimon.

Non-playable

Comics

The game's official website released an online graphic novel that features some of the game's events.[5] In collaboration with Marvel Comics, Bandai Namco adapted the web comic into a 17-issue comic book.[6]

The new comic series made its debut on July 23, 2014, at San Diego Comic-Con, with the first two issues in a combined volume. Marvel Custom Solutions vice president Jonathan Rheingold said "Bandai Namco Games and Marvel working together was a no-brainer. Both companies hold to the highest standards of quality storytelling, artistic talent recruitment and character creation, so it was a natural connection for Marvel to offer its expertise to the legendary video game developer in packaging and distributing the comic book adaptation of Rise of Incarnates."

The newly released volume was also available at approximately 2,500 comic speciality shops supporting Marvel Comics for free from July 24, 2014. Additionally, the comics were accessible for free digitally through the Marvel Unlimited Comics App on iOS and Android devices.

List of volumes
Number Title Release date Reference(s)
1 "Ambush in the Square" N/A [7][8]
2 "Emily is Taken" June 16, 2014 [9][10]
3 "The Origin of Ares" N/A [11][12]
4 "Chasing the Herald" N/A [13][14]
5 "Erendira vs. Terrence" September 26, 2014 [15][16]
6 "A Common Enemy" December 10, 2014 [17]
7 "The Incarnate Slayer" December 19, 2014 [18]
8 "Capture the Phoenix" February 6, 2015 [19]
9 "Leaving Yuki" March 27, 2015 [20]
10 "The Vikarāla Offensive" May 22, 2015 [21]
11 "The Akhor Massacre" June 21, 2015 [22]
12 "The Red Dragon Awakens" July 24, 2015 [23]
13 "The Red Dragon vs. the Sovereign" August 9, 2015 [24]
14 "Dr. Watteau Strikes Back" October 2, 2015 [25]
15 "Seize the Prophet" November 2, 2015 [26]
16 "Sanders's Last Stand" December 4, 2015 [27]
17 "The Prophet Returns" December 18, 2015 [28]

Reception

It has a score of 68% on Metacritic.[29] IGN awarded it a score of 8.0 out of 10, saying "Rise of Incarnates' great fighting action depends heavily on teamwork - when you bring a friend, it shines." GamesTM said the combat was well structured.

Awards

List of awards and nominations
Award Category Result Ref.
The Game Awards 2015 Best Fighting Game Nominated [30]

References

  1. ^ Cook, Hershall (June 10, 2015). "Rise Of Incarnates Release Date Announced". Game Informer. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  2. ^ Kerr, Chris (14 October 2015). "Bandai Namco calls time on Rise of Incarnates after three months". Gamasutra. UBM plc. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  3. ^ "Introducing Rise of Incarnates, A 2 vs. 2 Fighting Game The Tekken Staff Made For PC". Siliconera. April 22, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  4. ^ Pitcher, Jenna (22 April 2014). "Rise of Incarnates is the latest fighting game from Bandai Namco, coming this year". Polygon. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Rise of Incarnates - Comics". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  6. ^ "Rise of Incarnates comic book series launched by Bandai Namco, Marvel". Digital Spy. July 24, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  7. ^ "Volume 1". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  8. ^ "Rise of Incarnates (2014) #1". Marvel Comics. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  9. ^ "Volume 2". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  10. ^ "Rise of Incarnates (2014) #2". Marvel Comics. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  11. ^ "Volume 3". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  12. ^ "Rise of Incarnates (2014) #3". Marvel Comics. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  13. ^ "Volume 4". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  14. ^ "Rise of Incarnates (2014) #4". Marvel Comics. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  15. ^ "Volume 5". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  16. ^ "Rise of Incarnates (2014) #5". Marvel Comics. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  17. ^ "Volume 6". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  18. ^ "Volume 7". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  19. ^ "Volume 8". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  20. ^ "Volume 9". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  21. ^ "Volume 10". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  22. ^ "Volume 11". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  23. ^ "Volume 12". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  24. ^ "Volume 13". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  25. ^ "Volume 14". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  26. ^ "Volume 15". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
  27. ^ "Volume 16". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  28. ^ "Volume 17". Bandai Namco Games. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  29. ^ "Rise of Incarnates Reviews". Metacritic.
  30. ^ "Nominees | The Game Awards 2015". The Game Awards. Ola Balola. 12 November 2015. Archived from the original on 14 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
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