It’s been a little bit of time since we’d heard much out of Blue Protocol. Up until now, we knew the game was going to feature a photo mode and a customizable radial menu, but otherwise the MMORPG from Bandai Namco has been in closed beta testing in Japan, starting as late as April of last year. This past Thursday, however, saw a fair bit of news break for the game.
A recent livestream from the devs showcased several updates, starting off with a look at a new class known as the Heavy Smasher. This new off-tank style class attacks with a massive ball-headed hammer weapon that can shoot its sphere at foes, engage super armor to withstand heavy hits, and has a high HP pool in order to effectively face tank enemies. This class is set to release once Blue Protocol officially launches, though no release date has been set.
The devs further offered some adjustments coming to the game based on beta tester’s feedback: Riding a mount will no longer have an energy drain component (meaning players won’t be dismounted because an erroneous resource bar got emptied), materials can now effectively stack infinitely, and there’s a new wishlist feature that lets players track when they have needed materials for a desired craftable item.
Additionally, the devs provided a look at an NPC that can join solo players at certain “joint battle” events to help them out by throwing a stunning item and drawing enemy attention, and showcased a new joint gesture feature that lets players perform shared emotes with one another. Things like playing rock paper scissors or the scandalous act of holding hands will soon be possible. Lewd.
The stream also had some more combat previews on display that include the Heavy Smasher, which the folks at Reddit have cobbled together; you can watch that below.
