Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
For those of you who remember the review of Azur Lane: Crosswave, we're back again with the character DLC pack, featuring five new (or old if you come from the original game) characters to add to the vanguard roster, and fifteen new support units, as well as interconnected side stories focusing on each vanguard member.
So what are you looking at with the DLC? Well, the character DLC come in five parts: Taihou, Formidable, Roon, Le Malin, and Sirius. Each of these characters has their own separate DLC item. They come with three support characters and a side story for their characters, as well as some returning cast. Some characters also make appearances despite not being either vanguard or support units. In case you were curious, the characters are: carrier, carrier, cruiser, destroyer, cruiser.
Gameplay doesn't change from the base game. If you're coming here without knowing or owning the base game, I suggest heading over to the main game review. A brief summary of gameplay for those who don't know: anthropomorphic ship girls do battle in a 3D ocean covered world where they shoot at ships and other ship-girls. It also has spooky jellyfish and sharks with timey-wimey shenanigans. The original game does explain this.
Since gameplay, and by extension how units control, remains the same as the base game, I'm going to break down each DLC in order to tell you what characters you get, a brief overview of the mini plot, and a tidbit or two of info that might be interesting to you. As a general overview, each scenario details something to do with a new Siren, Tester. She is trying to promote the use of Siren technology in order to produce conflict and war. This all happens after the events of the Crosswave.
Generally the scenarios are comprised of approximately 6 battles, and a number of events to view, culminating in a mini resolution to that character arc. Each character in the DLC has their own cognitive awakening items and oath ring components. These can be acquired from the battles in their chapter. Usually the final battle is the best place to get these. It was great to see that each of these final battles is different in nature, with different objective being required in each character chapter.
First let's start with Taihou, the aircraft carrier from the Sakura Empire. Taihou gets called up by Akagi to assist with the filming of a movie in the Vichya/Iris Libre domain upon returning home from vacation. With the Taihou DLC, you also get the supporters: St. Louis, Dunkerque, and Jean Bart. In the Taihou chapter final battle, you will face off against a giant bullet sponge that took me seven minutes to beat the first time.
Taihou's story was probably my favourite, as the story there was a
fine balance of: serious, funny, relevant, and actually reasonable
dialogue (a point that seems obvious but surprisingly isn't). As a
unit, Taihou is an aircraft carrier, a backline unit, that can really
dish out punishment if she can deploy her planes. Probably not going
to be your flagship, but is definitely a handy unit. I have her in a
formation in the source game. Chronologically, the Taihou DLC would
likely be 2nd, although it should be played first for some background
comprehension.
Second up we have Formidable, the definitely-not-clunky aircraft carrier from the Royal Navy. Formidable is tasked with joining a delegation to Sardegna for a conference on anti-Siren measures. She goes along with Queen Elizabeth (the ship), Warspite, Neptune, and the Sardegnan liaison Zara. With the Formidable DLC you also get the supporters: Neptune, Warspite, and Zara (no Queen Elizabeth for you). The Formidable final battle consists of shooting down a number of aerial units that only take damage under certain circumstances.
Formidable's story was pretty decent, but all in all was a little generic, although with enough key points to pass. As a unit, Formidable is similar to Taihou, an aircraft carrier, and is generally more of a backline unit. Incidentally, I also have Formidable in one of my unit formations in the source game. Chronologically, the Formidable scenario is either 3rd or at the same time as Taihou's.
In the middle of the flock we have Roon, the totally-not-a-hidden-psychopath cruiser with a mean looking rigging and a penchant for beat downs given the opportunity. Taking place in an Academy for the Iron Blood, Roon and her squadron (the Z23 squad) go about their academy life, fending off invading Sirens when required for plot progression. With Roon, you also get Deutschland, Graf Spree, and Graf Zeppelin, three characters I rather liked in the source game, AND YET DEUTSCHLAND STILL ELUDES ME. Yes, I didn't win her in the events, and yes, I'm bitter about it.
The Roon final battle is a fairly standard "destroy x boss ships" that pop up around the arena you fight in. Nothing too fancy here, either in story of final battle. Roon's story serves to give some more insight into the Iron Blood, as well as some info on Sirens and world building in general. As a unit, Roon is a cruiser, a frontline fighter that can hold their own in most situations. Chronologically, Roon's episode actually happens both before and after the main story of Crosswave, and would be the 1st of the DLC sets. You should play the DLC in the order the game gives for clarity of characters though.
Fourth up we have Le Malin, the evil-blade that protects the Vichya dominion. Le Malin's story has her joining in a joint exercise with the Royal Navy. There's not much else I can say that isn't spoilers, but she is joined by Centaur, Essex, and Baltimore. The Le Malin final battle is a survival fight, which was interesting to see. While not difficult at the pre-awakening cap, you certainly can't just sit there and hope to survive.
Le Malin's story takes the opportunity to try and expand on what the wisdom cubes seen throughout Crosswave actually are. Unfortunately, the character interactions weren't all that interesting. I also would've have liked to see more about the nature of the wisdom cubes. As a destroyer, Le Malin falls into the same classification as Shimikaze, a torpedo and sustained fire specialist that is speedy but squishy. Chronologically, Le Malin takes up the 4th position in the DLC timetable.
Lastly we have Sirius, the super clumsy cruiser from the Royal Navy. In the Sirius episode, we see the conclusion to the DLC storylines. A final push by the Sirens to reclaim the PT cube, and a multi-nation pushback against the threat that is Tester. In this DLC you get London, Alabama, and Azuma. The Sirius final battle is a more traditional fight against an actual unit instead of a "mass produced ship". You still don't fight Tester, which is a little bit annoying, to be honest.
I found the Sirius story to be the least entertaining, despite being the conclusion to the side story set. Like Roon, Sirius is a cruiser that can both dish out and take a decent amount of damage, and is generally a front-line fighter. This is the last of the DLC both chronologically and available at the moment.
Summary
Overall, I have to say that there is a lot more in each DLC than I was expecting. With one vanguard and three support characters each, as well as their own mini interconnected stories. Each story only takes about an hour or so, but are usually pretty entertaining. They also provide a look into some more of the lore of Azur Lane. The cost is significantly more than what I would usually consider paying for this kind of thing though.
I suppose it is rather reasonable, compared to some other DLC out there, but unless you're a really big Azur Lane fan, you may want to hold off until a sale comes around. Is the DLC good? Yes, each DLC set has some solid production value being it. Would I purchase the DLC on my own initiative? Definitely not until it went on sale. The writing is pretty good, you get a few characters per DLC episode, a couple of battles, and some more Azur Lane lore. Cost aside, the DLC was quite a good addition to the base game.
Score: 8 / 10
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