Even if you can understand what’s going on and are a massive fan of the anime, I wouldn’t say the story here was essential in any way. There’s a ‘true’ ending storyline that goes a bit further and brings in an extra character from the anime, but it’s really nothing worth writing home about. You’ll get an opportunity to play as the majority of the characters from the anime in various battles against each other alongside their CAD tuning partner and they’ll chat about various events. The actual story, from what I can understand of it, wasn’t particularly special.
The CAD needs fine-tuning by another magician which allows the concept of the series to really come through – reaching a level of bonding that is strong enough with another character that allows them to tune your magic up to a powerful level. One of the areas from the anime that does remain developed here is the CAD (Casting Assist Device) – a physical object which allows a magician to cast their spells. It remains an interesting backdrop throughout the game, but it is never really used much as the majority of the story focuses on character interactions. The setting of Mahouka is one of the most interesting thing about the series, a futuristic world where magic is a science and magicians are a resource which each nation tries to use. As with the anime, there will be a lot of exposition and confusing terms at first and I definitely think you’ll be struggling if the game is your only entry point into the world of Irregular at Magic High. A large number of faces you’ll recognise return from the series and the majority of the game takes place within First Magic High. Like with many games based on manga/anime, there is an assumption that you’re aware of the characters setting and overarching themes before playing the title.
(The Japanese version of the title is “ Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei: Out of Order“)Ī cash-in anime title from Bandai-Namco still manages to leverage the source material to produce a somewhat enjoyable arena fighter with a few too many issues.