Ninjala fans can now take a closer look at upcoming updates in the recently uploaded Developer Diary #8. The brief video shares details regarding new Gum Weapons, the upcoming second season, and most notably, the game's first official collaboration/crossover.
Although the video covers many details pertaining to Season 2, which begins on August 26th, it ends with the exciting announcement of a Season 2 in-game crossover. Sonic the Hedgehog will be featured as the first official in-game Ninjala collaboration.
Aside from the fact that the crossover will take place during the game's second season, developers have only revealed that this "legendary icon will appear in the world of Ninjala" in some way. Many players are anticipating some Sonic-themed outfits, or perhaps weapons, but this announcement may simply imply the inclusion of Sonic as a guest character, or a Sonic-themed story mission.
GungHo Online Entertainment (GOE)'s surprise hit has only been out for a handful of months, but dedicated fans have been on high-alert for this crossover announcement since before the summer. Early datamines revealed Sonic-related cosmetics in Ninjala, so despite the lack of official information, players have been convinced the hedgehog would be rolling into action eventually. For example, this description of an in-game sticker has been part of the game's data since April: "the mad scientist Dr. Robotnik striking a victory pose. Let the whole world know your ambitions."
The extent of Sonic's crossover still remains a mystery, but it would certainly be nice to encounter Sonic and some of his friends, rather than simply purchase hedgehog cosmetics. Crossover aside, Season 2 also promises players a fair amount of new gameplay given its inclusion of new Gum Weapons. After new ninja ranking mechanics, and updated matchmaking, it finally seems that GOE is beginning to flesh out its wacky bubblegum fighter with more tangible content.
As seen in Dev Diary #8, a new weapon class will debut in Ninjala Season 2. With four different varieties, board-type weapons will introduce new Gum Ninjutsu, abilities, and Special moves, and feature entirely new attacking motions. The different "boards" range from a giant stick of bubblegum, to a large sword, but Dev Diary #8 focuses mostly on the Home Run Surfer, a surfboard.
The board-type weapon seems to employ a variety of rather fluid motions, so it wouldn't be surprising to see some Sonic the Hedgehog characters, or cosmetics, take advantage of this. Even if the upcoming collaboration doesn't allow fans to play as Sonic and friends, Sonic-inspired weapons or enemies would certainly make great displays of these new in-game movements.
With just two days before Season 1 comes to an end, ninjas should take advantage of the ongoing Ninjala Pass Matsuri and quickly complete their Season 1 Ninjala Passes. Be sure to play nicely, though, as GOE has made it clear that Ninjala won't tolerate unsportsmanlike conduct. Hopefully, Sonic's wholesome attitude can help with some of the game's sportsmanship issues, too. And nonetheless, it's exciting to see GOE score such a high-profile collaboration to springboard off of, so shortly after its game's release.
Ninjala is available now on Switch.
Source: GungHo Online Entertainment