This past weekend has seen a major update come to one of the most popular Arcade games throughout Japan in Wonderland Wars. This update changed a good deal of content and overall added a lot to the overall game.

First and foremost all the rankings were reset, so everyone started back at the very first level, but they drastically changed how leveling works. Though…. this changed irked me quite a bit, when I first came to Japan my goal was to obtain a AA Ranking…. which I was just one day away from.. when they reset it. The reset is both bad and good… as every now and then you can come across a massive skill gap when a newer player faces a veteran, but it hasn’t happened all that often and playing with the once high leveled people has helped me personally gain some new techniques. Also of note is that some of the hardcore crowd have really been power leveling their characters up… one guy had over 700 plays next to me at one point and he smelled like death and forced me to move, I don’t actually think he had left Akihabara since the update came out.

It uses a numerical system that upgrades the look of your in-game pen and drawing trail and you can even customize it as you unlock more items. The rating is determined by the overall level of your characters and how highly leveled they are.

Its fairly easy to rise up in levels quickly by spreading out your character play, but its also hard to play characters you don’t care for much. Gone are the Overdrive cards of old, instead they gain the EXP directly. My new goal is to power to level 100 in the month or so I have remaining, I think I should be able to hit it, but you never know.

New characters were added, Sega tends to add about one every 2 months or so as it stands. The first new character added in based on Snow White and is a up close but really fun to play hero since she can kill enemy minions with out much problem, for those who have played she plays somewhat like a cross between Rin, the blonde girl, and Scarlet the assassin. Aladdin is going to be added in after Snow White’s event ends early next month.

Each older character also got a new skill and balance changes, some of them are hard to use, but some are pretty devastating. A large amount of new support cards where added in to, with a decent amount of original style mechanics and combination bonuses for the first time.

Also ushered in are numerous Quality of Life changes, as you no longer have to level up the characters to unlock their item and skill slots, which makes it much easier to spread out play. Also the character select screen has been dramatically improved with the separation of the 3 classes and increased picture size.

Inside of the game itself, there’s now a short planning phase where you can sort out your teams positions and move to the correct spot before the game actually starts. This has alleviated much of the frustration that can occur when no one really makes it clear where they plan to go (which is just a simple press on the mini-map). There’s also a slight graphical upgrade with some effects and the overall presentation is a touch sharper than it was before.

Also changed in game, they removed many of the pauses that used to happen whenever a tower was destroyed, leaving the only pause that happens still being a soul spawning. This change has helped the flow of the game quite a bit, though you do have to pay attention to the visual queues when either your or the other teams tower gets blown up. They also added in a teleporter to go from one side to the other that can be used only a few times on the edge of the map which makes it possible for one side to assist the other.

Overall, Sega has improved upon whats probably their most popular arcade game at the moment. I’m glad that they plan to support for the foreseeable future, and actually they overall scene seems to be growing here in Japan for Wonderland Wars. None of the PC MOBA’s have really taken off here, so its kind of surprisingly to see an arcade one succeed but the atmosphere of a Japanese Game Center is pretty special.

 

Next Up: Love Live Arcade. (if the line is ever not 76 people long)