[URL=https://www.gamer.ne.jp/news/202204290003/] Suffering from a protracted development cycle, Gunvolt 3 had over 6 years in development[/url], which is pretty long for a handheld series. The primary issue, according to the producers and developers, was trying to figure out how to create a new, exciting character just as they had with Copen. They felt they did everything they wanted with Gunvolt's playstyle, but were stuck on this new characters game mechanics and attacks.
That's why we got the entire Copen spin-off. The developers of 3 hit a wall, but Inti wanted to release something for the franchise so we got an alternate time-line/what-if scenario with Copen (where the bad ending of the first game plays out).
The long wait is ironic because if you've played this game it's not that complex. Gunvolt 3 still has the staple 'tagging', attacking, and scoring system. You 'tag' enemies, then you strike them, and you build up a score whilst avoiding damage. Get to a score of 1000 or more and you get a vocal song playing in the background. Take damage and the brakes are put to your score (more on that later).
In Kirin's case, she shoots talismans, which tag enemies. Once tagged, she can teleport to them and unleash a powerful slash. In order to get a sure-kill off of it you might need to throw a few talismans to weaken enemies. You can tag multiple enemies and the subsequent slash will hit multiple in one go. Or you can tag one, teleport slash, tag another, immediately teleport slash again, etc. Which is the ideal manner, because your score multiplier is reset when you touch the floor. Stay aerial.
It's simple, but it does set itself apart enough from the other two series protagonists whilst maintaining the same game flow. It took them a long time to get to this point, and it illustrates how something simple and intuitive could still take a long time to hash out. To their credit, I think Kirin plays as enjoyably as the best series protagonist thus far: Copen.
The only other substantial change to the formula is that your score isn't 'cashed out' when using skills or taking damage. Rather than the score resetting on damage, it is now locked until you hit a score threshold to unlock. As for skills, most of the time they don't net points, but they can be used more freely. The only time they net a score is on a boss kill, so save them for that.
You can play as Gunvolt in this game. But he's relegated to a side character that can only be on screen for as long as he has meter. Think of it as a stamina gauge. Once it's at 100 you can switch to him, but as soon as it depletes you switch back to Kirin.
Gunvolt can fly infinitely. So playing as him is basically flying over the entire stage and ignoring all enemies. He also builds practically no score. He's an easy mode option for either bosses or to skip the stage. Which is why most people don't use him.
It's obvious that he's only here because he needs to be present in his own game. It makes you wonder where this franchise is headed. Because it's clear that the developers have been trying to move away from GV. As early as GV2 the plot was centered around a new character, with GV's plot mostly being a retread of plot points from GV1. Without spoiling, 3's endings move further away from GV.
Wherever the franchise goes, I'd imagine we're gonna get some more Kirin, if only because we got more Copen after his introduction. I can't imagine they'd spend years trying to develop yet another new character. Hopefully we get a few Kirin games before another mainline entry.
