The word “end” has been associated with Gintama a lot nowadays. The manga is ending, the anime has ended and the game has been said to be the “last.” But is it really the last game of the series?
Unlike other popular long-running Shounen Jump titles such as One Piece and Naruto, Gintama only has a few games under its belt. Starting with the DS game Yorozuya Riot back in 2006, Bandai Namco Entertainment released a few more games the following year until it completely stopped at the same year. It was only until 2013 that another game has been added to the franchise with Gintama Sugoroku, which was conveniently released around the same time as the second anime movie.
Gintama: Project Last Game Announcement in Weekly Shounen Jump / Image Source: Gematsu
Four years later, around the same time as the release of the Gintama live-action movie and the announcement of the TV anime’s return, another game was announced in Weekly Shounen Jump. Tagged as Gintama: Project Last Game, it was said to be the series’ first full-scale action game project.
Gin-san talks about their games’ genres in the Project Last Game trailer. / Image Source: Youtube
While it’s true that Gintama never had an action game before, it’s not as if the fans never had a taste of what it’s like to have Sakata Gintoki as a playable character in an action fighting game. Gin-san is a playable character in the Nintendo DS games Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars, and even though he doesn’t have any special moves unlike other Jump protagonists, he’s still incredibly strong on his own.
Now that we know that the latest Gintama game is an action fighting game, what can we expect from it? The teaser on the game’s official website features the three Yorozuya members—Sakata Gintoki (voiced by Sugita Tomokazu), Shimura Shinpachi (voiced by Sakaguchi Daisuke) and Kagura (voiced by Kugimiya Rie)—as they talk about Bandai Namco and the upcoming game in true Gintama fashion. You can watch the teaser trailer below:
The trailer also gave us a glimpse of the game, featuring the battle between Gin-san and his childhood-friend-turned-nemesis, Takasugi Shinsuke. It’s not yet clear if the game will feature an original story or if it will adapt one of the major serious arcs, the game’s story will most likely touch upon Gin-san’s past due to the emphasis given to his Shiroyasha persona and to the major role that Takasugi will play.
Sakata Gintoki as the Legendary Shiroyasha. / Image Source: Youtube
Gintama: Project Last Game will be out for Playstation 4 and PS Vita, and its price and release date have yet to be announced. Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia has also announced that Project Last Game will have an English release in Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Philippines) and that it will be also released in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and South Korea in their native languages.
Players will be able to choose the early purchase bonus downloadable item every week, and they can vote for their favorite characters on a Facebook poll which will last for four weeks. Voting can be done once a day, and the final result will be posted on Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia’s Facebook page.
Pandemonium (top) and Sakata Kintoki (bottom) are the first pairs to face off in the polls. / Image Source:4gamer.net
Having an action fighting game with a serious storyline is probably the best thing to happen if we’re talking about Gintama’s final game—after all, it ties up with the main storyline, and fans are even able to re-experience the battle between Gintoki and Takasugi, which is definitely one of the best fights in the series.
If we’re taking into account the fact that only six games have been produced for the series in over ten years, it’s highly likely that this is indeed Gintama’s last game. Still, who knows? Knowing how much Gintama loves to troll its fans, it might just be another one of their fake ending stunts.
Sources:
4gamer.netGematsu
Yorozuya Soul
