Awesome, another update! I think it is funny how I think their have been at least a couple of updates that are released after their month (for example this one is the "February update") but no biggie!
I'm glad the character shader I voted for won, though I wish we got background shader 1. I think that background shader 1 looks good and otherworldly with it's purple shades but the foreground objects seem to have a spotlight shown on them that looks totally out of place in my opinion. It also seems like ambient occlusion is missing compared to shader 1.
Still! It looks to be shaping up very well, and I can't wait for them to show the game off again, hopefully there is
something planned for E3 or some other game show this year, but perhaps that'd be too early.
One thing I have to admit is that I hope they commission more music to show things off to, I'm a little bit tired of the two tracks they have used thus far and hope they can make some more and/or remaster the tracks now that they have a budget. I imagine they will sound even better when they invest the money, but I understand that they probably don't want to rush out new music because the soundtrack's production probably will rely heavily on what has been completed on the game, so they will probably have to wait until around a year before the game's release before they can get serious about investing in orchestration and composition. I just want to hear what Michiru Yamane and Ippo Yamada can come up with and produce on the music budget they now have.
I wonder what'll happen to the Wii U and Vita versions? They already seemed like ports chained to doomed platforms in 2015 (platforms I think are awesome btw), but now in 2016 it seems that the Wii U is going to be replaced within the year and the Vita has no successor likely. Even if the Wii U version is changed to an NX version via a poll once we all know what the NX is exactly, they are still chained to the Vita. As much as I love it, I'd like for the likely NX portable version to be a priority over it, but it really just comes down to processing power and bottle-necking potential in the console versions. I wouldn't be at all surprised for the NX portable to be even a little below Vita performance, but I guess we'll see. (I basically just hope people won't be mad if they switch over platforms to increase the minimum processing power available for the project, and I hope they are bold enough to do it if there is no future for Wii U and Vita, as much as I'd love to play this on mine.)
Also, I think Miriam's design is just as cool as it has always been. It does look like they upped the breast size a bit, but as long as it doesn't get bigger (that
would be getting a bit excessive) than I'm cool with it. I really think for us to get a complete judgement of her design we need to see her moving, in action, emoting and speaking lines. Her expression in-game has been a little bit blank so far, let's hope they can give her the look of determination she's got going in art like this:
Can't wait for more news. I wonder what the other two updates will be on, I really hope for a good trailer to come this year, hopefully in the next 6 months. Something with voice-acting, more music, gameplay, cutscenes (not really long ones, I thought I'd mention in case anyone wanted to point that out) etc. Mostly I just want to see all of the characters moving, fighting and speaking with good character animation.
Lastly I'd like to say that I'd be fine if this game came out in 2018, better to let it develop for a nice long 3 years before releasing it. I'd like the bigger stretch-goal features to be included at launch but I'd also be okay with them saving the majority of work on those for post-release. I'd expect them to be done after 1 and a half years after tops though.
Edit:
Also I was pleasantly surprised by the crystal rose crest on her back being turned into a 3D one, really makes it stand out! Can't wait to see them potentially make new armor or outfits, perhaps something a little less revealing as an alternative? A design with a cloak would be cool.