Game Overview

BLADESTORM: Nightmare is an action game that takes place during the Hundred Years' War that occurred between England and France in the mid 14th century.
You assume the role of a mercenary as you lead your squad onto the battlefield.
There are many different kinds of troop type, and each one has its own compatibilities with other squads. Switching between troop types that are the most effective against the enemy at the time is a key to victory.
Additionally, as you play through the game, you will eventually be able to control multiple squads.
You will switch between squads according to the battle conditions and form armies in order to take on powerful enemies.

Game Overview

BLADESTORM: Nightmare is an action game that takes place during the Hundred Years' War that occurred between England and France in the mid 14th century.
You assume the role of a mercenary as you lead your squad onto the battlefield.
There are many different kinds of troop type, and each one has its own compatibilities with other squads. Switching between troop types that are the most effective against the enemy at the time is a key to victory.
Additionally, as you play through the game, you will eventually be able to control multiple squads.
You will switch between squads according to the battle conditions and form armies in order to take on powerful enemies.

◆Game Flow

The main game mode is the Story Mode, and it is divided into the "Hundred Years' War" and "Nightmare" scenarios.
The "Hundred Years' War" scenario is a story based on the historical period of the actual Hundred Years' War.
The Free Mission System allows you to decide which side you want to fight for before each battle.
Do your best to perform well in battle and earn fame and gold in order to make a name for yourself.
Which side you take and what ending awaits you is all up to you.

The "Nightmare" scenario is a fictional story set in a fantastical world loosely based on the Hundred Years' War.
In order to repel the threat posed by the sudden appearance of attacking monsters, England and France declare a temporary truce and together stand against this common foe.
You join the ranks of the coalition forces and fight against the monsters.
The "Nightmare" scenario consists of multiple chapters, and you progress through the story by completing the victory objectives for each chapter.

Start Menu

After starting up the game, the Start Menu will be displayed.
Select a game mode to play.

◆Story Mode

Assume the role of a lone mercenary and immerse yourself in the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
You can choose from either the "Hundred Years' War" or "Nightmare" scenarios.

◆Free Mode

Replay a battle that you have already cleared in Story Mode.
If you fulfill certain conditions, you will also be able to play as famous characters from the game.

◆Edit Mode

Create and edit your own original characters.

◆Gallery

View character profiles as well as movies from the game and more.

◆Options

Adjust game settings.

Saving & Loading

◆Saving

You can save your game data by selecting "Save" from the "System" menu while in the Tavern ("Hundred Years' War" scenario), the Start Menu ("Nightmare" scenario), or the Battle Preparation screen before battle.
You can also save during battle via the Pause screen.

◆Autosave

The game will save automatically after you complete the terms of a contract or when its contract period is up.
You can carry up to 3 autosaves in both the "Hundred Years' War" and "Nightmare" scenarios, with the oldest saves overwritten as new saves are added.

◆Loading

You can resume a previously saved game by selecting "Hundred Years' War" or "Nightmare" under "Story Mode" in the Start Menu and then choosing "Load Game" to load the saved data.
Selecting "Download Game" enables you to load data saved to the network.
*Personal data is loaded automatically.

Edit Mode

Create and edit your own original characters.
Dispatch your created character to another player's game in order to obtain Skill Points, gold and more.
*You can edit your character in Story Mode as well.

◆Creating a Mercenary

  1. You can select "Unregistered" to create a new character.
    Selecting an already created character will enable you to change its details.
    *Once a character is registered, you are unable to change its name or gender.
  2. Select a category with /, and use to choose a value for the setting.
  3. Pressing will accept your changes and register the character.


◆Station

Dispatch a character you have created to the battlefield.
  1. Select the character to dispatch. You can dispatch characters currently being used in Story Mode, including your main character.
  2. Select a destination. The amount of reward you will receive differs depending on the battlefield you dispatch the character to.
  3. Set the item the character will drop when defeated. The level of the character will be determined by the item you select.
    *If you are defeated at your destination, you may lose the item you have selected.
  4. Select the lines you will speak when meeting another player on the battlefield.
  5. Select the period for the dispatch. Cost is determined by the mercenary's Book level for the current squad and the period stationed.
  6. After the period concludes, the mercenary will be awarded Skill Points, gold and more.

Visitor

View the created characters dispatched to your battlefield.
You can save up to a total of 100, and newer characters will be added with the oldest character being overwritten first.

Options

You can adjust game settings by selecting "Settings" from the Main Menu and other locations throughout the game.
Select "Apply" to finalize your changes to the settings.

◆Overhead Display

[Yes / No / Chance Encounters only]
Choose whether to display the name and icon above the characters' heads or not.
"Chance Encounters only" means that the info will only be displayed the first time that the character appears on screen.
Squads ready to be given orders or made into armies will display their status no matter what the settings are.

◆Action Display

[Only in battle / Always]
Choose whether to display your player info and actions on screen or not.
"Only in battle" means it will only be displayed when engaged in battle or when pressing the buttons.

◆Damage

[Yes / No]
Select whether damage point values are displayed after landing an attack.

◆Voice

[Japanese / English]
Choose whether the voices in the game are played in English or Japanese (only applies to the "Hundred Years' War" scenario).

◆Subtitles

[Yes / No]
Turn the subtitles for the event scenes (movies) on or off.

◆Helmet

[Equipped / Unequipped]
Choose whether helmets will be displayed during the event scenes or not.

◆Brightness

Adjust the brightness of your television screen.

◆Sally Point

[Manual / Together / Separate]
Select whether you will handle squad placement manually or not when attacking. When selecting auto placement, you can choose whether they will gather in a single location or in separate ones.

◆Vibration

[Yes / No]
Turn the vibration for the controller on or off.

◆Camera vertical

[Standard / Inverse]
Switch the controls for moving the camera up and down.

◆Camera horizontal

[Standard / Inverse]
Switch the controls for moving the camera left and right.

◆Targeting Controls

[Standard / Inverse]
Switch the controls for moving the camera while targeting.

◆Camera Speed

Select the speed at which the camera rotates.

◆Main Camera Sensitivity

Select the sensitivity of the main camera's rotation.

◆BGM volume

Adjust the volume of the background music in the game.

◆Voice volume

Adjust the volume of the voices in the game.

◆SE volume

Adjust the volume of the sound effects in the game.

◆Sound test

Play back songs that you have heard within the game.

◆Locked Scenario

[Yes / No] Select whether or not to allow matching for scenarios that have not been played.

◆Accept mercenary

[Yes / No]
Select whether or not to allow other players' mercenaries to appear.

Button settings

Squad Action
Squad Action
Order/Change Squad
Squad Action
( + ) Use Pennon
( + ) Summon Squad
Normal Attack
 (When fighting as an army) Chaos Attack
Form Squad
 (+ ) Form Army
 (When fighting as an army) Change Squad in Army
 (When fighting as an army) + ) Mass Attack


Move
Switch Mini-map
Rotate Camera
Reset Camera
Switch Player
 (Hold down) Display Orders
Display Squad Details
Display Pause screen
Xbox Home Menu
 

Voice Commands

You can use the following voice commands by speaking while facing your Kinect sensor.

Xbox Show Menu Display the Menu & Info Screen
Xbox Change View Switch between the overview and zoomed maps.
Xbox Pause Pause the game.
Xbox Play Resume a paused game.
Xbox Go Back Go back a screen, cancel.

Basic Actions

Normal Attack

Give the order for your squad to attack.
Each soldier will decide on their own when to attack (including your character).
You will continue attacking as long as you hold down the button.

Changing Squads

Change the squad you are currently controlling.
If you press when the Officer Indicator is flashing, you will take control of that squad.
You can also hold down to disperse the squad.
You cannot switch to squads that you do not have Books for, squads led by famous officers, trumpeteers or base squads.

Switch Characters

As you play through the game, you will eventually be able to deploy up to 4 squads. You can switch between squads in your group by using . By holding down , you can give orders to squads in your group that you are not directly controlling.

Squad Actions

Squad Actions

The troops in your squad will utilize powerful attacks or ones with special effects. The kind of attack will differ depending on your troop type. There are 3 main kinds of troop type: Melee, Cavalry & Archer.

Melee
Great for close quarters combat, but easily defeated if cavalry and archer units can maintain the necessary distance.
Try to approach the enemy with Normal Attacks and then use a Squad Action to finish them off.
Cavalry
Highly mobile, they knock enemies aside as they accelerate. However, they require a good amount of distance to reach the necessary acceleration, so are weak in close quarters combat.
Keep a safe distance from the enemy and accelerate as you charge the enemy squad, continuing to rely on hit and run tactics.
Archer
Able to attack the enemy from a safe distance, but useless in close combat.
Press the button once to ready the bows, and press it again to fire. You can lower the bows by pressing .
Make sure you attack from a secure position.

Squad Actions feature various types of controls, such as ones that last for as long as you hold down the button, while others take effect immediately after you press the button.

Army Actions

+ Form Army

You can link together multiple squads from your group into a single army.
To form an army, approach a squad from your group that you are not controlling, and press + when both squads are joined by a beam of light.
When your squad is part of an army, you can press to take control of other squads in the army.
You can hold down + to dissolve the army.

(When fighting as an army) Chaos Attack

All of the squads within the army will attack.

(When fighting as an army) Joint Attack

If you have multiple squads with the same Action Skill in an army, they will all carry out the attack at the same time.

(When fighting as an army) + Mass Attack

If you press + when you have at least 1 unit of the Morale Gauge full, you will initiate a Mass Attack.
You will become invincible for a limited period of time, enabling you to inflict massive damage on the enemy.

Things to do in the Tavern

The Tavern is where you can select battlefields, power up your character or squad, and make preparations for battle.


In the "Nightmare" scenario, you will prepare for battle at the Main Menu.

Contracts

Sign a contract and head out to battle.
The longer and more difficult a contract and the better you perform at it, the greater your reward will be.
[!] When you see this mark on a contract, it indicates that it is a Story Battle.


Status

You can check your abilities as well as the equipment for you and your squad here.

◆Squads

Here you can check the abilities of your character or squad and also change their equipment.
By selecting "Books" from the menu, you can spend Skill Points to upgrade the Books for your squads.

◆Resources

Equip squads that you have hired or Pennons that you possess.

◆Inventory

Show a list of what items you currently own.

Merchant / Recruits / Gossip

◆Merchant

Buy items such as equipment for your character, squad equipment and Books. Money is required to conduct any transactions.
You can only buy equipment for squads that you have the necessary Books for.

◆Recruits

Hire a squad to take into battle.
When you hire a squad, you can decide when to summon it during battle.
The higher the Leadership rating of your Support Skills, the more soldiers you can have in each squad.
The Inventory number indicates how many times you can summon each particular squad.
When you hire a squad, you need to select a button to assign it to. If you wish to change the assigned buttons, you can go to "Resources" in the "Status" menu.

◆Gossip

Talk with people in the Tavern.
[!] When you see this mark above a person, it means they have information relevant to the story. Always try to speak with them when you have the chance.

Diary / System

◆Diary

Story
Check the story and gossip you have encountered so far.
People
View the profiles of the characters you have met in the game.
Squads
Check the abilities of the squads you are able to control (that you have Books for).
Places
Check information on the places that have appeared in the stages you have played.
Data
Check the battle statistics you have achieved so far.

◆System

You can save your game data, or adjust the game settings here.

Player Growth

Your abilities depend on the equipment you have.
There are four types of equipment: Head, Body, Arm & Leg.
You do not receive the effects of equipment just by obtaining it. You need to equip it at the Tavern or from the Battle Preparation screen.

Squad Growth

The abilities of a squad depend on its Skill Level and the equipment (weapons & shields) it possesses.

◆Book

Books give an indication of the overall abilities of each troop type.
In battle, you can only use troop types listed in the Books you possess.
Every Book has a Level and Growth rating.
The Level of a Book can be increased by gaining experience in battle using troop types from that Book.
You will earn Skill Points as the Level increases.
Skill Points are used to increase the Level of your Support Skills and Action Skills.

Support Skills
These are the basic abilities of each squad.
The higher the Level, the higher the abilities of the squad.
These abilities only apply to your current squad.
Action Skills
These are the effects of each Squad Action.
As your Level increases, the effects of your attacks will increase, and you occasionally gain special effects as well.
Abilities and improvements received through leveling only apply to your current squad.
To raise the Level of Action Skills of troop types not found in your Book, you will first need to obtain the necessary Tome.

◆Raising Skill Levels...

Skill Points are required to increase the Levels of your Support Skills and Action Skills.
Earn experience in battle. Once experience reaches a certain level, you will obtain additional Skill Points.
You can use the Skill Points you earn to increase the Level of your Support Skills and Action Skills.
You are free to allocate Skill Points as you see fit, so you can focus on developing whichever troop types you wish.
Additionally, Skill Points are added to a common pool, enabling you to fight with troop types that are easy to earn experience with, and then use the resulting Skill Points to upgrade other troop types as well.

◆Squad Equipment

Weapons affect the Attack strength of your squad, while shields affect its Defense.
Weapons and shields must be equipped separately for each troop type.
Therefore, only troop types for which you have the necessary Tome can be equipped.
You can select the location to equip them (left hand/right hand) by going to "Squad" under the "Status" menu and selecting the "Equip" command.
As with Books, equipment only affects the abilities of your current squad.

Things to do in the Tavern

After signing a contract and heading out to battle, you will be taken to the Battle Preparation screen. You can also bring up the Pause screen by pressing during battle.
From the Battle Preparation screen, you can select a starting location for the battle, check or change the equipment for your character and squad, and more.

Deploy

Head out to the battlefield. You can only select this before battle.
Confirm the details of your contract and select the base from which you wish to deploy.
You can only deploy from the brighter areas on the map.
If you have multiple squads in the battle, you can set their objectives or form armies with them.

Status

You can check your abilities as well as equipment for you and your squad here.
You are unable to change your equipment or upgrade the Skills within your Books during battle.

Squad Info

This enables you to check the location of squads led by famous officers, troop counts and troop types of the various squads on the battlefield.
You can use to switch between armies.
You can also press to make the map bigger
and then scroll around it using .

Retreat / System

◆Retreat

Retreat from the battlefield.
When you retreat, you will be taken to the Aftermath screen.
You will keep your money and experience, but the number of Battle Points you will receive for that battle decreases.

◆System

You can save your game data, or adjust the game settings here.

Objectives / Log

◆Objectives

Set the objectives for squads in your group that you are not currently controlling.
You can only select this during battle.

◆Log

View a log of the messages displayed during battle.
You can only select this during battle.

Battle Screen

 

 Your Squad Info


1. Your troop type
Red: England / Blue: France

2. Experience Gauge / Lv
Your Level will increase when the Experience Gauge reaches a certain amount.
As your Level rises, you will obtain Skill Points.

3. Life Gauge

4. Morale Gauge
You will enter a state of Zeal when this gauge is full.

5. Equipment

6. Book Type

7. Troop Count
Large: 10 / Small: 1
 

 Map Info


You can switch between the Overall (small) / Zoom / Overall (large) maps with .
Red: England / Blue: France ("Hundred Years' War" scenario)
Yellow: Allied Force / Purple: Enemy Force ("Nightmare" scenario)
Green: Your Squad
Flag: Base / Flag (large): Citadel Base
4/4: Current Defense Points / Max Defense Points

Battle Flow

In battle, you will lead your squad into action and attempt to complete the terms of your contract (victory conditions).

◆Commanding Your Squad

When you select "Deploy" from the Battle Preparation screen, you will be taken to the battlefield.
At this point, you are in command of your initial squad. You are free to take control of other squads during the battle.
If you press when the Officer Indicator is flashing, you will take control of that officer's squad.
However, you are unable to lead certain types of squads.
You can also hold down to disperse the squad and move about on your own.

When you have hired a squad, you can command that squad from the start of the battle.
You can change squads by going to the "Status" menu at the Tavern or from the Battle Preparation screen and selecting "Squads" and then the "Current Squad" command.

◆Advancing through the Battle

Battles progress in increments of 1 day (from dawn until dusk).
You can confirm the amount of time remaining in the day by going to the Pause screen.
A countdown will be displayed immediately before each day finishes and once it reaches 0, the day will end.
The battle will end once you have fulfilled your contract, the set number of days has elapsed, you retreat from the battlefield, or your Life Gauge reaches 0.

◆Attacking the Enemy

When you give the order to your squad to attack, each member (including your character) will automatically attack the enemy.
If you set "Damage" to "Yes" under the "Settings" menu, the amount of damage inflicted will be displayed on screen.
The higher the Level of the enemy squad you defeat, the more experience you will receive.
Your attack method will differ depending on the troop type of the squad you are controlling.
You can press to view the Squad Actions and information of your squad.

◆Changing Squads

Each squad's troop type has its own compatibilities with other squads.
You can determine whether the compatibility is good or bad by checking the light emanating from the Officer Indicator.
Changing squads to one with a better compatibility is a key to emerging victorious in battle.
To change squads, approach the squad you wish to control and press S when the Officer Indicator is flashing.
However, you are only able to control troop types that you have the appropriate Books for.
If you wish to control multiple kinds of troop types, you will need to obtain the requisite Books in order to do so.
You cannot control base squads, squads led by famous officers, or trumpeteers.

◆Zeal

As you defeat enemy troops, your Morale will increase.
Once your Morale has reached its maximum value, you will enter a state of Zeal, which greatly increases the abilities of your squad and makes you invincible for a limited period of time.
When your Morale reaches 0, you will return to normal.
All squads, including the enemy, are capable of entering a state of Zeal.

◆Obtaining Items

Items may appear after you capture enemy bases or defeat enemy officers.
When you obtain an item, various things can happen.

◆Defeat

If your Life Gauge reaches 0, you will be forced to return to the Tavern.
You will keep your money and experience, but the number of Battle Points you will receive for that battle decreases.
In order to return to the battle, you will need to sign another contract.

Switch Characters / Form Armies

◆Switch Characters

As you play through the game, you will eventually be able to deploy up to 4 squads.
You can use this to employ various tactics during battle, such as leaving 1 squad to protect an important base while the others focus on attacking the enemy, or perhaps simultaneously attack multiple objectives that are separated by a great distance.
To change squads, simply press and select the squad you wish to control.

You are able to give orders to squads in your group that you are not directly controlling.
Hold down and select the squad you wish to give orders to and then choose a command.
If you press to bring up the Pause screen, you can select "Target" to confirm the squad's orders.
Use if you wish to quickly give orders in real time, or pause the game if you want to think out your strategy before giving the orders.

◆Form Army

You can link together multiple squads from your group into a single army.
This enables you to change your troop type on the fly depending on battle conditions or have all of the squads within your army perform powerful simultaneous attacks.
To form an army, approach a squad in your group, and press + when both squads are joined by a beam of light.

Forming an army enables it to perform certain actions that only armies can do.

Attacking Bases

All bases have something known as Defense Points.
These Defense Points are displayed on the mini-map.
As you defeat members of the enemy's base squad, the base will lose Defense Points.
When these Defense Points reach 0, or if an allied squad infiltrates deep into the enemy base, then the enemy's base commander will appear.
Defeating the enemy base commander will enable you to capture the base.
Once an enemy base is captured, all of the squads stationed within it will join your side.
Note that you can capture enemy bases anywhere on the map, but are unable to capture enemy entry roads or ports.

◆Effects of Captured Bases

Capturing a base will cause enemy bases adjacent to it to lose both Morale and Defense Points.
Therefore, surrounding bases have strategic value.
The effects of capturing a base will last for 3 minutes.

◆Citadel Bases & Guardians

Citadel Bases are a special kind of base that is indicated by a large flag on the map. Each Citadel Base is protected by a powerful base commander known as a Guardian.
Guardians have what is referred to as a Break Gauge.
You will be unable to inflict very much damage while the Break Gauge is displayed, and will deplete the gauge instead.
Once the Break Gauge has reached 0, the Guardian will be stunned.
When a Guardian is stunned, you will be able to inflict large amounts of damage, regardless of troop type compatibilities, so it is your chance to finish them off.

Changing the Battle Conditions

1. Using Pennons

When you use a Pennon during battle, your squad's abilities will be temporarily increased, while those of the enemy will be decreased.
You must have a Pennon equipped in order to use it.
You can call up the Pennon display by holding down .
To use the Pennon, hold down and press the button assigned to the Pennon you wish to use.
Some pennons require you to select a target to use it on.
The Pennon will be consumed after you use it.
You can replenish your Pennon stocks by purchasing more from the Tavern, or by obtaining them during battle.

2. Summoning hired squads

When you hire from the Tavern, you can summon the hired squad at any time during battle.
After you summon it, it will appear near you on the battlefield and join the fight as an allied squad.
This can be a useful technique to use when there are no nearby squads that you wish to command.
You can call up the hired squad display by holding down .
To summon the hired squad, hold down and press the button assigned to the desired squad.
The hired squad will disappear after you have used it.
You will need to hire more from the Tavern in order to summon any other squads.

3. Restoring the Life Gauge

The Life of your character can be replenished by the use of items or by returning to an allied base.
The amount of Life replenished will differ depending on the type of item used.
If you stand within the glimmering area within an allied base, your Life will be completely restored, as will your arrows and some other types of supplies.
However, the size of this area will gradually shrink as the Base's defense units are defeated in battle.
This area will also disappear completely if the Base Commander is present, and you will be unable to use it to replenish your Life.

Finishing the Battle

◆The End of the Day

At the end of each day, an overall ranking based on that day's record in battle, the Battle Points for each officer, and overall Battle Points will be shown.
Next, you will be awarded Battle Points according to how many enemies and enemy officers you defeated, as well as how many bases you captured.
If you rank in the Top 10 or if you fulfilled a Request, you will be given Bonus Points.
Your fame will increase depending on how many Battle Points you received.
Lastly, a list of the items you obtained will be shown.
You can equip any of these items from the Battle Preparation screen on the following day.

◆Completing the Contract Period

The battle will end once you have completed your contract or if the contract period expires, whether you have won the battle or not.
Like at the end of each day, you will be awarded Battle Points and items,
and will receive fame based on your performance.
After that, you will receive gold as well.
If you retreat from the battle or your Life Gauge reaches 0, you will keep your money and any experienced earned, but you will receive fewer Battle Points.