Muv-Luv fans playing the mobile game Muv-Luv Alternative: Strike Frontier have always been plagued by a pretty annoying issue. Until now, only the R-rated version of the game was playable outside of Japan without having to use a VPN to mask foreign IP addresses.
While we have nothing about R-rated versions of games, they’re certainly not for everyone, but now the issue has been removed. Yesterday we reported that DMM has released the Google Play and iOS ports of the All-Ages version of the game, but unfortunately, they are officially available only in Japan.
The problem has been solved today for Android thanks to Qooapp, an Android app that lets you download and install a myriad of games from Japan and Asia, bypassing Google’s regional block. This morning they added Muv-Luv Alternative: Strike Frontier, making the game easily accessible without having to tinker with your phones and using VPNs or proxies.
The added bonus is that, unlike the previous non-Google Play-native Android version of the game, this one doesn’t depend on the DMM app, so it also bypasses its foreign IP block. Once installed, you can play it with no issue regardless of where you live.
At the moment I could not try the iOS version, but there is no Quooapp equivalent for the platform. that being said, the app should be downloadable from iTunes simply by making a Japanese account. It’s not exactly convenient, but it’s doable.
Unfortunately, the browser-based All-Ages version is still IP locked, so unless you want to use a VPN, you’ll have to still play the R-Rated version on PC.
Why would you want to play the All-Ages version you ask? Besides the fact that it’s safe for work, so you won’t get fired as long as your boss is fine with you wasting your time away on mobile games, the content is also different, and in some ways complementary.
When you raise the affection level of a pilot on the R-Rated version, you’ll unlock scenes the nature of which you can very well imagine. On the All-Ages version, you’ll still unlock scenes, but they will be focused on the backstory of the character instead, including different illustrations that fans of the series may want not to miss. As an additional bonus, both versions are fully compatible, so when you unlock a new scene on one side, it’ll be unlocked in the other as well.
At least downloading and playing once the new smartphone versions is a good idea also for those who don’t really intend to play them. Linking your smartphone version with your existing DMM account (via the fifth option of the main menu on the top-left, followed by the green button) by February 28th will grant you goodies.
One month down the line, you’ll get a fully limit-broken SSR Meiya Mitsurugi. If over 30,000 players link their account, we’ll all get a SSR Yuna Katagiri as well. You can see both below.
If you’d rather learn more in detail how to play, I’ll get around to writing a guide soon, so stay tuned for that.
In other Muv-Luv news, yesterday today we got some very welcome info about the PS Vita release of the first two (actually three) visual novels of the franchise, and the start of the localization project for Muv-Luv Photonflowers.