FAIRY TAIL 2, the sequel to Koei Tecmo’s licensed Fairy Tail game from 2020, was just confirmed for release on December 11 for the PC and December 13 for the PS4/PS5 and Nintendo Switch.

Developed with the involvement of Fairy Tail author Hiro Mashima, the sequel will adapt the entirety of the Alvarez Empire Arc (the final arc of the manga and anime series). The upcoming title will also introduce some changes and improvements to elements from the first game, the details of which producer Kataoka Hiroshi recently shared in an interview with 4Gamer.

According to Kataoka, the concept of FAIRY TAIL 2 is to depict “every last detail” of the fight against Zeref, the Spriggan 12, and Acnologia, including various plot twists and famous scenes from the original series.

To do so convincingly, the developers have revamped the characters, specifically their facial expressions, to make them more expressive compared to the first game. In addition, to fully convey the “climatic” nature of the story, battles are no longer turn-based, instead being replaced by a faster-paced real-time system. According to Kataoka, this approach also allowed the developers to answer players’ requests to see the characters move more in the game.

However, when asked whether this means FAIRY TAIL 2 will require fast reflexes like a typical action game, Kataoka says that this is not quite the case. Commands such as attacks and skill activations will be assigned to keys, which the player presses “in a rhythmic fashion.” The producer compares the system to Gust’s Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key.

While the new battle system will not be quite as puzzle-like as FAIRY TAIL’s, the sequel’s battles will also offer a decent amount of strategy, so players who liked the original shouldn’t have problems enjoying the new system too, Kataoka says.

As for FAIRY TAIL 2’s story, the producer says it is “basically the same as the original,” save for some adjustments to the flow and order of battles, all supervised by Hiro Mashima. In addition, it seems Mashima has written some extra original dialogue for the game that players will be able to experience though the characters’ casual conversations when traversing the world.

Speaking of worlds, FAIRY TAIL 2 will have a larger map than the first game, with various memorable places from the manga connecting seamlessly into Magnolia Town at its center.

Kataoka also addressed the question of whether people who haven’t played the first game from 2020 will be able to enjoy FAIRY TAIL 2. It seems that the sequel will include events that recap the story so far, as well as a glossary of terms, so getting into the game shouldn’t be a problem.

FAIRY TAIL 2 is scheduled to launch on December 11 for the PC and December 13 for the PS4/PS5 and Nintendo Switch.