Offline version planned for smartphone game launch in 2019
Image via A Some Magical Index: Imaginary Fest Game's X/Twitter Account
2019 TOARU-PROJECT ©SQUARE ENIX
The official website for Square Enix’s smartphone game A Certain Magical Index: Imaginary Fest announced on Tuesday that the game will end service on Dec. 2 at 1 p.m. JST (Dec. 1 at 11 p.m. EST). The game’s staff added that an offline “Memorial Ver.” version of the game is also scheduled for Dec. 2.
The game's staff explained that they came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to provide satisfactory service in the future and decided to end the service. In a post in the Producer's Letter, producer Hiroki Yamada said that he felt the game's end of service was “entirely due to the incompetence of the [anh ấy]”.
As of Tuesday, the sale of in-game currency has been suspended. Staff are planning in-game events until the end of service. The main story of the game will adapt the “Russia Arc” of the original novel series before the end of service.
The planned offline version of the game is intended to retain some of the player's play history, but will lose some functionality such as collaboration-related data, voice and song data, and battle sequences. The offline version is expected to have the ability to view unlocked scenarios and obtained illustrations as well as the effects of obtained battle characters. The mini-game “Bakusō! Harapeko Index” (Roaring! Hungry Index) is also expected to have an offline version.
The game A Some Magical Index: Imaginary Fest was released in July 2019. The “Academy of Supernatural Powers” role-playing game based on the A Some Magical Index franchise is free to play but requires payment for in-game items.
The franchise previously inspired two PlayStation Portable games in 2011 and 2013. The A Certain Magical Virtual-On (To Aru Majutsu no Virtual-On) crossover game launched on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in Japan in February 2018. Previous mobile games in the series include Toaru Majutsu no Index Struggle Battle, which ran from 2012 to March 2018, and Toaru Majutsu for Kagaku no Puzzle Decks, which launched in 2014 and ended service in 2016.
Source: A Some Magical Index: Imaginary Fest Game website (link 2) via Otakomu