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Continuing Seasun's trend of being fashionably late with their summer events, Azure Paradise makes a splash right as pumpkin spice season kicks off (though notably an update cycle earlier than last year). This is supposedly the first update that's benefitted from Seasun's development team expansion, so let's take a look at what they've cooked up and what you can look forward to.
(The first trial run of this article format seemed to do decently enough, so it's back. Rejoice. And for the record, I don't really see the appeal of pumpkin spice.)
New Operatives
Katya - Dawnwing
Now in more beach-friendly attire, Katya keeps her Frost element but trades her crossbow for an assault rifle. I seem to recall reading somewhere that she doesn't like using firearms, but oh well. Translating her standard ability gave me a massive headache, but it's probably a lot simpler in practice than it sounds and she'll likely at least be fun to play, which is more than I could say about the last character Seasun released. And if not, Katya is popular enough to make Seasun bend the knee for emergency buffs if needed. Maybe.
Also, go check out the background stories of the logistics set. I found them to be particularly endearing.
Marian - Riptide
If you're wondering what she does, so am I. Come back in two weeks, because Seasun sure won't be telling us anything before then. But hey she's a freebie, so that's nice.
Reruns
Fenny - Starshine
As the first half rerun, Fenny showing up now is... a little soon for a rerun. The other half of the dynamic duo, Lyfe - Infinite Sight, isn't on rerun either, so I'm inclined to guess that this she got pushed up in schedule for the benefit of new players who weren't around for her original release. She's a top tier support and definitely a worthwhile pickup for those who don't have her.
Siris - Ksana
The first DPS released in the post-Cherno era of Snowbreak, Siris has proven to be just as strong as the original Orphan Crusher 9000 in essentially all content the game will let you charge into. And if you feel like making everyone else in your Gigalink match useless*, this is the operative for you. I personally wasn't able to get her signature weapon Uncrowned Flail the first time around, so I'm looking forward to snagging it then.
*If you get matched with another Siris player, I'd imagine it plays out like Hungry Hungry Hippos with each Siris player trying to scoop away as many enemies as possible.
Event Game Modes
After the relatively sparse event schedule for Operation Midnight, Seasun has smartly increased the amount of things going on, with at least two game modes open at all times.
The two headliner game modes here are Let's Go, Heimdall!, a chibi obstacle course that nobody will ever get tilted at while playing, and Containment Protocol, a new co-op mode that lets you call in various forms of support, from air strikes to turrets. It makes you wonder why they also put Endless Battle on the event schedule as well, and I can only assume it's to make Containment Protocol look that much cooler in comparison.
The Brave Squad game mode is still solo-only for whatever reason, which I truly don't understand as I never really saw the issue with the original co-op premise.
We also have the usual wave defense mode and Hero Games, and Presence Patrol as well. This time around, you'll be getting two 60AP refills in the mail each day while Presence Patrol is on, letting you grab all the rewards even faster.
Standard Commissions are also back, and they start at daily reset this time, to avoid the oopsie that happened when Seasun first debuted it. See, it's a learning experience.
Skins
We've got a four-pack of summer swimsuits this time around, featuring Katya - Dawnwing, Marian - Riptide, Enya - Exuvia, and Cherno - Enigma. They're all for sale in the paid shop with the exception of Cherno's outfit which you get from the Ultimate tier of the battlepass.
But let's not forget about the new look that the Adjutant gets as well. You can pick this up for free in the event shop, with it being permanently available via the Bright-Star Ticket shop once the event ends.
Quality of Life Updates & Freebies
See here for the news post on QoL updates, mainly focused on being able to boss your operatives around the base so you don't have to wait for them to finish showering before you can give them furniture.
As for free stuff, this is a dual operative release patch, which means extra goodies are in order.
Three login campaigns will be running during the event, with the first running from September 26 and October 17 (UTC+8) and giving up to 10 limited operative banner tickets. The second is on from October 10 and October 31 (UTC+8), this time giving limited weapon banner tickets. The usual Memory Chip login campaign gets doubled up as is the norm for dual operative release patches, running from September 26 to October 2 and October 10 to October 16 (UTC+8). Take advantage of this to catch up on your manifestation grinding.
All that being said, the star of the show as far as freebies goes is of course the special invitation event for Marian - Riptide and her logistics set Aileron Squad, available for pickup between October 10 to November 7 (UTC+8).
Maintenance
Server maintenance for the update actually starts earlier than usual, beginning on September 26 at 3:00AM, UTC+8 (convert to your own time zone here) and last for seven hours. This is notably one hour before daily reset, so make sure to go do your dailies and spend the last of your event currency if you're reading this and haven't already. No, seriously. Go do it. Now. Maintenance rewards are the usual: 420 Digicash, 25,000 Silverbucks, and a 60AP stamina refill.
There is unfortunately nothing too interesting in the maintenance notes for me to blab about this time, but the CN voices for Acacia, Enya, Marian, and Mauxir are getting replaced (this isn't news, it was announced a while ago) which is worth noting for anyone that uses the CN voiceover option (me). The full maintenance notes are available here for those interested.
