Mega Man ZX Advent is the sequel to last year’s Mega Man ZX. Advent features two protagonists: a boy named Grey who was part of a failed cryogenic experiment and a girl named Ashe who works as a ruin hunter for a world government organization named Legions. Searching for answers, each character is involved in separate but intertwining stories during a war between robots and humans.

Like its predecessor, Advent is a side-scrolling platformer featuring plenty of weaponry. It includes the Biometal transformation system from the previous game, which allows characters to enhance their offensive and defensive abilities, as well as endowing special powers. Advent features at least six Biometal transformations, although only the A type has been revealed at this time. This form allow characters to mimic the abilities of defeated bosses a la old-school Mega Man. Unlike the previous iteration, the protagonists of Advent are able to use their buster guns while in human form. The two main characters also differ in abilities more so than those in the first game.

Pandora and Prometheus return from the original ZX, accompanied by eight bosses known as Pseudoroids. Thus far, four bosses have been revealed: Deerburn Buckfire (gazelle), Chronoforce the Tridenroid (horseshoe crab), Rospark the Floweroid (rose), and Argoyle and Urgoyle the Shisaroids (shisha, traditional Japanese dog/lion guardian wards). These bosses, a staple of Mega Man games, can be fought in different ways to yield twenty-four special items.

Advent promises an improvement upon its predecessor in many ways. For example, Biometal types can be switched on the fly using the touch screen rather than through a pause menu. Additionally, the map system has been improved. The game will also feature two-player battle modes using two cartridges and minigames through single-card play. Advent will include spoken English dialog, which was omitted from the original, as well as anime cut sequences.

The game is set for a July 12 release in Japan and an October launch in North America. Check out the videos below of Grey, Ashe, and Biometal A.