The player's actions are limited by an energy bar, which depletes when using the electrical field, using additional movement abilities such as double-jumping or air dashing, or being hit by enemies.

Whenever the energy bar is depleted, Gunvolt will enter an "Overheat" state and will be unable to use his septimal powers or defend himself until it refills.

Azure Striker Gunvolt is set during an unspecified date in the near future, in which several people called "adepts" have developed "septimal powers".

Gunvolt, one of the most powerful adepts, has the ability to create electrical fields and works for an organization known as QUILL, which is seeking to reveal and put a stop to Sumeragi's ulterior motives.

However, Gunvolt discovers that Lumen is the septimal projection of a young girl named Joule, who is a captive of Sumeragi's scientists, and can't bring himself to kill her.

The Sumeragi agents are all adepts as well, but powered by strange Glaives, which house their septimal essences, and are representative of each of the Seven Deadly Sins.

The third, Viper, is loud, brash, and violent, has control over fire, and harbors a jealous rage against Gunvolt for Joule.

The sixth, Stratos, is a drug-addicted adept with an insatiable hunger for the very drug that keeps what little of his sanity remains in check, and has control over swarms of insects.

The seventh, the carnal Zonda, attacks and wounds Zeno, one of Gunvolt's friends from QUILL, but is seemingly killed by a human warrior named Copen, who harbors a major hatred for adepts and carries a gun capable of firing bullets that can suppress their powers.

In the initial ending, Gunvolt runs into Asimov, his father figure and the leader of QUILL, who offers Gunvolt and Joule new places in QUILL, and reveals an ulterior motive: with Sumeragi in shambles, Asimov wishes to use Lumen, along with the Sumeragi satellite, to wipe out the human race as payback for suppression of adepts.

Following this final battle, Asimov warns Gunvolt that he will never be truly free of conflicts in his life, and dies from his wounds.

Zeno and Moniqa meet the space elevator as it arrives, only to find Asimov dead and a heartbroken, wounded Gunvolt, who offers no explanation as to what happened before he simply wanders away into the morning light to be alone with Joule.

[4] Azure Striker Gunvolt received "generally favorable" reviews and sold over 90,000 units six months after its release, being praised for its art and gameplay, although it has experienced some criticism of its similarities in plot to the Mega Man series.

[17] In March 2016, Inti Creates announced that Azure Striker Gunvolt had sold over 150,000 units worldwide and aired a presentation regarding its sequel on April 26, 2016.

[23] Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 was released digitally for Nintendo eShop in August 2016 in Japan, and September 2016 in North America.

[28] A spin-off title focusing on the character Copen, Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX, was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Windows on September 26, 2019,[29] but was delayed for Xbox One until December 19, 2019.

[31] Copen also appeared as a playable DLC character in the game COGEN: Sword of Rewind by developer Gemdrops, which released on the same date as Luminous Avenger iX 2.

Gunvolt also appears as a playable guest character in several titles, including Runbow, Blaster Master Zero, Indie Pogo, and Blade Strangers.

The series was directed and produced by Yoshinori Odaka, with animation by LandQ Studios, scripts written by Shigeru Murakoshi, and character designs by Masakazu Sunagawa.