Code Age Brawls: Futatsu no Kodō (コード・エイジブロウルズ~二つの鼓動~) is a 2005 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for mobile phones.
The concept for Code Age was created in 2002 by Yusuke Naora, with the development team of Brawls using the project to expand upon the multiplayer communication of Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII.
[3] After winning a battle, the player gains access to the opponent's form and abilities, equivalent to a character class with themed weapons and equipment, and variations depending on the lead's gender.
At the sphere's center is the Central Code, a structure which resets the world every ten thousand years by wiping out the current civilization in an event called the Reborn.
[9][10] Lost L joins forces with a vigilante group facing off against the hostile Afternova faction, learning about their past and the Ark project along the way.
[11][12] The final chapter focuses on Lost L meeting up with Commanders characters Gene and Meme to confront both Afternova's leader and R, a character from Archive with a similar condition to Lost L.[13][14] The concept for the Code Age world was created by Yusuke Naora in 2002, prior to the 2003 merger of Square and Enix to become Square Enix.
[15][16] Code Age formed part of Square Enix's plan to develop "polymorphic content", a marketing and sales strategy to "[provide] well-known properties on several platforms, allowing exposure of the products to as wide an audience as possible"; this approach included Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and the World of Mana.
[18] The environments were designed in a similar way to Final Fantasy VII and VIII, projecting 3D character models onto 2D pre-rendered backgrounds.
[4] As part the game's promotion, Square Enix ran a lottery campaign for a themed cushion and mobile cleaner.
[13] Released alongside these chapters were a new character class, updates to the game's community website, the battle arena, and support for NTT DoCoMo's i-area service to facilitate easy player match-ups.
[33] During a hands-on playtest at TGS 2005, GameSpot's Carrie Gouskos praised the combat, highlighting the badge system's strategic depth.
[3] Reviewing the initial release, Japanese website ITMedia praised the combat as refreshing compared to other games on the market, but negatively noted frequent server connection issues during multiplayer matches.