Playtime: 15+ hours. Normal and true endings achieved; did not quite 100% game
Azure Striker Gunvolt was released in 2014 as an exclusive for the Nintendo 3DS before being ported to the Nintendo Switch via the retail release of the Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack (the version I'm reviewing). A PS4 port of the Striker Pack was also apparently released on PS4 in 2020. The game was developed by Inti Creates as a sort of spiritual successor to their previous Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX titles. As in a Mega Man game, you'll be choosing various stages to complete, which emphasize left-to-right platforming with the goal of reaching a unique stage boss at the end.
ASG maintains its own sense of identity in terms of the gameplay, however. The biggest difference from your average Mega Man game is in how you attack enemies. Your player character, Gunvolt, uses a gun to shoot tagging bolts into enemies. These bolts do very little damage on their own, but their main purpose is to direct the flow of electricity that he is able to generate with his psychic powers. While this detracts somewhat from the visceral simplicity of shooting enemies to defeat them, it opens up more strategic possibilities for the player, as they are able to tag and attack multiple enemies at the same time. Depending on how many tags you insert into an object or enemy, you can also strengthen or weaken Gunvolt's electric attack.
Combat and exploration are entirely tied into this mechanic. When you fight psychic bosses at the end of each level, for example, the fight will often task the player with both avoiding telegraphed super attacks (more on that later) as well as exploiting moments of vulnerability, which are often the best times to tag an enemy. Gunvolt uses his electric powers to solve simple environmental puzzles through the game's stages (for example, he'll sometimes use his powers to power up an elevator or some other device that he needs to progress further) as well as navigate his environments (when Gunvolt is using his powers, his fall speed will reduce dramatically, allowing the player to strategically activate the powers in order to, for example, cross large gaps.
Before elaborating further on the gameplay structure, I should briefly discuss the game's premise and narrative elements. The plot and plot presentation here... aren't great. It often feels like what would result if took the script for Final Fantasy VII's early hours (up until you leave Midgar), and designed a computer program to mix it up with a swampy stew of cringy anime fanfiction written by preteens. As far as I could make out (the game desperately wants to be story-driven, but isn't sure how to accomplish this), the game is set some indeterminate time in the future, when an evil power company/world government called the Sumeragi Group is maintaining order by oppressing and controlling the increasing number of people who are displaying powers, which the game calls Adepts. The psychic abilities they control, called "septimal powers," can manifest in a variety of ways, including as apparently sentient projections of the adept's personality. Gunvolt is a 14-year-old adept who was raised by an adept terrorist and inducted into his organization, called QUILL, which fights against the Sumeragi Group. Gunvolt is tasked with finding and killing an adept said to be working for the Sumeragi Group, who is apparently able to use her singing voice to brainwash other adepts (or something), but he discovers that his target was actually the septimal projection of a young girl named Joule, who appears to be around the same age as Gunvolt. Gunvolt decides to rescue Joule and parts ways with QUILL due to their determination to have her killed. Or, that was the way the game presented it, but Gunvolt just goes on to do freelance jobs for QUILL anyway.
Keep in mind that this all sounds far more interesting than it actually is. The game tells its stories via a handful of short cutscenes, which do very little to establish the setting, and via dialogue exchanges that irritatingly play across the screen as you play through several of the game's early missions. Yet none of this dialogue or these cutscenes are enough to actually establish the setting in any real way. It's like the developers wanted the game to be both a story-driven experience as well as a fast-paced Mega Man-esque platformer, and the settled for a halfway approach that undermines both approaches.
There are a number of background and side characters in ASG, but it almost feels like the game forgets about them as soon as they're off-screen, as 90% don't really do much of anything or make a difference to the larger plot.
The writing is pretty bad as well. Eyeball-rollingly juvenile. Particularly the dialogue. This game feels like it was written by twelve-year-olds. Which, I guess, is appropriate, given most of the characters are 14-year-olds with snazzy psychic powers.
With that out of the way, let's get back to the gameplay.
The gameplay cycle of this title has a somewhat unique focus. When you complete a mission, you will return to Gunvolt's apartment, where he lives with Joule. Here you have a variety of options, including conversing with Joule (the game often informs you that 'you've grown closer' with her after striking up a conversation, but I never noticed it changing much in terms of the character dynamics), changing your equipment and weapons (more on that in a second), activating optional missions (ditto), and crafting new items and equipment.
Your character actually randomly gains crafting materials at the end of each level. Additionally, when he activates a mission (which is a challenge to complete within the level itself: say, kill two enemies at the same time with your electric attack, or find a particular item, or complete the mission under a certain number of minutes, etc.), he will gain additional crafting materials for completing these. These materials, over the course of time, will be used to build gear that provides a variety of beneficial effects for Gunvolt (some change how much damage he takes, for example, while others allow to do things like air jump or air dash multiple times). Since this gear can dramatically change how difficult or easy a given level is, the game encourages replaying its dozen or so total levels over and over and over again to gain new crafting materials, but also to achieve higher scores within the levels themselves (the game itself is only as long as it is because the player will invariably replay the same levels time and time again in order to engage with most of the game's content).
And this brings us to the game's scoring system, which is a prominent feature and also deserves to be mentioned. Unlike other Mega Man games, where the goal of a given stage is typically to just survive and defeat the boss, the focus of ASG is different. Whenever Gunvolt successfully does something, like kill an enemy, he'll gain a certain number of points, called kudos. These kudos decrease back to zero when he is damaged by enemy attacks too many times or messes up somehow. Throughout the level, the player will be able to 'lock in' their accumulated kudos, which directly contributes to the rank the player receives at the end of the level. But if the player ignores this mechanic and pushes on with their score, they stand to earn far more points via an increased multiplier.
This introduces two major elements to the gameplay formula. The first is risk-versus-reward. The player is incentivized to go for higher levels of kudos by ignoring lock-in points, but this also increases the risk that they'll lose everything if they're not careful enough. The second is that this focus on accumulating points alters the focus of the gameplay, which also contributes to the ways in which levels are designed and enemies attacked. Basically, the level design and enemy types you encounter are sort of vanilla, but everything is designed so that, if you learn their patterns, you can avoid taking damage. With the exception of boss fights, death isn't really much of a concern here: taking damage is, which means the mental calculus you'll engage in when engaging with enemies will be different.
Kudos most directly affect the game's sound design, as, after accumulating 1000 kudos, Joule's septimal projection Lumen will actually begin singing, changing the BGM. This might sound like a minor thing, but a large amount of ASG's OST is composed of J-Pop songs that are locked behind skill walls of this sort. If you do well enough in a level, you can even synthesize a pendant that allows the player to permanently change the background music of the level. I also feel obliged to mention that when you die, sometimes you'll trigger Lumen to revive you, making you invincible as a J-Pop song starts playing in the background. It's hilarious when it happens.
The overall impact, then, is that ASG isn't about surviving levels. It's about memorizing patterns and learning to play beautifully. The idea is that the player will most fully appreciate the game when they have learned the levels enough that they're focused less on avoiding damage and more on figuring out the best way to rack up the most amount of points. In that one respect, it feels a bit similar to something like a rhythm game, where, again, the goal is less about survival or completion and more about performance.
I do feel like the game would have been better overall if it had offered more robust in-game rewards for playing better, though. Had Inti Creates committed to the implicit structure of their game, it could have been a more compelling experience. More stage variety, with multiple paths, and more rewards for playing well would have especially integrated well with the crafting system, which is extremely underutilized in this game unless you make a point of trying to build everything. Not enough carrot at the end of that stick, imo.
With this understanding, I also wasn't a fan of the way the game essentially had me replay most of the stages AGAIN to collect chaos emeralds hidden jewels that are required to see the game's true boss and true ending.
Speaking of music, it's not bad. The normal BGM is the usual peppy Mega Man spinoff sort of music, but the vocal tracks are pretty good if you like that genre of music.
The pixel art itself is somewhat chunky looking on the big screen. But, look, this was a game built for the 3DS. On the tiny 240p 3DS screen, this game probably looks great. It still looks OK. The pixel art is nicely detailed. You're always going to sacrifice some level of visual appeal when you blow up a game built for tiny screens on a large 1080p set.
I did play a bit on the handheld screen, and, unsurprisingly, the image looks a fair bit cleaner there.
If there is one thing that detracted from the experience for me, it was the controls. Now, the game allows you to remap most of the controls in this game to different buttons, but when you're activating special septimal attacks, you have to aim your right stick in a certain direction to choose the attack, and then click in on R3. I found this to be particularly obnoxious, as it was easy to move the stick a few centimeters in the wrong direction when clicking in, resulting in the wrong special attack being activated. Worse, despite at least a few buttons on the Switch controller being unused by anything meaningful in this game, we're never given the option to remap the special activation button to anything other than R3. This especially becomes annoying when you consider that boss fights are frequently frenetic and require quick, precise button inputs.
Azure Striker Gunvolt is an interesting game, and I imagine anyone who has been yearning for a Mega Man Zero-esque experience has already played and probably enjoyed the heck out of this game. For me, though, it felt a bit uneven and undercooked in spots. At times, the game feels like it's suffering a bit of an identity crisis. I'm not sorry I played it, though.
Wasn't sure where to add my rambling musings since this is somewhat close to the Trophy Thread but I also wanted to talk about my full experience with a game so decided to add here as it is rambly and seemed like the right thread!
So - a game that is widely considered one of the best games this gen, Bloodborne. Last night, I finally managed to get the Platinum trophy after doing the chalice dungeons and additional bosses. This isn't a bragging thread (if anyone has seen how long it took me to get through the bosses, I have no bragging rights to offer). To give some history, I first played through the campaign back in 2017 and boy did I struggle but I made it through the main story and beat all the bosses solo. Game finished, I didn't have the energy for the chalice dungeons and I had unwittingly bought a US copy of the game so couldn't download the DLC.
Last year, in 2019 I dusted a UK version of the game off and played through the campaign again with a fresh build and played the DLC completing it all bar the final two bosses. I started the chalice dungeons then stopped as I got burnt out. For some reason, a few weeks ago, I went into NG+ and decided to finish the Chalice dungeons to get the platinum. It felt like unfinished business and for some reason, I seem like a masochist because I keep going back to it.
I really do suck at these types of games. By that I mean I have relatively slow reflexes and I am slow to learn movement and patterns. The only way I have managed to get through the game is by levelling up my build and weapons and by attrition until boss encounters come down to muscle memory really. I've also done the traditional noob thing of watching online boss fight videos etc. These can be moments of high frustration - and sometimes those videos just amount to watching someone dance around a boss with perfect grace and timing for every moveset that I just struggle to learn.
I had to quit Sekiro because I couldn't level up and I just felt like I didn't have the reaction times necessary to pull of some of the moves. The Lady Butterfly fight literally took nights for me to get through. Anyway...
That said, I do really love this game. Or I am intrigued by it - I don't know why. I love the story and I love the world. The gothic and cosmic horror - the unsettling nature and just the pure brutal combat seem to draw me in. I think the opening Yharnham streets is one of the best designed opening levels in a game I've played. I love the lore - to the point i have also watched videos on it and even read some of the graphic novels. The concept of this endless nightly hunt fits so well with the core Dark Souls loop that it is one of those things that the gameplay and lore seem completely entwined.
It could be Stockholm Syndrome. I've stuggled to get in Dark Souls even though they are almost sister series in a way and partly it was down to the slowness compared to Bloodborne but also because I didn't find the setting as appealing. I don't think Bloodborne is perfect - in fact, I have a few issues with the accessibility of this game. Firstly, if you aren't a skilled player, you have to choose your build and where to invest development. This is largely based on style of play and as a noob, you'll naturally invest in what you think will get you through. However, you'll find bosses etc that are easier with certain builds which is great if that is what you are looking for but harder if not. An example is that I prefer the faster hunter one on one fights as opposed to the giant beast fights and my favourite weapons were skill weapons. Fighting a beast though, bigger more damaging or overhead weapons do a lot more so if you haven't got the build/stats for that, you'll be harder. This means that your build for getting through levels can be different to the build for getting through a boss. If you have ever googled a way to beat a boss, so many start with, this fight is so much easier if you have a high damage XYZ weapon and a particular high stat. It is always doable with other builds, of course, but you might have to work that much harder. When it comes to Soulsborne games, I'm in the accessibility camp in that as an aged gamer, I do struggle with games like this but at the same time, there is so much on offer that it is a shame that skill (or time investment) precludes a lot of players.
So anyway, Bloodborne is the game I have spent the most time on with PS4 and one of of the few games I've replayed on the platform and oddly, I can see myself doing it again. I'm still not sure why I'm so addicted to it as a player that struggles massively with it. I am not good at the game, I have had to throw myself at hours against a brick wall and I don't really enjoy that. It hasn't really led to a love of other games but something about this world and game keep me coming back for more.
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
@Rudy_Manchego
I don't know if you have ps+ but if the rumour on Bloodborne remastered is true and you fancy going through it in co-op, I would happily join you!
The extra danger of facing invaders can really add to the excitement and it balances out the bosses being slightly easier.
@LieutenantFatman I do and I already know that I would get a remaster even after all that I said so would be well up for a co-op playthrough! It would add a new dimension to a playthrough. So far I have done the whole thing solo. I was invaded a few times on my playthrough last year and I tried once summoning another player to help with a boss (only for them to get one shotted in the opening minute) but that was my only engagement.
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
@Rudy_Manchego
The great thing about it is you can choose an entirely new weapon set to master. I went with the stake driver and cannon mainly last time. On this occasion, the giant hammer would be mighty tempting for me.
@LieutenantFatman I would love to go for a bloodtinge build as I didn't develop those much in my playthroughs - using things like the Chikage and Simon's Bowblade
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
@Rudy_Manchego I appreciated your well delivered post on your relationship to Bloodborne. I could really relate. I couldn’t quite get into Dark Souls 1, but I adored Bloodborne. I think of it as a game I could replay repeatedly to try new builds, if not for my large backlog.
I also never summoned for any help in my entire playthrough, and only had a few invasions all of which I got beat fairy badly except for once. I’m not particularly skilled but I got through the game on grinding and overleveling and watching YouTube videos, but it made me enjoy the game so much more than dying repeatedly.
I remember I watched a YouTube video of a guy who completed the whole game in like 10 minutes. It was amazing to see him beat all the main story bosses with an early low leveled character with a saw blade and make these strange shortcuts through the map that were taking advantage of technical bugs and glitches in the code. It’s funny that when you see someone defeat a boss using extremely under leveled skills and weapons, it gives you confidence to defeat it with your normal leveled character.
@Th3solution Your experience with invasions mirrors mine. I had one moment of glory when someone attacked me in the Nightmare of Mensis and I rolled out of the way and they fell down into an abyss and died. Wish I could say that was skill rather than me panicking when I tried to run away!
Seeing people who have run the game that many times and can just smash through bosses with no leveling etc. is what I imagine people who love football feel when they see someone go through the defence and score. It looks so easy yet I know I could never do it in a million years!
Thanks for reading too!
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
@Rudy_Manchego@Th3solution And there you have the series version of easy mode, along with summoning. Which makes me even prouder of being able to beat Sekiro. 💪
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
Well done @Rudy_Manchego on finally getting that sweet bloodborne platinum 👏
I had the exact same problem as you with that damn Watchdog in the defiled chalice dungeon... I had to overlevel like a mad woman just trying to increase my health so I could actually tank a few hits from that evil puppy.
Kudos on doing it on a new game plus too!
Everything else after that was fine though (The extra health didn't really add anything to the fact I ripped through the remaining chalice bosses like swiss cheese)
How'd you find the fight against Yharnam, The Pthumerian Queen?
@JohnnyShoulder Mate - I have nothing but admiration for those that had the patience to beat Sekiro I personally feel from my time with Sekiro that it is too exclusive - the level gameplay and emphasis on stealth means very little in nearly all boss fights which I found quite jarring. You literally have to be good enough to beath Sekiro, there are no ways round it. I also didn't like the fact I felt the game world suffered if I died - I get losing souls/echoes or possibly needing to farm HP vials etc, as annoying as it is, but actually having in game characters suffer if you die was too far for me. However, it just means the game is not for me and I know yourself and lots others really enjoyed it.
I'd disagree with summoning - it increases boss health and can actually make some fights harder but leveling is a way to improve your odds.
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks! I had a pretty good amount of vitality for the Defiled Watchdog but still most of his moves could one shot me which was really the challenge on the level. On higher chalice levels it was easier. After the Watch Puppy, it took me about 4 goes for Defiled Amygdala but that one is just about patience really. Pthumerian descednent was all about the parry (which I am also not good at) but was a fun fight. I struggled at first with the Headless Bloodletting beast, mainly due to camera but it was all about recognising its moveset while the camera goes beserk. As for the final platinum boss - I defeated them on my second go. Easily the creepiest boss in the game and I loved the sound design and moveset but if you don't get too greedy, probably one of the easiest in the game.
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
For me all of them were easy once I got past that infernal watchdog @Rudy_Manchego (Maybe I took a few goes against the descendant... I don't quite remember that boss though )
Agreed on the "platinum" boss in particular. Much as I enjoyed it the aesthetics, sound design and such as a fight it was a bit too easy for that point in the game.
I kinda hope that the Bloodborne remaster for PS5 isn't true though... I'd rather it be a Bloodborne 2.
Granted I haven't played the DLC which does seem to add a lot of interesting weapons but my main gripe about Bloodborne is probably the lack of weapon variety and build potential in the base version.
Well at least to me as I never gelled with the weapons all that much. Much as I like the idea of trick weapons I rarely switched them from thier base forms to be perfectly honest 😅
I do like everything else about BB but I feel my first playthrough was pretty much the exact same as my second (Just I knew the layout and what to do that second time) whereas all my runs in the Dark Souls games have always felt rather different.
I preferred Bloodborne to the DS games myself bit couldn't bring myself to play through it again after finishing it. I can't remember whether I used summons in BB but I certainly did in DS3. I did enjoy helping other people out on bosses I enjoyed though but it was always quite annoying to be summoned to help and then that person gets killed immediately.
@Rudy_Manchego True about bosses health increasing, but most of the time when I summoned the player was so OP the fight was over before I could get a look in, and the extra health the bosses had meant nothing.
In regards to Sekiro, there is a way to cure the curse that some npc's get, so it is not the be all and end all that some make out.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@Thrillho I haven't tried helping others to be honest so I might give it a go. At the very least my martyrdom might help others!
@JohnnyShoulder Yeah but I think the psychological impacts of characters getting a curse is what got me. It really feels like the game was telling me I was poop. I mean, I was sure, but I'd rather the, yeah you are poop but why not give it another go? A little like me trying out for sports at high school and getting given the participation medal.
Now I may be an idiot, but there's one thing I am not sir, and that sir, is an idiot
@Thrillho@Rudy_Manchego@JohnnyShoulder So, having never used the summon mechanic, if you summon for help and then you die in the first minute of the fight but the person you summoned prevails without you, do you get credit for the victory too?
And what is the incentive for giving assistance and answering summons? I guess you gain experience as well?
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Rudy_Manchego I always saw it as a fun way to replay boss fights I particularly enjoyed or as a more enjoyable way of farming blood/souls. It was the same in Nioh too.
@Th3solution In all these games, if the host dies then you get booted out so it can be frustrating to wait around to be summoned only to get booted within a few seconds. Almost as annoying as them getting killed right at the end of the fight! And as I said above, it's a good way of getting the equivalent of XP. Some of the covenants (or the DS equivalents) have specific rewards for helping people too I think.
@Th3solution In Bloodborne you gain Blood Echoes, Insight Points and that awesome feeling of having helped someone. Got some really nice thankful messages too. I've only summoned about a handful of different occasions in the series, but started to leave my summon sign/ring by bell (no smirking at the back please) when I was more confident in the latter stages of DS3, when I went back to play the doc on Bloodborne and DS Remastered.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
If you've ever played a Tropico game before then you'll already know what to expect. This is pretty much more of the same but with some tweaks.
For those who don't know, the series is a construction/management simulation game that sees you running a small island nation in the Caribbean through colonial, world war, cold war, and modern eras in either a campaign or sandbox mode. In either mode, you have to meet your objectives but also keep the local populace appeased/oppressed.
The sixth instalment of the series sees you be able to take control of multiple landmasses rather than just one central island, connecting them via ports or bridges. This makes for some nice aesthetic differences but doesn't alter the game drastically.
Raids are a new thing with each era having a raid building and each of these giving you different options from looting resources/gold through to manipulating the markets and give you better export deals. The game also allows you to use raids to steal famous landmarks from other nations. Fancy helicoptering Stonehenge into your country? No problem!
Other changes include the Broker who will give you tasks that earn money for your Swiss bank account (this can be used to buy off other nations, give you increased standing with a faction etc). New buildings are still unlocked via blueprints but these can now be bought (or looted or gained from completing objectives) rather than researched.
I really enjoy the series as they're light hearted sims that offer a good challenge but without getting too bogged down in the minute detail of some sims/city builders. The campaign is well structured with most of the missions focusing on one gameplay mechanism or quirk of the game from going all in on tourism, one that sees you being able to build multiple pirate raid buildings, one set on a volcano, and one where you can't build any houses. The final mission then puts everything together really well.
However, a few things really grated. First off, the game lets you mostly crack on and have fun but the economy can be a right pain at times. Your economy can suddenly collapse for almost no reason, particularly when changing eras, and it can be really hard to correct/counter this. I had to start a fair few missions again once I got into a death spiral with my economy and the levels can take multiple hours each so it can be pretty galling to have to do this. I dropped a few levels down to easy mode as I couldn't face the thought of having to start all over yet again. This also means that often your best strategy on a mission can be to ignore your objectives and tediously build up a functioning economy first. As each level is completely separate from each other (unlike Tropico 5), it can feel a bit frustrating having to do this each time.
The other big issue are rebels. I get why these guys exist but you can be minding your own business, building up your island and thinking your people are all happy with you but in the background these cretins are plotting against you. It's really hard to keep them from happening and, a bit like the economy, they can suddenly build up in number and it's game over. Keeping the people happy only works so far, and one raid building can help thin their numbers slightly, but if they get rowdy enough then they will start a rebellion where only a really strong military will save you (and in many missions you don't need much of a military, if one at all) so it's another frustrating way to see the game over screen.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with the game but having to restart a campaign mission you've already been working on for four hours for one of the above reasons is a real kicker.
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