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Pixel's Game Reviews #2 - Azure Striker Gunvolt
Introduction: Azure Striker Gunvolt was a smaller eShop game released in August of 2014. It was created by Inti Games, Keiji Inafune's (the dude who made Mega Man) new game studio. Does it stand out as a great game or is it thrown in the bin as a Mega Man clone?
Story - Azure Striker Gunvolt takes place in a futuristic time of peace. Out of the population are people known as "adepts" who are able to use various super human abilities like flight and having control over certain elements like fire or electricity. The time of peace was brought about by a group known as the Sumeragi Group who secretly experimented on adepts. Because of this, many adepts have begun to rebel, which lead to the creation of QUILL, a resistance organization. One member of the organization, nicknamed Gunvolt, is one of the adepts. On one assignment, Gunvolt is sent to assasinate an adept known as Lumen, but he soon finds that Lumen resides within a young girl named Joule and decides instead to rescue her. Because of this, he decides to defect from QUILL as this was against his orders and decides to protect Joule and decides to take down the agents of the Sumeragi Group to guarantee her safety. The story has some twists, specifically near the end, and it provides motives to continue through the game, but I came out feeling unsatisfied. While I don't want to share the endings due to spoiler reasons, one left me feeling like I was missing something, which was its intention, but the other left me feeling like it was just perfect sequel bait or it was trying to be much more symbolic than what it actually was. However, the characters do pick up where some of the story slacks. Usually before a battle, you get to speak to the many Sumeragi agents and while some of them are quite cliche, they were still interesting enough for me to discern most of them from each other.
Presentation - For a 2D platforming game, the graphics look really well done. The game has a pixelated style, similar to many earlier Mega Man games, but it still remains visually appealing and the environments are quite nice to look at. The character animations in game all are well-versed and really give flare to characters and enemies that helps make the game stand out personality wise. However many enemy models do repeat often or just with different colour palettes so there isn't much variety in that aspect. When it comes to the music, it complements whatever level you are in nicely and I found myself humming a few of the tunes after a play session. While the background themes are more prominent there are also J-pop songs that play in levels if you get a high enough combo or another certain situation that I will describe later. It may just be due to the fact that I enjoy J-pop quite a bit but those tracks definitely stand out in the soundtrack.
Gameplay - Similar to Mega Man games, you can select what agent of Sumeragi that you want to battle, get through their stage which usually has some quirk about it that is involved with their design or character then fight them one on one, get a weapon and move on. The formula is similar to Mega Man but it still has enough differences that keep it from feeling too same-like. While Gunvolt is equipped with a gun, it isn't your primary source of attacking. You use your gun to "tag" enemies and the more you shoot them, the more you can damage them with your primary source of attacking, using your electrical adept powers. Due to the tagging system, you are able to attack multiple foes at once, though you do have a limited amount of electrical powers until you need to wait for it to recharge. After defeating one of the agents, you receive a new weapon that has different effects like letting you tag more than usual or deal more damage. Your gun isn't the only customizable item though as with the tools that you take from the remains of your fallen enemies as well as your end level bonus, you can craft new equipment that can have a variety of effects like letting you have a double jump or giving you more xp after each kill. Speaking of xp, this game has a leveling up system. Whenever you level up, you gain extra power and you may unlock special powers that you can activate at anytime with the touch screen. It may be a screen-clearing attack or it may be a healing power though you have to have a certain amount of power in the power meter to use these abilities. Along with the main story are extra missions that can net you bonuses and most of the missions require you to play a certain level again but with parameters set up like getting through in a certain amount if time or without killing a certain enemy. They can help you get through later parts of the game but none of them are really necessary other than adding a bit of replay value for those really invested in the game.
What I liked - The game's characters ,for the most part, are entertaining to watch and the J-pop songs really help the soundtrack stand out. The controls never game me a hard time and the combat system, while somewhat different, is very fluent and rewarding, especially once you start stringing high combos.
What I disliked - As I stated previously the story by the end left me perplexed and almost unrewarded, especially due to some of the difficult steps that you have to go through in order to achieve the "true ending." The repeating enemies in some levels can make the game feel stagnate at times and near the end, the game pulls the "make you fight a bunch of the bosses one after another to build up tension" which is something that really irks me. Also, the game's main story only takes about 5-6 hours to complete and, at its current price, isn't enough of a time sink for what they ask.
Verdict: Azure Striker Gunvolt is a well-made 2D platformer that does its job well and will satisfy the desires of people who enjoy Mega Man styled games. However, if your not willing to play a lot of the missions, I can't fully recommend it at its asking price of $15 (at least in American currency). Its a really good game with some flaws that just hold it back from being great.
Story: 7/10
Presentation: 8/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Personal Enjoyment 7.5/10
Final Score: 7.8/10
Now let's see who makes a too much water joke first...
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