Being a fan of the Azure Striker Gunvolt fan since the very beginning, I was understandably hyped when this game was announced. It was a completely unexpected announcement, especially since Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 has yet to come out and the fact that we would've gotten two of these Gunvolt Chronicles games before the proper third installment would've surprised anyone. It's clear that this game was meant to tide us over until Gunvolt 3 came out but the question is, is the game good or is it a rare Inti Creates L? Well, it's good but it's....kinda weird.
Normally in my reviews, i like to start with what i liked and then proceed with what i didn't like but i need to address the White Tiger in the room: Inti Creates completely overhauled Copen's gameplay in this game. In both Gunvolt 2 and Luminous Avenger 1, Copen was characterized as an aerial mobility character. He had a number of air dashes that you could use at any time and colliding with an enemy during these air dashes (or just normal dashes too) would lock-on to them, allowing your attacks to home in. The key to Copen's gameplay in those games was to dash around the level, ideally chaining as many kills as you can without touching the ground. This was extremely satisfying to do and seeing my score go up with each kill light up the neurons in my brain. In Luminous Avenger iX 2, this style of gameplay is gone....sort of. You can do it while in Overdrive, which is obtained by gaining 1000 Kudos (points) or more during any level, or by activating Anthem, which has a chance of happening if you die. Obviously conditions need to be met here so how does Copen play when you're not in either of those two states? He has one air dash. One. No way to increase it, no way to do multiple air dashes without being in Overdrive or Anthem. This massive change tremendously fucked me up, this is not how Copen is supposed to play. In addition to those changes, Copen now has a three-hit melee attack, which is admittedly pretty cool as we haven't really had melee options in these games before (i can't believe Copen robbed Kirin of being the first melee Gunvolt character). Outside of skills and collecting each of the emblems in each stage, this three-hit attack is what'll net you the most Kudos. And while attacking with that buzzsaw is really neat, the changes to Copen's gameplay style as a whole kinda made me wish that this was just a completely different character. Idk, make Blade be the main character here, we haven't had an Azure Striker be playable since Gunvolt 2 in 2016. These changes also mean a complete rehaul of the Kudos system. In previous games, you had the ability to choose how you wanted Kudos to be handled. You had options between: not losing them at all, losing them all after taking three hits or losing them all after taking one hit. In this game, those options are gone and you effectively are on that first option always. This means that it's much easier to obtain Overdrive but that means getting Overdrive isn't as satisfying. That rush of getting the most points possible or risk losing them all isn't here. The closest thing is Lola's new heal ability, which completely heals you in exchange for banking your Kudos and resetting the counter to zero. Using this during Overdrive means you lose Overdrive but besides that, there's no limit to that heal ability. That definitely does make the game easy but you can also just not use it, much like how you can choose to not use the damage-negating Prevasion of the previous games.
Thankfully, Copen still keeps his signature EX Abilities, which allows him to copy the powers he gets from bosses Mega Man style and as i unlocked more, i got more and more used to Copen's changes. Once i found ways to just tear through enemies and get that satisfying feeling that i've loved about these games, i became ok with these changes, though I still prefer how Copen plays in the previous games.
As for the things that didn't leave me in a conflicted state, i've got to say, this is probably the best looking Inti Creates game so far. The decision to Isekai Copen away from the traditional Gunvolt setting of futuristic city was a perfect breath of fresh air, as it allowed the background visuals to be much more varied. The sprites themselves are also the best yet, i've got to say. The music has also received a buff. While the vocal songs in Gunvolt have always been great, the regular tunes have always been overshadowed. In this game, the regular tunes are quite good and i wouldn't say they've been overshadowed at all. Overall, the presentation is good. If there's on critique i have to make here, it's the special attack cut-ins. The previous games would have a little haiku show up before the character calls out their special attack, which is 1000% anime and i loved it. In this game, that's completely gone, instead being replaced by a more animated cut-in. While there's nothing wrong with this cut-in, i miss the anime corniness that came with the cut-ins of the previous games.
Sadly, the mid-stage dialogue is still missing and it kinda ends up feeling like the Gunvolt Chronicles subseries isn't as character-focused as the mainline series, which is a bit of a bummer. I still like the characters but Copen, Lola, and Kohaku are carried by the fact that we've met them before. The new character, Null, is alright but she's probably the weakest heroine character in this entire series. But the one affected by the lack of mid-stage dialogue the most are the bosses, as i hardly get any personality from them outside of their pre-battle dialogue. This was an issue in the first Luminous Avenger as well but Gunvolt 1 and 2 didn't have this issue so hopefully this is just a Gunvolt Chronicles thing and Gunvolt 3 will have mid-stage dialogue when it finally rolls around.
When i consider all things, i can definitely see this game being more divisive among fans. In my opinion, this game is an 8/10........had it not been for a decision so unlike Inti Creates that i had to take off a whole point: the decision to lock the true ending behind a stupidly difficult Hard Mode. Unlocking Hard Mode in this game is already kind of obscure but to get the true ending, you have to beat the whole game on Hard Mode. That sounds straight-forward except, completely out of the blue, Inti Creates introduced a lives system to this series. Yes that's right, you have lives in Hard Mode and if you lose them all, it's back to the beginning of the stage for you, checkpoints be damned. Add in the fact that Hard Mode also removes the ability to heal or upgrade or even level up and Inti Creates is basically asking for a flawless playthrough if you want to see the full story. Inti Creates is no stranger to very difficult boss fights in order to see the true ending (Gunvolt 1, Gunvolt-route Gunvolt 2, Blaster Master Zero 3) but that's just it: in those instances, it was one boss fight that was very difficult, not the entire game. And none of those games had a lives system anyway. None of those games forced you to play on Hard Mode if you wanted to see everything. And because i knew trying to master iX 2's Hard Mode on a lives system would eat away at my sanity, i simply looked up the true ending on YouTube. It is a nice ending, a shame it's locked behind such a dumb decision.
Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2 is, in my opinion, the weakest entry in the series. Weakest, however, does not mean bad. Inti Creates is one of the very few game developers that has completely earned my trust and, in my opinion, the only L they've taken so far is Dragon: Marked for Death. Luminous Avenger iX 2, despite being the weakest Gunvolt game, is still a very solid 7/10. I would not recommend it as your first Gunvolt game (really, this entire subseries is better enjoyed after playing mainline Gunvolt) but if you're looking for a solid action platformer, put this game (and this series) on your radar.
Normally in my reviews, i like to start with what i liked and then proceed with what i didn't like but i need to address the White Tiger in the room: Inti Creates completely overhauled Copen's gameplay in this game. In both Gunvolt 2 and Luminous Avenger 1, Copen was characterized as an aerial mobility character. He had a number of air dashes that you could use at any time and colliding with an enemy during these air dashes (or just normal dashes too) would lock-on to them, allowing your attacks to home in. The key to Copen's gameplay in those games was to dash around the level, ideally chaining as many kills as you can without touching the ground. This was extremely satisfying to do and seeing my score go up with each kill light up the neurons in my brain. In Luminous Avenger iX 2, this style of gameplay is gone....sort of. You can do it while in Overdrive, which is obtained by gaining 1000 Kudos (points) or more during any level, or by activating Anthem, which has a chance of happening if you die. Obviously conditions need to be met here so how does Copen play when you're not in either of those two states? He has one air dash. One. No way to increase it, no way to do multiple air dashes without being in Overdrive or Anthem. This massive change tremendously fucked me up, this is not how Copen is supposed to play. In addition to those changes, Copen now has a three-hit melee attack, which is admittedly pretty cool as we haven't really had melee options in these games before (i can't believe Copen robbed Kirin of being the first melee Gunvolt character). Outside of skills and collecting each of the emblems in each stage, this three-hit attack is what'll net you the most Kudos. And while attacking with that buzzsaw is really neat, the changes to Copen's gameplay style as a whole kinda made me wish that this was just a completely different character. Idk, make Blade be the main character here, we haven't had an Azure Striker be playable since Gunvolt 2 in 2016. These changes also mean a complete rehaul of the Kudos system. In previous games, you had the ability to choose how you wanted Kudos to be handled. You had options between: not losing them at all, losing them all after taking three hits or losing them all after taking one hit. In this game, those options are gone and you effectively are on that first option always. This means that it's much easier to obtain Overdrive but that means getting Overdrive isn't as satisfying. That rush of getting the most points possible or risk losing them all isn't here. The closest thing is Lola's new heal ability, which completely heals you in exchange for banking your Kudos and resetting the counter to zero. Using this during Overdrive means you lose Overdrive but besides that, there's no limit to that heal ability. That definitely does make the game easy but you can also just not use it, much like how you can choose to not use the damage-negating Prevasion of the previous games.
Thankfully, Copen still keeps his signature EX Abilities, which allows him to copy the powers he gets from bosses Mega Man style and as i unlocked more, i got more and more used to Copen's changes. Once i found ways to just tear through enemies and get that satisfying feeling that i've loved about these games, i became ok with these changes, though I still prefer how Copen plays in the previous games.
As for the things that didn't leave me in a conflicted state, i've got to say, this is probably the best looking Inti Creates game so far. The decision to Isekai Copen away from the traditional Gunvolt setting of futuristic city was a perfect breath of fresh air, as it allowed the background visuals to be much more varied. The sprites themselves are also the best yet, i've got to say. The music has also received a buff. While the vocal songs in Gunvolt have always been great, the regular tunes have always been overshadowed. In this game, the regular tunes are quite good and i wouldn't say they've been overshadowed at all. Overall, the presentation is good. If there's on critique i have to make here, it's the special attack cut-ins. The previous games would have a little haiku show up before the character calls out their special attack, which is 1000% anime and i loved it. In this game, that's completely gone, instead being replaced by a more animated cut-in. While there's nothing wrong with this cut-in, i miss the anime corniness that came with the cut-ins of the previous games.
Sadly, the mid-stage dialogue is still missing and it kinda ends up feeling like the Gunvolt Chronicles subseries isn't as character-focused as the mainline series, which is a bit of a bummer. I still like the characters but Copen, Lola, and Kohaku are carried by the fact that we've met them before. The new character, Null, is alright but she's probably the weakest heroine character in this entire series. But the one affected by the lack of mid-stage dialogue the most are the bosses, as i hardly get any personality from them outside of their pre-battle dialogue. This was an issue in the first Luminous Avenger as well but Gunvolt 1 and 2 didn't have this issue so hopefully this is just a Gunvolt Chronicles thing and Gunvolt 3 will have mid-stage dialogue when it finally rolls around.
When i consider all things, i can definitely see this game being more divisive among fans. In my opinion, this game is an 8/10........had it not been for a decision so unlike Inti Creates that i had to take off a whole point: the decision to lock the true ending behind a stupidly difficult Hard Mode. Unlocking Hard Mode in this game is already kind of obscure but to get the true ending, you have to beat the whole game on Hard Mode. That sounds straight-forward except, completely out of the blue, Inti Creates introduced a lives system to this series. Yes that's right, you have lives in Hard Mode and if you lose them all, it's back to the beginning of the stage for you, checkpoints be damned. Add in the fact that Hard Mode also removes the ability to heal or upgrade or even level up and Inti Creates is basically asking for a flawless playthrough if you want to see the full story. Inti Creates is no stranger to very difficult boss fights in order to see the true ending (Gunvolt 1, Gunvolt-route Gunvolt 2, Blaster Master Zero 3) but that's just it: in those instances, it was one boss fight that was very difficult, not the entire game. And none of those games had a lives system anyway. None of those games forced you to play on Hard Mode if you wanted to see everything. And because i knew trying to master iX 2's Hard Mode on a lives system would eat away at my sanity, i simply looked up the true ending on YouTube. It is a nice ending, a shame it's locked behind such a dumb decision.
Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2 is, in my opinion, the weakest entry in the series. Weakest, however, does not mean bad. Inti Creates is one of the very few game developers that has completely earned my trust and, in my opinion, the only L they've taken so far is Dragon: Marked for Death. Luminous Avenger iX 2, despite being the weakest Gunvolt game, is still a very solid 7/10. I would not recommend it as your first Gunvolt game (really, this entire subseries is better enjoyed after playing mainline Gunvolt) but if you're looking for a solid action platformer, put this game (and this series) on your radar.
PKMudkipz
2 years ago