Sol Cresta Shoot Em' Up Review, Masterpiece or Hot Mess? | Nintendo Switch, PS4, Steam
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- Sol Cresta Shoot Em' Up Review, Masterpiece or Hot Mess? | Nintendo Switch, PS4, Steam. The time has finally come, Platinum, the beloved Bayonetta developer, has released it's own shoot em' up (shmup) Sol Cresta. A very interesting game that is definetly a departure for the studio and a very rare example of a larger studio making a shmup in the year 2022. At this point even CAVE barely makes shmups if you even count their mobile games. So the question is if this new release and IP is a faithful and solid entry into the genre by a well-respected Platinum, or is it a hot mess full of great ideas that lack polish and a deeper understanding of the genre?
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Important Update! After requests for input lag readings I discovered something very interesting, the game looks better and has less input lag in tate mode (the mode I use in the review) so be sure to play the game in tate, no default horizontal rotation ha. Here is a link to the test results: ruclips.net/video/iJVGLbyNPJM/видео.html
I still cannot fucking believe PlatinumGames made a fucking shmup, but I am absolutely here for it.
Masterpiece. It takes time to appreciate, as every deep game/experience that aims to create something fresh, be playful and challenge the standard forms in a genre. They could have polished the visuals more indeed - for sure that would translate to more sales and success. After a while though, that deficiency becomes irrelevant under the perspective of the whole and it doesn’t overshadow it’s true merit.
I was excited for Sol Cresta, but after seeing it's price point, I decided to wait for your review...and now I'm definitely gonna grab it! The "tons of mechanics" seems really cool, and also very "Platinum." Like, all of their action games just dump a ton of tools that aren't strictly necessary but are ways for you to experiment, have fun, and express yourself. Seeing some of that DNA in a shooter sounds neat
It is pretty cool! I think the game has some clear issues, but also some really cool ideas so it s a bit of a mixed bag
I’m enjoying it, that being said it’s embarrassing how rough around the edges it is. With all the new ideas/mechanics they’ve thrown in this game, it would have been nice to have a tutorial section considering I still can’t figure out the command inputs.
the command inputs are funky as hell. So you need to use the shot button (not the rapid shot button) and there is some kind of precondition to be able to use them, like you need to collect enough powerups or something ha.
Im a huge Shoot'em up fan and I dont care at all about scores for Shoot'em ups given by Mainstream sites like IGN, Metacritic, Polygon, Destructoid, Game Informer............. All these sites give Shoot'em ups low scores in general & if you read a review from them its clear that most of the time the reviewer is not a fan of the genre at all & on top of that they clearly did not spend more than 15 minutes with the reviewed title = I cant take a reviewer / review site seriously if they do that.
Oh yes I def need to make a vid about the top 5 most cringe shmup reviews or something in the future ha. Some of the things they say in these reviews are so out of touch with the genre, like I think ign saying they wished ikaruga had doubled the amount of stages ha.
Im really torn on Sol Cresta. It has interesting ideas which bring something new to the genre but many revolve around a cumbersome input method which is neither intuitive or fluid. The level designs are good and from level 3 onwards show some creativity but they are let down by poor background/foreground separation. The graphics are truly awful, the only way I can play this is on my 15inch crt monitor which looks halfway decent and cuts down on the pixellated shimmering. The pricepoint is fine for me if its a top quality product but Sol Cresta for me falls short. Im personally playing SophStar on pc which was £7 and is a cracking shooter packed with content.
I can definitely feel that for sure! Cresta still needs more polish though the loop system definitely helps spice things up
I totally agree with you about star fox zero. I knew nothing about it before playing and had a blast. Was surprised seeing it get so much hate after I finished it
Yes exactly!! Dumb critical feeding frenzy
The level length reminds me of some of the Hudson PC Engine games like the Star Soldier series and Blazing Lazers, sometimes it felt like those levels were a little too long. Overall, I think that trying new gameplay concepts is good thing. Even if it's a little unrefined this time, the next game either from Platinum or from someone else can refine and improve on it. I haven't had a chance to play Sol Cresta yet, but I'm excited to give it a try.
Yeah I got a similar feeling as well! I think it will be a nice curve for newer players of the genre.
I am enjoying the game a ton! :D Im glad you had fun with it ! Oh btw, The caravan mode is fun and thats where you can focus on Scoring. The Online score board for Hi Score Mode , you can pick a level and just do that, like caravan but no time limit. Then Unlimited for the infinite loops marathon scoring. So theres tons of options for scoring. Super fun and I "get" the art style and I like it :)
Oh yeah caravan mode is a cool addition, again another element of the game that reminds me of the pc engine shmups :-) As this mode type is super popular in those as well :-)
Your doing gods work man. Keep up the passion and drive to do this for us average consumers out here. These games require someone like yourself to asses the details of the game play / mechanics / design to sort out these releases and grant a counter point to the main stream bandwagon review crisis we have going on.
That s exactly what I am going for :-) yes it s very hard to trust reviews today
No words on the music? ( this is the real masterpiece of the game ). With crt and hardware scanline generator, backgrounds also looks/scrolls a little weird. The game wake up memories of my childhood, playing moon cresta or galaxian in the arcades. I can’t ask for more.Thank you 👍.
Oh yeah the music is great, I often forget to comment on the music in my reviews ha.
This game is absurdly good, it’s actually crazy. Graphics are a slight weak point (overblown though I think they’re alright in part) but the mechanical depth on the player side of this game is out of this world especially compared to the average shmup
Loved SFZ as well. Glad there are others of us out there
Yeah poor game will likely be trapped on wiiu forever
@@TheElectricUnderground Yeah, and probably by necessity given the duel screen nature. Personally, it was the multitasking required through having 2 screens that I liked the most, as my favorite type of game is RTS on PC (SC2!), and the Wii U was the closest I have come to a good multitasking experience on console. Pikmin 3, if the correct control scheme was used, was one of the best for this also.
I was fighting the formation at first.....but at some point it clicked for me. A couple things:
The formations actually DO snap in place....from the time you get the ships lined up enough to where the patterns come up underneath them you can go ahead & hold the formation button even if the ships aren't perfectly lined up with them.
Also....I was having trouble with formations at first too b/c I was trying to draw the shapes w/ both sticks. It became alot easier when I realized you can draw all shapes easiest using the left stick/lead ship only. (The right stick is most useful for rearranging the ship order....for example if I separate & move the lead ship up to create space w/ the left stick, I use the right stick to swap the order of the 2nd & 3rd ship depending on who I want in the middle)
It's alot easier than I was making it....it was def a learning curve vut now it's 2nd nature & pretty exhilarating to pull off mid-firefight
Yes, I imagine as more time with the game syncs in the formation system will start to become more second nature :-)
It looks, feels and sounds like a Nichibutsu game in 2022, and I think this what they were going for.
Yeah probably something like that :-)
An honest and considered take on this seemingly divisive title.
Like you, Platinum have a special place in my heart, not only from their amazing genre defining titles but their past pre platinum legacy like Viewtiful Joe and Okami (clover studios). And for the record, I really loved Star Fox Zero.
I’m glad they have taken the risks with mechanics as they don’t do bog standard games so it’s testament to their creativity they have produced something different here.
As a side note, what are your thoughts on Input lag on switch?
Thanks my dude! Yes this one was really tricky to review and I tried my best to describe what was going on as objectively as I could ha. Platinum are a really cool studio! So input lag wise the game is a bit laggy on switch, I would guess around 4-5 frames, so I would say if you want the most responsive version probably go with the steam port. But if you want to play the game in handheld mode, the switch is doable enough to make that work. But if you don't plan on playing in handheld mode, go with steam or ps4
Considering Platinum's reach I expected the game to be cheaper, but it ended up being closer to a M2 ShotTriggers Only-For-Shmupheads pricetag. It's a bit of a turnoff for many of us that are into shmups, I can't imagine for a more casual player when it's dropping in the same week as Elden Ring lol.
I kinda get what it's trying to do aesthetic-wise, it's kinda going for a "what if we made a 32 bit sequel to Terra Cresta but as a XBLA reboot and/or viceversa and you were playing it in an emulated resized window". It's kind of a weird very specific acquired taste tho not the most appealing for sure, so again I'm still a bit puzzled about the price. Not because if it's worth it or not but rather "when planning the release, was Kamiya not self-aware of how people would perceive the price or he was so headstrong he just didn't care?". I'm sure it was the later and I admire his guts but I want him to be succesful and motivated to do more so... what the hell.
If it was free it would still only be for shmup fans so they might as well get their money. Nothing about it is attractive or visually/thematically distinctive to people outside the niche, imo.
Great, fair review. Much appreciated as always
I'm glad to hear that! Yeah this one was tricky to try to review honestly.
Hey Mark? Speaking of Platinum Games, I'd LOVE for them to make a full game revolving entirely around the shmup segments in NIER AUTOMATA (as I quite enjoyed those short but sweet segments). They could have Yoko Taro concoct some existential side drama, coupled with some interesting gameplay mechanics to set it apart, with a new soundtrack, and voila, and new classic shmup. Good vid, btw. I'm definitely gonna kop Sol Cresta.
That s actually what I hoped this game would be, a modern graphics shmup
@@TheElectricUnderground EXACTLY. I was hoping for a somewhat AAA shmup, if Platinum ever developed one. That's what the shmup segments in NIER AUTOMATA hinted at, to me at least. Not to mention that Sol Cresta is $40 ($50 with DLC). I'm a bit disappointed with the production value.
Great review and I think your critiques of the game are spot on. Especially your complaints about the escape sequence. Good luck to anyone trying to sight read that perfectly on their first attempt.
All of that said, I'm having a lot of fun despite the flaws. It has a real charm to it.
Yeah that escape is brutal to try and see what is going on ha, my only strat I could come up with was to spam bullet time as frequently as I could.
Very petty take here: I'm tired of paying more than fifteen bucks for pixel art games on my device that can run all kinds of modern 3d games. Even more so since it's from an established studio with a track record of gorgeous, innovative 3d games.
To put it in perspective, Radiant Silvergun is almost 25 YEARS OLD, back then they were fully utilizing the hardware to put polygons and sprites together. Then Ikaruga comes out three years later like 20 YEARS AGO, and is fully polygonal with stage hazards EVERYWHERE and there's little to no visual clarity issues (except for it being brown and gray.)
Now it's 2022 and I can play a pixel game that has issues that NES Silver Surfer had 30 YEARS AGO, because the graphics are regressive and not utilizing the hardware at all. I just don't understand why they felt pixel art was the form this game had to take.
Kamiya's a Nichibutsu fanboi. He'd been posting pics of his Switch with all the ACA Nichibutsu games on it and had been photographed hanging out with Hamster and featured on Hamster's livestreams way before the April Fools announcement. Maybe about a year before.
Ha isn't that funny. It is really interesting how that sort of thing can happen with developers.
Upon reading the video title: "Eh, it can't possibly be worse than Sol Divide!"
Ha it s better then sol divide
I really like the game, but kinda wish the shot change was just a button press. Trying to change ships is a bit of a pain in the ass.
100% agree, I think they went for nifty over effective with the design decision on the shot type.
i' m happy to see that someone likes star fox zero too. heavly underated
Hell yeah! The only reason I ever play my wii u ha.
Could they have improved the input lag in subsequent patches on the switch? I've been on the fence on this now that its FINALLY on sale, so I've been playing the demo over and over and the Switch feels just as responsive to me as the ps4 version. It probably is a frame lagging than ps4 but still feels good. I would even say it feels more responsive than death smiles switch version. Wish I could get some confirmation that the lag has indeed been improved before I drop $ on this.
If journos still complain that it’s too short 💀💀💀
I know that would be really funny.
Really good review. Man you work hard Mark to bring us great content.This was out fast! Got to say I thought the graphics were a bit naff until I watched a playthru of Terra Cresta on YT which sort of made me realise the style they were going for and consequently I like them alot better than I did. The references to the earlier games and the continuity with the lore is pretty cool.Even so I skipped the dlc- Raiden V has scared me off such things for life!
Thanks so much my dude, yeah I did put in some extra hours to try and get the review done asap :-) yeah I don't think the dlc is necessary, I wasn't a super big fan on hanging around for the dialogue and all ha.
I had a lot of fun with this game, too; flaws and all. I do like the game design approach where the player has various tools to accomplish a goal because it allows the player to find a variation that works for them. And I feel Platinum is really good at this philosophy. Sometimes it works, sometimes not, but I love the all the attempts. Platinum Studios really loves games and exploring new ways to play. 🥰
Wait. What if I just think I'm not entertained because they don't give you a letter grade after every level? Was that the key to maintaining my attention?
An obvious oversight ha, though you do get extends at the ends of the level based on score, which is pretty cool.
YES!!! Was waiting for your review for this. Thanks so much for your valuable insight!
Glad I could help! Very tricky game to review
This got an update recently which seems to have gotten rid of the shimmer people were complaining about. And 2 of the 3 new DLC ships are pretty great,
The Cresta series has been part of shmup history almost since the beginning; MoonCresta hit in 1980, 2 years after Space Invaders. Its early entries were mechanically innovative for their time. When I heard Kamiya was doing a sequel I got excited, thinking here was something where he could run wild, and another Radiant Silvergun or Ikaruga could be in the works. I appreciate that this was a side passion project, and I do think there's a reasonable amount of new things tried, but it just looks like it needs more polish in so many areas. Like you said, the formation mechanic is what the game hangs its hat on, it needed to be snappier. And defences of the alias-y visuals go out the window once the price tag comes up.
Yeah I don't understand what is going on with the visuals, those needed to be figured out
Think i'll wait for a Sale on this, puerly as i'm not sure this is something i want to play enough to justify the price of entry.
While it's to be applauded that the game tries new things, the mechanics seem a touch convoluted which i guess could easily quell the fun factor pretty quickly.
Glad to hear it's not an all out horror show!!
Thanks for the review Mark.
🙋🏻♂️
Yeah I think waiting for a sale makes sense, I'm going to do the same before I pick up the steam version :-) Yeah I was relieved that the game had some cool stuff going on in it, despite the issues with the visuals and general lack of polish on the mechanics.
It's FINALLY on sale!
I dig the bayonetta music in the background
Hell yeah!!!
Thank you very much, as usual for your honest review, I consider it very helpful, as the others you made as well! I appreciate by the way the efforts of offering something new, and I can forgive some defects in these cases. I'll surely buy it but I'd prefer a physical edition... Limited Run's edition will come who knows when... I'm hoping for a standard European or Asian edition!
I'm glad my review was helpful, I tried my best to describe the elements of the game as objectively as I could, as it is pretty hard to evaluate this game as a lot of what it is doing is pretty unique. Yeah I think a standard physical release would be great, hopefully it's not too expensive.
Not perfect, but good enough for a genre severely lacking new / different experiences.
Yeah I think that's a fair assessment :-)
Sounds like Platinum Games have quite a number of good ideas in there, but the game is just sorely lacking in polish.
Slow difficulty progression is good for first timers, but replayability matters more for shmups. The slow progression will no doubt come back to bite them. I don't know if Platinum normally includes difficulty modes in their games, but they really should do it for a shmup. Maybe not just a simple easy/hard mode toggle, but have separate modes for the original game and score attack. Score attack should be like an arrange mode where the levels are more condensed and/or more things are happening at any given moment.
The formation system sounds pretty interesting, but it does seem clunky. One thing Platinum could do is to follow how Rabi Ribi handles magic types. In Rabi Ribi, you can hit a key to pause the game and take your time to choose which magic type you want (which is pretty similar to what Sol Cresta is already doing), but on top of that, there are two more keys which let you cycle through the magic types without pausing the game (and my preferred way to switch magic because it doesn't interrupt the flow). So Platinum could adopt this second method: have 1 or 2 keys to quickly switch between a few preset formations.
Hopefully Platinum will accept the criticisms and improve Sol Cresta or make a more polished shmup next time. Sol Cresta seems kinda meh (but not kusoge) to me, even though it has some good ideas. If it was a lot more polished, I would be much more inclined to try it out.
Yes I think that's a great assessment of what's going on with the game. I also agree making the formations be able to be toggled and cycled via button press would have been great, they could even retain the free draw system and just add that as an extra option :-)
While it's great to see a new shmup, especially from Platinum, there's something that feels 'off' about the game: over saturated colors and that strange scrolling that almost looks like sprites flickering. Hopefully they recognise this and patch it soon.
Great vid as usual.
Yeah the pixel shimmer of the scrolling is a lot. I do hope they can patch it as well! Thanks so much!
Further evidence that Platinum aren't actually gifted at game design at all, but just caught lightning in a bottle with Bayonetta. And I actually quite like the artstyle, just not... Everything else about the game
I think they are talented, just tend to lack that polish and mastery like other studios of the past like treasure or older capcom
I got the Japanese physical from Amazon Japan. Even with postage to uk was not much more than the digital game plus the DLC (which is on the cartridge). Get a nice slip case and a few extras in the box too. Nice.
Have you played Nex Machina? It's a brilliant shmup in it's own right but is also one that has lengthier stages, typically between 6 - 8 minutes. The action is pretty frentic and the soundtrack is amazing so I don't mind at all! I'll be interested to see if I feel the same with the stages in Sol Cresta, as long as they're engaging and fun I shouldn't mind them being on the longer side.
Oh interesting!!! No I haven't played it but it sounds pretty cool.
It's a twin stick but it's INCREDIBLE
An absolute masterpiece. Everything about the game oozes quality.
@@TheElectricUnderground its a truly incredible game, I can't recommend it highly enough. It goes on sale on ps4/pc regularly.
It is a brilliant game. I have it on PS4 and Steam, both versions are top quality.
I reckon it's a hot mess.. I don't have any lag on the steam version but the graphics are so lo fi they look blockier than genesis games, seriously, and it's so overly complex I am spending most of my time thinking and trying to work out what is what rather than shooting. I kind of hate it but the soundtrack rocks.
The stage skipping was a feature of atari games like Tempest. It gives you bonus points if you start at and complete a later level though you may score more if you play through. the easy early levels. Re background/foreground. That doesnt bother me as its not unlike learning a route. Quite an old school thing though Sturmwind has that too. Using your fire to figure out which is which reminds me of playing Zaxxon or Viewpoint!!
Yeah it is interesting how many systems like this will pop up in older shmups from time to time, it always makes it tricky to figure out if there was direct inspiration or if it's just a coincidence ha.
The rendering and differentiation problems are really bothersome. I think its one of those cases where they just added everything instead of subtracting until they had what "made sense" left over and decided "honestly, we can't make up our minds" so they let audiences figure it out by cobbling together three prototypes into a single game and saying "OK, you figure it out". Unrelated, but you might enjoy this: ruclips.net/video/ehKV72yMAOY/видео.html
Ha I wonder if this was like a one and done deal so they wanted to throw in as many mechanics as possible ha
@@TheElectricUnderground I mean there is the A-team/B-team studio development you see in companies like FROM. This might be a B-team's experiment to gauge public response in a safe financial bet that's low cost and then based on response to then build something demanding more commitment later. That's a very common Japanese studio strategy.
@@TheElectricUnderground Here, a great summary of Sol Cresta: ruclips.net/video/W1ZKcZbi1rg/видео.html
Hell yeah! Thats why I hope it finds a home in most shmup fans library's. And speakin of FROM' SOFTWARES B team? I sure wish someone over there could drop a new entry of my favorite gaming series of all time, ARMORED CORE! How they completely dropped thier original diehard gaming fans worldwide, just cause they struck gold elsewhere with newer diehard fans with the Soul's / Sekiro series, is a real head scratcher to me. . . Then again, I suck at math sooooo?@@osakanone
@@ronniepatterson2827 Good news then, AC6 is being tested internally
my first impression about this game is Sol Cresta looks like Euro shmup game XD but after i saw several gamplay footage. i take my word back and actually the game itself looks cool after watching some stage/enemies are awesome looking. unlike just generic space stage. imma buy this game soon.
It did look like a euroshup from the trailers and stuff ha. I was worried about the same thing. Goes to show that it's important to take the right sections of gameplay for your trailers, rather then just stage 1.
@The Electric Underground, how’s the music man? You did a great job with this review. Very thorough. One thing you didn’t really touch on is the audio. For all of this fun to be had, I personally need a good soundtrack. Good sound is an integral part of any game experience. I find with stumps that is even more integral. How’s the sound?
Music is pretty great actually ha. I forgot to mention it but yes the music is solid :-)
@@TheElectricUnderground, this is great news! I'm going to grab this for PS4. I appreciate the feedback on this. Thank you again for this great review.
How’s the ost? It has yuzo koshiro so I assume it’s good? Honestly wary of this. Fight n rage isn’t that long if you do certain paths, about an hour at most without turbo so it isn’t that long. But shmups are something I can’t imagine being all great when “beefed” up. Might get it, glad it looks better in your gameplay because every other reviewer played on easy and I wanted to fall asleep lol
Oh the ost is pretty slammin :-) not bayo tier or anything but pretty great.
I didn’t see you mention what you measured for input delay on the game. Did I miss it? As I was curious if your results were same as mine. I’m glad you enjoyed it as did I though. But I wonder if your perception may have been colored had you known how high a delay the game has going in on Switch. In fact, this may even be proof that even you can enjoy a game with over several frames! I keed I keed of course. But really. Once you see the numbers it may precipitate some form of reckoning and have you reenact the shower scene from Ace Ventura 🤣 Finkle is Einhorn!
Oh yeah the switch version was a laggy boy, I didn't measure it formally for the review because good god I did not want to buy the game 3 damn times to compare all the lag across all the versions ha. I would guess around 4-5 frames but I could see it being higher. When it comes to input lag Sol cresta is a bit of a different case then my usual rantings about input lag with other releases as it is an original game vs a port, but yeah I could of course had a whole section on the input lag but this time around I wanted to try and unravel what the hell is going on with the gameplay ha. I actually went with the switch port to check into the whole framerate situation but when I was playing with my fps counter on I actually didn't see any fps drops at all. I think the game's visuals are just so funky it looks like there are fps issues. In the future (when the game is on sale) I might do a performance review of the switch vs the pc version, but for this first review, since it is an original game and not a port, I decided just to discuss the game play. P.S. It turns out the game has less lag in tate mode, which is the mode I play in during the review XD
By the way to Platinum on lazy development.. It is impossible to play Sol Cresta on windowed mode (Steam version) on a 1440P monitor. I shudder to think how bad it is on 4k! It is a one size, NON resizable window that looks to be about 480P! i.e. a tiny tiny window on the monitor. And when Fullscreen, there are ZERO resolution options and again it looks about 480P.
Yes, I take issue to $70+ AUD games (deluxe edition) being so lazily coded. Platinum obviously couldn't care less or they'd attend to it. So they can cry victim all they want, but I'll speak out when I have a legitimate grievance for a very expensive game.
This happens all too often particularly on steam with sloppy ports (although as said the input lag is thankfully non existent even in yoko mode)..
For example, a year ago zerodiv started releasing psikyo ports.. Gunbarich in particular is very broken. The reviewers talk about it. They ask it to be fixed. It's a couple of simple things they could fix overnight. But they don't care. It bothers me. That's another game and another topic though. Thankfully, besides the zero gunner 2 port, all the other switch psikyo games are fantastic.
Oh yeah sounds like the PC port is a mess as well :-(
I think the reason the visuals may look janky is because of non-integer scaling. Every pixel seems to be a different size!
It's awesome that they are trying out new mechanics and trying to push the genre forward, but it seems to lack the basic polish necessary for a good shmup and I don't know if I can justify the price considering how ugly the game just looks. I'm a huge fan of platinum and was excited for this, but.....
The graphics are a bummer, the art style is ok but it s got some wierd things going on with shimmer and such
@@diydylana3151 dude you must never have played Terra Cresta (which this is a sequel to); the art design is totally on-brand. No different from when Capcom dropped Mega Man 8 & 9 in OG pixel form....I actually appreciate it; as well as some of the personality they've been able to convey considering...
I actually like the look of it. But I'm old. Probably the nostalgia kick I get from games made to look old but with a slight modern polish to them.
Still haven't picked this up, but I'm looking forward to it. Even though I've been around shmups for a very long time, I'm only now really gaining serious interest in them for whatever reason. Maybe it's the appeal of more solo/co-op experiences (as someone who is fairly into fighting games and other PVP experiences) has just been an appealing change. As a relatively old new fan, the one thing that kinda stuck about from gameplay footage of Sol Cresta is that it's kinda ugly? I like a lot of the design, but it's just all a bit muddy when it comes together.
Yeah the graphics look pretty bad, it's a shame really!
Hey, Love your vids!
I've been falling in love with shmups for about the past month and a half(never thought i would like them, turns out i do). I don't have a PC to play on so i play on Switch and PS4. I was wondering if you might have a recommendation for a decent starter arcade stick? I dont have much of a budget but since I dont know if I'll like a stick yet i dont want to break the bank. Second question are there any sticks that would work on both systems? I know that's asking alot but seems plausible.
I realized pretty quickly that Playing Crimzon Clover on the Switch D-pad isnt ideal lol.
Hopefully you see this, thanks!
Hi! Glad to hear it my dude! Yes I actually have a vid all about getting a quality but affordable arcade stick :-) If you want one that works on both versions, you'll def want a brooks universal board to place in your stick. So I'll link both vids here for you :-) ruclips.net/video/31aIbVEwjks/видео.html ruclips.net/video/_HGVWSv8A0k/видео.html
Kamiya last game was Wonderful 101. It was also a masterpiece/hot mess.
Whenever a dev starts talking about haters bringing them down, that's when my bullshit detector goes off. Especially in the case of Platinum, they have a rabid fanbase that is very intolerant of criticism of their games.
Thanks for giving your honest opinion. Personally Sol Cresta has a lot of things that turn me away - loaded with cumbersome gimmicks (who the hell's going to be doing hadoukens in the middle of their shmup?), environmental hazards, and big ugly pixels that look terrible on a modern TV. Regardless, my guess is this is going to become somewhat of an industry darling like Ikaruga due to its weird gimmicks and Platinum pedigree.
For sure, yeah big red flag to say your game being critiqued will kill the genre ha
BTW I like StarFox Zero also. I looooooved Astral Chain. I like the Wonderful 101.
My problem with Cresta is this.. That I read the so called instructions, and still after an hour of play had no idea why sometimes the combos would work and sometimes they wouldn't. I have no idea why i can fly through some pickups that seem to be there doing nothing. I have no idea what the icons on the left are, I believe they are various ship types but I am likely wrong. I have no idea how to smoothly transition to the ship I want, I am always juggling around like crazy trying to land on it.
I HAVE worked out two of the ship combos.. the triple where you fire the powerful shot that covers the screen and the other that has a diagonally downward facing beam (which you can probably aim but again, I have no idea). Still, my first play was on easy and I got bored at the third level. It was a breeze getting there. I played on easy first as I thought it would help teach me the game's mechanics.. but now on normal...........
I STILL HAVE NO IDEA! (other than I am dying a lot easier). 😂😂
I'll watch your full vid now and hopefully you demystify some of it!
i was waiting for this, same feelings, i hope they fix the background...
Me too! It seems patchable I would think? who knows I guess ha.
Somehow looking at the footage I thought of radiant silver gun a bit... Which also has stage hazards. Hm
Yeah I think it has some silvergun inspiration
Cool review mark
Thanks my dude!
@@TheElectricUnderground
Has Kamiya blocked you yet?
no one seem to talk about pixel shimmering and pixel uneven scaling in the sprites / background artworks... looks kind of amateurish
Yeah they gotta fix that, I do mention that the graphics look funky
16:35 the prequels of the series had exactly that type of mean enemy behaviour. Seems like you didn't play those in preparation for this review 😜
Nope! That would be pretty crazy if this was a general expectation for reviews and I don't believe in that sort of approach to game design actually. Like if there is a questionable game design decision in Metal Gear Solid 4, I don't think it can be waved off by saying that this same problem existed in Metal Gear Solid 1. We're so caught up in remakes and sequels these days that just copying a design choice from the previous entries is seen as the correct move ha.
Tried to force myself to enjoy StarFox Zero and after 3 playthroughs I could only hate it. That's coming from a hopeless fan that enjoyed the entire series up to that point. But I don't know how reviewers let that single game color their opinion of Platinum's competence as a whole. If any game should do that, it's Bayonetta 3 which, within Platinum, has actual precedence and is almost wholly theirs. Whether you like Zero or not, it was pretty evident that a lot of it's big choices were put on them by Miyamoto. So I don't know why people specifically rained on Platinum as hard as they did for that game.
I love platinum games and shmups. Was excited to see what they could do. On paper this game to me should be amazing. The formation system is a pain in the ass. The performance on the switch is disgusting.
yeah interestingly enough i have a frame rate monitor on my setup and the switch version was always running at 60, but there is something going on with the scrolling or something behind the framerate that makes it run strangely.
i have a question. Are the controlls cluncky and not so precise because maybe there are calibrated for an analog stick while you are playing with an arcade stick? i mean... Is the game designed around analog movements rather than sticks?
very likely ha. I could see that though I don't think the game has full analog support (as in reads the moves the ship purely analog), but yeah they were probably thinking people would be playing on analog sticks.
For that much money you're better off getting Deathsmiles 1 & 2 with the DLC, or getting Cotton Rock N Roll.
yes, not a must purchase, more like a you can purchase but there's no hurry ha.
Thanks for the review mark. Still gonna hard disagree about SFZ tho lol. Tablet gimmick was anti-fun and I'm still waiting for a version without it.
Fun fact you can play it without the motion controls if you mod your Wii u and play it on a PS4 controller, I actually think it s less fun this way though :-)
@@TheElectricUnderground Isn't your aim still going to be gimped that way though? That was the main reason speedrunners and score attack players hated it
Love platinum games, recently been playing Astral chain 🔗 have you tried it out? It's really good. It's a bit of a missed opportunity being stuck on the switch, and caped at 30 FPS but still I highly recommend.
I have played a bit of it! I like the motorcycle opening ha, but I didn't really get too far in the game as the rpg elements aren't my thing. Seems to have cool ideas though for people who like rpgs and such.
@@TheElectricUnderground its like Bayonetta and Devil may cry. The longer you play and start unlocking new moves and such, the better it gets. The combat can be surprisingly deep as well...
I’ve been getting into shmups a lot lately. I enjoy Platinum and think I will pick this up at some point. A little on the expensive side and not a fan of the separate dlc. Maybe a sale will be good.
Just saw you compare it to a soldier blade! Absolutely love that game!
Absolutely! No hurry to pick it up
LMAO places like Polygon, Eurogamer, Rock Paper Shotgun and Kotaku aren't even games journalists, they're armchair political activists who don't even play video games in the first place.
Yep, it s awful to the quality of the medium
I love shmups, they’re one of the few game types i can still enjoy. That being said, it was a terrible business decision to release this so close to elden ring.
If this was 25 bucks i might have at least considered it, but m2 level cost for sub M2 quality when im fully absorbed into elden ring? No thank you, wake me on a deep sale.
Yeah the timing of the release was really bad ha
It's a messterpiece!
Actually, it kinda reminds me of the euroshmup Tyrian, just by looking at it.
Ha bingo! And yes there are a lot of euroshmup vibes in the game, but it pulls back from being full euroshmup
Also I've found that the inputs for command shots don't have to be entered as fast as you would for a fighting game (& they're actually hella clutch; especially when you're down to your last ship)
yeah they do have a pretty generous buffer on them :-)
YES! I shouldn't be fighting the formations. It feels like I should be able to use the bumpers to switch ship order so I can swap fire type and secondary without popping into the formation bit that throws me off, especially in the later levels when you need to swap between lead ships in a moment to meet ring checks, but I can't find a way to swap ships more quickly than going for the formation and moving down.
I don't think you should have to unlock the command inputs. Having to learn them is enough, tracking when they're available seems like a notion too hard.
I agree the systems should be easier, and the enemies should be harder. I think the final run after the final boss is way too long. YES THE HAZARD DISTINCTION IS WAY TOO ROUGH.
Yeah the draw the formation idea looks good on paper but doesn't function that well
Based on your review and footage, I think I'll stick to playing Terra Cresta. I still think it holds up but then shooters started to lose me when bullet hell became a thing. Would be interesting to know what the input lag on this is like on the Switch though.
I didn't formally test it on switch for the review (since it's basically a given it will be laggier then on the other consoles and it's a new game) but I would guess at about 5 frames.
It sure is as divisive as Star Fox Zero. Even more so, I think? Regarding the price… well, I’m the guy that gets put off by a 80$ 20 hours+ reading-only game yet I’m happy with the thin Star Fox Zero. What can I say?
Agreed! i actually have done a 100% full medal completion of star fox zero ha. I love the game, the only issue with it are those hellish helicopter levels.
I've been on the fence on this game. I was thinking about getting it but some of the gameplay and pixel flicker doesn't look appealing. Some of the mechanics doesn't look fun. I'll wait until the price is greatly reduced. Hopefully the developers take these genuine reviews and improve future games. I love shootemups but I want to have fun and not be overly frustrated and disappointed.
Yeah maybe it would be best to hang tight and wait for a sale then :-)
Can you say anything about performance? Do you have to play the game on PS4/Steam or is the switch version also acceptable?
I can only comment on the switch version and funny enough the game does run at 60 fps all the time (i have an fps monitor) but it does act strangely at times and I don't know if it's supposed to be simulating slowdown or something, it's actually really hard to tell what is going on with this game under the hood.
Are you planning to review it again but on PS4? I’m not sure which version to get as this game cost $50 for a LRG release. I know the Switch version has some issues but it’s like the best system for Shmup
No I can t afford to buy all the versions ha, PS4 is probably better then switch though performance wise
@@TheElectricUnderground it is expensive! Most other Shmup were like $30-34 and I got most of them for the Switch. Cotton Reboot, Ikaruga, Razion Ex etc Platinum made awesome games like Nier to Bayonetta to Astral Chain. Not sure why their Sol Cresta has issues.
Thanks for the review, I own the original arcade pcbs by Nichibutsu (yea, you forgot to mention the legacy of the original series) and Ill definitely pass on this game
Oh very interesting! I try not to focus too much on the og releases of games when they are rebooted years later ha, but that would be an interesting comparison for sure.
Yea I’m a big Nichibutsu fan (I’m an OG shmupper) so this definitely caught my attention. First and foremost Terra Cresta 2 on the pc engine is a masterpiece (unique port to the pc engine), the original is great as well, but you can’t forget the other Nichibutsu amazing shumps, such as Legion and F formation.
It’s really pathetic that this low budget, $40 shmup decides to charge $10 for the story mode.
yeah def skip the dlc, they should have included it in the base price.
I'm disappointed by this game, primarily because they are charging so much for it. It should be no more than $20 honestly, but it's $53.19. For that price I expect a lot more polish. The graphics look very rough and messy to me - I really don't like the jaggedness showing on the edges of everything. Like you said, the graphics are done poorly and everything looks flat and not enough depth of field so it's often hard to tell whether something is on the ground that you can fly over or something at your level that you can crash into. Lastly, I'm not a fan of games where they design the levels to force you to use certain formations -- just because the designers want to guarantee players actually use every different formation they designed into the ship. It should be up to the player. If a player wants to play and beat the entire game using one formation, that should be a valid! Always give players the absolute freedom to play any way they want to play!
Yeah the visuals are very odd, I'm genuinely unsure what they were trying to achieve looks wise. I can see why the game is $40, as it does have a ton of content and all, but yeah the $10 dlc is a over the top and I'd say just avoid it. They should have just had it be part of the game.
I´ve been playing shmups since the old days (1980 up until today), but I do not care about obtaining the highest score... I play for fun, so if a shmup is very good, but short is a let down... Incredible and longer games are best for me.
BUT ha ha I´m not that good.
Yeah I think that what sol cresta was going for with their level design and difficulty curve, so it will be interesting to see what you think of it and if that design choice works for newer players :-)
Think I’ll wait for a sale, but I still think this looks pretty dope.
No harm in doing that, it s not a must buy or anything
after playing the dramatic edition (kind gift from my brother for my b-day) on my switch (TATE MODE ofc) i d say it's a quite fun shmup and quite impressive for being platinum first effort on the genre...gfx are a bit on the ugly side though eheh
Agreed, the formation System is a let go... (in my Opinion) all you need to do (as a Dev) would be Trigger Bullet Time and then use the L & R keys to change formation... But it is, what it is... playing on Switch. And yes my Impression too... you fight the controls too much in this game. The Formation System is to wonky. (on switch) too unpresise... But still i like the Game. Now back to Elden Ring ;-)
Yeah, platinum just cannot get over the concept of drawing command inputs ha, they have it in wonderful 101 and metal gear revengence, and in both games the mechanic feels awkward.
Good or bad, it's way too expensive for a simple looking retro shmup. Plus that story dlc for a price of Cave games for Switch. 😣😝
Yeah that price point is going to be a tough pill to swallow, no doubt about it.
The physical was a soft pass for me/second guessing that
I don't think this is a must buy, so I wouldn't feel too motivated to pick up the physical version honestly. Maybe just hang tight and wait for discount sale on steam.
I joined PSN to buy and was surprised by the price!
Yeah it's a pricey one! I can sort of see why they have such a high price, but at the same time I don't think the dlc was needed and they really should have improved the graphical situation.
Not a fan of the nondescript, abstract graphics with a few neon lights sprinkled over. Better luck next time.
Ha yeah the graphics are odd, they don t annoy me too much but idk they need repair
First of all, I haven't played the game. But just from a purely visual impressions standpoint from my watching of trailers and release footage of people playing the game, the graphics look ugly and the art direction is rather terrible. It doesn't have the unique and distinct visual flair of something like Danmaku Unlimited 3, nor does it have the charming sprite quality of something like Zeroranger. And as you point out later in your video, it often does a terrible job separating the hazardous environments from plain background art.
Just to respond to your individual points:
1. I think the longer length is a way to appeal to more casual players who never or barely replay shmups. If a clear of Sol Cresta "only" took 30-40 minutes, casual players and a lot of professional reviewers would write off the game, especially with its questionably high price tag. That's just the sad state of gaming today. You can't have a tightly made 30-40 minute action game. Just look at the response to Steel Assault and how much people on Steam and elsewhere unfairly shat on it for "only" being 25 minutes long.
2. Fighting game motion inputs is a terrible idea for shmups. You're right in that it sounds really clunky to have to dodge tight bullet patterns while trying to pull off circles or quarter circle motions.
3. I had to pause multiple times during your footage of your escape sequence to see what it was that killed you. That's how badly this game differentiates between hazardous objects and just background art.
4. The thing I like the most about this game is what you mention about how the loops actually significantly change the game. That sounds like something to look forward to when they (hopefully) patch up the game to address those problems you mentioned.
You mentioned in this review a mechanical resemblance to Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101, which is no surprise, since both those games as well as Sol Cresta were directed by Hideki Kamiya.
Speaking of Kamiya, I find it sad that Hideki Kamiya, a man who grew up on shmups and has had shmups be a major influence on his action games, was unable to make a masterpiece shmup the way he makes masterpiece character action games (like Bayonetta or Wonderful 101 or Devil May Cry 1) or even masterpiece survival horror games (namely, Resident Evil 2).
... that shimmer tho.
it's brutal, honestly I don't get how it's so bad with the scrolling and the shimmer.
Lol, it wasn't just the press that hated on Star Fox Zero
Is local ranking the same for all difficulties? Are there scores obtained with "easy" difficulty and "hard" difficulty in the same ranking? I hope not
can we get a citation for the hideki kamiya quote? i can't seem to find it anywhere else
I like this game but the only problem I had with the game too much talking during the game with the characters on The Game I just want to go to arcade mode and play the game without all that talkin 🕹🎮😀😂👍🏽
Oh yeah don't play that mode, it s awful just stick with arcade
very cool!
INVINCIBLE BARREL ROLL?
Yes I thought of you ha and Schildmaid MX ha! It has an invul barrel roll when your down to one ship which I thought was a cool survival mechanic. It's meter based though so after a bit it stops working.
@@TheElectricUnderground Interesting!
A full commitment to one aspect is better than a varied mess. Still, a few distinctions tease something better. Those gears could click smoothly. The color schemes say it all though. 🤮