by The name Inti Creates will not be familiar to many, but this Japanese software house is closely linked to the name of Mega Man . It was founded in 1996 by some former Capcom developers, who continued to collaborate with the latter for many years, creating the saga of Mega Man Zero and Mega Man ZX .
The same developers also collaborated on the creation of Mega Man 9 and 10 , as well as that of Mighty No. 9 by Keiji Inafune . In 2014, however, Inti Creates gave life to its own saga, inspired by Mega Man and self-produced, called Azure Striker Gunvolt , in the realization of which the same Inafune participated, famous for having dealt with the character design of the first Mega Man , who in this case played the role of executive producer .
The title originally came out for 3DS, only to be published on all other consoles of the time. In 2016 the second chapter of the saga was released, again on 3DS, and the first two chapters were collected in a package that was also released on Switch, PS4, PC and Xbox One (which you can retrieve on Amazon ).
The Gunvolt series achieved some success, so much so as to generate several spin-offs, including the Mighty Gunvolt series , characterized by the cross-over with the characters of Mighty No. 9 and Gal Gun , and Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger IX , with protagonist Copen, playable character of the second chapter, which has seen two titles dedicated to him.
Now, after a long wait, it’s time to get your hands on Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 , recently released first on the Nintendo Switch and then on the Xbox family consoles, while it is expected on PC for next winter. Let’s find out if this third chapter is the worthy heir to the Mega Man saga .
Dragons and priestesses
The Azure Striker Gunvolt saga is very influenced by the anime style , in particular by the shonen genre (so much so that in 2017 a special anime dedicated to it was also produced) and this third chapter is no exception.
The game world sees the birth, among human beings, of the Adepts , special people with paranormal powers called Septima . The Sumeragi corporation tried to control the Adepts to dominate the world, but was stopped by Gunvolt, an adept who fought to free his fellowmen and be able to live in peace with normal humans. In the second game, however, Gunvolt, along with Copen, a human scientist who has a deep hatred towards all Adepts, had to stop a sect of special Adepts who wanted to wipe humans off the face of the planet.
The story of Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 is set many years after the end of the second chapter and Kirin, the new protagonist, will tell us what happened in this period of time . Already at the beginning, the young warrior priestess, belonging to a mysterious organization whose purpose is to preserve the world from supernatural threats, will have to face an imposing creature called the Primordial Dragon , sealed under one of the bases of the revived Sumeragi corporation. Once defeated, this creature will turn out to be Gunvolt, the protagonist of the previous titles.
Gunvolt has mysteriously lost control of his ” Blue Thunder ” power , transforming into a Primal Dragon. The young man remained sealed in this form for many years and only awakened thanks to the power of Kirin, which allows him to seal the powers of the other Adepts. Kirin and Gunvolt will therefore have to stop other crazed Adepts , who risk becoming dragons, this time collaborating with the Sumeragi corporation.
The story, although it does not want to be the focus of the title, is light and enjoyable , even if rather confusing, due to too many technical terms and events that sometimes follow one another too quickly. Having played the previous titles helps in part to understand the events and to grasp some references, but this will not be essential in order to appreciate the plot.
The characters in any case are well characterized , as regards both allies and enemies of the moment. We recommend listening to the optional dialogues between missions, both to gain some more information on the lore of the game and to learn more about the various protagonists.
Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 will take around 5 to 6 hours to finish the main story . The structure of the game is the same as that of the previous episodes, it will in fact be composed of a very linear progression where, in some points, it will be possible to freely select the order of the levels to be faced and – as in the old Mega Man – but without going to disrupt the progression of the plot.
Of course, also in this case, as per the tradition of the previous Gunvolt , there will be the presence of a True Ending , which can only be unlocked after having seen the normal ending.
The replayability of the title is however quite high due to the possibility of facing the game at different levels of difficulty in order to obtain a better evaluation. In fact, at the end of each level we will get, based on our feats, an evaluation ranging from D to S ++ and to be able to get the maximum score we will have to work very hard, trying and trying the various levels again.
The Prestige system , which will allow us to improve our score in each level, has changed compared to previous titles, where it was enough to be hit from one to three times to lose the progression of Prestige points; in this title we will not lose them, but we will suffer a temporary stop to the increase in points, which will only be unlocked when we accumulate a certain amount of Prestige points. In short, in order to have the highest score, the fact that we will not have to be hit will not change anyway.
Our test took place on Nintendo Switch and, compared to the two previous chapters, originally developed for 3DS, there is an improvement in pixel art , here much more colorful and detailed and, above all, without that grainy effect present in the two. previous titles.
The animations in two dimensions are very well done and also the backgrounds are made with care and with a good variety depending on the level faced. Even the soundtrack is distinguished by maintaining the tradition of ” anime songs ” inserted in the middle of the fighting, undoubtedly of good quality for those who appreciate this style.
Thrilling gameplay
The gameplay refers to the tradition of the previous chapters, but in Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 there is no shortage of important news. Basically we will always check the new protagonist Kirin, with a unique fighting style that is completely different from that seen in the past with Gunvolt first and Copen then in the second chapter (which you can find on Amazon together with the first chapter).
Kirin fights using talismans that he will throw at the enemy to hook him: once this is done, just press a button for the warrior priestess to teleport on the opponent and hit him with her sword. Kirin will be able to use different sword techniques even without having hooked the targets with the talismans, in fact he will learn new moves after passing each new level.
The fulcrum of Kirin’s gameplay in practice is to hit the various enemies with the talismans and sweep them away with a sword while always remaining in the air during the process. Prestige points earned will skyrocket if you don’t touch the ground between one elimination and the next. All this leads to gameplay that is easy to understand, but difficult to master ; but when you start to get carried away, the fun will be guaranteed thanks to the fast actions and spectacular combos that you will be able to come up with.
There will also be the classic special moves , usable when we have the bar loaded and able to wipe out anything on the screen, and a simple progression system .
In fact, Kirin will level up by defeating the various enemies, which will allow her to increase the HP and to obtain new slots to equip the Image Impulses . These are characters from the entire Gunvolt saga who will materialize as special summons.
There are two types of Image Impulses: the active ones, which we can activate in game to summon a character able to help us both by attacking enemies and healing us or giving us other type of support, and the passives , which instead will provide us with some bonuses to the characteristics, such as for example, an increase in the HP recovered or a greater ease in obtaining Prestige points.
Among the latter, for example, there is the Prevasion of Gunvolt which, applicable to Kirin, will consume talismans to prevent them from taking damage.
The image impulses system is a step forward compared to that of the materials and the creation of the two previous titles. In the past, in fact, it was necessary to repeat the levels by farming certain types of materials, which could not always be obtained since it depended a lot on the RNG factor, to then build equipment and special skills.
The Image Impulses, on the other hand, simplify these processes , even if they maintain a certain RNG factor that is somewhat reminiscent of gacha games . Don’t worry though, since you won’t have to spend a penny to get the various characters, but if you want to collect them all, just repeat the levels; The good thing is that many obtainable characters are shared between the different levels and increasing the level of difficulty also increases the possibility of finding the rarest ones.
Obviously, the hunt for the Image Impulses will be useful mainly for those who want to collect and see the effects of each of the characters found, but the game ends quietly even without giving too much weight . Instead, they can be very useful if you aim to get the maximum rating in each level, especially by equipping those that can give us unique effects.
The return of Gunvolt
In addition to Kirin, obviously we can also use Gunvolt , since he has always been the protagonist of the game, but this time its use will take place in a different way than in the past. In Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 there will not be two separate campaigns as in the second episode, which allowed us to play as Gunvolt or Copen.
Here we will be able to alternate between Kirin and Gunvolt in the middle of each level. Gunvolt, however, will be a sort of superpower , usable sparingly through the use of the Iron Bar placed under the protagonist’s VPs. When this bar reaches at least 100% we will be able to summon Gunvolt in the field.
Gunvolt has no health, but while using it we will see the Iron Bar decrease and when this reaches zero we will return to using Kirin. Care must be taken, as taking damage while using Gunvolt will greatly decrease the gauge. On the other hand , our hero will be endowed with rather exaggerated powers compared to his old versions , even with some new attacks in addition.
Basically, the possibility of marking enemies up to three times with bullets is back, and then attacking them with the automated electric sphere, but in addition to this Gunvolt will enjoy the possibility of jumping to infinity and will be able to mark enemies as Copen did in the second chapter , and then attack them with some new pursuit attacks, including one that instantly kills normal enemies and is capable of causing massive damage to bosses as well.
Finally, the character is equipped with his three different special moves , which will inflict massive damage on anyone, even if using them will reset the Iron Gauge.
Thanks to these additions we have noticed how much the title is much simpler than its predecessors : in fact, it will be enough to use Gunvolt against a boss to wipe it out rather easily, even if often Kirin alone will be enough to eliminate them without too much effort.
It is not over here, however, because in case Kirin dies, just as it happened in previous episodes, you can randomly activate the Hymn of Lumen , which in this case will allow us to use Gunvolt in the Berserk state , which is even more powerful than the normal one. and it is practically invincible (if it is activated, in fact, you will not receive any rating once the level is completed, because otherwise it would be too easy to get a rating of S).
We struggled a little only against the final bosses, but a lot less than in previous titles , so much so that we died a couple of times throughout the game on a normal level, just from damage from falls. Things obviously change by increasing the difficulty and, above all, if you play trying to get the maximum score.
One of the main points of the game’s gameplay are its boss battles . These clashes are a legacy of the old Mega Man , which Inti Creates has managed to make even more spectacular and exciting here. Azure Striker Gunvolt 3 , in fact, has probably the best boss battles of the saga : each clash is very varied and organized in different phases that require different approaches to the battle, especially in the last ones, where our enemies will unleash their full powers in the form of attacks. specials presented by a short animation.
Each enemy has its weaknesses and it will be up to us to discover them in order to be able to win as effectively as possible. In these clashes the action gameplay of the title shines and fortunately there will be many throughout the game, sometimes even more than one per level.
Speaking of levels, even the level design is confirmed to be very well done . Each of the levels present will have specific mechanics, including lanterns that if hit will throw us up or traps to avoid using self-propelled platforms. The variety, in short, is remarkable and we, for example, loved a level that sees us above the moving missiles, of which, however, we do not tell you more so as not to reveal further surprises.
