Azure Striker Gunvolt

[Bean]

This one kind of came out of nowhere. Basically, Inti Creates has decided if they can't make Mega Man, they will make a Mega Man expy of their own. The debut trailer gives off heavy Mega Man Zero and ZX vibes to me. Moreover, this game will actually be coming out prior to Mighty No. 9 for people that own a 3DS. It's just a digital game, though, but it looks kinda neat.

[ano0maly]

That looks kind of cool.

The screen looks more zoomed in than a usual Megaman game.

[Leet]

i hope they make a pc version

[swirlybomb]

AW YEAH

Megaman Zero 4 was my jam when it came out and I anticipate something equally as radical!

[Bean]

Azure (Blue) Striker (Bomber... sort of). I think a certain someone is sort of taunting his former company at this point!

[Dizzybelle]

Oh man, this looks promising.
Fingers crossed for an international release~

[ztarwuff]

So Keiji inafune is creating a Mega Man game and a Mega Man Zero (or possibly ZX) game but without using the Mega Man name?

What's next Mega Man Legends without Megaman?

[skyluigi2]

Hmm, this looks pretty interesting! Looking forward to giving this a go... whenever it's released.

[Bean]

And it will be released August 29th for North Americans. $15, which is what I pretty much figured it would be. I'm ready to take on those seven deadly sinners of the Sumeragi and their boss.

[RaindropDry]

I really wanted to play this game, but unfortunately I don't have a 3DS. From what I've seen, this game is really fast paced: Reminds me of the Mega Man Zero and ZX games.

Two days ago, PAX had a live interview with Keiji Inafune and it looks like the people who backed the "Mighty No.9" kickstarter will also be getting this game, which is pretty cool.

[Bean]

It is very cool, and it has enough differences from the Zero and ZX series to warrant a go.

Gunvolt's mostly about tagging enemies with your gun and then lighting them up with your electrical shield. You have a limit to how much juice you can expend before you have to recharge manually (double tap down) or automatically. You also get new equipment that lets you tag more enemies or things like that. There's also a synth shop, but while I like what you can create from the items you get, it takes a good while to build up enough items to get what you want.

During stages, you can collect items that are basically cards that give you more picks to take an item at the end. All fifteen slots are hidden behind question marks, and you use your cards to see what you can earn. Problem is that unless you get the highest rank, I believe you only are allowed to take one of them. Yikes.

That's basically my main gripe here. The rest of the game to this point makes good use of Gunvolt's shield powers as he goes through his own Mega Man Zero-like adventure. I've had to use his shield as a magnet to cling to ceilings or bring out platforms to climb on and use it to dissipate a painful swarm of wildlife that comes in intervals in another. Boss fights are hectic and have three phases, and they just are fun to go through.

Game looks great, game plays great. I need to keep going with this, but if this was "Mega Man Gunvolt", it's looking like it might be more fun than all four Zero and both ZX games to me. Still, I need to keep playing before I back a statement like that, but it's a huge surprise as I was just expecting the usual flawed style of game the first entries in Mega Man games (outside of X) are.

[cheez8]

During stages, you can collect items that are basically cards that give you more picks to take an item at the end. All fifteen slots are hidden behind question marks, and you use your cards to see what you can earn. Problem is that unless you get the highest rank, I believe you only are allowed to take one of them. Yikes.

...Huh? Really? That doesn't sound right. It seemed to me that you'd receive every item you uncover, especially since I could leave that screen once I'm done by pressing A over a "still locked" square. I thought more reveals meant you get more things to keep.

Then again, I have never at all paid attention to the materials I gathered in this game, so I could have just glazed over that the entire time... not that I crafted much anyway. Pretty much just got an Air Hop ring and stopped there, only checking back to see if I could upgrade it every so often.

I have to say, this is probably one of Inafune's most interesting and engaging "first in a series" games that I've played, and it's really fun. Hard, too, and it handles the difficulty very well- you get a crapton of leeway, and on your first playthrough, you will make use of every single bit of it. Heck, there's even a chance to revive in a super-powered state after dying if you take certain actions, and I still managed to nearly die again in that state in one of the main stages. But that's part of why the challenge is awesome. It's kept from being frustrating while I'm getting used to it, and as I play more it just feels good to notice I'm relying on the game's generosity less and less.

Plus, the writing is top-notch, especially when Merak is involved. I'm already looking forward to any future games in the series.