Review just before the release of "Sol Cresta". The union is romance! A masterpiece recommended for those who are not good at shooting [There is a play video]

(Photo: Famitsu.com)

Text / Interview: Dedeo PlatinumGames will release a vertically scrolling shooter "Sol Cresta" on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC (Steam) on February 22, 2022. I had the opportunity to play the full version as soon as possible, so I will report on that pattern. I've played various titles in shooting games for almost 40 years, both vertically and horizontally, so I think I'm quite proficient. I would like to write my impressions without sontaku. See [Article images (34)] "Sol Cresta" arcade Mikado x PlatinumGames special live broadcast report. I had the illusion that it was originally an arcade game! https://www.famitsu.com/news/202202/15251405.html Commitment unique to "Neo-Classic Arcade" that can be felt everywhere "Sol Cresta" is a vertically scrolling type shooting game, but "Neo-Classic" -It is called the first arcade, and it is the title that will be the final chapter of "Cresta Saga" that follows the flow of "Moon Cresta" and "Terra Cresta" (*). It's a spectacular selling phrase, and it doesn't seem to be just a sequel or a reboot ... I took a deep breath and calmed down before launching the software so that I wouldn't expect too much. * Arcade games released by Nihon Bussan (Nichibutsu) in 1980 and 1985, respectively. What caught my eye on the title screen was "INSERT COIN (S)" in the center of the screen and "CREDIT 00" in the lower right. Since there are free test stands at game centers in Tokyo and Osaka, I think that some people have tried it in the case, but even though it is the latest home-use game, it has a strong "porting feeling from the arcade", and the game center There is no sense of discomfort even if it is placed in. First check from the main menu. Before playing the main "MISSION", let's take a look at the "SPECIAL" and "OPTION" items. SPECIAL "ACHIEVEMENTS" was confirmed in this item. It is an item where you can browse so-called achievements, and as you play more and more, "SOUND TEST" and "CARAVAN MODE" will be added. Some of them seem to have a track record of being released when they meet certain conditions and clear the stage. The items that can be set in the OPTION option menu are as follows. Display settings Game settings Button settings Manual Initialize all settings Language settings In the display settings, we were able to confirm the function to rotate the display orientation 90 degrees to the left and right. In addition, the scan line (*) can be turned ON / OFF and the scan line density can be set. Here, too, you can feel the "porting feeling of an arcade game in the CRT era" ... What a commitment! * Effect that imitates the scanning line of a cathode ray tube. Check the initial number of players, extend settings, and sound volume in the game settings. For those who want to play loosely, it would be ant to increase the initial number of players to a maximum of 6. In the sound volume item, the master volume, BGM volume, SE volume, and voice volume could be set individually. The manual has three pages of instruction card (*) -style game explanations. There are many small elements in this work, but you can see it by looking at this. * Instructions affixed to the housing in arcade games. The language can be set to either Japanese or English. When set to English, the options in the option menu and the subtitles in the dramatic mode will be in English, but the audio will remain in Japanese. After reading through the manual, I finally selected "MISSION". There are "ARCADE MODE" and "DRAMATIC MODE" options, the former is a mode where you can enjoy the shooting game part purely, and the latter is recorded in "Sol Cresta Dramatic DLC" or "Sol Cresta Dramatic Edition". This time I tried "Sol Cresta Dramatic Edition", so I played both arcade mode and dramatic mode. The difficulty level can be selected as follows, but NORMAL is selected for both. Arcade mode difficulty VERY EASYEASYNORMALHARD (not selectable at first)? ?? ?? (Not selectable at first) Dramatic mode difficulty EASYNORMAL Separation / union is more fun than anything else! My own machine is the Ichigo machine "Amaterasu". It started with a scene where the base was destroyed by an enemy and escaped with just one aircraft. First of all, enemy planes appeared one after another just as a small check. These are the split aircraft that appeared in the early stages of "Moon Cresta" and grinned without feeling nostalgic. When you shoot down an enemy aircraft, a "Sol medal" will appear, and by collecting this, your aircraft will power up and the maximum value of the "SP gauge" (described later) will increase. Also, among the enemy planes in formation, when the red plane was shot down, the item "Sol Emblem" came out. By taking this, it seems that the second machine "Tsukuyomi" and the participation machine "Susanoo" will come to help. Sol medals and sol emblems will fall to the bottom of the screen after they appear, but you can get them by sucking them just by approaching them. I would like to highly appreciate this kind of making that makes you play comfortably while being sober. Another important item is the "formation chip", which changes the color of the chip each time it hits and jumps up. It's hard to understand if you write it in sentences, but I want you to think of it as a bell in "Twinbee". There are 6 types of formations (9 types in total including only 2), all of which are powerful. There are no red triangle formation (???) chips, and you can get them automatically by arranging 5 other formation chips. You can get it as you like, but I decided to give priority to the inverted triangle (delta formation) and side-by-side (moon formation) that seem to be easy to use, and to choose the formation that does not take the rest. It's easy to get angry when adjusting the color of chips while fighting enemies, but that's also fun. As I was getting used to the basic operations, the number of enemy ground objects increased. The "X" -shaped ground object is familiar in "Terra Cresta" ... (and if you insist too much nostalgia, young readers will be drawn to you, so I will refrain from doing so after that). Once again, this X-shaped ground object seems to be made of a material that cannot be destroyed by the bullets of the Ichigo machine. So, when I tried to rearrange the formation so that the swordsman was at the top, I succeeded in destroying the enemy with the drill of the swordsman. I think this separation / combination operation is the key to this work. Since the buttons used for separation and coalescence are common, the operation is very simple, and slow motion is applied during separation, so you can calmly change the order. At first, I was operating while checking with Motamota, but once I got used to it, I was able to form the formation I wanted, and the fun doubled. There is no particular demerit in the slow motion of separation, and it can be seen that the adjustment was made with an emphasis on comfort as it is also used when avoiding enemy bullets. Formation attack that is effective both on the road and in boss battles As you proceed while trying various formations, a middle boss of stage 1 appears with a warning effect. It seemed like I could win even if I fought normally, but since I came down to the bottom of the screen, I shot one of the formation attacks "Beam Formation" diagonally downward and responded, and I was able to defeat it easily. The SP gauge on the left side of the screen (up to 3 circular gauges) is consumed to launch a formation attack, but it increases each time you attack an enemy, so don't hesitate to use it steadily. Above all, the feeling of exhilaration is incomplete! Along the way, I tried various formation attacks. I felt that the "Moon Formation", which is strong up and down, was easy to use, but since the enemies on the left and right edges of the screen were not hit, it seems important to use them properly when it comes to full-scale capture. A warning is produced again, and a huge battleship operated by the enemy "Burihas" appears. While being overwhelmed by the force, he was fighting back, and a fair amount of enemy bullets were scattered. If you read only here, it may be misunderstood that "it seems difficult even though it is the first stage ...", but this work has various countermeasures. You can avoid it by using slow motion at the time of separation, but since it is a big deal, I decided to use a special formation attack. The boss of stage 1 was successfully defeated, but this is not the stage clear, and the enemy facility "Vaikun" is at the end. Although Vikun shoots some bullets, it is almost non-resistive compared to bosses such as Shkler and Brihas. Destroy without difficulty and clear stage 1. Power-ups are reset for each stage! He can enjoy the fun of raising every time, and when he gets used to the system, he enters stage 2. In stage 1, you could power up until you got all the formation attacks, but those power-ups are reset at the start of the stage (instead, they don't power down when shot down). Is this system in consideration of "mannerization while fully powered up" and "despair when powered down" in general shooting games? I think some people like to make a revival pattern when they make a mistake, so it seems that their opinions are divided, but at least I like the process of gradually strengthening my own machine, so I think it's an ant. In stage 2, hard enemies and indestructible terrain came out, and I gradually felt a response. In addition to formation attacks, I also tried using "command shots" that are created by combining levers and buttons, and "charge shots" that are created by pressing and holding the button. It is interesting that the charge shot changes depending on the "second docked aircraft". For example, if you want to fight mainly on the main shot of the Ichigo machine, the order of the Ichigo machine, the second machine, and the second machine is almost the same, but the order of the first machine, the second machine, and the second machine is almost the same (*). If you say "there are many enemies and you can't afford to aim", you want to combine the second aircraft in advance. * Strictly speaking, there is a difference because the shot of the third aircraft is fired like a sub-weapon. Characteristic of charge shot Ichigo machine is the second → shoots a strong extra-thick laser "mega laser" forward. The second aircraft is the second → It produces a "full burst" that simultaneously launches a large number of homing missiles. The entry machine is the second → Issue a "Gigadrill" that can erase enemy bullets in front of your own machine. The charge shot consumes the SP gauge like the formation attack, but it is easy to use because it can be used together with the main shot. By the way, the formation attack consumes a whole circular SP gauge, while the charge shot uses only one third of the SP gauge. It's hard to decide which one to use, but it's also the real pleasure of this work that there are too many choices to get lost. As you progress through Stage 2 while making heavy use of charge shots, a medium boss "M-Alpha" that is about the same size as your own will appear. I was able to defeat it while struggling with a variety of attacks such as laser and ramming, but it is a fairly meaningful enemy, so if you are concerned about the world setting and story, I recommend playing in dramatic mode. In the second half of stage 2, you will carefully pass through the terrain of moving walls while stopping things like electromagnetic barriers. Scrolling was a little early and I was nervous, but I made use of the slow motion at the time of separation. When I went out to a wide terrain, an unidentified aircraft wearing a stealth camouflage appeared and supported me. I will refrain from detailing it in consideration of spoilers, but one of the charms of this work is the story composition where the mysterious production is gradually revealed. And the stage 2 boss "Rafu" appears from the back of the screen. I was forced to struggle to move around the screen with a large figure, but by the time I came here, I had a lot of formations and SP gauges, so I managed to defeat it by making full use of the formation attack. After clearing it, it's real !? The score attack is hot. Let's touch on the elements that he hasn't written so far. Red, blue, and yellow supply containers containing sol emblems and formation chips may appear, but these can be destroyed by the main shot of the same color aircraft or formation attacks. It seems interesting to create a formation pattern to collect items efficiently. Also related to color, the red, blue, and yellow "sollings" are scoring gimmicks. If you ignore the color and dive into the ring, you will get only a low score, but if you dive into the ring with the aircraft of the same color as the ring (Ichigo machine if it is a red sol ring) at the top, you can get a high score. Since many sollings are placed in each stage, the score attack force is definitely a factor that cannot be ignored. Various other gimmicks are hidden in this work, and you can get a special bonus if you meet certain conditions. Once you get to know the system, it's fun to look for hidden bonuses. First of all, you can play with the aim of clearing all stages, but I felt that the earning play was quite hot, so I would like everyone to participate in the caravan mode and score attack. Finally, we prepared a stage 3 play video. It's my poor play, but I hope it helps. * The video includes some spoilers. Recommended for those who are not good at shooting games! Originally, the author who likes shooting games enjoys this work more than enough, but in fact, he gave up on shooting games, saying "It's a PlatinumGames game, isn't it difficult?" Recommended for those who are not familiar with it. Because, thanks to the steadily extending the remaining machines, I was able to reach the boss of stage 7 in the first look play (*). Although there is a response in the latter half of the stage, I think it is a mild balance overall. However, it is not unsatisfactory, and as mentioned above, the score attack is hot, and the difficulty level is higher than HARD, so those who are familiar with it can rest assured. * Play with normal difficulty. If you lower the difficulty level, the shield will automatically recover (*), and if you increase the number of remaining aircraft in the settings, you can probably reach the ending. If you play in dramatic mode, you can enjoy it as if you were watching an animated movie, so please enjoy it. * Applies to EASY and VERY EASY in arcade mode and EASY in dramatic mode.