Ginga Force and Natsuki Chronicles heading for Steam & PS4

[postman]

Just picked up the combo pack on sale for PS4. Overall I like them both but they have some flaws.

Ginga: The progression is horrible. I'm on hard mode, and even my strongest weapons hardly do any damage. They should have tested balance and weapon unlocks before final release. Also the last boss is nuts! (but possible) Easy mode was fun but once you go higher than that, it gets frustrating.

Natsuki: I like this better of the two, you can see the Gradius and Thunderforce influence. The leveling up is fun, and earning extra shield ticks really really helps on the hardest mode. It does get very grindy at the end, again they should have balanced weapon costs better.

[SPM]

unbalanced / grindy

^Don't they have some sort of score attack/arcade mode to bypass those shortcomings?

(Genuine question, I haven't played them yet)

[pulsemod]

honestly, I'm not sure why hard mode is unlocked from the start. anything higher than normal is pretty much unplayable without upgrades, and even starting on normal without upgrades is kinda not a good spot.

natsuki score mode is pretty good since upgrades are picked up as power ups, haven't tried ginga arcade mode yet.

[Jeneki]

^Don't they have some sort of score attack/arcade mode to bypass those shortcomings?

In Ginga at least, you have to play the regular grind mode before score attack unlocks for that level.

[Steven]

I gave up on Ginga Force's hard mode. Easy was fine and normal is fine once you finish easy, but hard is just too much.

Natsuki is okay, but it gets really hard on the higher difficulties. Too hard for me, anyway. I'm much better now than I was then, so I should probably revisit both games, but...

[Augemitbutter]

I'm bouncing between easy and normal to get some $$$ first (GF). Low dmg runs just drag. But at least you can enjoy the OST in them!

[postman]

Just realizing the 1ups stack in Ginga, so much like Natsuki just keep playing a stage and you will get more lives/shield. For those having trouble in higher difficulties, just keep grinding and eventually you can just force your way through a level with just a little amount of skill. Gives me a little more incentive to try and finish every level on hard mode now, I just know that final boss will take the max of 30 lives.

[cfx]

I assume Bear78 ordered the two standard editions, which is what I ordered.

Their lack of updates bothers me even more than the delays. That progress page wasn't updated between November 30, 2022 and March 2, 2023. They sent out that email I wrote about above stating they were expecting Ginga Force from Sony, but there has been nothing since even on social media. When they received Natsuki Chronicles they posted a picture and short video, and also sent me that picture in an email.

Yeah, standard editions for me.

I agree on the lack of updates. I did get an email from them announcing Ginga Force was now available outside of my order shipping emails. I don't think I've seen anything on their social media accounts about it though.

My order hasn't actually left the warehouse yet, just got a tracking number with no movement so far.

Has your package had any tracking updates yet? I got a tracking number for mine finally yesterday, and was just wondering what to expect from now on.

Is your tracking number from the Netherlands (ends in NL?); I got that, but I also get that for another shop that I order from in Germany.

[consoleretro]

Same here, saw notifications 2 weeks ago saying now in stock and orders were starting to ship but heard nothing. Glad it's not just me!

Switch will be a retro console when Crimson Clover arrives.

[Bear78]

I assume Bear78 ordered the two standard editions, which is what I ordered.

Their lack of updates bothers me even more than the delays. That progress page wasn't updated between November 30, 2022 and March 2, 2023. They sent out that email I wrote about above stating they were expecting Ginga Force from Sony, but there has been nothing since even on social media. When they received Natsuki Chronicles they posted a picture and short video, and also sent me that picture in an email.

Yeah, standard editions for me.

I agree on the lack of updates. I did get an email from them announcing Ginga Force was now available outside of my order shipping emails. I don't think I've seen anything on their social media accounts about it though.

My order hasn't actually left the warehouse yet, just got a tracking number with no movement so far.

Has your package had any tracking updates yet? I got a tracking number for mine finally yesterday, and was just wondering what to expect from now on.

Is your tracking number from the Netherlands (ends in NL?); I got that, but I also get that for another shop that I order from in Germany.

Nope, no movement yet. Still just sitting in their warehouse I guess. Yes, mine is also from the Netherlands.

[cfx]

Ugh.

Yours has been sitting over two weeks from what I recall; they must be waiting until they've packed all or a certain number of orders to ship anything.

They've been posting on twitter trying to get more orders; maybe they should hold off on that until they ship what they've already got.

I guess I'm glad they don't actually publish anything else that I want because overall this has been a really frustrating experience. I'll be happy with the games when I finally get them, but the road to get there has certainly not been pleasant.

I wonder how many orders they actually have for these? Obviously less than 2750 since neither game is sold out, and considering Natsuki Chronicles has been in stock for nearly a year now and still isn't sold out, probably a lot less than that number.

[Kollision]

I inquired them about my shipment on March 28th but only got a politely vague response to be patient and wait.
Since then just radio silence.

[CStarFlare]

Got an email from ShippyPro with tracking info. We shall see.

[Bear78]

Mine finally started moving over night so check your email / tracking info.

[cfx]

Mine finally started moving over night so check your email / tracking info.

Great.

Nothing yet on mine but I only got the tracking number a few days ago so not surprised.

[Nugs]

Just realizing the 1ups stack in Ginga, so much like Natsuki just keep playing a stage and you will get more lives/shield. For those having trouble in higher difficulties, just keep grinding and eventually you can just force your way through a level with just a little amount of skill. Gives me a little more incentive to try and finish every level on hard mode now, I just know that final boss will take the max of 30 lives.

If you just want to finish it, after 30 hours of playtime you can buy God mode which makes you invincible.

[cfx]

Mine finally started moving over night so check your email / tracking info.

Finally an update for me. I had "parcel created" on Apirl 4, and now finally "accptance" by PostNL.

So about two weeks' wait before the postal service actually got it. At least it's finally on its way.

[Bear78]

They're real.

[cfx]

Awesome.

Mine have had some further movement, currently at a sorting center.

They sent you the gold coins too? Maybe that is a consolation prize for the long wait. As I understand it from the pages for the games on their website, we were only supposed to get the silver coins with the regular editions, and the gold coins would come with the collectors editions.

Not that I care at all about the coins--I wish there had been a regular version with no coins, no outer cases, and 5 Euros less expensive.

[Steven]

"There's only one thing as exciting as our ten hit video games"

Yeah, actually getting them in the mail after waiting for three years.

[jehu]

Anyone else still not get a shipping notification? I'm tempted to pester them again.

[cfx]

"There's only one thing as exciting as our ten hit video games"

Yeah, actually getting them in the mail after waiting for three years.

That was the first thought I had when I saw that too!

[Bear78]

Awesome.

Mine have had some further movement, currently at a sorting center.

They sent you the gold coins too? Maybe that is a consolation prize for the long wait. As I understand it from the pages for the games on their website, we were only supposed to get the silver coins with the regular editions, and the gold coins would come with the collectors editions.

Not that I care at all about the coins--I wish there had been a regular version with no coins, no outer cases, and 5 Euros less expensive.

They are actually bronze coins for "early pre-order". I think if you pre-ordered in like the first week or something you got them.

It was right at a month from first shipping email to getting to my doorstep.

The packaging and all that is very nice but yeah, I don't really need all that either lol

[cfx]

Awesome.

Mine have had some further movement, currently at a sorting center.

They sent you the gold coins too? Maybe that is a consolation prize for the long wait. As I understand it from the pages for the games on their website, we were only supposed to get the silver coins with the regular editions, and the gold coins would come with the collectors editions.

Not that I care at all about the coins--I wish there had been a regular version with no coins, no outer cases, and 5 Euros less expensive.

They are actually bronze coins for "early pre-order". I think if you pre-ordered in like the first week or something you got them.

Ah that explains it. I'm sure my order wasn't that early so I probably never even saw that offer. My order date was 2/6/2021; I don't even remember how I found out they were being released, so I may also not have known about it until some time afterwards.

It was right at a month from first shipping email to getting to my doorstep.

The packaging and all that is very nice but yeah, I don't really need all that either lol

How long it takes for me for shipments from Germany mostly depends on how long they sit around in Chicago; I've had packages sit there for a month, though that was probably about a year ago so I don't know if it's still as bad now. Right now it's at a sort center in the Netherlands. For it to match your one month time it will have to get here in two weeks; that is possible depending on Chicago.

OT: I don't guess there will ever be a physical release for Eschatos, after all this time.

[Kollision]

Anyone else still not get a shipping notification? I'm tempted to pester them again.

my shipping notification was emailed on Apr 14th, but the package is still not moving

[consoleretro]

Anyone else still not get a shipping notification? I'm tempted to pester them again.

Not yet, but didn't order until Dec 2022. Still don't get why its taking so long to get them shipped, it's crazy.

[cfx]

My two games arrived today, so just under a month from when they first sent me the tracking number, to the US. And as usual for me it sat in Chicago for about a week of that time. I also got the four coins as well. The numbering on the copper ones is xxx/925, so probably the first 925 orders got them.

Hopefully the rest of you waiting get yours soon.

[waiwainl]

They're real.

Is this the collectors edition? I don’t have a shipment notification

[cfx]

Collectors Editions aren't yet available; FPG's release progress page still says Q2 2023 for those.

The image is standard editions, which is the only thing any of us have received.

[Steven]

Tomorrow is the last day of Q3 2023. No way it's shipping. Perhaps it is a mistake and they meant to type Q3 2026 instead.

I might actually replay these games soon. I found Ginga Force to be fairly difficult, but I've (probably) gotten significantly better since then. I wonder if I will enjoy either as much as or less than I did at the time. Still need to check out Natsuki's arcade mode.