Ginga Force (XBOX 360 - PlayStation 4 - PC)

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Sturmvogel Prime
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Ginga Force (XBOX 360 - PlayStation 4 - PC)

Post by Sturmvogel Prime »

As promised, here's Part II of my "Full Force" reviews, and this one comes precisely at full force, 'cos it's time to review another multi-console Shmup.
This time is no other than Ginga Force! Yeah, I think this might be a great review, so I hope you enjoy reading it.



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"Perfect System" should be a label for improved PlayStation ports rather than just Thunder Force V's moniker.

Before I start talking 'bout this, I want to give the thanks, big SPECIA-l thanks to xxx1993 and pestro87 for all their help. Without pestro87's vast knowledge of Seven Tier's lore, and xxx1993 giving me a quick rundown on Ginga Force's plot during my first gameplays of Natsuki Chronicles, this review would not be possible.



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Fly!, I know you'll make it! I'll attempt a belly landing.
Get out of here! Everybody is waiting for you!


I know Ginga Force was originally released on the XBOX 360, but only in Japan along with Eschatos, So, this review is based on the PlayStation 4 port which got a worldwide release, so no one can't miss all the Seven Tier-based fun.

At first, the gameplay of Ginga Force is very similar to Eschatos as a vertical scrolling shooter, there is some differences. At first it looks like any other vertical shmup, until you're facing a mini-objective in the style of Prehistoric Isle 2. Yeah, during your mission, there will be timed-objectives like destroying a missile, saving a space shuttle or slowing down a boss in time, also the boss fights are timed as well just like in Blazing Star, while failing to complete tasks like stopping missiles or saving a space shuttle don't compromise the mission, running out of time in the boss battles is the difference between win and lose the stage. In Stage 5 the game adds a "mini game" of saving Septonium carts by destroying the main wagon without destroying the ones carrying it, kinda like in Galaga Legions where destroying the "leader" kills the whole formation, and Stage 2 has this "Avoid Detection" activity that involves to avoid the circular searchlights like in Magna Centipede's stage from Megaman X2, but here's almost impossible to clear due to the enemies and the obvious bullet dodging.

The only problem that I have with this game is the depleting bars of your Main and Sub-Weapons. All of a sudden, they will begin to deplete rendering the main weapon useless. If you thought Turbo Force's constant power down was bad, then this is even worse. Well, there's a way to recover your weapons energy: Picking the cube icons dropped by the defeated enemies called "Power Chips". knowing this could be the difference between life and death. Dying in this game could be a hassle sometimes because the game uses the "1 Hit-You're dead" and 3 spare ships instead of a life bar, which would come in handy in bullet hells like this game, 'cos even on Easy, this game pulls a challenge 'cos Easy feels like if you're playing in Normal and Normal is like Hard, so Hard is the "INSANE" mode of the game.

After playing the game in Hard, I've found Megatron levels of villainy in this game, 'cos if you are able to clear the game on Easy and Normal without failing once, the Play/Clear rate in Hard will drop from 1/1 to an embarrasing 1/21 'cos Qute's concept of playing a game in Hard means pelt the player with Strikers 1945 III-grade bullet rains and give excessive amounts of health for the enemies. ¿Are you the Maverick of this game?, ¿Best of the Best of Ginga Force? Then get ready to see that Top Gun attitude of yours falling apart as you fail the missile objective in Stage 3, get massacrated in Stage 2 by failed searchlight evasions and dying again and again in Stage 5 before reaching the boss as the Septonium carts spam you with bullets, and don't even get me started with Stage 6 'cos that's another example of bullet hell gone wrong as the bullet patterns go out of control, making the "save the shuttle" objective almost impossible. All of these problems make the completion in Hard an exercise of 1up grinding and money grinding until you get the "Good enough" weapon and more than 12-14 lives to complete a stage. Average difficulty enthusiasts, avoid this difficulty.

Everytime you fail the mission, in the "CONFIRM" screen you'll get a hint to fight your way throughout the game, except for the final stage where it only gives you words to cheer you up to clear the game admitting it has nothing more to say.

Ginga Force hint:"Newly unlocked weapons often prove useful in the next chapter."
You: "Get new weaponry". Now I know.
Duke: And knowing is half the battle.
*G.I. Joe logo appears on screen* G.I. JOOOOOOOOOOOE!!


Enough laughs, let's proceed with the review.

UPDATE: Do you know you can avoid the negative mark when you fail a level?, Once you hit the Mission Failed/Hint screen, don't press X or Circle. Instead press the PS button on the controller, close the game, open it again and then retry the stage. The only inconvenient is the unskippable Rising Star Games/Qute Corporation start up screen.



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¿Are you sure she's one of the bad guys?
Garna looks more like the kind of girl that I'd invite her a frappe if she asks me.


Although the gameplay is very reminiscent of a classic arcade vertical shooter, the game is Story Mode-like. This means each stage has a story that unfolds while you're flying, and shows you who is going to be the next opponent. Another point in favor of this game is the non-interrupting in-game dialogues just like the radio conversations in Ace Combat 6 Fires of Liberation. Unlike Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced, Strike Witches: Hakugin no Tsubasa, Giga Wing and Cybernator, these conversations doesn't interrupt the gameplay when the characters talk, so we can keep shooting while the game goes all chatty, adding a submersive atmosphere to the game, and breaking with the monotony of "Go out there and shoot everything" which is quite common on shmups.
Another option included in the game is the liberty of selecting and replaying any levels you've cleared like in the first Megaman and the Megaman X series, if you're focused on filling the Story Mode with Rank S, then this game gives you that option. Replaying a mission is good since you can get more credits to buy upgrades on the Parts Shop.

There's also a Training Simulator which are actually side-missions called "Judgement Force Tiger" and "Judgment Force Dragon". In this mode you can select three different types of Enforcer configurations. Judgement Force Dragon feels like a clone of Galaga Legions as we have these Galaga-like formations at fast speeds combined with rapid firing, while Judgement Force Tiger is more of a tunnel descent after destroying a wave of enemies. Both are focused on destroying a wave of enemies within the time limit.



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*In Doom 3's UAC Video Disk Announcer voice*
"Always on the forefront of technology, the MSS is making safer worlds through superior firepower."


Like U.N. Squadron, Carrier Air Wing and recently on Natsuki Chronicles, Ginga Force is like the name one of The Alan Parsons Project songs: "Money Talks" as it features a Parts Shop where you can use the credits you've got on each stage to buy different weapons and even alternate colors for your FV-G27 Enforcer, increasing the initial weapon variety and allowing the player to make more strategical decisions for his/her next mission, along with some aesthetical changes to their ship as well. You can even unlock the main and sub-weapons of the FV-30MZ Arcam from Eschatos, and even giving you the option to play with a color scheme based on that ship.



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If you wish to safeguard the future of humanity,
you must make sure humans can never again gain access to Vambrace...


When it comes to decide between using cutscenes or unfolding the plot within a stage, Ginga Force uses both options. Most of the times is with dialogues during the stage like Silpheed: The Lost Planet, Otomedius Excellent, Raiden V or the Ace Combat games, and there's a few moments where you'll be watching a cutscene before starting the stage, adding a good amount of lore and making the game more enveloping as the plot unfolds with narration and solid voice acting, all of these without interrupting the game.

Like Thunder Force V: Perfect System and Thunder Force VI, this game features unlockable contents, but the name gallery is very deceiving since there's no artworks to unlock, only the opening, endings, staff roll and textless versions of the opening and staff roll. There's also a list of documents that explain some of Seven Tier lore like the reports from Thunder Force VI and Character Profiles that reminds me of those "Clip and Save" character cards from G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and The Transformers (called Tech Specs). To be honest, the Gallery disappointed me and makes me feel glad that Natsuki Chronicles didn't had one.

After finishing the game in I've could say I feel robbed due to the gallery's lack of content, but looking at other trash shmups that I've played (Project Starship for instance), I think Qute bothered to reward the player with a little something.

There's a second game mode called Score Attack which is basically the same as the Story Mode, but this time you are allowed to use one of the three different weapon configurations for the Enforcer like in the Training Simulator.


This game had a wrecked trip on its way on the PlayStation 4 and PC by Rising Star Games along with Natsuki Chronicles, From being announced in February as an August 28th release just to be delayed as simply 2020 was a gut-crunching scare (Negan's decision cliffhanger in The Walking Dead was a Gumby episode compared with this), and I say this 'cos there wasn't any more news or a release date since the announcement, and with all the troubles caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic I've thought Rising Star Games pulled the plug or they've closed their doors, and although it was released in Japan on July 3th, I have no idea of how to do the "Buy in the japanese PSN" trick, so I was even more worried since this game, along with Darius Cozmic Collection and Dariusburst CS: Chronicle Saviors are the main reasons why I've bought a PS4 (the same goes for Aleste Branch, R-Type Final 2 and Strikers 2020). So, this September 24th release was a breath of relief for all of us. Thus, Ginga Force can be called "The Shmup COVID couldn't stop".

Another great improvement of the PS4 port was the faster loading times compared with those of the XBOX360. For instance, Chapter 2 loads almost instantly after we hear Tini say "Ginga Force!" on the loading screen.



Before talking about the graphics, I'll conclude the gameplay section with these little observations:
1.- Why Microsoft didn't included both Ginga Force and Eschatos as XBOX One Backwards Compatible titles just like Ikaruga, Radiant Silvergun, Strania and Triggerheart Exelica? That would saved us a lot of time (and the gut-crunching suspense) during the silent wait for the PlayStation 4 & PC releases.

2.- Why Qute didn't released this game on the XBOX One?, This would not just complete Natsuki Chronicles as a "Main Game and Expansion Pack", but also will allow all shmup fans to comprehend Ginga Force's universe much better and gave us an official translation sooner. Qute made a bad choice. To put it simple is like being a Star Wars fan and only watch A New Hope and Return of the Jedi without watching The Empire Strikes Back to fully understand the "Original Trilogy".

3.- Sometimes I think "¿Why Qute didn't followed Warashi's steps and ported this game to the PlayStation 2 just like they did with Triggerheart Exelica?" While at first it might sound like a dumb observation and you'll probably be asking me "¿How good could be a PlayStation 2 port of Ginga Force when the XBOX 360 is more capable?, that sounds like a total waste, man!". Well, let me explain you. ¿Remember Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced? Even after it's XBOX 360 release in 2008, Warashi (along with Alchemist) managed to improve Triggerheart Exelica much further on the PS2 port released in 2009 by adding more content like including the original Faintear, her exclusive Stage 0, the Event CG cutscenes and increasing the game's lore with a more detailed Story Mode, making the PS2 port the most complete of the three console versions of the game. Qute could have done the same with Ginga Force (and Eschatos), ¿Can you imagine having a, let's say "Ginga Force Complete", "Eschatos Plus" or why not, an "Eschatos-Judgement Silversword" and "Ginga Force-Cardinal Sins" Wonder Pack" compilations in your PS2 shmup library?, that might sound strange, but keep in mind, the PlayStation 2's game catalogue made its way until 2013, 7 years after the PlayStation 3's debut and 1 year after Ginga Force's release on the XBOX 360. That means, a PS2 port of Ginga Force would be possible, reasonable, and the most important aspect, it would work perfectly well if the port included a lot of extra contents to improve the game. Think about it: having a fully animated anime opening, a larger gallery, improved gameplay, more playable ships than just the Enforcer and the unlockable Arcam like including the player ship from Judgment Silversword, and the most important; a more deeper and complete emphasis on the game's lore with a much more detailed story line. It might sacrify the graphics a little bit and suffer some slowdown just like Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced did, but that would be a small price to pay for all those bonus features.

4.- This one is optional 'cos some might agree and others don't: ¿Why Rising Star Games didn't released the PS4 port based on the Ginga Force-Eschatos Wonder Pack?, some of you will say "What's the difference?". Well, this has its very own (and well justified) reasons: 1.- RSG would "take two Galagas down with one shot" and brought us a visually improved Eschatos. 2.- Doing this will improve the PlayStation port, pretty much like Thunder Force V: Perfect System, G-Darius, RayStorm, Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced and Raiden V: Director's Cut did on the PS, PS2 and PS4, making a "Tradition" of some sorts of PlayStation improvisation.



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Urban Strike: Seven Tier Edition.

When it comes to graphics, Ginga Force puts the "Force" to work and excels on that section. While is not as superdetailed like Raiden IV, it is far superior than Triggerheart Exelica and matches the high quality of RayStorm HD. It looks like the game focuses more on detailing the scenery than the ships as we can appreciate the complex architecture on Seven Tier's buildings, this is heavily noticed in the first stage as we fly through buildings and streets in a hi-speed pursuit and the space elevators in stages 7 and 8. Vehicles are also superdetailed, but this is mostly noticed on the bosses, unlike in Raiden IV where your ship was also heavily detailed to levels of super-realism. While the game uses mugshots of the pilots of your ship and those of the boss vehicles, their dialogue icons are not animated. Instead, they use different expressions in the style of a visual novel or like the dialogues in Otomedius Excellent, and while in a way they look simple for a console like the XBOX 360, in fact they work well enough to express the character's mood during the stages. The sides on the screen flashes in red when there's stage hazards, which kinda reminds me of the cabinet lights of After Burner II when a missile was behind your F-14 and you had to dodge it. It was nice to see Qute pulling a Sega on that one.

The PS4/PS4 Pro port improves the overall graphics and animations of the game, looking more polished and more like an early XBOX One shmup instead of an XBOX 360 game. Even the opening and ending have a better video quality than the XB360 original which can be seen in the gallery.

Unlike the classic and basic use of the science fiction and military themes, Ginga Force utilizes an not very frequented theme: The Police/Law Enforcement, just like Cosmic Cop and Armed Police Batrider (although the Mitsurugi Security Service is more of a Military Police) blended with the "Buddy Cop" team premise like Bad Boys and Lethal Weapon, as we have our two military police pilots uncovering the truth of their mission, like the mentioned shmups, it also combines futurism and science-fiction as the game takes place several years in the future as humanity was able to colonize other planets.


With the graphic aspects of the game said, let's talk about the soun-*gets interrupted*

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"Cool your jets", kid. I'll talk about that in a moment.

WHOA!, Looks like that's becoming a "Popular Request" among my reviews.
As an anime girl fan, it's my duty to put a smile on the readers faces, and boy, I have quite a lot to say for this game. So, grab a cold drink, sit down and hope you like what I'm about to say.



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You know, that in twenty years or more.
You still look the same as you do today.
You'll still be a young girl, when I'm old and grey.


It is always nice to see the anime style on the character design, and Qute seems to know this 'cos this game gives their fans and newcomers a well drawn cast of characters. The female cast is the best of all, as we have these lovely looking ladies that rather than looking like the aggressive fighters and adversaries they look like the sweet, heartwarming girls that anyone would like to see. My favorite example: Natsuki Sugiura. She looks more like the lovely girl that you'll wish to take her hand, spend a whole day with her on a date and forget about anything else rather than being the fierce FG-G21 Garm pilot trying to shoot you down from the space elevator at any costs as the 7th stage boss. But to quote Mr. Mister's song "Tangent Tears": "You act so cold but you still look so fine".
*In Doom 3's UAC Video Disk Announcer voice* "Always on the forefront of putting a smile on players faces, Qute Corporation makes sweet waifus for everyone. Thank you and have a nice day."



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¿Remember what I've said about Margaret in my Solar Shifter EX review? This is the closest thing to it.
Now, if someone could draw Garna and Natsuki posing wearing a bikini...


An unwritten rule about anime styled games is that they should include at least one scene with the girls wearing swimsuits. I'm not talking "All the time" for fanservice purposes like Triggerheart Exelica did with the Spec Suits. I'm talking about to see them wearing something different from their flight clothes and uniforms and doing something more than just piloting air/spacecraft at high speeds, "humanizing" the characters as they look more like civilians enjoying their well-deserved relaxation moments rather than just being the "I only live to fight" type of character and give the cast a brief moment of relief between missions as well (take a look at Filia's ending in Angeraze for instance).



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Sometimes, a day at the beach is all you need after a battle.

It's like "Come on!", if an action movie like Top Gun and its sequel Top Gun: Maverick have beach volleyball scenes between the flight scenes, and the Fire Emblem RPG series has its swimsuit moments once in a while. ¿Why not including a beach/swimming pool scene in an anime styled shmup like Ginga Force? If you want to see Margaret, Nina, Garna, Specia and Natsuki showing some skin wearing bikinis, relaxing on the sea breeze and sipping umbrella drinks on the beach while watching the sunset, then raise your hands, dudes. Someone should tell Yukino Umesato about this immediately.



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¿Jedi Knight Arcueid? Not exactly, unless Yukino Umesato is a fan of both Type-Moon and Star Wars.

Something that I've noticed was this funny thing about Specia and Despecia. For some reason they have a striking resemblance to Arcueid Brunestud from Tsukihime, e-SPECIA-lly Despecia who's even more Arcueid-accurate with those red eyes (just like Saber and Sakura Matou from Fate/Stay Night look like Anna Steiner from Darius Gaiden: Silver Hawk and Asayuki Kizuyomina from Blazing Star). Yeah, we can assume that we're looking at Arcueid's attempt to enlist on Star Wars auditions or she's just simply doing Star Wars "Roleplay", but without an idea of which side is she on, because that bodysuit she's wearing could mean anything; member of the Jedi Council (Padawan or Knight, you decide), a soldier of the Republic Infantry or even a Force-sensitive Mercenary of some sorts (¿Jedi Mercenary?). I've could also say we are looking at Arcueid's attempt to enlist on Star Trek, but that would be a very desperate option (also, I don't know too much about Star Trek anyway). But still, just give Arcue...er, Specia a Jedi lightsaber (green or blue, your choice) and there ya' have it.


The music is incredibly beautiful, as it keeps the electronic-dance-ambient combination just like Blazing Star and Raiden IV did, but with more "anime soundtrack style". Something that I've noticed is the reminiscence with Thunder Force VI in the first stage which feels like a more fast paced version of "Ruined Green". The boss fight theme reminds me a lot of the techno-suspense used on the SNES game Vortex. Seems like the Techno-Dance blend is the predilect style of music for shooting, and although it was used over and over again, in Ginga Force's case, it feels new and enjoyable, just like it was on Blazing Star and Raiden IV. For the PS4 port, the opening theme was re-recorded, sounding quite different from the XB360 intro (you can check that in the gallery). Speaking of the opening theme, it reminds me of classic anime and cartoons like Area 88, Centurions: Power Xtreme, SilverHawks, the anime intro of Megaman X4, and Transformers Robots In Disguise (the 2001 anime, not the 2015 crap).

When it comes to voice acting, this game makes a solid work, since it uses the original japanese voices rather than utilizing an english dub like some localizations, and I think that's for the better after the atrocious dubs of KOF Sky Stage or worse; Megaman X4. Everytime you're about to start a stage you can hear the stage antagonist saying "Ginga Force" during the loading screen. In Stages 7 and 8 you can hear any character saying it (Example: Alex, Margaret, Brown or Nina in Stage 7, and Natsuki or Specia in the 8th Stage) that kinda reminds me of the "Vapor Trail" heard in Kuhga: Operation Code "Vapor Trail" (and the "Skull Fang!" voice sample in Skull Fang) everytime you paused the game.



GINGA FUN FACTS: CURIOSITIES FROM SEVEN TIER

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Alex Heatburn: Incredible! She could be your identical twin!
Rossweisse: Let me introduce myself again. I am Margaret Whitetail. The real and original one!
Margaret Whitetail: Original one? What do you mean? Are you saying that I am a...clone?


- The word "Ginga" means "Galaxy" in Japanese.
- The FV-G27 Enforcer is smaller than the FV-30MZ Arcam from Eschatos.
- The inclusion of the Arcam's parts in the game implies that the ship is
(or was) used on Seven Tier until the Enforcer (and the FV-A30 Dominator) entered on service or even the ship is still operational along with the other two.
- Qute's Ginga Force site wrongly named the MSS as "Mitsurugi Security System" instead of "Service" as we saw it in the game.
- There was two collector cards for this game, the Amiami exclusive featuring Nina and one for Medialand featuring Margaret.
- This was the lone game in the Ginga Force series to feature a gallery.
- Alex's surname "Heatburn" comes from his hot-head tendency of shouting through out the game.
- Margaret's last name "Whitetail" comes from her white hair and her ponytail.
- Margaret share's some similarities with Rossweisse from Highschool DxD, the same goes for Natsuki who looks like Raynare/Yuma Amano.
- Margaret is 1,61m tall, 4cm taller than Natsuki Sugiura
(1,57m), and heavily surpasses Tini Memoril's 1,35m height by 26cm, but she is 8cm shorter than Garna Freeman (1,69m). However, if we compare Margaret's height with other shmup girls she is 5cm taller than Asayuki Kizuyomina from Blazing Star (1,56cm) and the same height as Leefa Chao from the same game (1,61m), 1cm more than Mao-Mao from Aero Fighters (1,60m) and surpasses Exelica from Triggerheart Exelica by 2cm (1,59m), Margaret's 9cm shorter than June from Boiling Bolt and Cenes Crawford from Thunder Force V (both 1,70m), 2cm less than Felry Carnihum from Varth: Operation Thunderstorm (1,63m) and 4cm less than Crueltear from Triggerheart Exelica (1,65m).
- Both Margaret and Natsuki are 24 year old ladies.
- It is unknown how tall Specia is, since she uses a holographic projection. The same can be said for Despecia. But it is possibe that their "human" height might be around 1,60m, but that's only my speculation.
- As a word, the etimology of the name "Specia" is unknown, but it is similar to the Italian word "Spezia" and the Sundanese "Spésia" which means "Spice" in both languages and the latin word "Specie" which means "Appearance".
- Specia is the fifth female character in order of appearance while in Natsuki Chronicles is the fourth.
- Tini's name is pronounced "Tee-nee".
- While some might pronunce Natsuki as "Nat-soo-kee", the correct pronunciation is "Nats-kee".
- Natsuki Sugiura, the 7th stage boss, will become the protagonist of Natsuki Chronicles, where her vehicle, the FG-G21 Garm will be playable
(except for the fancy moves and nerfed to only two weapons and the Capture Ray).
- Tini's sleeveless red shirt and yellow tie will be seen in Natsuki Chronicles as part of Magenta's clothes
(Stage 4 boss).
- Tini and Nina make a cameo in Natsuki Chronicles achievements "A High-Scoring Routine" and "Let's Tweak Some Parameters".
- While Tini's artwork was original, Nina's illustration was taken from the Amiami exclusive Ginga Force collector card.
- Despite the space bodysuit, Specia resembles an angel with those wings and the halo behind her head, pretty much like Asayuki from Blazing Star.
- Ginga Force is the only entry in the series where vocal songs are heard in both opening and ending.
- Both Ginga Force and Natsuki Chronicles uses the same in-game font than Eschatos.
- The use of off-voices saying the name of the game was carried to Natsuki Chronicles, but they're only said by Natsuki
(on the Title screen) and the RDF Navi (in the Arcade Mode)
- Takeshi Osako, the executive producer of both Ginga Force and Natsuki Chronicles is the president of Qute Corporation.
- Yousuke Yasui, the music composer will later work on Dariusburst CS: Chronicle Saviours with the arranged themes of Raizing/8ing DLC.




LOST IN TRANSLATION: THE UNTRANSLATED OFF-VOICES

Both Chapter Clear and Mission Failed result screens have Alex and Margaret saying something positive or negative based on the player's performance and the rank obtained, along with some off voices from Nina and Seram in the Parts Shop.
Unfortunately, Rising Star Games didn't translated those.


ALEX HEATBURN
RANK S: よっしゃ! 完璧だぜ! (Yōshya! Kanpekida ze!) = Great! That was perfect!
RANK A: よぅしゃ / よぅしゃ! (Yōshya / Yōshya!) = The game in-stage dialogues translates this one as "Alright!" and "Woo hoo".
RANKS B & C / RANK D in Training Simulator: 今一だったら (Ummmm... Imaichi dattara) = Uh...Not good enough.
MISSION FAILED - Chapters 1 to 6: 何てこった ... (Nanite kotta...) (Oh no... / Damn...)
MISSION FAILED - Chapters 1 to 6: やられしまったぜ (Yara re shimatta ze) (I've been defeated)
MISSION FAILED - Chapters 7 & 8: もう駄目なのか? (Mō damena no ka?) = Is it already too late? (it could also be "Are we done for?")
MISSION FAILED - Chapters 9 & 10: もうどうすること出来ないってのか? (Mō dō suru koto dekinaitte no ka?) Is there nothing I can do?


MARGARET WHITETAIL
RANK S: やったわ! 大成功ね! (Yattawa! Daiseikoune!) = You did it! What a great success!
RANK A: なかなかいいんじゃないの? (Nakanaka ī n janai no?) = That was pretty good wasn't it?
RANK B: まあまあってところね (Māmātte tokoro ne) = It's pretty good.
RANK C: 次はもう少し頑張りましょう (Tsugi wa mōsukoshi ganbarimashō) = Let's do it better next time (it could also be "Let's try harder next time")
MISSION FAILED - Chapters 1 to 6: 見事に失敗だわ (Migoto ni shippai da wa) = We've completely failed (It could also be "It's a brilliant failure")
MISSION FAILED - Chapters 1 to 6: 犯人の完全に取り乱したわ (Han'nin no kanzen ni torimidashita wa) = I was distraught by the criminal
MISSION FAILED - Chapters 7 & 8: 何てこと?私達にはもう何もできないの? (Nanite koto? Watashitachi ni wa mō nani mo dekinai no?) = What's this? Is there nothing more we can do?
MISSION FAILED - Chapters 9 & 10: 何てこと?もう駄目なの? (Nanite koto? Mō damena no?) = What was that? It's not good?


NINA LYNN
JUDGEMENT FORCE TIGER UNLOCKED:
トレーニングシュミレーターの使用許可がおりました。日頃の訓練にぜひ活用してくださいね。 (Torēningu Shumirētā no shiyō kyoka ga orimashita. Higoro no kunren ni zehi katsuyō shite kudasai ne.) = You have permission to use the training simulator. Please use it for your daily training.
JUDGEMENT FORCE DRAGON UNLOCKED: 新たなトレーニングシュミレーターの使用許可がおりました。前のものよりも、ずっと手強くなっています。ぜひ、挑戦してみてくださいね。 (Aratana torēningu shumirētā no shiyō kyoka ga orimashita. Mae no mono yori mo, zutto tedzuyoku natte imasu. Zehi, chōsen shite mite kudasai ne.) = You now have permission to use the new training simulator. It's a lot tougher than the previous one. I hope you will give it a try.


GINGA MISHAPS! - WRONG NAMING IN SEVEN TIER
- Margaret is wrongly written as "Margarette" in Natsuki Chronicles
(Someone should fix the XB1 translation, for God's sake).
- Seven Tier is called "Seventia" in the PlayStation 4 version, even when the Gallery entry for SMC says clearly "Seventier Military Corporation".
- The ending also calls the planet "Seventh Tier".
- The name Arcam was wrongly written as Arkham
(Holy "Arkham Knight", Batman!).
- Garm is named "Golem" which in katakana is written as
"ゴーレム" (Gōremu), which ironically sounds like "Gollum" from pestro's translation.
- Rapid Deployment Force was wrongly translated as "Rapid Response Regiment".



GINGA GLITCHES - SOMEONE MESSED UP THE GAME!
- There's two instances of game breaking which you can do, but you'll not be able to progress further in two stages. You're gonna need the Stop Special Weapon and the Demolishing Ion Blaster. In Stage 1, if you destroy both boosters in your first encounter with Jack with the time stop enabled, you will be unable to destroy the mechanical arm in the second encounter and the game will lock in the third one where you're supposed to destroy the other one. The reason of the game-lock? The game will not count the early destroyed boosters.

- A similar instance can be found in Chapter 9, if you destroy the last two engines of the Brionac it will lock you on the third engine destruction segment and you'll not be able to progress until the time drops to zero, forcing you to restart the stage.

- UPDATE - April 17th, 2021: There's a critical flaw with the PlayStation 4 recently. When the console's system is updated to its version 8.50, the game will crash after selecting a Chapter, making the game completely unplayable. In a twist of irony, the PS4 port of Natsuki Chronicles wasn't affected by the PS4's update.

- UPDATE - April 29th, 2021: An update was released on April 26th, upgrading the game to its version 1.02, fixing the crash problem.



UNEXPLAINED ERRORS AND UNSOLVED MYSTERIES


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¿How difficult is for everyone in Seven Tier to find the differences between the real Specia and the false one?

- COLLECTIVE STUPIDITY: To make possible the premise of being unable to tell the difference between Specia and Despecia in both Ginga Force and Natsuki Chronicles it requires THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF SEVEN TIER to be either colorblind or incredibly stupid (or both at the same time). This situation is very similar to the episode "A Prime Problem" from The Transformers and the Faintear-Faintear Imitate predicament in Triggerheart Exelica Enhanced where Crueltear thought that Imitate was the real Faintear gone rogue even when the real Faintear differs a lot from Imitate.

- SUPERHUMAN MARGARET: The Medialand card artwork depicts Margaret sitting on the Enforcer's canopy IN OUTER SPACE and somehow not dying horribly since the only thing she's wearing is her MSS bodysuit without the jacket and denim shorts.
(Any similarities with Ace McCloud's "Power Extreme!" shouting in space is coincidentional)

- IS GARNA DEAD?: Something that the game doesn't mention is what happened with Garna when she's defeated, as the cutscene only has a dumb conversation between Margaret and Nina about snowing in Seven Tier and ends before her ship hits the surface, and is not seen if she ejects. Also, she's not seen with the other former criminals in Stage 8 and besides the "Suspect Apprehended" message in the Clear screen, they don't mention if she died. So it demands an explanation.

- WHAT HAPPENED TO DESPECIA?: After Stage 8, Despecia is no longer seen again and the epilogues don't mention what happened to her. ¿Was she deleted? ¿The MSS isolated her? ¿She went to a permanent vacation to the Maldives? ¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?¿?

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Better a virtual beach server than being isolated on a space elevator.
(Click on the pic for Specia version)


Joke aside, Qute really has to explain that 'cos that's another mystery that demands an answer. Shmup lore doesn't have to be a case for Unsolved Mysteries.

- WHICH IS THE CORRECT NAME OF THE PLANET?: In Natsuki Chronicles
(Both in-game and XBOX One Store), the planet name is written "Seventier" and sometimes is called "Seven Tier" (or like Rising Star Games calls it "Seventia" and "Seventh Tier"). It's the same debate as "¿Thunder Force or Thunderforce?" for Tecno Soft fans and the "¿Triggerheart or Trigger Heart?" in Triggerheart Exelica.

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How she can be happy when you screwed things up and the shuttle was destroyed?

- NINA STILL SMILES AFTER LOSING THE SHUTTLE: Regardless if you saved the shuttle or not in Chapter 6, Nina still says "Ninmu Kanryo desu" with a smile on her portrait when she should be upset with Alex and Margaret and even considering the mission a failure for letting the shuttle be destroyed by Fuan. This might imply that a "Failed Side-objective" cutscene was intended, but it was discarded.

- WAS VIRIDIAN ACTING ALONE OR FOLLOWING SOMEONE ELSE'S ORDERS?: In the seventh stage of Natsuki Chronicles Natsuki says Viridian is "one of the top brass at Magni Company" instead of calling him the Director
(or CEO), and the character profile describes him as "A leader at Magni Corp." instead of "The leader of Magni Corp.". This might imply Virdian wasn't acting alone, the entire Septonium scheme wasn't his idea and he was probably following orders from someone else just like the Lance-Triumvirate connection in Contra: Shattered Soldier.

- IS THE ARCAM APPEARANCE IN SEVEN TIER PROOF OF A "QUTEVERSE"?: I've already mentioned the use of the Eschatos ship as a possibility that the FV-30MZ was also used in Seven Tier until it was retired by the Enforcer and the Dominator or is still operational despite the other two entered on service, but this could also imply the possibility of a Qute Universe or "Quteverse" where both Ginga Force and Eschatos are connected just like the "Video Systemverse" we've saw on Aero Fighters 3.



NATSUKI INCONSISTENCIES: WHEN NATSUKI CHRONICLES CONTRADICTS GINGA FORCE


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A couple of examples are enough to start talking about contradictions.

- WHY DO WE LOOK SO DIFFERENT?: The character designs for Natsuki, Margaret, Specia and Alex are very different from their Ginga Force counterparts, looking younger in Natsuki Chronicles. Something curious since the character designer is the same person: Yukino Umesato.

- WHAT HAPPENED TO MY VOICE?: Natsuki's younger voice in Ginga Force was changed for a more adult-like one in Natsuki Chronicles, probably because Natsue Sasamoto re-worked her voice.

- GARM "CHAMPION EDITION": The FG-G21 Garm was redesigned, lost some detailing and has a completely different colorscheme in Natsuki Chronicles.

- GOING DOWN SLIDING OR FALLING?: While in Ginga Force, her Garm is seen sliding down the space elevator's wall when its defeated, in Natsuki Chronicles it falls off the elevator's wall in the "Turning Point" and Stage 7 cutscenes.




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The Ever-so-Sexy Margaret Whitetail, defying the laws of physics and the human body breathing in space.

To conclude the review, I can only say Ginga Force is the pinnacle of Qute's shooters, with an addicting gameplay, weapon variety, anime styled story and characters and fascinating music, this game was obviously meant to be the finest of the company, even beyond Eschatos. XBOX 360, PC or PlayStation 4, this game is a must buy.
Also, if Blazing Star is "Metal Slug with Spaceships", then Ginga Force is "Lethal Weapon with Spaceships", "Bad Boys with Spaceships" or even "Rush Hour with Spaceships" (and with anime styled characters of course) as we have the classic "Buddy Cop team up" theme in the game's plot.


By the way, I think Daiki Abe could be a great Grand Marshal for NASCAR.
¿Can you imagine him giving the command before starting the race?, that would be awesome!


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NASCAR Speedway Announcer: And now, for the most famous words in Motorsports.
Please welcome the voice of Alex Heatburn from the videogame Ginga Force: Daiki Abe!
Daiki Abe: *In Alex Heatburn's voice*
URIIIAAAAAAAAAH!! DRIVERS!...START!...YOUR!...ENGIIIIIIIIINES!!
Fan of Transformers, Shmups and Anime-styled Girls. You're teamed up with the right pilot!
Bringing you shmup and video game reviews with humorous criticism.

STG Wikias: Thunder Force Wiki - Wikiheart Exelica - Ginga Force Wiki
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