Doing a little spring cleaning reminded me of how goddamn good Dracue's Assault Suit Leynos remake (PS4/Steam) is.
Anyone who loves Valken but found the original MD Leynos a bit too archaic by comparison should jump on it - it brings the controls and handling right up to ASV spec. Anyone who already loves MD Leynos (hi!) should
double jump on it - in addition to the nicely rebalanced Arcade Mode, it includes a Classic Mode that hews far nearer the MD's famously ruthless difficulty, playing like an in-engine remake.
It's a really obvious labour of love; you can tell the devs were very much part of the game's cult following. The combination of Valken control and Leynos carnage is perhaps my favourite thing to ever bear the Assault Suits name. kitten's badass
Arcade and
Classic runs demonstrate the ultra-smooth arcade/sim heavy metal hybrid
As in Valken, momentum paired with judicious aggression is king. THIS IS NO ZAKU, BOY (`w´メ)
Mind the WHITE-HOT JET BLAST (◎w◎;)
Something I particularly love is the subtlety of hard vs soft landings. The former - notice the screen violently shaking in the top gif - will stop you from jumping for an instant, as your mech absorbs the impact. If you tap the Vernier just beforehand, you'll get a smooth touchdown and can instantly rocket back into the air. Reminds me a bit of ActRaiser II and its own tech landings. As with Valken, the balance of sim heft to arcade pep is juuust right.