NINJASLAYER : AREA 4643 (PC, Steam)

[FunktionJCB]

I recently became aware of a fun Japanese indie game, released back in 2018, that is well worth a look.

It's called NINJA SLAYER: AREA 4643 (previously known as just AREA 4643), and it's currently available on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/9481 ... AREA_4643/

The game is a fast paced top-down twin stick shooter, with some melee elements, and depending on the character/stage, it even has some elements that resemble a shmup (the final boss, for example, is straight out of a bullet hell shmup).
Another point of reference would be, say, something like Hotline Miami (but more forgiving, since you have a health bar), but with more classic, score-based, arcade gameplay.

Like I mentioned above, the game was released back in 2018, but many people (myself included) were completed unaware of it, until it was recently featured in a speedrun event in Japan, and those watching realized it was officially based on the anime Ninja Slayer, causing the name change I mentioned above, plus a 4800%+ increase in sales, and increased press coverage in Japan.

The game is a blast, and well worth checking out.
Fun gameplay, a kick ass soundtrack, 4 characters (that play quite differently), 5 stages featuring various time periods/settings/enemies, and a rather bizarre storyline (made probably even more batshit crazy due to the English translation).

Here's a couple of random videos, showcasing different characters (that play rather differently):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-cEWEuGYMg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ1l14lX-28

[Necronom]

Never heard of it...but it looks very promising! It's kinda amazing how these indie titles appear out of the blue sometimes...
Anyway, thanks for bringing it up.

[FunktionJCB]

Never heard of it...but it looks very promising! It's kinda amazing how these indie titles appear out of the blue sometimes...
Anyway, thanks for bringing it up.

Thanks for reading.

[BulletMagnet]

Interested in trying it out, though the fact that it only lists partial controller support makes me a bit wary, since I'm awful with KB+M.

[kid aphex]

Gotta say: The aesthetic is killer.

[FunktionJCB]

Interested in trying it out, though the fact that it only lists partial controller support makes me a bit wary, since I'm awful with KB+M.

I actually played through the game with an Xbox One controller, and it was fine (I just went to the settings menu, changed it to an Xbox controller (there's others listed) in order to get the controller prompts, and played). In fact, the menu allows you to configure all sorts of controller/joystick settings, from stick sensitivity, button config, analogue stick invert, (...).

Really, after launching the game, I don't remember ever using the mouse, just the controller, so I'm not sure why it's listed as partial controller support. It's not even one of those games that has a launcher that you need to click, it just boots right into the game.

There's a very small "quirk" I noticed though: if you press the A button to enter the settings menu, it will do so but also act as if you already pressed A once on the first line of the settings menu, increasing the Volume SE from 80 to 85.
But, you can always revert it back to 80 with the controller (or, just use a mouse in the settings menu once to set up things, and ignore it altogether in future plays).

[BulletMagnet]

Thanks, that's good to hear. Will keep an eye on this.