Ginga Force (Qute, Xbox360)

[Kollision]

wow
totally unexpected

suck it, cave

[Gespenst]

Is it me or the player ship looks...Thunder Force-ish? :\

[denpanosekai]

You can get much higher-res screenshots from the amazon.co.jp listing.

So far I'm liking what I'm seeing.

[Jeneki]

With a name like Ginga Force, I'm half expecting all the spaceships to transform and combine into a giant robot.

[Blackbird]

I find it amusing how Qute shmups manage to look incredibly tacky and low-budget in still screenshots. The Eschatos previews were the same way, but the final game looks really nice in motion/actual gameplay, in my opinion.

[ShmupSamurai]

From what information we have right now, I'm starting to assume this will be akin to Change Air Blade...and yes that one ship does look a bit towards the Thunderforce-ish side.

[shmuppyLove]

With a name like Ginga Force, I'm half expecting all the spaceships to transform and combine into a giant robot.

A giant robot with red hair and freckles.

[Op Intensify]

A versus shmup? Disappointed. I could never understand what all the fuss was about Senko no Ronde. But I guess it's better if it plays more like Change Air Blade.

The art is still looking really amateurish. Seems the stuff in-game is final.

Anyone care enough to translate the line of text in this screenshot?

[viper_phase1]

A versus shmup? Disappointed. I could never understand what all the fuss was about Senko no Ronde. But I guess it's better if it plays more like Change Air Blade.

The art is still looking really amateurish. Seems the stuff in-game is final.

Anyone care enough to translate the line of text in this screenshot?

I gave it a try, but I'm not totally sure:

「ちょっと、こんどは大砲? いくらなんでも聞いてないわよ！！」

"Hey, is it a cannon this time? No matter how you look at it I haven't heard!!"

[Zaarock]

A versus shmup? Disappointed. I could never understand what all the fuss was about Senko no Ronde. But I guess it's better if it plays more like Change Air Blade.

Senko no Ronde is basically a hybrid of Virtual-On in 2D and various shmup attack patterns and mechanics, along with some pretty interesting mechanics of its own (boss system, + overdrive in the first game).

But yeah this looks like change air blade. You could hardly judge Eschatos based on screenshots, I'd imagine the same for this. That ship customization screen looks pretty ominous though especially if this has pvp

Heh @ "mitsurugi(silver sword) security system"

[Op Intensify]

Oh, I own Senko no Ronde, I just find it really infuriating to play. The controls are like steering a teacup through molasses. I don't like that you can't dodge bullets most of the time either, you have to rely almost completely on your shield/burst. This makes the design of the single-player boss battles fall apart really quickly. I know they were going for Virtual On more than Change Air Blade, but that's not what I want from a shmup.

Some of the BOSS attacks are completely overpowered, while others are nearly useless. It's not a very balanced game. I don't know how much the sequel improves on things, because I can't play it.

[stryc9]

Yeah I was hoping for a more traditional shmup rather than what is being hinted at here.

As interesting as Senke No Ronde Duo is it remains the least played of any of the Japanese releases I have on 360.

Still, will reserve judgement until closer to release.

[Cuilan]

Oh, I own Senko no Ronde, I just find it really infuriating to play. The controls are like steering a teacup through molasses. I don't like that you can't dodge bullets most of the time either, you have to rely almost completely on your shield/burst. This makes the design of the single-player boss battles fall apart really quickly. I know they were going for Virtual On more than Change Air Blade, but that's not what I want from a shmup.

Some of the BOSS attacks are completely overpowered, while others are nearly useless. It's not a very balanced game. I don't know how much the sequel improves on things, because I can't play it.

Pretty much every character's Sub attack has bullet-negating properties, as do most of the Main+Sub attacks, and certain melee attacks as well. The trick is learning the right moments to use them.

Senko no Ronde Rev.X is fairly well balanced, it's just that some characters take a bit more effort to learn to use effectively than others.

The sequel is better overall, though not perfect. It is definitely much better for beginners and those who never played Rev.X competitively.

[Op Intensify]

Noticed from the one gameplay screenshot that the shield from Eschatos seems to have returned intact. It even uses the same counter font.

There's also meters for Front and Wide shot, strangely enough. Limited ammo maybe? Looks like you can also select speeds.

[Zaarock]

Oh, I own Senko no Ronde, I just find it really infuriating to play. The controls are like steering a teacup through molasses. I don't like that you can't dodge bullets most of the time either, you have to rely almost completely on your shield/burst. This makes the design of the single-player boss battles fall apart really quickly. I know they were going for Virtual On more than Change Air Blade, but that's not what I want from a shmup.

Some of the BOSS attacks are completely overpowered, while others are nearly useless. It's not a very balanced game. I don't know how much the sequel improves on things, because I can't play it.

Yeah, the controls are quite weird.. you pretty much want to dash cancel and vector dash around patterns instead of using normal movement (unless you just need to strafe). IDK why they put inertia/lag on the normal movement, apparently they removed it in DUO. I don't see whats wrong with the single player bosses, again if you need to "macro" dodge you obviously want to dash. But yeah it's mainly a fighting game, I wouldn't recommend it for the single player at all.. the game shines when you're fighting other people and that's where you'll really learn the mechanics

The bosses are pretty gimmicky but the only one I find unfair is Ernula's, but even that has a pretty big weakness if you get good at fighting it (you can kill it really fast in overdrive with some point blank attacks)


I wonder how the shop system will work out in this game, most shmups fail to implement the idea well.

[gatsu25]

I gave it a try, but I'm not totally sure:

「ちょっと、こんどは大砲? いくらなんでも聞いてないわよ！！」

"Hey, is it a cannon this time? No matter how you look at it I haven't heard!!"

It's close, but more along the lines of:

A cannon next? Now matter what I'm not going to listen!!

[Op Intensify]

Judging from the subtitles, it looks like this will be Qute's first game with voice acting.

There's an option to select your engine in the shop. I don't see how this would affect movement, since you already have a speed selector. Maybe it's like Armored Core and you have to balance the load of your ship parts and the energy consumption of your weapons/shield against your choice of engine. That would actually be pretty cool, and serve to give the game some distinctiveness as a console-exclusive title.

[viper_phase1]

I gave it a try, but I'm not totally sure:

「ちょっと、こんどは大砲? いくらなんでも聞いてないわよ！！」

"Hey, is it a cannon this time? No matter how you look at it I haven't heard!!"

It's close, but more along the lines of:

A cannon next? Now matter what I'm not going to listen!!

Oh, thanks for that correction.

I think the dialogue in the other screenshot is:

「よし、ブースターを一丁破壊！」

"Alright, destroy one booster!"

[Legendary Hoamaru]

Siliconera seemed to provide a little more info on the game

Introducing Ginga Force, a ten stage vertical shmup. Players can earn new equipment depending on their end of level score. Ginga Force also has a story mode to follow.

[Op Intensify]

Do they have any source for that information? That's some really sloppy writing. Sounds like he just made it up.

[BulletMagnet]

Pre-orders are up on NCSX, though I didn't see the item offhand on Play-Asia, YesAsia or AmiAmi as of yet.

Personally, while I usually like to support the genre whenever I can, I'd like to see some footage of the game in action before I plunk down - hopefully some is in the offing before too long.

[newguns]

If this game is coming out 8/30, then it's possibly already in platform certification.

You'd think there'd be a video out there already.

Have to say I'm not looking forward to a story mode full of these illustrations.

[hirounder]

Do they have any source for that information?

Probably from official site which opened up in the meantime

http://gingaforce.qute.jp/

google translated

[Op Intensify]

Probably from official site which opened up in the meantime

Can't be, I checked the site right after reading the article and it hadn't opened yet. The information about ~10 stages is correct though.

Good to see that M-KAI is still the designer/programmer. I'm going to need to see some video before considering a purchase though, to say nothing of whether it's region locked.

The HUD is redesigned in the new screenshots, looks much slicker. Shield and shot energy are now both on the same side of the screen. Definitely a vertical yoko game, which isn't bad considering it's console exclusive. Single-player only is also confirmed, it isn't a versus shmup. I know some of us will be relieved to hear this.

Qute has an official twitter for the game. It would probably be the best place to ask them about the region locking. I've found that most companies/people nowadays will respond to Twitter messages even if they never return your emails. Really stupid, but that's the modern world for you.

Could someone give this a better translation? It describes stage progression:
装備の状態はセーブして、次のステージに引き継ぐことができます。 装備と難易度を変更することによって、ステージを1回だけではなく、何度でもプレイすることができます。

[adversity1]

Just posted this over at NeoGAF

Staff is Director: Mach, Program: M-kai and Sound: Yousuke Yasui (Super Sweep) + others

No videos yet but there's a description of the game on the site. Scratch that, Famitsu has more details:

・Powered-up story and characters. More dramatic gameplay
・Stand-out visuals. Enjoy battles with unique mechs.
・Unlock features, equipment customizations and other replay value.
・The shield system and other aspects of the first game are continued in this one.
・Depending on your play result, you can earn new equipment for your craft
・Your ship's equipment carries over from one play to the next
・Once you clear the game you can change equipment and difficulty to enjoy the game again
・Over 10 stages

[Op Intensify]

・Your ship's equipment carries over from one play to the next

Uh...wow. Sounds like this game won't be suitable for scoring, if you can't start out with all the equipment available and can save in between levels.

At the very least you'll have to unlock everything before you're on a level enough playing field to compete for score. Not sure about this.

They seem to be trying to court the "fan of anime, hasn't played a shmup besides Touhou" demographic with this one. I'm sure it will be good, just maybe not what most of us want out of the genre.

[spineshark]

Not a value judgment either way since I'm definitely still curious how it really plays out (it seems like it would be weird if they made it really hard to start fresh for players who want to, but maybe they're totally committed to this) but I do think that some legitimate gateway games where you can make interesting and relevant external progress could do a lot to help get people more interested in learning the games. If they do it right it should be a lot better than "grind for a while and eventually the game just gives you infinite continues" or "here's an easy version of the game for you to beat and then still have difficulty playing the real one."

[-SD-]

It's up for pre-order on Play-Asia now as well.

[Kollision]

I absolutely love the fact that an OST is included by default, with no bullshit of SE LE Super-duper-exlcusive LE crap.

[Legendary Hoamaru]

One addition detail the Play-Asia descriptions points out is "Your weapons determine the difficulty level of the game, try out different combinations and challenge the stages repeatedly for new experiences." No clue how this is all going to play out together. Hope we get some videos soon. Score table is going to be interesting for this one.