Hiroshi Iuchi's UBUSUNA for the PS4

[bcass]

Definitely a cut above most recent STG soundtracks (from what is heard so far) but doesn't feel as iconic as the Ikaruga OST. It will likely work better in context, but the Ikaruga OST will be a tough one to match IMO. It's technically more accomplished compared to Ikarugu, but the compositions themselves are, for the most part, not as interesting. As per previous comments, would also have preferred a more electronic slant.

[Haddock]

I am glad it seems much more orchestral than Ikaruga, but then again I'm a classical music nerd! Tbh I never found Ikaruga to have a particularly strong OST, especially compared to RS.

Too bad we saw no gameplay though, the most important part.

[kid aphex]

https://www.4gamer.net/games/613/G061334/20221216116/

Here’s an article that includes better images of the ship design.

[Astro City II]

I look forward to playing it in 2031.

[Necronom]

Wow, after all these years in development...they show us ship designs and a bit of music. Ubusana is a joke.

[Haddock]

I agree it's pretty shabby considering development supposedly started in 2014.

Also as someone relatively new to shmups I REALLY hope the game isn't too much like Ikaruga. That game is so boring to play to me I don't understand any of the hype tbh. RS is much more fun to play.

[kid aphex]

Also as someone relatively new to shmups I REALLY hope the game isn't too much like Ikaruga. That game is so boring to play to me I don't understand any of the hype tbh. RS is much more fun to play.

Considering Ikaruga was released 21 years ago, I think it’s safe to assume this game will be it’s own thing.
In any case, Ikaruga is my favorite STG of all time, and even I don’t want another.

Hey, could a mod change the name of this thread to reflect the actual title of the game?

[Haddock]

Also as someone relatively new to shmups I REALLY hope the game isn't too much like Ikaruga. That game is so boring to play to me I don't understand any of the hype tbh. RS is much more fun to play.

Considering Ikaruga was released 21 years ago, I think it’s safe to assume this game will be it’s own thing.
In any case, Ikaruga is my favorite STG of all time, and even I don’t want another.

Hey, could a mod change the name of this thread to reflect the actual title of the game?

I didn't say it wasn't going to be his own thing (by fact of being another game it already is), just expressing my hope it doesn't rely too heavily on the same scoring system as Ikaruga does. For some reason Ikaruga manages to be the most beautiful game when I see someone playing at a high level, and the most boring shmup when I play it myself. Very bizarre, I also don't particularly enjoy the robotic voice that keeps your chain count up lol, but that's a minor issue.

I guess I just enjoy a more direct shmup style so far. Ketsui is probably the best shmup I've played so far, it just feels so intuitive and even the scoring is incredibly inviting imo. Iuchi just has his own way of doing things, but in RS despite it having a more strict chaining system it's much easier to enjoy for me due to the variety in gameplay. Ikaruga is just very minimalistic so if you don't like some aspect it's already a lot of the game you don't like. The flip side I suppose is that if you enjoy it you REALLY enjoy it.

[Sanguis]

I'm really disappointed by the music. It sounds like a poor Sakimoto imitation. The melodies in Ikaruga were much better.

The warning sound is good though.

[kid aphex]

I'm really disappointed by the music. It sounds like a poor Sakimoto imitation. The melodies in Ikaruga were much better.

The warning sound is good though.

I might be coping but I’ve listened to it several times and it’s really grown on me, especially the boss track.

[Redfox]

Interesting thing I just saw in the youtube comments:

Posted as a reply by Naoki Horii:

Google Translated: "So, in Uvsuna, I can play the game all the way through.
The graphics (modeling) will be reconstructed again, but please look forward to this as well"


Interesting................... Does that mean they're going backwards or forwards heh!

[MarioNintendo]

Personally, I'm a big fan of the music they shared so far. It sounds like its own thing. People who are afraid about Iuchi doing the same thing twice need not worry, in my opinion. This recent reveal renewed my excitement for this game. I hope it will receive a PC release.

[evil_ash_xero]

I agree it's pretty shabby considering development supposedly started in 2014.

If this ever comes out (I'm still skeptical), I'd love to hear the story as to why it took so long. I mean... did Iuchi fall into a coma or something?
Anyone even know if this is going to be sprite work or polygonal?

The music isn't bad thus far. I'm just up to the first boss theme.

[xxx1993]

Now that Sol Cresta and Andro Dunos 2 are out of the way, I’m eagerly waiting for this game.

[kid aphex]

I agree it's pretty shabby considering development supposedly started in 2014.

If this ever comes out (I'm still skeptical), I'd love to hear the story as to why it took so long. I mean... did Iuchi fall into a coma or something?
Anyone even know if this is going to be sprite work or polygonal?

The music isn't bad thus far. I'm just up to the first boss theme.

There’s some early WIP footage of Ubusuna from a Dreamcast documentary a few years back and that version of the game was completely polygonal.
In this most recent update, they’re saying they’re going to rework all the graphics, but I doubt that means they’ll revert to 2D.

[kid aphex]

Uploaded a GIF of the footage for those curious:

https://imgur.com/a/zDFOus7

[evil_ash_xero]

Uploaded a GIF of the footage for those curious:

https://imgur.com/a/zDFOus7

Interesting, but they sure are keeping the actual gameplay footage secret.

[BIL]

I'm a little concerned the title is an anagram for "Anus, buu" tbh :/ Lends towards an unfortunate surprise!

[prophetic]

I'm a little concerned the title is an anagram for "Anus, buu" tbh :/ Lends towards an unfortunate surprise!

Even more worrying: read backwards it says "anus ubu."

[Abadd]

Ubusuna is a stone-like callback so maybe this will be a RSG/Ikaruga prequel

[xxx1993]

Ubusuna is a stone-like callback so maybe this will be a RSG/Ikaruga prequel

Not a sequel?

[kid aphex]

Maybe it’s not related at all other than that it’s made by Iuchi.
I mean, he did make Kokuga which contains a lot of Ikaruga design and style language… but it doesn’t really have anything to do with it, directly.
I guess we’ll see.


PS, if you’ve never listened to the Kokuga OST, you should— it’s awesome (Namiki’s work)
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCRa ... ThuGqzv9zj

[pja]

Ubusuna is a stone-like callback so maybe this will be a RSG/Ikaruga prequel

Not a sequel?

Well, can't be officially a prequel/sequel unless Treasure is somehow secretly involved.

But I can totally believe this is something of a "spiritual succesor" - not only the Japanese name of The Stone-Like is "Ubusunagami Ōki-no-Kai", this soundtrack also has a lore dump throughout the video and the fragment that mostly jumps out is

Spoiler

In the distant past, a crystalline object that held great power descended from the sky

.

I like the music, it does feel more like a Silvergun than Ikaruga - what I find interesting is how long these tracks are, which maybe means long stages? (But it could be also just edited that way for the video).

[xxx1993]

I don't mind the music either. The whole plot involving our two protagonists trying to clear their name after being framed for a crime they didn't commit kinda feels a bit like The Fugitive or The A-Team, though.

[Warp_Rattler]

Ubusuna is a stone-like callback so maybe this will be a RSG/Ikaruga prequel

Not a sequel?

Well, can't be officially a prequel/sequel unless Treasure is somehow secretly involved.

But I can totally believe this is something of a "spiritual succesor"

I feel like I'm going crazy because I can no longer find any references for this, but I've had it in my head that Ubusuna had the designation/code-name/whatever of "Project RS-3" for at least a year now, which would make the connection more explicit (or as explicit as the ones between Ikaruga and RSG, in any case). I could have sworn that the Famitsu M2 interview from October 2021 that Rastan78 posted was where I picked this idea up, but on going back I see no mention of any "Project RS-3" whatsoever. Is "Ubusuna=Project RS-3" a real thing that other people have seen, or did I catch some kind of reddit curse or something that causes me to make up stupid fan theories that I insist are plausible despite a total lack of any supporting information?

https://www.4gamer.net/games/613/G061334/20221216116/

Here’s an article that includes better images of the ship design.

While not remotely proof of any sort of connection, that 2P ship has a few features that remind me of Ikaruga's Ginkei, that tail piece particularly (best represented in the "TOP FORNT VIEW").

[kid aphex]

I’m not sure the RS3 thing was ever official.
Though, if it was, you could probably find proof of it over at Iuchi’s blog (http://www.vgmaterials.com/)

But… I think I remember ‘game journalists’ and blogs referring to RS3 even before Kokuga was released.

Edit- Found something quoted as early as 2009 on the assemblergames forum

posted by GaijinPunch on Oct 11, 2009:

-Hiroshi Iuchi has left the company
-Project RS-3 is apparently on ice

This gels with what I recall, as RS-3 was initially rumored as an Xbox 360 project.

[kid aphex]

More digging, from his blog:

2009/01/06

さて、数年前までシューティングをメインに作っていた人間が、もう外注としてのお手伝いだけで、シューティングを作らないのか？と思われているかもしれませんが、決してそういうつもりではありません。かつて、私の中でProject RS-3（ある種、片方のRS-3）であった物も、すでに何年も前から企画草案は出来上がっていることも事実です。

ただ、私としては、まったく焦ってはいません。もし作ることがあるのならば、その時期が来た時に作れば良いと思っています。リリース方法も「同人」から「メーカー商品」に至るまで、一つではありませんし、のんびりしていたら市場が無くなるとも思っていません。

もちろん、シューティングを作る事は、言うほど簡単ではありません。隙間産業の１つぐらいに捉えて、安易に手を出すと思わぬしっぺ返しを食らいます。作り手として、しっかりした作品を作るには、ある種の「犠牲心」や実質的な「ボランティアのような行為」が必要になるのですが、それはなかなか周囲に理解され難いものです。ですから、その苦汁を舐める覚悟が無ければ作らない方がいいのでしょう。
そうやって、体を壊していれば世話が無いと言われたら、返す言葉もありませんし・・・・・

だから、今は色々なタイトルに関わって、感性の幅を広げるのも良い事かな？という気もしているのです。

Google translation:

Now, why aren't people who mainly made shooters a few years ago no longer make shooters just by helping out as outsourcers? You may think so, but that is not the intention. It's also true that what used to be Project RS-3 (a kind of RS-3 on one side) has already been in the planning stages for many years.

But for me, I'm not in a hurry at all. If there is something to make, I think that it should be made when the time comes. There is more than one release method, from 'doujin' to 'manufacturer products', and I don't think the market will disappear if we take it easy.

Of course, making a shooter is easier said than done. If you take it as one of the niche industries and get involved easily, you will get an unexpected backlash. As a creator, creating a solid work requires a certain kind of "sacrifice" and a substantial "volunteer-like act", which is difficult for those around me to understand. Therefore, if you are not prepared to lick the bitterness, you should not make it.
Like that, if I was told that I wouldn't be able to take care of you if my body was broken, I wouldn't have any words to reply...

So, is it good to be involved in various titles now and broaden the range of sensibilities? I feel like that.

Little to no insight, but there it is for anyone who’s curious.

I think the long and short of it is that because of its pedigree and mainstream clout, there’s a certain amount of frothing demand for a sequel to Ikaruga (and RSG) that leads a lot of people inferring a lot of things, which is particularly easy to do over the span of a fifteen years and between two languages.

[Sumez]

frothing demand

[xxx1993]

Honestly, this game should have happened after I was done with both Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga.

[Warp_Rattler]

Found something quoted as early as 2009 on the assemblergames forum

posted by GaijinPunch on Oct 11, 2009:

-Hiroshi Iuchi has left the company
-Project RS-3 is apparently on ice

This gels with what I recall, as RS-3 was initially rumored as an Xbox 360 project.

I'm sure I was peripherally aware of it being in the works at the time, but I'm still surprised this has had such a long development period. I feel like my mental conflation of Ubusuna with RS-3 was much more recent, like just in the past few years or so (when I also discovered that Iuchi had been employed at M2 for some time).

I think the long and short of it is that because of its pedigree and mainstream clout, there’s a certain amount of frothing demand for a sequel to Ikaruga (and RSG) that leads a lot of people inferring a lot of things, which is particularly easy to do over the span of a fifteen years and between two languages.

Yeah, the most likely explanation is that I just picked the idea up in passing at some point in the past few years, though I have no idea where it would have been. I don't spend much time on dedicated game news sites, and more dedicated sources of info such as this website generally trend towards more accurate/specific details. I'll just chalk it up to some sort of odd, digital-age Mandela Effect or something.