Natsuki Chronicles

Natsuki Chronicles provides an easy to play, but hard to master gameplay, making shmups more accessible then ever, with a story mode, that while simple, manages to delivers a compelling plot. Each chapter is very short, so it's easy to learn the ropes of that specific level, combined that you can tailor suit your weapons for that stage as well, and select a difficulty that you seem fit for yourself, makes this game very welcoming to any type of player. The graphics are nothing too crazy, none of the ship designs stand out to me, but as any good shmup the music is stellar, definitely a strong point of this game. Natsuki Chronicles strikes a good balance for seasoned players, controls feel very smooth, you've two different speed setting so you can have one dedicated to reposition your ship, and another for more precise controls. The upgrade system is interesting, the more you play the game, you can unlock different upgrades in the story mode, that work as a level select for you to practice that arcade run.

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Natsuki Chronicles follows suit with Ginga Force in regards to the overall quality of the game, while shifting the gameplay perspective from vertical to horizontal and tweaking things here and there to distinguish it from its prequel. However, some changes can be a hit or miss depending on the players personal taste. In my opinion this game is wayyy harder than its prequel due to changing the main health mechanic from being based on a lives counter to it being turned to a shield that cannot be replenished for more than three bars. I truly enjoyed the bump in challenge but the devs leaned heavily towards replaying all the stages over and over to unlock better weapons and to increase the players shield per level. Which is by far my biggest gripe towards this game because I felt that I didn't lose due to my mistakes but I was given a disadvantage that I couldn't get off without me grinding the levels over and over again. Other than the forced grinding, this game offers a Steller presentation and a banging soundtrack that improved nicely on its prequel's formula. They toned down on the cringy Japanese dialogue which seriously broke my heart a little and made me miss all the times …

Excellent, excellent game. I beat this yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it. It's structured like a cross between a Euroshmup (think Tyrian or Raptor Call of the Shadows) and a Japanese bullet hell.

not that it isn't still a great shmup with a great soundtrack, but this is easily the weakest of the series in my opinion. get ESCHATOS and Ginga Force

Superb Shmup. Picked it up for AUD$1.50 (USD$1.00). Can't believe my luck. It's a decent game at 10x the price. Good weapon/upgrade progression (which I like) and not too bullet-hellish. Crisp graphics and good bosses. I'm missing half the plot because the audio dialogue during the action is in Japanese and I'm too busy dodging and shooting to be reading the English subtitles in the top right corner! Regardless, buy this game! A lot of love went into it and its heaps of fun.