Sunrider 4: The Captain's Return

I really liked the first two games, a lot actually, but this installment... how do I put it... the combat is complete absurdity. I'll finish the game anyway since I bought it, but I won't be waiting for future sequels, because I know that if they ruined one thing, they'll ruin the rest. It's hard to highlight any pros other than the improved artwork (though it's still just okay), so let's talk about the one massive negative. The combat: 1. The balance is complete crap. 2. Ryders, which are supposed to maneuver effortlessly, have turned into tanks on ice. Clunky and useless. The accuracy is absolute ass. 3. Commands are completely gone, they just cut them out. Or at least I don't have them at this stage of the game. 4. Battles are now unforgivably dragged out and chaotic. I even set it to the lowest difficulty to get through it faster, but even a simple, easy fight still takes a ridiculous amount of time. 5. Weapon accuracy is total trash, at least without upgrades. It's so bad that they really needed to justify it in the story, because... well, factually, such abysmal accuracy shouldn't be possible for advanced war machines. Other cons: 1. Loading screens everywhere. 2. The UI, …

Meh. It's not bad but it's not good either. If there was a neutral review I'd maybe go for that one but as it is i can't recommend it. I don't know what they were thinking but while the gameplay got way more interesting, unique and fun (except for a few rough edges), the story's quality tanked quite a bit, nothing from the previous saves mattered and then they expect you to go through that again for a tiny 2 minute cut scene "secret ending". They somehow just collected all sorts of typical writing short cuts and stereotypes. Themes of colonialism, racism, Capitalism vs evil Communism, 8 different dere-types etc... I was expecting for SOMETHING to come up to freshen things up as it happened before, especially since they've showed different perspectives about communistic ideas, but nope nothing. Just evil Fontana man being evil. The guy had so much character in previous games. It was alright but definitely the weakest in the series, except for the combat.

it's ok

Well, I'm only getting around playing the third part* of this saga now, despite buying it right upon release. The reason being that playing through Mask of Arcadius, then Liberation Day and then Captain's Return takes a really long time and I always got distracted by other games half way through. But this time I'm actually starting with CR and it's pretty amazing. What I personally love about the Sunrider series is not just the long running story, and it's a decent story not the usual Visual Novel horsedung, but also the evolution of gameplay details over 11 years. Captain's Return offers a lot of smart details that feel immersive, while at the same time allowing for a large number of custom settings so really every type of player can enjoy themselves. It's a bit of a shame how every sequel in the series sold less and less copies on Steam, and how few people actually know the franchise. If you happen to stumble upon this for the first time it's one of the few series where I would really recommend to get all of them and play it in order. Normally devs tend to kinda sideline their older titles to make the story more accessible - but not Love in Space. And that's what makes Sunrider…

The 4th one is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, it is one of the most unique combat systems I`ve ever seen, on the other, playing it strikes a "doesn`t quite work" kind of zone, mainly owing to a handful of owerpowered spells and not being allowed to move twice on a continuous grid. Legit most my gripes could be solved if movement wasn`t limited to once per turn. Nonetheless, there are fun builds for every unit in your roster and it`s quite satisfying to demolish everything in your path, even if the game is a lot easier than it`s predecessors. The story works for what it is, a justification for a bunch of massive battles. It has it`s moments but they mostly stand on the sheer power of the music. I hate pretty much every secret ending, so here I am, collecting hearts throughout the entire game, only for the end to cut out at "let me tell you my story" then at least tell me the fking space pirate story or smth ffs, what was the point?

Wonderful game, fixes everything wrong with the 2 games before. It has good graphics, 3x the plot(and actually well paced and mature this time) and a much more in depth combat system. Only bad thing is the AI being very stupid in it's tactical decisions but nothing that can't be fixed with a higher difficulty.