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RanceJustice
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2003
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About a year ago I mentioned it briefly in a thread for another game, but i think it deserves it own - Zero Ranger -
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/809020/ZeroRanger/ -
On its surface, it is an EXCELLENT vertically scrolling shoot-em-up in the best traditions of the Japanese genre. Its not quite "bullet hell" in the way a Touhou Project game would be, but boss encounters and some special circumstances definitely approach that level of "filling the screen with stuff you have to plan how to avoid OR counter". The artwork , music, and level, and character designs are all great and if that's all it was, I'd say it would be more than worth the asking price. $12 is a steal for a title like this, but keep in mind it rarely seems to go on sale unfortunately However, it goes above and beyond with its attention to detaill.
***WARNING*** I am going to attempt to minimize spoilers. Its best to go in completely blind, but I will make reference to some very general concepts that, if you're aware of or interested in, will mean the game will be al the more likely enjoyable for you. If you don't even want to see those, I'd stop reading now and just pick it up ***WARNING***
Zero Ranger makes reference to and incorporates so many concepts from philosophy, theology, and just plain popular culture that enhance the narrative. On the very surface, the game loads (make sure you watch the first introductory video - it will be cryptic at the time, and likely LONG into the future. It doesn't always play the same video at startup) with the typical for the genre setup akin to "A powerful alien entity is attacking from deep space. We sent the fleet headed by our best super space fighter- they disappeared, and the entity is still getting closer. Now, we need YOU to mount our last defense or Earth is done for.". The particulars become clear (or maybe not ) as you play, and how much attention you pay -, but even if you aren't the kind to pick out every reference its still a wild ride. Here are a list of very general concepts and references that if any of them make you say 'That's right up my alley!", then be sure not to miss
Mecha anime from the old school space opera in the 70s to more recently, especially those produced by Gainax or their "successor" studios like Studio Trigger
Buddhist theology/philosophy
Xenogears / Xenosaga / Xenoblade game series, Nier Automata / Niet Replicant, and a number of other titles.
The luminaries of the shoot-em-up genre over the past few decades.
What appears to be one game is actually 3 - and only 2 of which have been released so far. The core "Green Orange" campaign is the primary focus. You choose between one of two ships and set off on your adventure. Along the way, choices matter in terms of mechanics and at times, story; sometimes you have more choices than you think. While you can earn new lives through score multipliers, there are a fixed amount of continues that start out small, and grow up to a maximum point through your different playthroughs (note: You will want to max them out before you attempt anything close to the end of the game.) You will not be likely to make it far on your first run unless you're a particularl shmup veteran. Over time you'll learn the differences that come from the different ships and weapons wil become available to you and how they can be used in different encounters. There are tons of small differences in how encounters can go from 'rank' and invisible measure of difficulty (ie you ever wonder why you're doing really well and it seems like the bad guys shoot more bullets since you haven't died for awhile? They do), to different bosses and mini-bosses, different ways of taking them out, to even major choice like what "form' you'll end up fighting or how far you get. Along the way, there will be bits of the story made avaiable to you bit by bit, implication by implication, and a heavy lore dump as you approach the latter phase of the game when things start to get freaky and continue to get even more so. ***Special Tip*** when you reach the 'boss rush' and you're an "orange' and meet the "sokushinbutsu", just pop his 'sleep bubble' without hitting him for a small lore dump then, skipping the hardest fight of that series, and if I'm right it unlocks a BIG lore dump later ***Special Tip concluded*** I'm not sure how much more I can say without revealing things people may want to find for themselves so I'lkk just say its worth it but remember, two things - When you meet 'that person' again who gave you something important, show them what you've learned , and finally when it all seems hopeless and someone gives you a choice to risk it all and asks 'are you sure" multiple times THEY ARE NOT KIDDING.
The other game mode, "White Vanilla" is somewhat...easier perhaps, but is different in its own right. A 'training simulation" for the Green Orange mission, the scoring and mechanics are totally different as you go through a similar but not entirely similar encounter. Your job is to get as high a score as possible, a Z rank, for each section and at the end of your run, all your ranks wil be totalled up. It also has its own 'true last boss" who is extremely difficult. There are bits of the story here to, especially if you beat the secret boss. Note that the weapons you choose in White Vanilla may be totally different from those you'd prefer in Green Orange (for instance, in GO the "charge shot" I find WAY mor useful late in the game, but in WV the ' homing laser ' is instrumental in getting high scores in many place) . I spent quite some time just trying to get above a B/B+/B++ rank in White Vanilla and it made me much better at Green Orange, but going back was still a different experience. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get a Z rank or get all the achievements (there's even a special achievement for basicallly getting all of them in one single run), but its well worth it as a near separate game in its own right and brings me back to play another go through.
The final game mode, rumored to be called "Black Onion" and supposedly the hardest challenge planned for the title is still abscent from the mode select, its box blank. Fans have rumors of what it is hoped to include, but we're yet to see. The developers seem to update the game once per year, in September for its anniversary. Last year though came a surprise - Void Stranger.
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2121980/Void_Stranger . Instead of updating Zero Ranger, they released an entirely new, different game...with some thematic links. Void Stranger is a sokoban block pushing puzzler but like Zero Ranger , is more than it first appears. I' nowhere near as far into it as a have been with Zero Ranger, but I am starting to see some of the cracks in the facade that promise more secrets behind them. Very different style of game,but well worth it if you're at all open to its mechanics, to say nothing for the story. Some said that now that Void Stranger released, they'll go back to work on the last Zero Ranger expansion but they're quite tight lipped about the whole thing.
Not sure if anyone else has picked up either one of them but figured we could use a thread. Neither go on sale very often, but on Itch or Steam you can sometimes find them for around $8.xx. Hope anyone else playing, enjoys them.
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/809020/ZeroRanger/ -
On its surface, it is an EXCELLENT vertically scrolling shoot-em-up in the best traditions of the Japanese genre. Its not quite "bullet hell" in the way a Touhou Project game would be, but boss encounters and some special circumstances definitely approach that level of "filling the screen with stuff you have to plan how to avoid OR counter". The artwork , music, and level, and character designs are all great and if that's all it was, I'd say it would be more than worth the asking price. $12 is a steal for a title like this, but keep in mind it rarely seems to go on sale unfortunately However, it goes above and beyond with its attention to detaill.
***WARNING*** I am going to attempt to minimize spoilers. Its best to go in completely blind, but I will make reference to some very general concepts that, if you're aware of or interested in, will mean the game will be al the more likely enjoyable for you. If you don't even want to see those, I'd stop reading now and just pick it up ***WARNING***
Zero Ranger makes reference to and incorporates so many concepts from philosophy, theology, and just plain popular culture that enhance the narrative. On the very surface, the game loads (make sure you watch the first introductory video - it will be cryptic at the time, and likely LONG into the future. It doesn't always play the same video at startup) with the typical for the genre setup akin to "A powerful alien entity is attacking from deep space. We sent the fleet headed by our best super space fighter- they disappeared, and the entity is still getting closer. Now, we need YOU to mount our last defense or Earth is done for.". The particulars become clear (or maybe not ) as you play, and how much attention you pay -, but even if you aren't the kind to pick out every reference its still a wild ride. Here are a list of very general concepts and references that if any of them make you say 'That's right up my alley!", then be sure not to miss
Mecha anime from the old school space opera in the 70s to more recently, especially those produced by Gainax or their "successor" studios like Studio Trigger
Buddhist theology/philosophy
Xenogears / Xenosaga / Xenoblade game series, Nier Automata / Niet Replicant, and a number of other titles.
The luminaries of the shoot-em-up genre over the past few decades.
What appears to be one game is actually 3 - and only 2 of which have been released so far. The core "Green Orange" campaign is the primary focus. You choose between one of two ships and set off on your adventure. Along the way, choices matter in terms of mechanics and at times, story; sometimes you have more choices than you think. While you can earn new lives through score multipliers, there are a fixed amount of continues that start out small, and grow up to a maximum point through your different playthroughs (note: You will want to max them out before you attempt anything close to the end of the game.) You will not be likely to make it far on your first run unless you're a particularl shmup veteran. Over time you'll learn the differences that come from the different ships and weapons wil become available to you and how they can be used in different encounters. There are tons of small differences in how encounters can go from 'rank' and invisible measure of difficulty (ie you ever wonder why you're doing really well and it seems like the bad guys shoot more bullets since you haven't died for awhile? They do), to different bosses and mini-bosses, different ways of taking them out, to even major choice like what "form' you'll end up fighting or how far you get. Along the way, there will be bits of the story made avaiable to you bit by bit, implication by implication, and a heavy lore dump as you approach the latter phase of the game when things start to get freaky and continue to get even more so. ***Special Tip*** when you reach the 'boss rush' and you're an "orange' and meet the "sokushinbutsu", just pop his 'sleep bubble' without hitting him for a small lore dump then, skipping the hardest fight of that series, and if I'm right it unlocks a BIG lore dump later ***Special Tip concluded*** I'm not sure how much more I can say without revealing things people may want to find for themselves so I'lkk just say its worth it but remember, two things - When you meet 'that person' again who gave you something important, show them what you've learned , and finally when it all seems hopeless and someone gives you a choice to risk it all and asks 'are you sure" multiple times THEY ARE NOT KIDDING.
The other game mode, "White Vanilla" is somewhat...easier perhaps, but is different in its own right. A 'training simulation" for the Green Orange mission, the scoring and mechanics are totally different as you go through a similar but not entirely similar encounter. Your job is to get as high a score as possible, a Z rank, for each section and at the end of your run, all your ranks wil be totalled up. It also has its own 'true last boss" who is extremely difficult. There are bits of the story here to, especially if you beat the secret boss. Note that the weapons you choose in White Vanilla may be totally different from those you'd prefer in Green Orange (for instance, in GO the "charge shot" I find WAY mor useful late in the game, but in WV the ' homing laser ' is instrumental in getting high scores in many place) . I spent quite some time just trying to get above a B/B+/B++ rank in White Vanilla and it made me much better at Green Orange, but going back was still a different experience. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get a Z rank or get all the achievements (there's even a special achievement for basicallly getting all of them in one single run), but its well worth it as a near separate game in its own right and brings me back to play another go through.
The final game mode, rumored to be called "Black Onion" and supposedly the hardest challenge planned for the title is still abscent from the mode select, its box blank. Fans have rumors of what it is hoped to include, but we're yet to see. The developers seem to update the game once per year, in September for its anniversary. Last year though came a surprise - Void Stranger.
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2121980/Void_Stranger . Instead of updating Zero Ranger, they released an entirely new, different game...with some thematic links. Void Stranger is a sokoban block pushing puzzler but like Zero Ranger , is more than it first appears. I' nowhere near as far into it as a have been with Zero Ranger, but I am starting to see some of the cracks in the facade that promise more secrets behind them. Very different style of game,but well worth it if you're at all open to its mechanics, to say nothing for the story. Some said that now that Void Stranger released, they'll go back to work on the last Zero Ranger expansion but they're quite tight lipped about the whole thing.
Not sure if anyone else has picked up either one of them but figured we could use a thread. Neither go on sale very often, but on Itch or Steam you can sometimes find them for around $8.xx. Hope anyone else playing, enjoys them.
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