Game Review: Azure Striker Gunvolt 1

The Azure Striker Series, a game which centers around the Protagonist named Gunvolt, is a game set place in a future setting where humans with advanced powers (Called Adepts) live and exist among people without such powers. The plot is relatively different in both games, but both have a relatively similar structure.

Azure Striker Gunvolt one is the first game in the series, and for a limited time had a free copy of Mighty Gunvolt come with it when you bought it on the Nintendo 3DS E-shop. It is also available on Steam. The game centers around the titular Gunvolt, an Adept with the powers of electricity. In this game, Gunvolt is apart of the organization Quill, which wants to liberate Adepts who are under control from a massive organization named Sumeragi. Sumeragi accomplishes this through the “muse”- a program that emits song that controls Adepts. Throughout the game, you will fight different adept members of Sumeragi, each with their own abilities and fights.

The gameplay is quite fun. It boils down to tagging an opponent with your gun, and then electrocuting them with your flashfield. It’s similar to the Megaman X games on the SNES, with side-scrolling selectable stages and fluid action. Gunvolt also has special abilities different from the flashfield- You start out with 2, and unlock them as you level up. They range from a sphere of electricity, minor healing, to a massive blade, and more. As you do damage and defeat enemies, your “kudos”, or score, goes up. The more kudos you earn, the higher your score. They stack up when you shock enemies or do things like finishing a boss with the skill. If you get hit, you lose all your built up kudos- You can only “redeem” these kudos for score when you pass a checkpoint, use a non-healing/buffing skill, or end a level.

You also make equipment in this game. After each completed level, there is a random item draw, which can then be made to create better gear for yourself to use. Craftable equipment ranges from new tags, different armor, and even accessories. The mentioned accessories have notable effects- Some will give you an Air Dash, while some optical armors will increase the health you get from health kits. You unlock more craftable equipment as you craft more, ensuring a sense of progress throughout the game.

Another redeemable quality that should be mentioned is the game’s well done graphic design. Everything flows smoothly, and I can see all the action on my screen without any obstruction. The art is also a well done feature, and shows the intensity of the characters I’m using and fighting.

Overall, this game gets an 8.5/10. It does what it does extremely well, however the difficulty of maintaining all of one’s kudos (If you get hit once you lose them all) ensures that only the best players will get the best scores. New players will find it near impossible to get even a mediocre score without immense improvement.