Raiden V: Director’s Cut

Genre: Shmup

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local), Online Leaderboards, Other Online Features

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Review:

The Raiden series are Shmups, with the first game having been released to arcades in 1990. Raiden V was originally released on the Xbox One in 2016, with the game making the jump to other platforms a year later in the game’s Director’s Cut, which added new stages and voice-overs. This version of the game saw release on the Nintendo Switch in 2019.

In terms of presentation, this game looks decent albeit nothing super-impressive, although unlike many games in the genre, this one actually makes use of its 3D engine to move the camera around the ship during cutscenes and give the scenery an added level of depth. With this game taking place above terrestrial locations on the Earth, there’s some degree of variety to the backdrops you’ll be flying over, which is nice.

However, I can’t discuss the presentation without also mentioning the sound… and story. Yeah, as much as Shmups generally don’t need story, this game is absolutely dedicated to shoving that story down players throats, with characters constantly chattering during missions, and often about random and pointless nonsense. Early in the second level, the two characters on your headset argue about coffee beans for some reason.

To make things even more inexplicable, both this chatter and the game’s music are often swallowed up by the noise of explosions from combat, meaning that even if you wanted to listen in on their chatter, you’d have difficulty doing so. Really, I’m not even sure why it’s here.

As for the gameplay, this is mostly fairly standard stuff for the genre, with a fair amount of variety in the game’s three ships and multitude of selectable and upgradeable weapons (including a purple laser weapon that automatically strikes out at enemies and seems far too overpowered). However, there is one unusual addition here in the form of a “cheer” system that lets players lend support to others playing the game online by “cheering” for them to boost their power. It’s an odd addition, but it is at least unique.

If I had one major complaint about this game, it’s that while players can equip their ship with three upgradeable weapons at a time, there’s no way to switch between them without grabbing a pickup, and as players will no doubt find favorites among the lot (I’m looking at you, purple laser), not knowing when they’ll be able to switch back will make them less willing to experiment with the others.

However, overall Raiden V is an enjoyable Shmup, albeit one that makes some unusual choices and has a few niggling flaws. Fans of the genre will find this one to be worth a look.

tl;dr – Raiden V is a Shmup that offers a good amount of variety in its weapons and settings, and while it makes some odd choices and has a few flaws, it’s still a decent entry in the genre worth trying out.

Grade: B-

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