Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX

Genre: Action-Platformer

Players: 1

.

Review:

Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX (from here on I’ll just say Gunvolt Chronicles) is a spin-off of the Azure Striker Gunvolt series focusing on that series’ supporting character Copen, in this game having garnered the nickname iX. While Copen controls much as he did in Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, this game departs from the Gunvolt games in that it wasn’t originally designed for the 3DS like the first two Gunvolt games were, releasing on PC and modern consoles in 2019, including the Nintendo Switch.

As one might expect, the presentation here is less a departure from the Azure Striker Gunvolt games and more a game that takes advantage of the fact that it was designed with consoles in mind, so while the game retains the series’ Mega Man-esque art style, there’s much more detail here, and everything doesn’t suffer from seeming “cramped” like the Azure games did. And like those games, these visuals still come with anime-styled art in cutscenes, and a mostly forgettable soundtrack of fast-paced J-Pop-y tunes. The result is a vibe that, as with the Azure game, nails the nostalgia factor of being similar to the Mega Man games, while not quite being as memorable as many of those were.

In terms of gameplay, you can once again expect a somewhat Mega Man-y Action-Platformer experience, albeit with Gunvolt’s signature “lock-on” twist, and Copen of course brings with him a fighting style that has him charging into enemies to lock onto them with his long-distance weapon. In addition, this time around, the game’s upgrade system is much easier to decipher too, simply having players collecting credits and spending them on the upgrades they want.

Also, because I found this to be an issue with the Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack, I feel I should mention that the $15 price tag for this game feels much more reasonable than what that collection costs, and on top of that this game overall makes a great entry point to the series. Yes, it doesn’t really explain the characters very much, but I’d argue the earlier games didn’t do well on that front either).

All in all, Gunvolt Chronicles is a spinoff game that I’d actually argue is better than the games that spawned it, with the move away from the cramped 3DS fixing a good number of the problems the Azure games had. It still doesn’t have anywhere near the memorable personality of the Mega Man X and Zero games that clearly inspired it, but if you’re looking for an excellent Action-Platformer in the same vein as those classics, this is absolutely a game you need to play.

tl;dr – Gunvolt Chronicles focuses on the Gunvolt series’ supporting character Copen, in an Action-Platformer that plays very much like the Azure Striker Gunvolt games but without the restricted limitations that those games had as they were originally designed for the 3DS and this was not. The result is what I would argue is a far superior game, and although it’s not nearly as memorable as the classic Mega Man games that inspired it, it’s still an excellent game in the same vein as those legends.

Grade: A-

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}