If you haven’t heard of Natsuki Chronicles, you can be forgiven. This is not exactly a mainstream title, but then, most shmups aren’t. They’re getting more and more popular though, and Qute Corporation has brought some of the best sleeper shmups out over the last decade or so. This is the company responsible for Judgement Silversword, Eschatos, and the predecessor to Natsuki Chronicles, Ginga Force. Thankfully, Rising Star Games has finally localized Natsuki Chronicles (and Ginga Force) bringing us one of the best modern shmups to come to a console in quite some time!
Natsuki Chronicles follows the story of Natsuki, one of the enemies from Ginga Force. The two games stories are parallel with Natsuki Chronicles showing the other side of the conflict. It’s a decent storyline, if you can manage to follow it. Sadly, there’s so much going on while the characters are talking that there’s literally no way to actually read the story as it unfolds in Story Mode and the spoken dialogue is in Japanese. Aside from that small issue, it’s an interesting plot, made more so by the interplay of story between Ginga Force and Natsuki Chronicles. But enough about the story, let’s get on to the gameplay!
This is not your standard horizontal shooter (or hori). Natsuki Chronicles starts you out with a spread laser weapon and a rear weapon, as well as stationary options. There’s an autofire button, a rear fire button, and one to power up the options as shot blockers. Instead of lives, you’re given three shield levels and as you take hits, your shields drop. They slowly recharge if you dodge enough enemy fire, but you can only take a few hits or hit a few background walls before you’re done for. Enemies start coming at you fast and furious pretty quickly too, and if you manage to survive to the end of the first level the first time around, you’re doing pretty good. What you’ll notice first though is the red lines all over the screen. Natsuki has one of the most unique combat systems ever for a shmup. Each enemy shot is seen through your ship’s bullet trajectory system and given a trajectory path shown in red across the screen. This creates a fire web where you can predict shots and dodge through them, skimming in between blasts as they come from around the screen. It’s a bit busy at times, but it’s a fantastic-looking effect that’s incredibly well-executed. It definitely takes a bit of getting used to though!
That’s not where the real surprises lurk for Natsuki Chronicles however. The fun really starts after you die for the first time. Die and you’re given a ranking based on your performance in that level, starting out at D and capping out at S+++ for a perfect score (I definitely didn’t get that). That ranking is based on your survival through the level and the number of enemy ship formations you took out. Killing enemies is swell and all, but if you wipe out an entire group of enemies, it counts towards both your score and you’re level ranking, which is incredibly important in Natsuki. Reach A ranking or above and you’ll be racking up the points even if you die. At that point, your performance is evaluated and you’re given points for it. These points are key, allowing you to buy weapons upgrades at the beginning of every level and unlocking new ones as you level up. Additionally, you gain experience and as you go up levels, your shields level up as well, giving you an additional EX shield per level. EX shields add on to your existing rechargeable shields, allowing you to take extra hits. This practice-makes-perfect approach is integral to your survival and progress in Natsuki Chronicles, as you can add more and more EX shields as you retry levels until you have enough extra defense to survive even if your shmup skills are sub-standard. This balanced approach makes Natsuki Chronicles one of the most beginner friendly shmups ever!
That’s not all though! Remember those weapon power-ups you can buy? There are an absolute ton of them! Dying actually nets you cash if you repeat levels so you can grind your way to victory, buying everything along the way. There are level upgrades for most every weapon from your starting rapid-fire laser to the homing lasers and the wall-penetrating wave guns. There are rear homing weapons, bombs that can fire in various directions, and a host of other weird and wonderful options to choose from. Actually, even the options have options! In addition to front and rear weapons being interchangeable, which in itself is a nice departure from diving through bullets to get the right weapon upgrade, your shield options have multiple configurations as well, including rotating options and even an attack mode where they burst from your ship to obliterate enemies. All these weapons lead to a vast array of configurations and part of the charm of Natsuki Chronicles is experimenting to find out what weapons work best. Stage Four for example requires a very specific weapon configuration if you expect to survive it! And if you’re skimping on the weapons upgrades, chances are you won’t survive long enough to rank up and won’t earn money to buy more!
Aside from the wonderful world of weapons that Natsuki Chronicles gives us, there’s an abundance of excellent gameplay as well. Enemies are often weak but come in from all angles of the screen with a wide variety of attacks. The occasional stronger enemy arrives here and there through the levels, usually with a more complex bullet pattern or stronger attack, but the focus here is mostly on dodging bullets and trying not to get hit too often. Levels have a solid variety of designs, backgrounds, and enemy types, and they pay tribute to a number of classic shmups. The graphics aren’t the fanciest, but honestly, the screen is so busy that if things were too fancy, it would probably be distracting. Wait until you creep through tunnels being hounded by robots shooting at you from behind and can’t touch the walls or have to dive between bursts of densely packed firing patterns to progress through an auto-scrolling level that’s moving more than a bit faster than you anticipated. You’ll see.
Then there are the bosses. This is where Natsuki Chronicles turns from a technical horizontal shmup with some neat ideas into an absolute masterpiece. Boss fights in Natsuki are a thing of beauty. Interesting bullet patterns bordering on the bullet hell of Cave games mixed with strong enemy design and unique, unexpected attacks. Chances are high that you won’t survive your first boss encounter on any given level. These guys are tough! Learning the patterns can be done with patience for even the average player though, as none of them are impossible and as you gain EX shields, you’ve got more than a fighting chance. Perseverance is demanded! Your hit box is fairly small in Natsuki and darting between bullet onslaughts is fun and rewarding. By the time you manage to kill a boss, chances are high that your ranking is at least A and dying will get you a fair reward in points, experience, and shields. Survive and you feel powerful and vindicated! The bosses are definitely a high point here, especially once you manage to get to them regularly. They’re also a way to radically boost your score to S+ ranks, as quick takedowns of bosses net you massive points bonuses. That’s something that’s probably more for the experts though…
Did you think that was all? It certainly isn’t! In addition to story mode, Natsuki Chronicles also features a separate arcade mode, remixing levels slightly, removing the plot elements and story, and turning the game into a traditional horizontal shmup, complete with power-up collecting! For those purists who don’t want a story and just want to blast through the baddies without losing their groove in a menu-management system, this is the mode for you! Arcade mode lets you blast back through all the levels in Story mode, but they feel somehow different, more traditional but still just as challenging. Oh, and there are online leaderboards for arcade mode as well, so you can show your battle prowess for all to see, or marvel at just how inferior you are compared to the world’s top players!
As stated before, Natsuki isn’t a visual masterpiece in terms of background or detail. It’s a solid looking game with great enemy design, sure, but the texture mapping is minimal in many areas, and honestly, it’s so busy that that doesn’t matter. The same can’t be said for the soundtrack however. The soundtrack in Natsuki tries. It really does. But it just comes off as a generic electronic soundtrack, definitely not what one would expect for a game that’s as unabashedly fun as this one. There’s simply not much in the way of catchy, flashy music that really gets the blood pumping here, and it’s a shame, as this is the perfect game for some really thumping electronic music. But if that’s the lowest point of Natsuki Chronicles, it still sets a pretty high bar across the board.
It might sound like this is the best hori shmup since sliced bread here. There are plenty of other great contenders out there, but be assured that the praise for Natsuki Chronicles is well-deserved. From the amazing bullet trajectory system to the excellent boss design to the unique weapon selection system, Natsuki Chronicles oozes quality at every turn. The minutes fall away into hours while playing and it’s almost impossible to tear yourself away from just one more game. For the incredibly low $20 price that Rising Star is asking for this one, you’re guaranteed to get hours and hours of gameplay out of it, both in arcade and story modes. Do not hesitate on Natsuki Chronicles. Even for vertical fans, this is a killer shmup and absolutely not to be missed!
This review is based on a digital copy of Natsuki Chronicles provided by the publisher. It was played with a Playstation 4 Pro on a 1080p 55” Sony HDTV. Natsuki Chronicles is also available for PC on Steam. If you’re interested in shmups and want to check out online communities, also feel free to visit both the Shmups Forums and on Facebook, Retro Gamers Hub which has an active shmups specific section.