R-Type Final 2

[Nester the Lark]

Here's a new interview with Kazuma Kujo at Eurogamer.

Here are a few interesting parts:

It did feel like a grand farewell. How has the landscape changed to make it viable for R-Type to come back now?

Kazuma Kujo: [laughs] I get that question a lot! When we released R-Type Delta, I thought that would be it, that there wouldn't be a tonne more games in that genre. I certainly didn't think that I'd be asked to make another game in that genre. However, the genre did not die!

In 2003, when R-Type Final was released, I thought that was definitely going to be the end! But contrary to that, the genre stuck around! They have staying power! On top of that, these great indie shooting games were releasing in the genre as well. So that's one reason.

One other thing that's kind of changed was wider TVs. Widescreen is the standard. In my eyes, an R-Type style game on that type of TV feels like a natural fit. But when I presented it, I did not expect the reaction to be what it was - I figured it'd maybe have more of a cult following. We got a really big response and I was surprised by that.

. . .

The original R-Type Final was quite a traditional shooting game, as opposed to more hectic bullet hell type games. Is that going to be a similar case with R-Type Final 2, where it'll be a kind of more sedate, traditional type of shooting game?

Kazuma Kujo: It's definitely coming away a little bit from the danmaku genre and is going to have a more traditional flow. Even if danmaku was all the rage, R-Type would never be that kind of game!

Some more specific questions about R-Type Final 2. You said about making an R-Type game for widescreen TVs. How does that impact the design of the game, the pace and the feel, when having that space?

Kazuma Kujo: The first thing that comes to mind with widescreen TVs, we're able to have what I consider to be a proper distance between the ships and parts of the stage. There's certainly more freedom in general, and essentially making enemies was easier - the process is just a little more natural and a little simpler because of that. We did have to increase bullet speed as a result - if they stayed the same speed the pacing would not feel quite as good so their speeds were increased. It resulted in a creation process that was a bit different than the previous games.

R-Type Final was known for its huge selection of ships. I know you're not going to have quite as many this time around. But how did you go about that selection process and deciding which ones to keep and which ones to discard?

Kazuma Kujo: First of all, I chose the ones I liked the best!

Haha, that's the perfect answer.

Kazuma Kujo: So first I started with the ones that I liked. And eventually they just kind of went in order, and the idea was to fit in as many as possible. I haven't told anyone else this yet, but the end goal, possibly with DLC later on, is to have every single R-Type Final one ship in R-Type Final 2.

I like that he makes the point that R-Type will never be a bullet hell-style shooter. I'm not a big fan of bull hell shooters, and I much prefer classic-style shooters, but even most modern indie shooters that try to be retro in style can't help but fill the screen with bullets. It's like some developers forgot what made classic shooters so good.

And besides, can you imagine a bullet hell shooter where you got sent back to a checkpoint every time you lost a life? (Some of the Gradius games do veer towards that, though.)

[Nester the Lark]

NISA demoed the first stage during the New Game Plus Expo live stream yesterday. The commentary is really annoying, and they don't say anything of substance, so feel free to mute it.



The stage seems rather sparse and uninteresting, and doesn't seem too challenging despite the difficulty being set above normal. These are complaints I've heard against the first R-Type Final, as well. If you compare it to the first stages of any R-Type game previous to Final, there's quite a big difference in pacing and design. I hoped for something a bit more inspired (although, Dobkeratops, the boss and a recurring enemy in the series, being frozen in ice was kind of interesting, I guess).

The game will have recreations of previous R-Type stages as bonus stages, so there's also that. I suppose the real appeal is to experiment with all the different ships, but I still hope the level design gets better later.

[Nester the Lark]

There's now a demo available on the eShop in North America (and, I assume, other regions). It includes the first level, three ships (which can be customized), and four difficulty settings.

Based on it, I'm happy to learn that the Switch version seems to run just fine (to my satisfaction, at least). I also had a surprisingly hard time beating the boss until I figured out a strategy that works.

Aside from the demo, I was disappointed to learn that the bonus levels that recreate classic R-Type stages are planned to be paid DLC. Although, if you backed the crowdfunding campaing at a tier for either a digital or physical copy of the game, you'll be able to get them for free.

[Nester the Lark]

I found out that in addition to the three ships in the demo, you can actually unlock three more, so the demo actually has a total of six ships. You have to finish the first stage, and then purchase the additional craft in the Museum mode with the materials you collected. Unfortunately, the demo doesn't save progress, so you would have to unlock them again every time you start the demo.