Well, that was unexpected. Sega has just revealed that it is publishing ACE Team's SolSeraph next month, and it's the closest thing we're going to get to an ActRaiser sequel in 2019.
Placing you in the role of Helios, Knight of Dawn, the child of god and man, and all-round good egg, SolSeraph mimics the dual gameplay modes of Quintet's 16-bit classic.
In strategy mode, you'll "guide each tribe to expand their territory, building new homes, farms, roads and other means of daily life, while also manipulating the weather to the village's benefit", which sounds jolly nice. In the action mode, "Helios will delve into the creature lairs where he'll need to fight his way through utilizing his sword, shield, and magical archery". If it all sounds a bit familiar, that's because it is – pretty much the exact same format was utilised in the SNES gem from 1990.
As if to make the connection even more obvious, ACE Team has enlisted the assistance of video game music legend Yuzo Koshiro, who created the epic soundtracks for ActRaiser 1 and 2. He's only contributing the opening theme this time around, but it's nice to have him involved. Meanwhile, Jonas Kyrazes of The Talos Principle fame is writing the game's story.
Chilean studio ACE Team is clearly a big fan of the original game, and its previous titles – Zeno Clash and the Rock of Ages series – show it has a strong track record. It's all looking pretty swish, and will certainly scratch the itch we've had since ActRaiser 2, which sadly omitted the Populous-style strategy sections when it launched back in 1993.
SolSeraph comes to Switch, Xbox One, PS4 and Steam on July 10th, with a download cost of $14.99. According to Sega, the European price will be very similar.
Comments 43
Never heard of ANY of this but that game looks fantastic.
Looking forward to a review.
I’m 100% in on this! I have no idea how a game similar to Actraiser has never been made ...or Actraiser 3 for that fact. The original is simply one of the best games I’ve ever played.
@BacklogBlues Chances are someone else owns the rights to the series and it would have been a big ordeal for them to get the rights to it.
Sure you Could help the villages. But are there also options to completely ruin their lives?
Oooh, this looks fancy. I thoroughly enjoy some ActRaiser
@BacklogBlues ...Because Sega isn't SquareEnix? EDIT: Why delete your comment when it was just a simple question?
The original team was part of Enix... So...
Would have preferred slick modern sprite work but it still looks great.
Oooh, love it~ Interesting choice for Sega to publish, that's for sure.
Sold! Definitly worthy the price! This is a game to do Quintet fans happy.
Man, I so love Actraiser but this game.. Nah, doesn't move me at all. Beautiful screenshots, but the gameplay video of the action parts seemed iffy.
I'm hoping for a demo, let's keep it at that
Missed out back on the SNES, but Act Raiser was the first thing I bought on the Virtual Console. It's definitely a "greater than the sum of it's parts" situation. The action sidescroller and strategy sections are both kind of simplistic on their own, but put together make for a unique and memorable experience. If this fleshes out both aspects, it could be excellent.
Less "spiritual successor" and more "blatant copy" (which is fine as long as it plays well), but yeah.
I was just playing ActRaiser the other day and having all sorts of nostalgia vibes. It's a wonderful game...shame the sequel opted to remove the world building parts in favor of only pure (and hyper difficult) action stages.
This is looking and sounding quite nice.
I wish ActRaiser was available to buy.
Who would've guessed after a 2 second Google search i figured out Square Enix owns the rights. I tried to delete the post real quick @patbacknitro18 @HobbitGamer. So i wouldn't look like an idiot. But it's too late for that now.
@BacklogBlues It’s alright, when it happens to me I just pretend it’s because I’m thinking of too much awesome stuff 😂
I think Quintet did the Actraiser 1 and 2 and Soulblazer for Enix on SNES. I think that small studio got lost when Square acquired Enix.
Actraiser is in my top 10 of all time. PLEASE be good. I'm very intrigued so far!
Spiritual successor? That /totally/ looks like ActRaiser! I'm in!
Actraiser is a classic. Glad someone is bringing it back in some form, even in the form of a shameless copy. I'll wait for a review though.
Another good IP for Sega. May check it out.
I've loved Actraiser since I was a kid. It's a classic. I still have the SNES cartridge and play through it regularly. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this one.
To quote Belle & Sebastian "nobody writes them like they used to so it might as well be us".
Squeenix dont seem to care about their old IPs that arent Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest or Mana so go ahead Sega, do modern versions. While you're at it an open world version of EVO: Search for Eden? Maybe some of the ones you haven't bothered to do yet? Ristar? Dont let Sonic Team do it though...Wayforward? come on!
i miss actraiser so much! Was an awesome SNES game. Been through it about 4 times total, and never got old. So glad to see the unique genre come back
Glorious. Sega though? Hmm, probably won't be released physically. Tragic.
Man Ioved the Act Raiser games on SNES, I hope this can catch a little bit of the glory of that game at least. Will probably wait for a review if we hopefully get one for this.
This looks good.
Edit: Saw somebody wish for a new EVO. That would be amazing. I still go back and play that game.
I love Act Raiser, and for the most part it looks like a pretty good replica. I applaud them for imitating a forgotten gem. But that's where it ends for me... I would need to at least see good reviews to even take a chance on it. For now I'll just keep an eye out.
@MeloMan I feel ya, I too wait for reviews from time to time. Not that it always matters, in this day an age games get released and patched after the fact. So what starts as a polished turd can indeed become a diamond in the rough.
Dragon: Marked for Death is one such example, it’s different than any original review would state. Same with Gear Club 2. Hopefully Bloodstained joins the ranks as I’ve heard the switch version is rough. Still bought it, but may wait to play.
So since I like the look of this game, would I also like Actraiser? I'll see if I can play it on my days off.
Wow, this game looks really good!
Wallet......can’t........take......much......more.......of......this............
Cool...
...but why does it look so butt ugly some a design standpoint? The game feels like it's an asset flip, when I get the impression it isn't...
What's with the timid dropdown map rotation? Should have gone all Actraiser mode 7 madness.
Nough say, day 1 from me.
Man I thought my buying gameplan was set in stone until October but I met have to get this. Actraiser was one of my absolute favorites as a kid and this looks pretty good and at a decent price point. Really hope it turns out well!
Day one baby. That looks great, and the price is right!
ActRaiser was a pretty good game, at least considering that in Japan, it was quite good for chronologically a single digit in the Super Famicom library (nine games released in that month and a half of 1990 it was available).
Never played Act Raiser but sounds a bit like Dark Cloud.
Look great!
Actraiser is one of my favorite games, and I'm happy to see its full spirit intact and expanded upon.
@Bombdotorg999
Not an entirely unreasonable comparison! ActRaiser's entire schtick was the blending of top-view city management and side-scrolling action, with a few RPG-like mechanics tying them together. It predates Dark Cloud by ten years, and I'm sure the guys and Level 5 had it in mind during design.
@hadrian Squenix rarely lets the Enix half out to play unless it's DQ or Star Ocean. It's a real shame, Enix had some marvelous IP under their belt. Soul Blazer/Illusion of Gaia/Terranigma begs for a follow-up.
Fond memories of Actraiser. This looks nice too.
Holy crap, I've wanted a real sequel to this game since 1991 since the 2nd one was kind of a gameplay dumpster fire and removed the town building too. I hate it's digital only but damn that is insanely close to the source, I must play this.
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