Ace Team’s SolSeraph immediately grabbed our attention when it was surprise-announced at the end of last month. Here, finally, was a spiritual successor to SNES classic Actraiser that looked to head back to the roots of the franchise by reinstating the winning combination of platforming action and Populous-lite strategy that was foolishly axed in favour of straight-up hack and slash gameplay in the sequel; it even has a theme written by Yuzo Koshiro, composer of the music from the 1990 original. How could we not get excited?
If you’ve played Actraiser you’ll immediately recognise the rhythm of how SolSeraph plays out. Here you play as the God Helios, imbued with the ability to control weather and charged with providing a helping hand to various groups of hard-up denizens spread across a handful of locales as they attempt to construct villages while under attack from various evil nasties. Just as in the original game, you’ll need to expand your villages so that you come into contact with nearby enemy lairs which then need to be taken out; this is where you’ll drop down to ground level, switching to hack and slash platforming action to mop up bad guys and take out a boss or two.
Actraiser kept things pretty simple with regards to its strategy; you’d pick a direction to build in and let the villagers get to the heavy work as you patrolled the skies above shooting arrows at any pesky enemies in the vicinity in order to gain SP and keep construction moving on the ground. Your powers were, for the most part, used to take care of natural obstacles; wind could blow impeding sand dunes away in Kasandora, for example, or your lightning could remove trees and bushes that stood in the way of building progress in the forests of Fillmore. It was as basic as top-down strategy could get, but it struck the right tone and married well to the brilliant platforming action that took place once you dropped down to ground level.
SolSeraph attempts to add to this unique recipe by introducing more depth and immediate peril to the strategy side of things. It’s still no Civilization, nor would we want it to be, but things have been beefed up considerably here to make things more dynamic. Now, instead of just patrolling the skies and letting your subjects do all the hard work below, you are directly in charge of what types of buildings are being constructed, and that construction is taking place against a clock counting rapidly down to an incoming wave of enemy attacks.
You’ll start off by building simple homes to provide yourself with the beginnings of a population and as soon as you build your first house that old clock will start ticking down to an enemy onslaught. Before that happens you’ll need to build farms to provide food for your citizens, then a barracks for your defensive garrison, an archer’s tower will most likely come next, and you’ll certainly need to get yourself a lumber mill lest you run out of wood to build more fortifications. All these various constructions require a certain amount of people to run them and so you’ll need more houses to shelter more manpower, more food to feed them, more wood to build… you get the general idea. As enemy forces attack, your denizens on the ground will do their best to fend them off as you patrol the skies above, just as in the original - except this time, instead of a little arrow-shooting cherub, you’re a winged God, zipping around in the sky using your lightning attacks from above to zap monsters or summoning a warrior on the ground to help out as enemies march towards your village looking to breach your defences and reach the flame at its heart; let a designated number through to this sacred fire and it’s game over.
Enemy forces will always follow set attack paths which are highlighted by cobbled walkways snaking from their cloud-shrouded lairs right into the centre of your villages and, as you play, you’ll unlock more building types to set at strategic points along these paths in an attempt to block their advances. There are magic towers that shoot lasers in four different directions, perfect for setting where multiple enemy paths converge, spike traps, magic bombers and a handful of special constructions, totem poles and watch towers, that buff the attack abilities of your nearby offensive structures. The goal in all of this is to successfully defeat waves of enemies until you gain the required amount of souls to build and man a special temple as close to the nearest enemy lair as possible, clearing the clouds around it and enabling Helios to drop in and attack it in side-scrolling mode. Each lair that you successfully attack won’t shut down, as you might expect, enemies will still spew from it on the next attack, but it does shake away some of the outer protection of the level’s final boss lair, make your way through all of a level’s enemy encampments and you’ll then face off against that boss in order to bring total peace to the region.
It’s a pretty decent system that adds quite a bit to the original Actraiser’s attempts at strategy, and, if it were fused to the same high level of platforming action as we got in that game, Ace Team would really be on to a winner here. Unfortunately, it’s on the ground that SolSeraph almost completely loses the plot.
The side-scrolling hack and slash sections of this game are pretty bad. Movement is clunky, levels are repetitive and generic, enemy designs are lazy and the platforming veers between boring and frustrating. There are also some bizarre design choices at work here. Sometimes you’ll have an on-foot level that plays out as you’d expect, with Helios traversing from left to right killing bad guys, in these levels the game is at its best, a tried and tested formula, pretty bland but it is what it is. More often, however, you’ll be dropped into an area that’s one or two screens long, you’ll kill all the enemies and then another bunch will appear on the screen. They won’t drop in from the sky or ride in from the right hand side of the screen, they’ll just instantly all materialise at once, sometimes right on top of you, most times completely surrounding you; it kills any sort of nuance or skill about these sections of gameplay stone dead.
Enemies also attack you in the most infuriating ways possible; archers shoot you before you can see them, knocking you off whatever perch you were on into some spikes or thorns (so many thorns!), foot soldiers jump at you in such a haphazard way that even using your shield doesn’t block the damage in any dependable way because they land just behind and on top of you. Enemies are also often grouped together in such a way that you can’t possibly avoid all damage because Helios isn’t nimble enough to avoid several projectiles at once. Get a bunch of wizards shooting orbs and regular grunts firing arrows at you from all sides as you try to negotiate more thorns or some lazily slapped together platforms and you'll soon learn the health benefits of a good old fashioned rage-quit.
Whilst on the ground you’re tasked with collecting various orbs that upgrade your mana pools, enabling you to use your weather powers for longer in top-down mode. You’ll also find health upgrades and, upon beating a boss, gain a new elemental power to use in side-scrolling action; these new elemental powers only go to highlight how badly designed the side-scrolling sections are, in that we didn’t feel the need to use them at all. They don’t add anything to the game or make things easier or introduce any sort of new offensive strategy for you to take advantage of, they’re just there; use them if you want, it won’t change the fact that you’re facing off against very dumb, repetitive AI that will hit you more often because you couldn’t get out of the way rather than out of any sort of skill on their part. In many ways it feels like an unfinished game; like Ace Team ran out of time, had to rush these sections out the door, and this is a feeling that’s added to no end by the graphics, resolution and overall performance on Switch.
We’re honestly not sure we’ve played a blurrier looking game than SolSeraph on Nintendo’s console, it’s admittedly not as bad in docked mode as it is in handheld, but it still absolutely falls short of a reasonable resolution and this problem is compounded by the fact there are seemingly no shadows in effect anywhere in the game, giving the whole thing a really washed out, undetailed look. It's not all bad; there's a good-looking game hiding in here somewhere, with some decent enough animations to how enemies move, the world map is very nice and the little vignettes that pop up on screen to explain your denizens struggles and stories as you build their villages have a lovely Banner Saga feel about them, but, overall it's a visual mess on Nintendo's platform. It also struggles at most times to maintain a steady framerate. Whether zipping around the overhead map constructing buildings and trying to stem the tide of enemy invaders or on the ground in the platforming sections, there are frequent dips that interfere with gameplay, and it’s especially noticeable when you’re trying to make your way across some of the less forgiving platforming areas of the game.
Having returned to the original Actraiser whilst reviewing this game it’s amazing just how much better the side-scrolling aspects of that twenty nine year old game feel compared to this modern reinvention. Levels are well-designed with considered enemy placement, they've got little puzzles here and there, challenging but fun platforming sections and memorable boss encounters; it all adds up to the kind of exacting, polished gameplay you’d expect from a SNES game and it’s unfortunate that what Ace Team has come up with here falls so far short. Over the course of the five or six hours it took us to complete SolSeraph we didn’t come across any more than a handful of sections of on-foot gameplay, those contained within the Mount Agnir region of the game, that were in any way fun to play; the rest were a chore from start to finish.
Conclusion
SolSeraph is a tale of two games; it manages to successfully add some depth to the strategy elements of its inspiration, creating a fun little top-down side to things whilst falling way short of that game in its platforming sections. Even if you're a diehard Actraiser fan and you've been chomping at the bit for this day to come and even if you're willing to put up with the shoddy action sections, there's the matter of the extremely blurry, odd-looking graphics and unstable framerate to contend with. It genuinely feels like an unfinished game in places, and it’s a real shame. If Ace Team had managed to put together any sort of decent side-scrolling action here it would have been on to a winner but, as it stands, this only goes to highlight what a miracle, what a classic for the ages Actraiser really is, whilst confirming itself as, unfortunately, one to avoid.
Comments 48
Well that just sucks. I was really hoping this turned out well. The strategy section sounds like it got too much attention while the action stages were a total afterthought. Oh well, maybe someone will make a true ActRaiser sequel/spiritual successor, but this clearly isn't it.
Noooooo! Was hoping this would be much better. Seems to be getting consistent "meh" reviews. Daggum shame, guess it's back to Actraiser for the 100th time. Hope we get the original on Switch in some capacity soon.
Oof! Well time to power up Actraiser on my Wii virtual console then.
Man, I'm so done with these poorly optimized Switch ports. Either take the time to make sure it runs well docked and undocked or don't port it at all. It's especially insulting when these low-rent 2.5D games struggle to even run on the system.
Although, from the review, it sounds like we're not missing much anyway.
The concept of this game seemed awesome! I've never played the original Actraiser but now I want to go back and play that game if it's objectively the better experience.
@Ralizah you know, at some point we must face the reality that the switch itself might be the problem and not the 10s and 10s of "shoddy" ports. All those developers can't all be the root of the issue.
I know it's something we probably don't want to acknowledge around these parts.
@hihelloitsme - I really doubt a PS2 port running horrendously is because of Switch's power, I doubt the low-demand indies have a similar problem.
This may be one of those times where the rug is just too small to sweep all their dust under and blames the house for the mess.
I'm glad I started to lose interest in this, saves my wallet. It's unfortunate, because there could really be something going. It's hard to beat Act Raiser, though. I think I'll play that this evening.
@hihelloitsme I think the issue is often smaller studios porting to Switch as an afterthought. If a team builds the game with the Switch in mind from day 1 they will be constantly keeping performance in mind so it will work out better in the end. A small studio only has so much cash to spend optimising years worth of work, and it sometimes ends up in a mess. I think as the Switch player base grows and game sales remain high in comparison to other platforms Switch will be in the running straight away. In fact this is probably what's happening now with games which will be out next year and later.
Darnnnnn had so high exeptations for this one, now Im waiting for a deep sale
@hihelloitsme Sure they can. Because we've seen far more technically ambitious games running relatively well on the Switch when the people porting them put some effort into the process.
At some point, you need to face the reality that, oftentimes, companies are just lazy and try to milk the Switch's increasingly large userbase with low-effort, poorly optimized ports. And trying to act like this is purely due to the system's lack of power is an insult to companies that make sure their games DO run well on the system.
@redd214 Yes, please. I'd love to have all of Quintet's SNES stuff on Switch.
I really hate that this didn't turn out well, I was absolutely dying to play a good Actraiser clone, but it seems this game isn't what I wanted. Oh well... less money to spend I guess and all the more reason to enjoy Actraiser for what it is.
@Ralizah is correct, there's loads of quality Switch ports out there and while many of them still don't look quite as good as their big brother counterparts on PS4, Xbone, and PC, they're amazing technical achievements. Unfortunately, for every truly great Switch port out there, there's about 5 more terrible ones that follow. It makes you really appreciate what they were able to do with games like Hellblade, MK11, and Doom.
Looks like another Bloodstained-quality Switch port.
Pass.
@Onion Right. No amount of optimization is going to get big games running as well on the Switch as they do on the home consoles. There's just a lot less to work with in terms of system resources. But you can still make sacrifices to ensure that the gameplay experience is pleasant.
Well, that's a shame. I was looking forward to this as a fairly-familiar fan of ActRaiser...
Yikes. Why would SEGA publish this?
Dreams shattered.
@hihelloitsme
As everyone else says, that makes no sense. How am I playing Doom and Mortal Kombat then?
Gutted, I really hoped this would be a return of the ActRaiser-em-up. Oh well, time to pop the ActRaiser cartridge into the Super Famicom again...
The comment about "no shadows" in the game is confusing me, since between the screenshots in this very website and a player review I just looked up on YouTube — https://youtu.be/O8a3wWesLm8 — it looks like there's shadows around the area and being cast by Helios just fine. Is there something else that it is referring to?
Either way, still gladly getting it.
@hihelloitsme That would had been true if it also didn't run like crap on the other platforms as well. Chances are these devs want money so bad that they release it being buggy and broken ala Bloodstained then after release they'll slowly start to patch it with firmwares. Games are beginning to follow that trend and it's sickening.
@hihelloitsme The hardware being almost a generation behind the competition is no excuse for games running poorly or looking rather unimpressive. Xenoblade Chronicles, for example, came out on the Wii of all things and looked a lot better than many games on the PS3 or Xbox 360, especially when you take into account the enormous draw distances. Hell, even the 3DS port of it looks almost identical to the Wii original and that's running on a 3DS, in 3D!
I, too, look forward to the day Nintendo will decide to use the latest and greatest hardware again to rival the graphical power of their competitors' consoles, but talented (and preferably not lazy) developers can pull off fantastic feats even on poor hardware.
I cannot believe the tagline is a reference to a Vita game nobody played.
@Totaldude911 Actually a reference to a Santana song 😉
Welp, I'll be skipping it then
I was so excited for this game! Actraiser was a childhood favorite that I have returned to on many occasions. Sad to read such a negative review.
I seem to be in a minority when I think even ActRaiser was middling at best...
@PJOReilly Wow, I am cultured in all the wrong ways!
I don't trusted the review. I will play it and decide it for myself. Review sucks and inaccurate. We are all different.
@azoreseuropa and @sabrewing Once ya play plz post here and let me know. I’ll probably get this either way, but it’ll be a difference of now or on sale. (Granted $15 isn’t much for a game now days, but I’m broke from MUA3+DLC And FE this month, let alone all the other indies....)
@hihelloitsme If that was the case, how come so many developers can port with no problems? Rocket League, Warframe, Doom, Wolfenstein, and others seem to do pretty well. I blame the publishers for not optimizing.
@Drac_Mazoku Let me say this: this is the review which talked most badly of the game. Others are giving scores 6,5-7,5.
Not such a big surprise for me tbh.
As i watched the trailer for this game, my levels of excitement dropped considerably when i got to see the side scrolling parts. They already lacked polishing since the beginning.
Actraiser this is not.
How could a game like this fail? This game was developed by the original Actraiser team how come final product ended bad?
@LaytonPuzzle27 well like @Flashboomerang said, this review bashed it the most. Others are placing it around a 6.5-7.5. It’s likely, just like Bloodstained, this version wasn’t planned from the get go combined with a team not experienced with the Switch, and possibly not contacting Nintendo for help to get things running smoothly. Though I hear all versions have hiccups. Regardless, the platforming section seems to be lackluster, but honestly I never played ActRaiser for the platforming either. I just liked the idea of building towns and being praised and rewarded for building em.
I'm sure genre fans will still appreciate the effort, and that ACE learned many valuable insights from finishing a game such as this. Working with SEGA as a publisher is bound to have been a rewarding experience too.
Here's hoping their next effort really comes together. I mean, I wouldn't be against a sequel with bolder art direction and more focus on getting the most important mechanics feeling just right. :3
@Dm9982 It's not the case. the character move in the same way in all the versions. The complains of the review are present in all the versions. About what is wrong, is more like people never played actraiser and are complaining about actraiser caracteristics. Add to it which obviously, always is hard to the developers reach the level of the original one and...
Yowch.
Better to just re-release ActRaiser
@FlashBoomerang Ah, then its gotta be a case of not-fully-fleshed-out ideas, a small team coming to grips with modern coding/game design, and/or rushing to put it out.
Thankfully a lot of it can be patched, if need be. I concur about some not remembering correctly or playing ActRaiser at all. The platforming was pretty stiff actually. But it did sorta feel like Capcom made a Konami Castlevania - sprites were bright like trademark Capcom, and the stages felt and looked like levels from Castlevania. Still, that said, stuff was def a bit stiff and clunky back then. So that I can forgive even in today’s games - BS:Curse of the Moon is stiff like old school, yet still awesome!
@Fake-E-Lee ty! Plz do! I’m on the same fence as you, loved AR back in the day. And even with a negative review I’m still intrigued by this.
@Fake-E-Lee sound like me, I grew up in the NES/SNES days, so I too am extremely forgiving - I still bought Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night on Switch even given that it’s the worst of the versions. Still a great game, but def needs some work. And my thought is NOT buying the game just tells devs people aren’t interested on that Platform.
@Fake-E-Lee Awesome! Ok yeah I’m getting it then, thanks for the update good sir!
@Fake-E-Lee Yup glad I got this, made it through the first stage - nothing spectacular as I assumed, but the building aspect is worth the price of admission alone. A natural evolution of ActRaiser. Hopefully milestones are similar and I’m gain more health with high population.
@Fake-E-Lee 😆 Finally hit adulthood we have
Love the title, "SolSeraph" but the review is a bit let down.
Heard my friend wants to get it, so I'll might just play it on his and then may consider getting it.
Well, after playing this for 40 minutes, here's my thoughts.
The platformer sections are similar to ActRaiser 2's, but a bit more responsive, and you unlock the additional powers as you go as the review says. It's not very deep, but it's overall functional, though I would have liked a forward dash in addition to the backdash used with the A button. It's pretty generous with health and mana restores, so it would take some effort to die there.
The town sim is more in-depth than ActRaiser's, which is to be expected since now it's half tower defense, and with the hard cap of running out of wood in comparison to AR's 128 buildings. I don't mind the "mini-gauntlet" monster lairs so much, because even AR just gave you two dungeons per region to fight through, and they give you some upgrades for your troubles.
I -will- concede that this one appears less focused than AR's, because I just got a dialogue from the NPCs about "Oh, I hope my brother in Neighboring Region is okay..." and I had only sealed one monster lair. Yeah, you could return to the Sky Palace and explore wherever in AR, but they still had the settlers wait until you had mostly finished your business in area 1 before nudging you into that. Plus with how the continents are arranged, I don't know what would qualify as "area 2"; it's like spokes from a wheel and you begin in the center. But I'm one of those freaks who likes linear progression in games; wide-open sandboxes make me freeze up with indecision.
Overall, I'm actually quite pleased with SolSeraph, even if it's asking me to basically make my own fun now. People forget that ActRaiser was more than the sum of its parts: there's no way the side-scrolling or sim portions were strong enough to stand on their own, but they came together to form a nice package, and now I get to enjoy that with (mostly) modern graphics and storytelling. I hope ACE gets to tackle the formula again and improve with what they learned from making this.
@jcvandan Many games, specially indies, are made with ready-made engines, like Unity or UE4 which are resource intensive and were made with other platforms in mind. Porting those games to Switch will always mean big concessions.
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