Hey again everyone!
SOL CRESTA director Takanori Sato here, fresh from narrating a parody commercial with the voice everyone tells me is like honey (although I’m sure they’re just having fun).
Right now, we have a demo running in some famous arcades and SOL CRESTA’s release date of February 22nd is right around the corner, so what better time is there to go over the basics of SOL CRESTA?
I talked a bit about the game systems last year, but there have been a lot of power ups since then. Even if you read the last post, you should be sure to read this one too!
There are three basic systems of SOL CRESTA that I’d like to dive into this time: docking and splitting, formations, and the Sol Gauge!
The docking interceptor Yamato that you control is composed of three fighters.
There’s Unit 01, Amaterasu, which represents the sun and has lasers as its main weapon.
Unit 02, Tsukuyomi, represents the moon and has missiles as its main weapon.
And Unit 03, Susano, represents the earth and has drills as its main weapon.
These fighters combine with each one in the lead, center, or rear position, and by changing their docking order you can change the Yamato’s equipment and use the best shot for the situation!
When the Amaterasu is in the lead, the main shot becomes a tri-laser. It’s not very powerful, but it shoots in three directions to cover a lot of space!
With Tsukuyomi up front, the ship gains plasma missiles. They home in on enemies and deliver an extra shock on impact!
Put Susano in the lead and the ship can use drill shots! These multi-hit shots pierce enemies and can break boulders!
When the Amaterasu is in the lead, the main shot becomes a tri-laser. It’s not very powerful, but it shoots in three directions to cover a lot of space!
With Tsukuyomi up front, the ship gains plasma missiles. They home in on enemies and deliver an extra shock on impact!
Put Susano in the lead and the ship can use drill shots! These multi-hit shots pierce enemies and can break boulders!
If you split the three Yamato fighters apart and get in special Formations, you can use temporary but powerful Formation Attacks! Each Formation requires a corresponding Formation Chip to activate, so be sure to collect them on sight!
Form a reverse triangle to activate this Formation. You’ll be able to spread a wide cone of fire enemies will find hard to evade. However, the shots aren’t that powerful, so don’t get careless with more powerful enemies!
Form a vertical line to activate this Formation. You’ll fire special spinning shot to both sides that deal big damage. It’s a bit hard to hit directly in front, but if you do the enemy won’t be in front for long!
Form an L-shape to activate this Formation. It creates a giant diagonal beam that vaporizes enemies! By changing the direction that the L-shape faces, you can choose one of four directions to shoot!
Form a diagonal line to activate this Formation. It emits a rotating laser that attacks all enemies on screen. This versatile attack offers full coverage!
Form a horizontal line to activate this formation. It fires crescent-shaped shots forward and backward and is one of the easiest Formations to use.
You can even use it when you only have two fighters!
Collect the medals that appear when you do things like defeat enemies and destroy enemy traps to fill up the Sol Gauge on the right side of the screen. By filling the Sol Gauge, you’ll keep powering up the Yamato!
Let’s look at some of the power-ups you can earn.
This makes a Sol Emblem appear. Collect it to summon a friendly fighter!
This makes a Formation Chip appear!
This unlocks Command Shots that let you fire forward and backward!
This unlocks a Command Shot that lets you fire in all directions!
This increases your max shields by one!
This boosts your attack power!
This adds an extra ship to your stock!
Once you fill the Sol Gauge completely one time, some of the power-ups will turn into score bonuses, so filling the Sol Gauge can also help you earn higher scores!
So that was our latest look at SOL CRESTA’s core systems. What did you think?
It may be hard to get a handle on everything at first, but once you get used to them, you’ll be controlling all three fighters like an ace pilot!
And aside from the core systems, there’s a variety of gimmicks too, so I’ll introduce a few of those.
Shoot these to build up SP Gauge energy and keep those Formation Attacks coming!
Shoot these with the corresponding color shots to break them open and get the item inside!
That’s all for now, then. See you next time!
SOL CRESTA
Release Date (Digital): February 22nd, 2022
Platforms: Nintendo Switch / PS4 / Steam
Price: $39.99/€39.99
Languages (Text): English, Japanese
Copyright: PlatinumGames Inc./HAMSTER Co.
SOL CRESTA Dramatic DLC
Release Date: February 22nd, 2022
Price: $10.00/€10.00
Language (Text): English, Japanese (Voice): Japanese only
SOL CRESTA Dramatic Edition (Bundle)
Release Date (Digital): February 22nd, 2022
Release Date (Physical): Autumn 2022
*Physical copies made to order by Limited Run Games.
*Pre-orders will be available from February 4th until March 20th.
Price (Digital): $49.99/€49.99
Price (Physical): $49.99
Platforms (Digital) Nintendo Switch / PS4 / Steam
Platforms (Physical) Nintendo Switch / PS4
Language (Text): English, Japanese (Voice): Japanese
*Contains both base game and Dramatic DLC
SOL CRESTA Dramatic Edition Collector’s Package（Nintendo Switch / PS4）
Release Date: Autumn 2022
*Collector’s Package made to order by Limited Run Games.
*Pre-orders will be available from February 4th until March 20th.
Price: $129.99
Includes: Dramatic Edition, outer box, mini arcade video player, 3 acrylic figures, 7 postcards, 2 Sol Medals, 1 pin badge, 1 metal ship figurine and the complete soundtrack on 2 CDs.
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Takanori Sato After joining PlatinumGames in 2010, he worked as a game designer on Anarchy Reigns, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and The Wonderful 101 and later went on to direct The Wonderful 101: Remastered, PlatinumGames’s first self-published title. His latest work as a director is Sol Cresta, the first title in PlatinumGames’ Neo-Classic Arcade series. |