Survival horror and science fiction come together in the sequel to Galerians. In Galerians: Ash, you reprise the role of Rion as he fights the Last Galerians and their evil leader Ash, who wants to destroy all organic life on Earth. Joined once again by Lilia, you must battle your enemies with all-new psychic attacks and neural enhancers across new and expansive environments. In this game, a strong psyche, puzzle-solving skills, and quick reflexes are most valuable to success.
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as far as ps1 to ps2 sequels for semi-obscure games go this is one of the better ones. which unfortunately isn't saying much. story is good, everything else is awful. It feels like someone wrote a pretty good story script but the devs really failed in transfering that into an actual game. most of it is walking through empty corridors and the edge is really toned down which doesn't fit with the even darker setting and story. essentially: no exploding heads or blood in this game.
I still somewhat enjoyed it, I love galerians and shou tajima
I still somewhat enjoyed it, I love galerians and shou tajima
psychotic bishounen, HIGH&LOW in a world of horror
-The most natural evolution of action-horror ever developed. Its spaces respond to that attempt at polygonal evolution of flat and reflective corridors to give a cleaner and more sterile sensation, not as charismatic or dirty as in the first Galerians, more aware of its diegetic and Futurist possibilities and limitations, Y2k after all, empty space, reflections and liquids become something mystical again. FULL 3D, a sense of grandeur with cameras and cutscenes - limited, but visually seductive - replace controlled motion planning in the psOne's pre-rendered backgrounds, and its kinesthetic orthotics also move toward agile gameplay.
Nothing very naturalistic, however: the corridors and rooms do respond to a certain habitability logic, but the menus get in the way of the action, the protagonist's portraits appear as reflections on the screen when we pick up an object (looking at us) and the characters act differently. robotics. I think of these things when someone says "ps2 desing" I think of the start of the BIOS immersing myself in a virtual world. I think of a universe built without pretensions to hide in what medium it is based, embracing the digital in its presentation, out of necessity or conviction.
-The game is full of brutally interesting images, (this is only from its first hours https://twitter.com/Ardwyw/status/1575538820933906432) something in the middle between Event Horizon, BLAME!, Matrix, Cronenberg (that body horror ), something from the old Squaresoft and a J-Pop concert... Although this is seen more from the cinematographic (Cutscenes) than from the cinematic (in-game camera and scenery) and it's a shame because if sections like the final boss were more abundant the canned structure in labyrinths whose transit is not so interesting from a spatial point of view, it's not that I don't appreciate slow gaming but those corridors... I don't know.
- The action is only interesting with the bosses or sub-bosses, the rest were exercises to control resources and my nervousness, something that I already have very internalized. I also don't ask for the incredible exploration of objects and their effects on my avatar and enemies that BAROQUE had but, meh
I really appreciate this Galerians: Ash, but through sight, not so much when I play it
Although I will definitely return.
Arduween 1x03
-The most natural evolution of action-horror ever developed. Its spaces respond to that attempt at polygonal evolution of flat and reflective corridors to give a cleaner and more sterile sensation, not as charismatic or dirty as in the first Galerians, more aware of its diegetic and Futurist possibilities and limitations, Y2k after all, empty space, reflections and liquids become something mystical again. FULL 3D, a sense of grandeur with cameras and cutscenes - limited, but visually seductive - replace controlled motion planning in the psOne's pre-rendered backgrounds, and its kinesthetic orthotics also move toward agile gameplay.
Nothing very naturalistic, however: the corridors and rooms do respond to a certain habitability logic, but the menus get in the way of the action, the protagonist's portraits appear as reflections on the screen when we pick up an object (looking at us) and the characters act differently. robotics. I think of these things when someone says "ps2 desing" I think of the start of the BIOS immersing myself in a virtual world. I think of a universe built without pretensions to hide in what medium it is based, embracing the digital in its presentation, out of necessity or conviction.
-The game is full of brutally interesting images, (this is only from its first hours https://twitter.com/Ardwyw/status/1575538820933906432) something in the middle between Event Horizon, BLAME!, Matrix, Cronenberg (that body horror ), something from the old Squaresoft and a J-Pop concert... Although this is seen more from the cinematographic (Cutscenes) than from the cinematic (in-game camera and scenery) and it's a shame because if sections like the final boss were more abundant the canned structure in labyrinths whose transit is not so interesting from a spatial point of view, it's not that I don't appreciate slow gaming but those corridors... I don't know.
- The action is only interesting with the bosses or sub-bosses, the rest were exercises to control resources and my nervousness, something that I already have very internalized. I also don't ask for the incredible exploration of objects and their effects on my avatar and enemies that BAROQUE had but, meh
I really appreciate this Galerians: Ash, but through sight, not so much when I play it
Although I will definitely return.
Arduween 1x03
Enjoyed it more than I expected, but I definitely understand why this isn't held in the highest regard. Environments are empty and not nearly as nice to look at as Galerians 1's pre-rendered backgrounds, there's way too much padding and backtracking, and most puzzles have some very questionable design.
That being said, I do like the new gameplay for the most part. I think the action combat has potential to be great, but the RPG elements and respawning enemies make it feel like a bit of a chore at times. I think a remake could really expand on it. The story I'm kinda whatever on, the first game ended definitively, but it (mostly) doesn't hurt its predecessor. I just wish it expanded further on the world of Michelangelo City, but hey, at least my "Galerians has gay subtext" headcanon is just literal canon now. I consider this a win.
That being said, I do like the new gameplay for the most part. I think the action combat has potential to be great, but the RPG elements and respawning enemies make it feel like a bit of a chore at times. I think a remake could really expand on it. The story I'm kinda whatever on, the first game ended definitively, but it (mostly) doesn't hurt its predecessor. I just wish it expanded further on the world of Michelangelo City, but hey, at least my "Galerians has gay subtext" headcanon is just literal canon now. I consider this a win.
galerians: ass
The 6th console generation was an era of experimentation: A lot of ideas were being thrown at the wall just to see what would stick, and even big-name IP's were getting in on this trend, with sequels and spinoffs that would completely eschew their predecessor's norm in lieu of brand new uncharted waters and gameplay ideas. Experimentation always runs its risks, and for every revolutionary idea, there's a hundred others that failed to deliver anything of note, and the latter is where Galerians: Ash unfortunately falls.
Taking place 6 years after the original Galerians, Rion is brought out of cryosleep by the last vestige of humanity in order to defeat the titular Ash: a walking nuclear reactor who's rendered most of the planet uninhabitable and plans to revive the villain of previous game. What follows is a bizarre sci-fi military action film/cyberpunk think-piece about identity and the dangers of AI that is equal-parts entertaining and borderline nonsensical in terms of its pacing and plot revelations.
Galerians: Ash distances itself from its predecessor's roots in many ways: shifting from Galerians' Y2K aesthetic and survival horror sensibilities, the sequel is an action-adventure game full of grey hallways and much less creative scenery and architecture in its levels. While AP management is still here, and your resources are still limited, enemies now re-spawn endlessly and drop both consumables and permanent stat-boosting items upon defeat, meaning combat has gone from a liability to a boon. However, while it's more emphasized and encouraged, the combat itself has not seen a step up in terms of quality. Aside from a new lock-on function and a dodge roll, the combat is still the same, clunky PSX-era survival horror combat the first Galerians had, and considering the first Galerians was trying to dissuade you from fighting enemies in the first place, encounters here can be tedious and incredibly unenjoyable. Compound this with a tendency towards tedium in it's structure, forcing you to constantly backtrack back and forth across samey maps looking for NPCs and key items to use in increasingly obtuse ways, and the game rapidly becomes a chore to play for extended periods of time.
While I've been exceedingly negative in my review up to this point, I can't really say that I didn't enjoy this game. Even if everything's a step down in terms of quality compared to Galerians, it still has that early 6th gen charm and the sense of style that made the first entry so enjoyable, and if you liked the first game, I would say Galerians: Ash is worth a shot, just to see how they expound on a story that really had no business having a sequel in the first place.
Taking place 6 years after the original Galerians, Rion is brought out of cryosleep by the last vestige of humanity in order to defeat the titular Ash: a walking nuclear reactor who's rendered most of the planet uninhabitable and plans to revive the villain of previous game. What follows is a bizarre sci-fi military action film/cyberpunk think-piece about identity and the dangers of AI that is equal-parts entertaining and borderline nonsensical in terms of its pacing and plot revelations.
Galerians: Ash distances itself from its predecessor's roots in many ways: shifting from Galerians' Y2K aesthetic and survival horror sensibilities, the sequel is an action-adventure game full of grey hallways and much less creative scenery and architecture in its levels. While AP management is still here, and your resources are still limited, enemies now re-spawn endlessly and drop both consumables and permanent stat-boosting items upon defeat, meaning combat has gone from a liability to a boon. However, while it's more emphasized and encouraged, the combat itself has not seen a step up in terms of quality. Aside from a new lock-on function and a dodge roll, the combat is still the same, clunky PSX-era survival horror combat the first Galerians had, and considering the first Galerians was trying to dissuade you from fighting enemies in the first place, encounters here can be tedious and incredibly unenjoyable. Compound this with a tendency towards tedium in it's structure, forcing you to constantly backtrack back and forth across samey maps looking for NPCs and key items to use in increasingly obtuse ways, and the game rapidly becomes a chore to play for extended periods of time.
While I've been exceedingly negative in my review up to this point, I can't really say that I didn't enjoy this game. Even if everything's a step down in terms of quality compared to Galerians, it still has that early 6th gen charm and the sense of style that made the first entry so enjoyable, and if you liked the first game, I would say Galerians: Ash is worth a shot, just to see how they expound on a story that really had no business having a sequel in the first place.