It was one of the surprises of the last Nintendo Direct. Actraiser Renaissance, a reinterpretation of the original 1990 Actraiser title for the Super Nintendo, was announced by Square Enix to everyone’s amazement, as was its availability upon release. It caught my attention and I wasn’t even aware of the original title, as we children didn’t have access to most of the titles at the time and I had to re-enact many of the works from that time. A groundbreaking title for the time due to its combination of genres and its aesthetics based on classic mythologies, which is now also available for Playstation 4, PC and Switch in addition to the mobile versions. But, What is Actraiser Renaissance and why is it such a notable title?
We are the Lord of Light, a deity who after our defeat centuries ago at the hands of. long forgotten Tanzra, the Dark Lord. The premise seems simple, so after the home screen we see how we come back from our exile, take our sword and start with a platform level in which we do hand-to-hand combat between different monsters until we are done with a little boss. Without having tried the original, one can already guess that the settings and characters of the game have undergone an HD redesign, which continues to exude its classic tone, but gives the movements through the level fluidity and the attacks feel fluid. After defeating the boss of the level, Centaurus, we went through the exit door … and faced another game.
At this point, we got the impression that it was an arcade and platform title that we only had the Lord of Lightbut suddenly our assistant and right angel (who is actually an angel) tells us that in order to defeat almighty Tanzra we must regain the faith of humanity, with which we will gain enough strength to reach the final battle. And we will achieve this popular belief by making each of the 6 kingdoms we pass through, establishing a settlement first, and then defending it against the constant onslaught of the Dark Lord’s henchmen.
In these sections, the game changes radically to become a city manager, as well as one Tower defense in enemy attack missions. With our angel we must lead the defense of the city and use our miracles, powerful natural forces such as lightning, storms or earthquakes, with which we will face wave after wave to victory. These miracles also have the function of shaping the terrain and facilitating the expansion of the settlement so that, with the power of the scorching sun, we can clear the swampy areas and our passionate subjects can settle there. To move forward, we must miraculously prepare the ground and at the same time bring the settlement to the monster hideouts, where we will once again drive out the Lord of Light, we must destroy the spawner before the time runs out to block the enemies’ access.
In each of these settlements or kingdoms, based on classical civilizations and mythologies, lives a characteristic hero that we will have in defense missions, with their own traits and skills that we will also improve as we advance in their side quests. What is striking is the level of detail with which their backgrounds are developed in each of them and how this also affects the “personality” of the kingdom. For example, Philotas is the hero of Fillmore, who is enthusiastic, but at the same time does not want to take responsibility for the city, as he failed before Tanzra. OR Daniella, the Bloodpool sorceress who is shy and reluctant to attract attention until her love for Teddy, a young villager, unleashes her true potential.
Most of the actions take place in these sections to administer the kingdom from the air, and only by standing in hiding can we manage our protagonists to defeat the champions of Tanzra. The movement is satisfactory, and the help of the magic unlocked when we win the Faith of the Kingdoms adds variety to the fight, although it really isn’t needed much, only on the most demanding challenges towards the end of the adventure. Although the different game sections are not individually new or relevant, combining them in such an original way all makes sense and is fun. I was very surprised that I did fairly long gaming sessions, although the ending can be discovered in around 10-12 hours if you fast forward and don’t stop at the secondary realms commissions. The great music of the composer’s original title Yuzo Koshiro
We have to point out that the facelift did her very artistically, but there are some technical attractions that are a constant visual annoyance, especially when dealing with Angel. Actraiser Renaissance is more of a trip back in time to remember simpler times.
