[Wii/WiiU/3DS] Rodea the Sky Soldier review

[briareos_kerensky]

Impressions based on the Japanese version.

So, Rodea landed in its double box bundling Wii and WiiU version together. The first thing I noticed on the package is that the Wii version retains its original title (Tenkuu no Kishi Rodea), while the WiiU version goes for Rodea the Sky Soldier. Mysteries of marketing. Anyway, lacking a Japanese WiiU (for now), I went straight for the Wii version.
Used to how loud the PS4 is and how long Bloodborne loading times are, I was set back by the lack of noise coming from the console and how fast the game loads; loading screens are short and only between the chapter selection screen and the game itself, with cutscenes transitioning from normal dialogues to pre-rendered cutscenes effortlessy.
On the other hand, Rodea isn't exactly the best looking game on the Wii, but it runs very smooth (I think it's around and above 30fps) and has a decent level of detail and things on screen; the drawing distance is also great, and gives stages the right sense of proportion. Character portraits during dialogues are horrible, and are drastically different from in-game models or rendered cutscenes, as if they were redrawn for this release in a matter of hours.

The game only uses the Wiimote, no nunchuk. It's possible to walk with the d-pad, but the core of the game is to fly from point to point by flicking the remote: you point the Wiimote where you want to go, lock onto it with B, and flick the Wiimote in one direction to have Rodea take off in an arc toward his destination. When flying, it's possible to select an other landing point or rotate the camera (by pointing the Wiimote at the edges of the screen) in complete freedom, and it feels very good. The Wiimote only needs small and gentle flicks to have Rodea spring into the air, there are no time limits (aside end-of-level ranks) and even boss fights give plenty of time to get a good understanding of your sorroundings. The camera does screw up sometimes and not being able to fly in a straight direction (only in arcs) makes entering narrow doorways more cumbersome than it should be, but so far this hasn't been a huge problem. By comparison, I had many more problems with Nights Wii's camera system.
You can attack things by pressing the A button, and Rodea can collect weapons scattered along the levels. Combat is simple, the boss I've faced was based around dodging his attacks and striking back; enemies encountered were mines, non-hostile mechanical fishes, and turrets. Rodea's more about flying through the environment...at least for now.

I'll add that I was skeptical about the game: I'm not the biggest Nights fan...I don't downright not like it, but I think that both Saturn and Wii games could have been much better. Rodea apparently has a more relaxed approach, especially regarding end-of-level scoring, and from the get-go it felt better than the two Nights. There are points contact between Nights and Rodea, but I think that Rodea stands apart from Naka's previous works.

A video of the first two levels of the game will be ready tomorrow, the video itself is almost 50 minutes long so it will take some time to upload.

[briareos_kerensky]

Here's the video

[briareos_kerensky]

Impressions on the WiiU build.

The game has essentially the same levels, bu mechanics have been altered for the worse. You can stay in the air for a limited amount of time, and dashing to attack further shortens that time; touching the ground, bouncing off structures, or collecting blue cubes replenishes the time you can fly. The blue cubes replace the tail pick-ups that represent Rodea's life in the Wii version: this is nice, as in the Wii getting it once really limits what you can do.
However, the choice of having Rodea stop once in a while really breaks the flow of the game, plus "hey, here's a game about a flying robot making his way through floating island...but you can fly for a limited time only". Not entirely a logical choice.
Controls aren't as intuitive as on the Wii, here to fly toward something you have to "take off" (A button), spin (A again) and then aim where you want to go with the left stick, instead of just pointing somewhere and flick the Wiimote; you can direct Rodea anywhere (unlike the Wii where you have to point toward enemies/terrain), and you can adjust his flight path in the air, but on the Wii U controls feel a bit contrived. You can control the camera independently (right stick), but it's not completely free. You can use Y to fly directly upward (and automatically bring up the lock-on cursor), now weapons are permanently equipped and swapped via the d-pad, but flying just feels not as good as on the Wii.
The ability to control ground movement and camera easily is great, but on the Wii ground movement is essentially absent; the camera on both consoles does need a lot of refinement, and the Wii U has the upper edge because you can manipulate it.

The Wii U build reworks bonus rooms, and rather than being mazes to collect gold/silver/bronze coins, they lead to places where you pick your path, see Rodea fly through it, and if you're lucky collect an item. Coins on the Wii are just collectibles, on the Wii U they serve as currency to unlock stuff. Enemies on the Wii U drop items to improve Rodea's performance, so there are more of them around levels.
Collectible coins are fine, but upgrading Rodea...I'm not completely sold on the idea, it feels a bit tackled on. The Wii U also adds skippable QTE sequences in-between levels.

Presentation is a mixed bag. The interface is more refined, and cutscenes with character portraits have more graphical elements to make them feel less empty. The higher resolution is of course nice, and the game still keeps it fast loading times. Graphics now have a crayon-like effect applied to them, think Valkyria Chronicles but not as good; polygonal count looks exactly the same as the Wii, textures are slightly better, but...everything has gone through a desaturation filter. I really liked the bright Wii colours, the Wii U isn't as pleasing to look at. Technically it's not a step up either, as there are no shadows or other lighting effects to truly make the Wii U version stand out.

I'd say that the Wii version is the one to play.

[briareos_kerensky]

Footage of the Wii U version

[Decider-VT]

There's a nice little LE up for pre-order on the NISA Europe site. Debating whether or not to pre-order that, as all first-run copies will include the Wii version as well.

[baad bwoy]

I like the look of this game and think its great value that you get both wii and wii U versions in one pack. I've preordered from Nisa Europe.

[briareos_kerensky]

Just completed the Wii version. I've been stuck on the final boss for a couple of days, for what are to me all the wrong reasons. One wrong reason, in fact.
I must say that Yuji Naka and his team must learn how to program a decent camera, there are times when the camera in Rodea is the player's biggest hurdle to get past...I can think of two occasions where the camera is against the player and actively interfers in what you are trying to do, and one of these is the final boss. Considering that the nunchuk is left out unused, it could have been used to control the camera independently from the pointer used to control Rodea. The problem is that the camera doesn't rotate as fast as you wish, and 98% of the game that is not a problem, but when it becomes one, it's the biggest this game has.
And to think that I absolutely love the controls in the Wii version! They are an absolute treat, and allow perfect control over Rodea and his flight path.

One other thing I didn't really liked is that the health is directly linked on how Rodea perform, and with just one hit point left, there are situations that you are as good as dead, as you can't attack or boost against adverse winds.

Aside for these two things, I really enjoyed Rodea. The story is cliched but enjoyable (secondary characters and their voices aside), there are new things at every level, and the bonus levels are really good. If you ignore the collectibles going through the game doesn't take long, nor it's particularly challenging (again, there are only two parts that I consider challenging, and it's due to the camera).
And I would totally go for the Wii version over the WiiU, controls are more immediate and the brighter colour palette is much nicer to see; also the 3D models are the same, the WiiU only uses better textures, and it looks like a cheap HD remaster.

[Asura]

Bit confused about this, for two reasons.

Firstly, people sold it to me saying it was like NiGHTS, but it doesn't seem like it at all.

Secondly, every video of the game I see always seems to be in a tutorial, or in a segment where there's 10 seconds of gameplay, cutscene, 10s of gameplay, cutscene... Do you ever just play the game for several minutes?!

[briareos_kerensky]

Secondly, every video of the game I see always seems to be in a tutorial, or in a segment where there's 10 seconds of gameplay, cutscene, 10s of gameplay, cutscene... Do you ever just play the game for several minutes?!

It happens probably for the first two-three levels, where the game introduces various powerups. You'll get a cut to show some sort of key/mechanism to advance once in a while, but that's it. Speaking of the Wii version, have got past the 1st boss only on the WiiU.

[S3M]

I'll repost this topic thread here mods can remove the previous one I posted:

Surprised no one else has picked this up, for those who don't know this is the latest game from Yuji Naka studio Prope. It also plays like a more modern version of Nights into the Dream.

So as a bonus extra the first print of the Wii U version comes with the unreleased Wii (until now) as an extra. Which is a good thing to as the Wii U version is a rubbish port of the 3DS which in turn is a nerf port of the Wii game. So as you can image the Wii U version is shockingly bad, controls are all over the shop, the graphics have no lighting and texture detail. There's also now some strange filter on the textures as well.

The Wii version is a bright colourful game and play rather well, it's a quick fire style arcade game, that allows you to fly all over the world. It's very much old school in its design so the object is just to get to the end of the level.But it's good fun and well worth a pick up in the ?20 region can't recommend it at full price unless you're a die hard Wii fan. The Wii U version should be avoided but the Wii version is worth having a play with.

Comparison video of both versions:

[PaTaito]

So its an ultra cheap port?

Lacking even obvious stuff like color in the damned sky...

[briareos_kerensky]

Thread revival! Just to say that the game will be delisted from WiiU and 3DS eShops on September 30th.

[gunrock]

Thread revival! Just to say that the game will be delisted from WiiU and 3DS eShops on September 30th.

Is that a shame, or is it no good?

[briareos_kerensky]

Is that a shame, or is it no good?

Haven't played the 3DS version, but the WiiU version is way less fun to play than the original Wii version.

[Asura]

Half-expected this to be a Switch announcement.