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R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos Review
In Space, War Never Ends
In the far-flung future, Earth is assailed by invaders from afar. The Bydo, alien lifeforms of flesh and metal, attack relentlessly. They assimilate all in their path and their sights are set on Earth as the final destination. Whether humanity can endure this threat and any others that may arise is all up to the player and their fleet. This is the world of R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos, developed by Granzella and published by NIS America. There are certainly a great deal of threats to endure within it, as this game is comprised of remakes of PlayStation Portable titles R-Type Tactics and R-Type Tactics II: Operation Bitter Chocolate, as well as a new campaign dubbed "R-Type Tactics Cosmos", all wrapped into one package.
Before getting into any one of these campaigns, it would be prudent to start with elements they all share. R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos is a tactical RPG where players build up a fleet of small fighters and massive warships to claim victory in their campaign. Each campaign is broken into a series of missions, typically with the objective of destroying the enemy's flagship. Ships fly about a hex-based map, carefully peeling through the fog of war with their radar range, and engaging in combat where one ship attacks and the other can use its weapons to either intercept the attack to reduce damage or counterattack the enemy. It's all relatively standard, but it does have unique aspects that it brings to the table.
[caption id="attachment_202614" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Bringing new meaning to the phrase "Use the Force."[/caption]
One immediately noticeable and remarkable feature is the map layout. Unlike most tactical games, which are played from an overhead or isometric view, R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos lays out its maps from a sideways perspective. R-Type is primarily a series of side-scrolling shoot-'em-ups to which the Tactics games are a spin-off, and this map layout is clearly meant to emulate that look and feel. This may seem to be a cool but minor change in formula at first glance. However, this philosophy informs the way the maps are designed. They don't just look like shoot-'em-up stages; they play like shoot-'em-up stages, with some layouts taken directly from previous mainline R-Type games. A major theme throughout the map design is restricting player movement through dense enemy formations or claustrophobic terrain. Combined with the focus of most missions on destroying the the enemy flagship within a turn limit, it successfully recreates the feel of a shoot-'em-up as the player's ships blast through waves of enemies and weave through tricky terrain before fighting a boss. It's a truly distinct feeling and the game's greatest asset.
Its second-greatest asset is the many, many unit options that become available as spoils are collected, each bringing something different to the table. This is yet another thing that can be owed to paying homage to the original R-Type games, as most of the ships, and even many of their mechanics, are taken from the shoot-'em-ups. Some mechanics are widespread, like the spherical Force units that offer specific fighters powerful optical weapons and Charged Weapons that hit multiple targets, but require a unit to avoid damage for several turns. Other ships are more specific in their roles. There are massive warships with overwhelming firepower but poor navigation, units that can Desynch to become invisible and intangible, ships that can mine resources from maps for building more units, fighters with additional pods that can make extra attacks, and so much more. With all of this in mind, R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos remains mechanically engaging at all times. There are always strategies to consider for the player, whether considering their own fleet or the enemy's. With over a hundred missions, there's plenty of time to play around with all the options on offer.
[caption id="attachment_202616" align="aligncenter" width="640"] This map is based directly on a section of Stage 1 from the original R-Type![/caption]
A natural caveat of this level of mechanical engagement is that this game can be quite complicated. Unfortunately, the details of how these mechanics work can sometimes be as clear as a hail of bullets. There's no proper tutorial and vital information is either buried in the in-game manual or missing altogether. For example, small units tend to fly in squads of five, which represents their total health. Unless a player reads the manual, they'll learn the painful way that losing units in a squad reduces their attack power. Of course, even that lesson is incomplete without knowledge of the math behind it.
Accuracy and damage calculation are the most inscrutable mechanics in the entire game. Even the manual offers no reference to what the Power and Hit rate of each attack exactly mean, how much losing units in a squad affects Power, or how much intercepting attacks reduces incoming damage. Players are simply given a vague sense of higher numbers being better, and then left to intuit how each encounter will end. This may indeed be by design, and over the course of over a hundred hours of content, players will undoubtedly sharpen their combat senses. However, the learning curve can make damage feel effectively random until players understand the circumstances surrounding an attack, and even hours of experience can't help when an attack does a bit more or less damage than expected. The game is quite enjoyable after clearing this learning curve, but it may be uncomfortable to those used to games that are more transparent with their mechanics.
[caption id="attachment_202608" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Based on it's hit rate of 35%, Contact Missile should be incapable of hitting most units in the game due to their evasion rate. Despite that, it still regularly hits, it just does very inconsistent damage even when not intercepted. I have no idea why it is that way, but it is.[/caption]
In terms of presentation, the R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos is on solid footing. The soundtrack is serviceable with both military fanfare and space-age techno. The 3D models, from small ships to giant monsters, are detailed and have a real sense of texture. The lighting plays off said models well, giving the maps and battle scenes a sense of reality. Certain sound and visual effects, like explosions, come across as a bit weak and could have used improvement. The biggest hiccup in presentation is actually a rather odd one. There are close-up animations not just for combat, but for most game actions, even very mundane ones; some of them can be quite long and are real pace breakers. Simply moving a unit from one hex to another treats the player to not one, but two animations: one for departing and one for arriving. It's a good thing these can be turned off in the options, since missions can already be long and these additional filler animations can make the experience very tedious.
Speaking of each individual campaign, R-Type Tactics takes the player through a journey that calls to mind The Iliad and The Odyssey as the player steps into the shoes of a fleet commander who's been assigned to take their ragtag army to destroy the Bydo Core that controls the alien hordes, then returning home after the deed is done. There's really nothing there in the way of plot or characters beyond that for the outbound journey. The journey home is much more narratively interesting, as an unexpected development following the battle with the Bydo Core raises unsettling questions about the nature of the Bydo and their reasons for fixating on Earth.
Unfortunately, when the game picks up narrative steam, it loses some in gameplay. The journey home is mostly comprised of the same maps as the outbound journey, but with the player moving in the opposite direction. New enemy layouts and new units keep it from feeling too tedious, and the maps are well designed to provide unique challenges so going back through them isn't the worst thing in the world. There are also a few new maps, and they are quite excellent. The reuse still feels like a bit of a cheat to get more missions out of the game. On the reuse front, Tactics I also suffers from poor boss variety, as the boss Dobkeratops is fought a few times too many. The story also ends on a bit of a whimper, with a sudden conclusion that doesn't truly answer any of the questions raised. Ultimately, it's a solid campaign, only hindered by an underdeveloped story and some liberal map recycling.
[caption id="attachment_202594" align="aligncenter" width="640"] This is Dobkeratops. His kind appear a lot.[/caption]
R-Type Tactics II: Operation Bitter Chocolate begins with a far more ambitious premise than its predecessor. Following the destruction of the Bydo Core in Tactics I, the Bydo threat has greatly diminished. Despite this, Earth's Space Corps has continued developing weapons based upon Bydo technology. This causes a rift in humanity over whether developing Bydo weapons is necessary or fundamentally wrong. A civil war soon erupts as the Granzellan Revolutionary Army emerges from Mars to openly oppose the Space Corps' weapons program. Meanwhile, Bydo activity begins to spike once again.
Gameplay-wise, Tactics II is a substantial expansion on its predecessor. The array of playable units is greatly expanded and offers the full breadth of options that make the game so fun. There's also a lot less recycling, with more unique maps and bosses. There is still some map reuse, with even some maps from Tactics I returning, but it's far less prevalent. It also represents a substantial difficulty increase from Tactics I. The turn limits are tighter, the maps are more complicated, the enemy formations are denser, and some late-game bosses can slaughter whole fleets before they're even on radar. This is a bit of a mixed offering. Demanding more of the player drives more engagement with the options of fleet-building and more precise decision making in battle. However, some maps straddle the line of forcing a single strategy to clear them, which is annoying, but that only applies to specific maps, so overall it's a net positive. Players should just be prepared for some frustration.
[caption id="attachment_202615" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Not all unit development tabs are this extensive, but then note the number of tabs.[/caption]
In terms of story, Tactics II also presents itself as more expansive than Tactics I. This, however, is a bit of an illusion. The campaign begins by having the player choose between the Space Corps and the Granzellan Revolutionary Army. While this may feel like a game-changing decision, it ultimately changes the campaign's context more than its content. The missions remain largely the same between the two sides, as does the general story they lead to. The decision actually has far more gameplay meaning than narrative, as the Space Corps and GRA have different available units, and by the second of the campaign's three acts, the routes converge into a single story. Dialogue choices in the pre- and post-mission logs that serve as the game's cutscenes are similarly meaningless. There are a few split paths where the player chooses their next mission, but those are small diversions.
Despite all this, Tactics II still seems to offer a more engaging story for its first two acts with more plot development and even some character moments. Things take a radical shift in the third act, though. The format shifts from the focused plot of the first two acts to one of aimless wandering. Like Tactics I, this shift comes with mysteries about what exactly is happening as inexplicable events abound. Just like the first campaign, though, Tactics II seems uninterested in providing answers. Instead, it's far more interested in waxing philosophical about the nature of senseless warfare in the void of space. While this is present throughout the entire game, the disintegration of any real plot leaves all rhetoric as either frank descriptions or bleak musings. It is shockingly grim and extremely depressing, complete with a downer ending even more abrupt than Tactics I. It honestly leaves a bad taste at the end of the campaign. The beginning promises a much tighter narrative than what it ultimately delivers.
[caption id="attachment_202611" align="aligncenter" width="640"] A typically bleak log entry from Tactics II.[/caption]
R-Type Tactics Cosmos is a new, briefer campaign made for this compilation. Unfortunately, it's not quite as engaging as its predecessors. With a simple setup about the player's wandering fleet mindlessly fighting all threats before them, it skips any real plot and goes straight for more contemplation on the nature of endless war. Its function is more to engage the player with gameplay. It serves as something of a "no limits" mode, giving the player control of a mixed fleet of both human and Bydo units, and is an engaging hook. The real problem is that this campaign dips deep into the well of content recycling. Maps are reused, which is predicated on the two prior campaigns. However, Cosmos goes a step further by even recycling enemy layouts and simply swapping the units for stronger variants. It makes Cosmos feel less like a new campaign and more like a remixed one, which is disappointing.
Ultimately, R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos is a game held up by the brilliance of its overall concept. Combining the core gameplay of a tactical RPG with the mechanics and philosophy of a shoot-'em-up gives it a truly distinct feel, and with many unique ways to go about building a fleet, it's always engaging for its hundred-plus missions. The fact that some corners were cut to reach that mission count is a bit disappointing, but mostly reasonable, except for the more egregious reuse in Cosmos. It can be a bit tricky to learn the ins and outs of the game given how it doesn't explain everything, but still rewarding to play once players build up their intuition. There's not really much to go on narratively, and the fact that Tactics II in particular threatens to deliver a tighter story only to falter is frustrating. However, maybe that's just in the ethos of the games R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos is spun off from. How often do players start a shoot-em-up for the engagement of its story rather than the joy of shooting down waves of enemies? Maybe it's best to just focus on that and do as the title screen for the original R-Type said: Blast off and strike.
Disclosure: This review is based on a free copy of the game provided by the publisher.
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