R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos by developer Granzella and publisher NIS America, Inc—Sony PlayStation 5 review written by Nick with a copy provided by the publisher. #RTypeTactics #keymailer Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://www.keymailer.co
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
R-Type is known as one of the best shoot-‘em-ups series out there. It’s mix of challenging action and bright, inventive visuals has rightfully earned the series a spot as one of the greats of the genre. What’s interesting about R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos is how it flips the script and keeps the atmosphere intact while creating a turn-based tactics game instead. It’s a cool twist on the original formula that works more often than not.
Similar to our recent review of R-Type Dimensions III, this title is a remaster of older games in the series. Only the first in the series saw Western audiences on PSP back in 2007, but this release packages the sequel and some all new (COSMOS) missions to serve as a follow-up to those prior games. This combination of a previously limited release game and new stages makes for a pretty compelling package and provides a fair amount of content.
The question is, does all of this content deserve a remake? In my opinion, yes. The gameplay is interesting, I’m a huge fan of tactics games and the setting and presentation are quite unique to the genre. Instead of fantasy armies or real-time sci-fi base building, R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos presents turn-based combat on a hexagonal grid. The approach is interesting, as the units face specific directions and retain them, much like the original shooters that scroll from left to right. The way the gameplay pans out, with shots being fired based on the ships and weaponry used pays homage to the original shooter through a new lens.
There’s a wide variety of units, and the game lets you play from either side. For the alien Bydo you can expect more fleshy, organize alien-like ships while the Earth units are more traditional ships made of metal – at least in the first game. In the second one, you start to see technology leveraged in different ways that mix things up more with a more fractioned human society. There’s a dark undertone to the game that actually shows its head a bit more effectively in a turn-based game of this nature. So much of R-Type’s interesting visuals gets lost in the bullet hell dodging that takes place. I certainly found more appreciation for the darker tones and atmosphere spectating than I had a chance to as the player. With a turn-based tactics game, you’re afforded a bit more time to soak in the excellent atmosphere and the updated visuals.
Where R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos suffers a bit of a miss is that the story itself is quite thin most of the time. That’s a shame, because while that is somewhat expected from a shooter, with a slower-paced game such as this, there was ample opportunity to breathe some real life into the narrative along the way. Speaking of the pacing, R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos is going to be a bit of a mixed bag for some gamers. Having played the original and experienced a huge variety of tactics games over the years, I can admit that this one is a step slower than many of its brethren. Also, if someone came to this game because they loved the high-octane action of the shooters this is based on, the pacing here could be a struggle. I do feel like R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos should have had a few more streamlining / quality of life updates that maybe reduce the number of clicks needed to progress the gameplay or to jump through briefings more quickly.
As for the gameplay, this title was first released on the PSP, so it makes sense that controller works well with the interface. The structure is pretty similar from stage to stage. You deploy your ships, figure out how to move them forward to combat the other side, and managing resources and various terrain as the game slowly layers on more and more mechanics until the game’s bigger, more involved maps fully reveal themselves. The ships are much more than just attackers meant to shoot other attackers. There’s a lot of strategic depth to be had here as you roll out ships with various roles such as scouting, escorting, transport ships and more. Sometimes you need to attack, sometimes you need to have decoys. Patience is rewarded and rash decisions are often harshly punished.
One of the biggest issues with R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos is its lack of tutorial content. It throws you into the fire and the game expects you to lose, learn and try again. This actually mirrors the spirit of the shooters surprisingly well, but between this and the pacing, R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos is not welcoming to newcomers to the genre. Even to those familiar with tactics games such as myself will likely experience at least a few growing pains given the lack of guidance in the early stages and the mechanics that are unique to these titles.
Those quibbles aside, I just have to say that I really enjoyed my time with R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos. It’s a thoughtful, tactical experience that does a beautiful job of honoring the R-Type IP while thoughtfully taking the gameplay in an entirely new direction. As someone who was familiar with the original game from about twenty years ago, I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting that and getting to experience the sequel and extra content that weren’t available to me back then. The modern visual coat of paint is appreciated as well. While the graphics can feel a bit simple at times, the newly rendered visuals are quite appealing and compliment the audio design very well.
Score: 8 / 10
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