Natsuki Chronicles REVIEW (PS4) - Bullet Heaven

Qute's newest STG, Natsuki Chronicles, is finally available for the PlayStation 4 and PC! This Ginga Force "B-Side" tells the story of Natsuki, in a parallel plotline to Alex and Margeret's story complete with a brand new literal perspective... but how does it stack up?
Buy Physical: firstpressgames.com/collectio...
Buy on PSN: (Link currently not available, get through the PSN store on console!)
Buy on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/11...
Buy on Xbox: www.microsoft.com/en-ca/p/Nat...
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This episode of Bullet Heaven was made with a copy of the game provided by the publisher for review. The opinions expressed are our own and are not paid for by developers, publishers or any retailers or resellers in any way.
All sponsorships and partnerships are non-monetary; we are only provided software and equipment for our productions!

[@bdre5555]

The seventia collection is currently hugely discounted on psn, both games for $15

[@devinmaycry6843]

Its discounted AGAIN for about 8 bucks for both right now too. 75% off.

[@xNeddersx]

PSN has them bundled together digitally as “The Seventia Collection” for only $34.99! 👍🏻 Great price for those that are on the fence or haven’t played these games, but I’m looking forward to the physical releases as well.

[@doomslayer9513]

I bought both of them for $4 a month ago, I feel like I owe the devs more money, because those games are really fun and I've been addicted to them lately 😂

[@doomslayer9513]

This is my first shoot em up game ever! I saw it on sale for $2 a month ago on the PS4 store and after playing it I got addicted to it, now I am binging on your channel so I can discover more games like this, thanks for the content 😂

[@StudioMudprints]

No worries, plenty to explore. Keep in mind that your opinion may differ from my findings in the past. Also, I'd probably recommend disregarding cost and playing any given title by whatever means is most comfortable to you~!

[@megalong69]

You spoiling us with so much good content this week.

[@run1cc347]

Thanks, another great review 🙌 Have to agree about the bullet trajectory feature- it is a bit of a mind f***! It would be a cool feature if you could apply it retrospectively to replays though. I asked Rising Star about this and they replied it is ‘not impossible’... will forward you the tweet.

[@entertainmentwizard2703]

Excellent review, I agree the explosions do look like Mighty Number 9! When the physical edition eventually ships from First Press Games I will test it on PS5 and see if performance holds a locked 60FPS!

[@bdre5555]

I am about to get this on ps5. There is no way that it wouldn't hold a locked 60 FPS on that on ps5.

[@MegaDeth859]

There is the Seventia Collection which includes Ginga Force and Natsuki Chronicles on PS4/PS5. Thanks for your awesome videos!

[@StudioMudprints]

This is a great bundle, to be sure. We plan on highlighting it when we revisit the two physical versions of Ginga and Natsuki later down the line!

[@respectfulremastersbymetal8336]

Woah, this looks awesome.

[@ronthompson2690]

I did not even know this game existed till last month. Thanks to you I bought both digital and disc versions. Great game!

[@SPM_STG]

I thought tracing looked like a neat addition but as you said it becomes a mess pretty fast when there are many bullets. Glad we can turn it off!

[@ianjacka469]

WTF! You can turn it off? I've been playing for weeks with it on, lol.. Gonna seem kinda weird without it now.

[@ronniepatterson2827]

Another great in depth review : ) Looks like the PS5 is gonna be worth the asking price after all then.

[@danmakuman]

Badass game

[@jessewatkins6151]

Ah i cant wait to get this game, i dont know when i will be getting it since im getting it through first press games but at least ill be getting it physical akong with ginga force haha i cant wait

[@Yohann26]

I preordered my PAL PS4 version a couple of weeks ago ! I should get it by 2022 xD

[@creekandseminole]

I'll jump on this if it ever comes to Switch

[@StudioMudprints]

It will definitely need to be scaled way back, but if they can get it to work without a gross sub-720p resolution (as was the case with Rad Rogers) and without messing up the sound (a la Raiden V and Caladrius Blaze) and without resorting to 30FPS, I'm 100% down. Big "if" though.

[@ohnedaruth5592]

@@StudioMudprints what do you mean? This looks like something that can run on Vita, so it shouldn't have issues running just fine on a machine with Bayonetta 2 (at 60fps) on it.

[@StudioMudprints]

Oh, not by a long shot. The environments alone are far too massive for the Vita to handle. Seriously, they go on forever just for no other reason but visual aesthetic. That's also not to mention the lighting, soft focus, effects and model population (again with some environments being very, very populated with buildings, foliage, ect.) That the PS4 Pro and PS5 still have stutters mean that the game is likely not even that well optimized to begin with, so it would need huge concessions to run even remotely well on a system like the Switch, much less the Vita: Lower resolution (like Rad Rogers as it was very clearly sub-720), 30FPS (as with stuff like Redout or, again, Rad Rogers,) lower image fidelity in 720/1080p (like the blurry menus and 2D elements in Caladrius Blaze) or drastically lower poly counts (like Raiden V). There would be a lot lost, is what I'm getting at.

[@ohnedaruth5592]

@@StudioMudprints Maybe the issue here is that I'm "judging" the game on videos alone, but I was thinking of the Vita port of Resogun. The poligonal models in Natsuki look rather simple, to the point where stutters etc are probably caused only by bad optimization/bad programming. There's no way the PS4 Pro should struggle with a game like this.

[@GoldenJoe]

Those explosions are definitely MN9. Are they part of a humble bundle asset pack or something?

[@land_walker]

There are issues with the PC version. You have to play in fullscreen with Vsync on in the settings, otherwise the game will crash at the stage 5 boss.

[@StudioMudprints]

That's troublesome! I'm sure it will be patched soon.

[@TheRestartPoint]

Natsuki and Ginga are $1 each on Steam right now, until 21st March! I played a lot of it today and its great, you can turn off the bullet path traces, personally I find them off-putting, at first at least.

[@StudioMudprints]

I actually triple and double-dipped on Ginga and Natsuki, respectively! Turning the traces off is absolutely a helpful feature 👌

[@HydrogLox]

Great review as always! Had to turn "Bullet Trajectory Display" right off. It has the tendency make the situation seem more claustrophobic than necessary - increasing the incidence of counterproductive panic moves. Side note: It seems that Qute needed to pivot their business model to survive to this point to allow them to port "Natsuki Chronicles" to PC and PS4. Search Online for "Qute Health Care System" Qute Corporation

[@HydrogLox]

@B'hoy TV100 The point is that despite the fact that Qute's games are well regarded they don't generate enough revenue "to pay the bills" - so Qute's "day job" is developing "Health Care Systems". It's been long known that studios like G.rev have to do contract work for larger gaming companies to be able to stay afloat to keep publishing their own games. It's something to consider when some people complain that US$19.99 for Natsuki Chronicles (or Ginga Force) and US$35.99 for "The Seventia Collection" is too expensive.

[@ianjacka469]

@@HydrogLox I'm just coming back into gaming after 25 year break and paid like £10 for Natsuki Chronicles on Steam, I got this great Indy game Wings of Bluestar for £4.....one guy spent 3 years making the entire thing himself, I actually felt guilty paying so little. I paid the same to 'rent' a movie for a month off Netflix

[@dingo535]

This game is a bit of a slow burn but it has really grown on me as I approach the 15+ hour mark of time with the game. I’ve only one ccd easy as far as arcade mode but I’m hoping to find a way to get a normal difficulty clear

[@ianjacka469]

I'm a noob after a 25 yr gaming break since SF2 on the snes. Been playing this wicked game for about a month and only just read in the comments that you can turn the red Bullet Trajectory Line off, lol. I could adjust it on arcade mode no probs, and OMG the difference is astoundingly better except on 1 end guy; but just can't do it on Story Mode, am I being stupid?

[@cd4playa1245]

This seems kinda like Air Buster

[@louisschmidt3972]

currently 78 cents on steam

[@aristedes9449]

Have you considered covering Jets 'n' Guns 2?

[@StudioMudprints]

TBH, I really didn't like the first one, but I may take a peek on our livestream at some point in the future.

[@aristedes9449]

@@StudioMudprints That's entirely fair. The second one is so much more polished in every aspect that it makes the first look far worse in comparison, to be honest.

[@dahjord]

i could tell ginga was a better game just looking at the cover lol plus i prefer vertical

[@BFBeast666]

My poor wallet! :)

[@gabor-toth]

How come you never reviewed the original Xbox One release? It was already out in 2019. I think this is one of the best shmups ever.

[@StudioMudprints]

That would require an Xbox One, and I wasn't buying one just for one "exclusive." I use quotes because I hedged my bets based on previous shooting games going from XB1-Exclusive to other platforms and I was right: Natsuki did come to Steam and PS4. Qute's previous Ginga Force and Eschatos are better games though.

[@chrisr529]

Ps4 pro