TMMN Reviews: Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2

Yeah, this review is maybe a little bit overdue. I have my reasons (and will be going into some of them tomorrow), but I’m going to try to break this habit as soon as possible.

A few years ago, I reviewed the first Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX. If I’m being honest, looking back, I feel like my words were perhaps harsher than my feelings towards the game. I’m still no fan of the final boss, but I really did enjoy the time I spent playing through it. When I reviewed it for Nintendo Force magazine, I gave it an 8.5, which is pretty good.

I point this out because I worry that history might repeat itself here. As it is, Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2 already has a high bar to clear set by its predecessor, but I’m not quite sure it manages to do so.

Part of that is because that first entry was so good, any major divergence from what it brought to the table would be a true roll of the dice. As it so happens, there are some major divergences here, particularly in gameplay.

I described the style of dashing into enemies to target them as a sort of “Mighty No. 9 in reverse,” in as positive a way as that can be taken. If I want to be a little harsher on Beck, one could even say it’s like “Mighty No. 9 done right.” It just feels really good to zip around from one enemy to the next, tagging them all in a more kinetic way than the franchise’s namesake, Gunvolt, allows for with his bullet tagging. It’s hard to get enough of it.

Which is why it’s really unfortunate that for the sequel, this is something they scaled back. I’m not sure whether to say this is a step back, or more of a lateral move, but it’s something that is going to strike (no pun intended) fans of Copen’s previous adventure, and might be difficult to get over initially.

In the original, Copen could zip around and dash in the air three times, a feat that Dr. Light himself might call patently absurd. This time, he can dash in the air… let’s see, carry the remainder, adjust for wind direction, make sure everything is turned on… once.

After using his sole air dash, he has to recharge it by landing on the ground. In the original, you could double-tap to zip down to the ground. Here, no such luck. Lengthening the time between recharging is Copen’s jump jets, which are handy for some tricky platforming, but can really slow the pace when moving around when compared to its predecessor. You can cancel the jump jets, but the difference is middling. All the while, you’ll have an alert in the middle of the screen notifying you that you’re “empty” on charges for your dash maneuver.

Now, you can unlock the ability to zip around three times in the air later on, but you still have the slower recharge issue. Points for the consideration, at least.

That doesn’t mean that the folks at Inti Creates have simply downgraded our boy and left him to flounder, however. While his aerial game has been nerfed, his ground game has improved considerably thanks to a new weapon called the Razor Wheel. He uses this weapon in the place of his laser from before when it comes to tagged enemies, firing destructive energy discs with a success rate that would make Krillin green with envy.

What’s more, he can also use it to perform a Zero-esque multi-hit melee combo, ending on a giant energy buzzsaw that’s just satisfying to watch cut through enemies for as long as you keep that final attack press held down. Better still, an upgrade allows you to launch the giant wheel o’ death through nearby enemies like an aggro employee on a pizza assembly line on Big Game weekend.

The levels and bosses manage to strike a balance where pretty much anyone can make their way through the game and enjoy the story, but at the same time, are extremely hard. It basically comes down to your own discretion and willpower. In short, Lola is back at Copen’s side, and she can heal you up at any time, unlimited times. Depending on how you feel about points and kudos and things of that nature, she does so with little penalty.

So in the end, it’s a matter of whether you want to challenge yourself, which the game is happy to accommodate, so long as you lay off the Lola button. (Full discretion: While I’m not in the upper tier of Mega Man players, I’m anywhere from decent to pretty damn good, depending on the game. That said, I used Lola to help me out a lot.)

Oh, and there’s a Hard Mode to make things even tougher, too, if you would rather. And it even ties in to the story!

Ah, the story. Now there’s something to talk about here.

Without getting into spoilers, allow me to just say that this game doesn’t really tie in to the previous entry in the “oh, our arch enemy has returned” sort of way we might largely be used to as Mega Man fans. (Interestingly enough, it does seem to tie in to a previous crossover Copen was involved in…)

Copen, Lola, and Kohaku get zapped into another world, and are trying to find their way home. At first, it felt like this was a side story of a side story, something that would have little bearing on the series proper, but the further you go, the more pieces of the puzzle come to light. The further I went, the more invested I became in all of it. It still leaves some questions unanswered, perhaps for a sequel, but I went from starting the game as “okay, so this is happening,” to really liking it.

Part of that comes down to the characters. While I can’t say exactly what it is, I think the bosses and extra characters in this game might just be my favorite collective lot in the entire franchise to date. I really enjoyed the designs, the personalities, and what their dialogue (now available in English!) brought to the table.

Visually and audibly, I think if you’re reading this site, then you know what Inti Creates brings to the table at this point. If you’re new here, then let’s just say that what they bring is a beautifully high quality of pixel art that blends retro style with modern tech. As long as you’re not “ew, pixels!” then this should surely please you.

The biggest hurdle Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2 has is its own legacy. It does so much well, but when it comes to the core gameplay, I feel like the first exceeds it with its overall more kinetic feel. But if you were to take it out of the shadow of the first game, it is really good in its own right.

It took some time for me to come to terms with the fact that I was not playing the first game and that this is different, but once I did, I really started to appreciate more of what it does in its own right. If you can manage to keep a mind open enough to that fact, you should find something really enjoyable here — even if it may not be the new “apeX” of 2D action.

If you’d like a second opinion, then be sure to check out ShadowRockZX’s much more timely review here:

And if you’d like to find out more about the game, you can visit the official website here.

Finally, if you’d like to see someone show the hardcore pro player speedrunning potential of this game, Summer Games Done Quick was recently happy to oblige:

Thanks for reading!

Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2 is available now on the Nintendo Switch (version reviewed), Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Steam on PC for a price of $24.99 USD. A review code was provided by Inti Creates.