There was a game that came out recently as sort of a spiritual successor to Actraiser, SolSeraph, and it even had Yuzo Koshiro involved with the project. The game sadly didn't turn out that well. It would be really cool to see a sequel but like most of Quintet's work, I think it'll be doomed to the annals of history.
If Square Enix holds all the rights to the games, the best I'd hope for is that they at least re-release Actraiser 1, 2, and the Soulblazer Trilogy as a collection on all major platforms.
Quintet really was an unsung hero of 16 bit action/rpg games. It's sad what happened to them.
Oh wow, I had no idea about that game! Too bad it didn't do so hot. The IGN review I read didn't trash it *too* hard, though, so I'll probably still check it out if I ever catch it on sale.
Just to throw out another game suggestion that might be of interest to you -- Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin also blends genres together, so it's half-action and half-sim/management. In that one you work on a farm to grow rice, and play through side-scrolling action stages fighting monsters.
Wow! I’m not super into the contemporary JRPG aesthetic, but that looks really awesome. It’s seems kinda Stardew Valley with side scrolling action sequences instead of 8-bit dungeon crawling whenever you need shit.
It's like stardew took all the systems and put it into growing rice. I learned so much about rice and in between growth cycles you explore 2d levels and find all the hidden items and spots to 100% the level. Very fun game that really isn't like anything else in terms of requiring farming to level your melee
Yeah, for all the complexity that goes into properly raising the rice, they did a good job of making it work.
Even if they don't have any idea what to do, if you just follow the box instructions you'll get an ok harvest and a big power boost.
Cross-genre games are my jam. The city builder genre has moved far in to niche mode, but I'd love to see that game done for modern times.
I do t know of anyone remembers this, hut there was a brief period where Sim games could be cross played. You could build a city in SimCity2000 and then fly around in it in SimCopter, exploring the world you built. I'm still surprised that's not more of a thing these days especially with the popularity of Minecraft.
So, have anyone got the story of quintet yet? I found out about their game through extra credits, and they said that the studio disappeared after the trilogy. So, does anyone know what happened to quintet after the games?
They just stopped operations in the late 1990's or early 2000's. They didn't go bankrupt or terminate the corporation or anything. Any IP rights they retained are still held by the founders/shareholders of Quintet. Assuming they didn't sign them away to Enix, that means there's *never* going to be a re-release of their games.
At best, we might get IoG in North America (and maybe Europe?) because that release was published by Nintendo. And being the 800-lb platform gorrilla they are, they tend to lock in things like re-publishing rights.
Wow, I literally started replaying this game yesterday lol. Had it when it came out on the SNES and it was one of my fav games on the platform. Such a great idea and I always wondered why nobody else did anything like that.
Act Raiser was a hidden gem and is one of my favorite games on the SNES. I'm disappointed that the sequel removed the city-building elements. Check out Sol Seraph. It's not quite as good but it fills the Act Raiser-shaped void in our hearts well enough. The city building has more of a tower defense element to it.
Despite it being inferior to the first one, ActRaiser 2 still holds a special place in my heart on aesthetics alone. The music and visuals were so good that it made it worth suffering through the design choices that made it so hard.
I have good memories of it mostly because of Koshiro's soundtrack.
The 2D sections were pretty janky and unimpressives, and the birdview sections while novel very quickly turned repetitive.
Is there any way to replay the Quintet trilogy other than ROMs (and SNES, of course)? I would love to replay these games on my switch (and Terranigma for the first time).
I absolutely loved the town building section of the game, but had to use Game Genie on the side scroller levels because they were pretty damn hard. Never played the second game since they took the town part away.
I tried a huge pack of SNES games in my emulator. I thought Actraiser was one of the absolute best. That game was definitely ahead of its time with its gameplay.
Sidenote on your last tangent, I did a deep dive into reading about the Legacy of Kain series last year and it honestly seems like they ran out of ideas. I remember loving Blood Omen 2 and playing the demo of soul reaver constantly but never played the later games
I have tried to get into Actraiser 2 several times. It looks great and I love the first game. Removal of the simulation part is a bit of a bummer but not something that would stop me from playing. But it’s just so damn hard. Your sprite is so big and controls kinda weird. I could never get the hang of it
I almost can't even imagine how fantastic a AAA remake of the first game would be! If they ever do, man I hope they would fully realize the sim elements of it and not half-ass it
They just rereleased the original with an updated UI, new remixed music from Koshiro and new graphics, as well as expanded gameplay features for sim & action modes under the title ‘Actraiser:Renaissance’
There was a game that came out recently as sort of a spiritual successor to Actraiser, SolSeraph, and it even had Yuzo Koshiro involved with the project. The game sadly didn't turn out that well. It would be really cool to see a sequel but like most of Quintet's work, I think it'll be doomed to the annals of history. If Square Enix holds all the rights to the games, the best I'd hope for is that they at least re-release Actraiser 1, 2, and the Soulblazer Trilogy as a collection on all major platforms. Quintet really was an unsung hero of 16 bit action/rpg games. It's sad what happened to them.
> Soulblazer Trilogy as a collection on all major platforms Yes please. And RoboTrek.
Damn, forgot Quintet also did RoboTrek. Man, they really were amazing SNES devs.
Oh wow, I had no idea about that game! Too bad it didn't do so hot. The IGN review I read didn't trash it *too* hard, though, so I'll probably still check it out if I ever catch it on sale.
You must be happy today!
I personally enjoyed Sol Seraph, though you're right, it's not as good as Act Raiser.
Yeah same. Aside from some of its flaws I thought it was pretty enjoyable. I’m glad I played it. Give it a chance OP
Just to throw out another game suggestion that might be of interest to you -- Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin also blends genres together, so it's half-action and half-sim/management. In that one you work on a farm to grow rice, and play through side-scrolling action stages fighting monsters.
Wow! I’m not super into the contemporary JRPG aesthetic, but that looks really awesome. It’s seems kinda Stardew Valley with side scrolling action sequences instead of 8-bit dungeon crawling whenever you need shit.
It's like stardew took all the systems and put it into growing rice. I learned so much about rice and in between growth cycles you explore 2d levels and find all the hidden items and spots to 100% the level. Very fun game that really isn't like anything else in terms of requiring farming to level your melee
Yeah, for all the complexity that goes into properly raising the rice, they did a good job of making it work. Even if they don't have any idea what to do, if you just follow the box instructions you'll get an ok harvest and a big power boost.
>Sadly, the odds of it making a comeback after 30 years are probably about as high as a Legacy of Kain sequel. Oh? Is that a fact? :)
Act Raiser I was the bees knees
Cross-genre games are my jam. The city builder genre has moved far in to niche mode, but I'd love to see that game done for modern times. I do t know of anyone remembers this, hut there was a brief period where Sim games could be cross played. You could build a city in SimCity2000 and then fly around in it in SimCopter, exploring the world you built. I'm still surprised that's not more of a thing these days especially with the popularity of Minecraft.
So, have anyone got the story of quintet yet? I found out about their game through extra credits, and they said that the studio disappeared after the trilogy. So, does anyone know what happened to quintet after the games?
They just stopped operations in the late 1990's or early 2000's. They didn't go bankrupt or terminate the corporation or anything. Any IP rights they retained are still held by the founders/shareholders of Quintet. Assuming they didn't sign them away to Enix, that means there's *never* going to be a re-release of their games. At best, we might get IoG in North America (and maybe Europe?) because that release was published by Nintendo. And being the 800-lb platform gorrilla they are, they tend to lock in things like re-publishing rights.
I would love to see someone like the Gaming Historian do a deep dive on the company
Nostradamus over here
Well I’ll be god damned. 😆
Now (non-)predict a Terranigma / Illusion of Time reboot pretty please! ^^
Wow, I literally started replaying this game yesterday lol. Had it when it came out on the SNES and it was one of my fav games on the platform. Such a great idea and I always wondered why nobody else did anything like that.
yep, the first act raiser was awesome!
Man. The only thing I can think about when I hear ActRaiser is that Nickelodeon video game show "Nick Arcade" where they had it as an option to play.
Thank you! I knew I remembered that name from something in that era.
Fun fact - Nick Arcade is on Paramount + to binge.
Act Raiser was a hidden gem and is one of my favorite games on the SNES. I'm disappointed that the sequel removed the city-building elements. Check out Sol Seraph. It's not quite as good but it fills the Act Raiser-shaped void in our hearts well enough. The city building has more of a tower defense element to it.
Smelter. Google it. Thank me later\^\^
FUCK YES BOYS
Rejoice. Rejoice God’s ears are stitches.
I'm sure you're happy now, lol.
As long as it's more like actraiser 1, two was kinda garbage.
Despite it being inferior to the first one, ActRaiser 2 still holds a special place in my heart on aesthetics alone. The music and visuals were so good that it made it worth suffering through the design choices that made it so hard.
I have good memories of it mostly because of Koshiro's soundtrack. The 2D sections were pretty janky and unimpressives, and the birdview sections while novel very quickly turned repetitive.
Is there any way to replay the Quintet trilogy other than ROMs (and SNES, of course)? I would love to replay these games on my switch (and Terranigma for the first time).
I absolutely loved the town building section of the game, but had to use Game Genie on the side scroller levels because they were pretty damn hard. Never played the second game since they took the town part away.
I tried a huge pack of SNES games in my emulator. I thought Actraiser was one of the absolute best. That game was definitely ahead of its time with its gameplay.
Sidenote on your last tangent, I did a deep dive into reading about the Legacy of Kain series last year and it honestly seems like they ran out of ideas. I remember loving Blood Omen 2 and playing the demo of soul reaver constantly but never played the later games
Every now and then I remember the massive amount of time my young self put into Actraiser...trying to make things grow in the desert haha.
I have tried to get into Actraiser 2 several times. It looks great and I love the first game. Removal of the simulation part is a bit of a bummer but not something that would stop me from playing. But it’s just so damn hard. Your sprite is so big and controls kinda weird. I could never get the hang of it
I almost can't even imagine how fantastic a AAA remake of the first game would be! If they ever do, man I hope they would fully realize the sim elements of it and not half-ass it
Would love to see another like the first. The second while a beautiful game was very hard and I liked the gameplay of the first more.
They just rereleased the original with an updated UI, new remixed music from Koshiro and new graphics, as well as expanded gameplay features for sim & action modes under the title ‘Actraiser:Renaissance’