Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype Coming next week to PSN

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Hi again everyone. A few weeks ago I introduced you to Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype. Today, I’ll explain you some of its unique features and give you another look at the game in action.

If some of you think back of good old shmups released in the 80s and 90s (or even some newer ones that are still popular mostly in Japan nowadays), you may not only remember their glory but also the often extremely difficult trial & error gameplay attached to it.

While some of you may surely fancy a tough challenge, for others such experience may have resulted into pure frustration. Therefore with Söldner-X 2 we have been pioneering and invented a dynamic play rank system that is on the one hand designed to be fair and attractive to new players, yet on the other hand challenging and rewarding for those who like to invest more time and get the maximum out of the game.

Basically the play rank system measures the player’s performance and automatically adjusts the game’s play rank (which is something like a dynamic difficulty). On a lower rank you will consequently encounter less enemies and bullets and have more overall room for error. On the contrary, when your games improves and you are reaching higher play ranks, the game automatically becomes tougher.

Like I said earlier, a higher play rank will be more rewarding. Play ranks are measured in eight steps, each one of them linked to a score multiplier. Depending on the circumstances, you can achieve multipliers ranging between x1 (on the lowest rank) and x96 (on the highest rank). Your high scores and a replay file associated to the score can be uploaded to our server for online ranking. You can also download and watch replays from other users to improve your own play (or to simply wonder “how on Earth did he do that?”)

Creating replay value has been one of our main focuses during development, so you can expect really lots and lots of unlockables in Söldner-X 2. Apart from continuing your hunt for more trophies, you will be able to unlock new stages, weapons (there are a total of 15 different weapons in this game!), playerships and additional credits once you process through the game. There are also prestigious awards, including a special medal that is displayed next to your name in our online ranking tables upon completion of a pretty tough challenge.

Speaking about challenges, most of the hidden elements in the game can be unlocked through the challenge mode. While you progress through the game, a total of up to 17 challenges will eventually become available for you to take on.

In challenge mode you will revisit parts of the game with certain criteria linked to each challenge. For instance, how about playing the first three stages of the game without losing any ships? Or how about dashing through the game on the highest play rank? Well, in here you have to be prepared for anything.

Also, you should prepare yourself to finally download and play Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype soon: it’ll be available next Tuesday, May 25th only on the PlayStation Network.

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46 Comments

10 Author Replies

  • Europe PSN aswell?

  • Sweet!! I loved the first one! Is there online coop at all this time?

  • Looking forward to this, getting it on Tuesday!

  • How much? Will there be a demo?

  • Online multiplayer?

  • This second one is looking freaking awesome.Geting it asap. I still play the first one once in a while. This game isnt made for everyone though lol.

  • This looks way too hard for me.

    • The videos surely show a lot of bullets as most of them were taken on high play ranks. Because of the play rank system, the game is really not to hard to beat for anyone.

  • Nice I can’t wait. I hope that price drop mentioned last blog post *comments* is coming soon too. Hopefully more pick this up its a classic.

    ***I’d like to get Soldner X 1 and 2 added to my steam library as well ;)***

    • Soldner-X 2 is PS3 exclusive, so there’s no plan for release on any other system. There is going to be a SX1 price drop in a few weeks time, as well as a bundle with both Soldner-X games.

  • awesome awesomeness in the most awesome meaning of the word awesome :) THANK YOU GUYS. No doubt I will be buying this :) My first Soldner X can sit at 80% trophies complete for now :)

  • I’ve always like the Star Soldier series so this is definitely a buy for me. I just want to know the cost. How much will this cost?

  • Purchased!

  • Playstation sucks now…since 3 . 2 1
    …and still no in game / cross game / party chat???
    Seriously???

    How anyone can say Sony has a grip on what’s truly important I’ll never know.
    They have no concept of how to remain loyal to their loyal consumer base.

    Sony, you seriously need to give your heads a shake.
    It’s almost to the point that I’m ashamed to say I’ve spent as much on your products as I have.

    What a waste…I feel cheated.
    I feel robbed. I feel dishonoured.
    Shame on you Sony!

  • Good to hear and it looks great! Don’t think I will ever get those 2 remaining trophies from the first game though.

    If the price is nice I will definitely pick it up on the 25th.

    “This won’t be easy…Don’t give up!…is that the best you can do?”

  • Awesome, day one buy. $9.99?

  • …and shame on you all for still remaining loyal after Sony has dishonoured you as well…
    Even if you aren’t affected you are still a consumer. Sony didn’t care who was affected, so the fact that you weren’t in the destruction path does not negate the fact that they wouldn’t have halted if it were you.

  • Sweet!!! Thank you so much for the update Tet! I cannot wait to get this next week!! Loved the first game (even though I was awful at it…) and this looks even better. Thank you for all of your hard work!

  • @stri

    Stop acting like a baby. How does maintaining the security of their consoles dishonor us?

  • That looks really good and incredibly difficult. I welcome the difficulty, considering how easy some games are nowadays. No Challenge = No fun

  • @Stri

    I neither agree nor disagree with your opinion, but you have every right to it. However, there are better and more effective places to be heard. This post is not one of them.

    This post is a chance for Tet Ishida to show off a game he’s very proud of, and justifiably so. Please respect that.

    Tet, I have to say this looks pretty good. I’ve been missing some old school side-scrolling shooter action in my life. Might have to check both this and the original out!

  • Sweet! Any chance this game will support more then just online rankings? I can see 2 player co-op being a much needed feature in a game like this.

    Also major props for not skipping out on the graphics like some developers do in these games on consoles. IE they make everything 2D, or look like a PS2 game for frame rates sake instead of doing the work needed to keep the FPS up, so major props for that!

  • Sounds easy and difficult at the same time; probably very difficult to get 100% trophies.

  • Day 1 purchase, loved the first one as well! For people who don’t know, it’s being released for $12.99, not $9.99. Well worth the price, the visuals are as smooth as silk.

  • @stri
    everything you are whining about the ps3 not having and therefore it’s dishonouring it’s user you can get on the xbox 360 – SONY never had or promised them – go complain somewhere else or buy the other system – you know who didn’t care who was affected by his hacking ? geohot . go whine to him about getting linux removed since he’s the guilty party here . ( odds are you never used linux anyway , most people complaining are saying they didn’t but now can’t )

    This is a blog post about a great game sx-2 . love the first even though it’s so damn hard , and I’ll probably buy this one too eventually , too many others I have to finish first .

  • @Tet Ishida
    You guys really need to add online coop in X3. We are in 2010.

  • Looks solid. Does it support 1080p?

  • The music sounds absolutely amazing! Who did it? Also, I saw your response about no plans for a demo yet, but what about a Soldner-X 1 demo?

    • The music was done by Rafael Dyll, who also made the soundtrack for the first game. You can find more info about it on eastasiasoft.com.

      There was no demo for Soldner-X 1 either, but there’s going to be a price drop in the next few week. But I’d also say that both games play quite differently.

  • PuppetShoJustice

    Wow. That boss shown in the video really wishes it was the first boss in Ikaruga. Even down to the way he’s colored.

    Huge white robot with a yellow shield who fires in a Contra-esqe Spray pattern.

    I played this in 2003 except with better mechanics. >.>;

  • @24

    Games like this make Online-coop difficult to implement. I’ve tried playing Ikaruga online and IT IS LAGGY AS HECK! We weren’t even firing bullets. Maybe when we all managed to get 30ping internet connections across the globe but thats like asking for me to get to the moon yesterday.

    Guaranteed buy already from me, but I’ve already expressed I would 1000x over… and my recent games played list would suggest that as well :)

  • Are any of the audio assets 24-bit? It would be great to have some awesome sounding explosions that take advantage of the dynamic range that only the PS3 can deliver :)

  • Finally a solid PSN exclusive title. Thank you. I wasn’t expecting this game to release until the fall. The Soldner game was a great title (and very difficult). The graphics on this one look much improved.

    Strange price however. But I guess its better than $14.99?

    • Yes it was supposed to be a $14.99 title but then we thought 12.99 would be quite special somehow. :)

  • I think releasing a demo would greatly increase sales…

  • LOVE the first one and will be buying this day one! Can’t wait, thanks for bringing us some bullet hell…I’m loving this!

  • The new features sound awesome. I’m a huge shootem up fan, so I will definitely have to pick this one up.

  • I see what you’re doing here. $15 price point would have garnered too much flack, so charge a few bucks over the usual $10 threshold and see if it meets with resistance. Hopefully the proposed bundle will make the pricing a little more palatable. Lack of a demo does not help in this kind of circumstance.

  • Yes, thanks for the price drop, I very well may pick this up.

  • Well, now that I know both are going into a package deal I’ll opt out. I never bought the 1st because there was no demo. I want it but after buying so many sub-par PSN games without demo’s I never jumped into it. I will soon though.

  • Awesome I can’t wait.

  • lol charge $12.99 for the 2nd one but only charged $9.99 for the first one

  • @38

    Cos it’s two dollars and ninety nine cents better, man. Get with it.

  • I’m sorry…

    Two dollars and ninety eight cents better, man. Let’s both get with it.

  • Hey, couple quick questions here.

    1. Is the hitbox of the ship, the whole sprite, or is it a dot in the center of the ship like in other bullet hell shumps? Also, why the change to this style of shump?

    2. Are the video shot on the highest play rank, or do they get more intense than that? :)

    3. Do weapons have a limited amount of use like the first? Or are they unlimited?

    4. When are you going to release the trophy list?(or have you already?)

    Sorry for the questions lol. Great improvements you’ve done so far, I can’t wait till it comes out! *runs to the store to get psn card*

    • That’s a couple of really good questions.

      1. The hitbox of all objects do NOT cover the whole sprite but only a small box (as in SX1, but SX2’s boxes are a bit smaller now). Referring to the size of the playerships’ hitboxes, they sightly differ for each one. They are not as small as in some Japanese bullet hell shooters though, mainly because there’s the healthbar that allows more errors in general.

      2. I think mostly one of the highest ranks. You can check the play rank bar on the top right corner. ‘S’ is the highest rank, followed by ‘A’, ‘B’,… down to ‘G’.

      3. Unlimited.

      4. You can find it here for instance:
      http://soldner-x2.blogspot.com/2010/03/soldner-x-2-final-prototype-trophies.html

  • Getting it day one baby.

  • Hell yea !
    As a true arcade veteran I loved the first one and this is Day 1 purchase too. Keep up the good work.

  • parace ser um bom jogo para passar algumas horas, espero que ele tenha atualizações frequentes se não não vai passar de um simples jogo de arcade que veio para se acumular aos demais .
    abraço

  • great!Söldner-X 2

  • I doubt you’ll even read this, or even answer it, buttt…

    Is there a 1 hit=death mode?

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