Ikaruga

Hello! Today I will be talking about the story and gameplay structure in a game called Ikaruga. Ikaruga is a shooter arcade game that came out for the Sega Dreamcast and was later ported onto the Nintendo Gamecube. In Ikaruga, the story is about the sole survivor of a freedom organization known as the Tenkaku. Tenkaku was made in order to defeat "The Divine Ones." Led by Tenro Horai, these people from the Horai nation began to take over the other nations one by one. Unfortunately, Tenkaku was completely overpowered by their enemies' onslaught, and only a young man named Shinra survived. He was shot down near a small village named Ikaruga. The elderly people there helped him back onto his feet and they entrusted him with a sacred ship in order to defeat "The Divine Ones." The ship is able to use the two different energy polarities and switch between the two successfully. With this ship, Shinra delves straight into the armada and fights with renewed courage and boundless fury.

Shinra was shot down, and he was brought back from the ashes in order to deliver the final blow against "The Divine Ones." In the game you see Shinra and his entire body is covered with bullet holes and his clothes are tattered. Shinra states in the Japanese version of the game "I will not die until I achieve something. Even though the ideal is high, I never give in. Therefore, I never die with regrets." All this shows that he is willing to give it all in order to save his people, regardless of what happens to him, a true hero's thinking. At the final boss, you find yourself switching polarities so incredibly fast, but perfectly. You reach a state of zen and perfect balance, and nothing else in the world matters.

In my opinion, Ikaruga is a beautifully constructed game with a deep storyline and fantastic gameplay mechanics. Unfortunately, others would disagree with me and say that it is too boring. In a YouTube video (Click here to view) the reviewer states that the game is boring because you don't have to worry about anything since you can "absorb just about everything" and "the enemies are as dumb as a doorknob." Through personal experience, you have to worry about a lot of things such as physical obstructions like walls that fly in and rotate at high speeds, as well as switching polarities at the right time. As for the enemies, they are supposed to be dumb. That is the basic formula for every shooter ever made, otherwise it'd be way too hard. In another review, though, this person says quite the contrary. In this review by Screw Attack, the person states that Ikaruga is "notorious for being incredibly challenging and insanely fun." I couldn't agree with him more, and I hope to see more games with a deep story and phenomenal gameplay such as Ikaruga's in the future.