Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 1 & 2 Twin Assortment from Inti Creates must be acquainted to anybody who’s heard of the Azure Striker Gunvolt sequence. Our titular Luminous Avenger, Copen, makes his first look inside the mainline sequence and shortly after spawned these spin-off titles, which characteristic their very own disconnected tales happening in the identical universe.
With these two titles being my first foray into the Copen spin-offs, but additionally being considerably aware of Gunvolt, I used to be thrilled to see what Luminous Avenger iX 1 & 2 held for me on the Nintendo Change 2. For one, I appreciated the choice to now select between a 4K/60fps decision or a buttery-smooth 1080p/120fps mode. It is a marked improve from the unique Change variations and my first expertise with 120fps on my Change 2. If you happen to’re fascinated by these enhancements and already personal the earlier titles, there’s sadly no improve path to the person titles. Nonetheless, there’s one for the Change to Change 2 model of this bundle, however nonetheless, missing a complete improve path and nickel-and-diming your unique fanbase is one in every of my least favourite tropes of 2026. That being mentioned, these upgrades are nice. Experiencing 120fps on handheld felt very, excellent to behold. Simply notice that it’s important to manually regulate your show settings from the primary menu, that means it’s important to again all the best way out of both recreation if you wish to make adjustments.
Ought to that sound like sufficient for you, choose up and revel in this double pack. But when, like me, you’ve not skilled these titles earlier than, let me dig into them. Structurally, each video games in Luminous Avenger iX 1+2 will really feel instantly acquainted should you’ve ever picked up a Mega Man recreation. You journey via distinct phases, culminating in boss battles that reward you with new skills upon victory. Nonetheless, traversing these phases is the place the primary recreation finds its personal rocket-fueled identification. Copen is a blisteringly fast character centered on auto-locking and maneuverability. You will have “Bullits” that act as expenses to your aerial dashes, in addition to a defend system known as Prevasion. Most often, when you’ve got sufficient Bullit expenses in reserve, you’ll routinely dodge and take no injury. Reloading your Bullits may be performed manually and freely by double-tapping the down button, so I at all times felt just like the onus was on me to handle my very own near-invincibility in a method that felt extremely satisfying. Do you have to occur to die, there’s a share likelihood your AI idol companion, Lola, will revive you that will help you end the struggle. It’s a welcome addition that retains the tempo of the sport shifting ahead after I was confronted with more difficult content material. The narrative focuses on the final vestiges of humanity combating for his or her place amongst a brand new breed of super-powered folks trying to eradicate the human remnants. It’s a serviceable story with an ending that left me itching to leap straight into the following recreation.
Luminous Avenger iX 2, nevertheless, is a really complicated title with some baffling design selections that I consider get highlighted all of the extra when enjoying these titles again to again. First off, you’ve got severely restricted boosting this time round. You’ll carry out your sprint lock-on and want to the touch the bottom to regain a cost. In reality, Copen’s complete character feels heavier and meant to be planted on the ground, donning some discernibly beefier armor for his second mainline foray. When flying round like a mosquito on Crimson Bull was my core expertise with the primary recreation, this sequel felt like I had my wings clipped, and I loathed it. Not solely that, however the freedom of the Bullit system is functionally gone. As a substitute, we’ve got character upgrades that additional enhance our invulnerability in weird methods. One improve you possibly can purchase early, for instance, is that if Copen stands completely nonetheless and will get hit, he’ll solely ever take 1 level of harm. This seems like the full antithesis of the primary recreation’s high-speed design.
To additional baffle the participant, you’ve got limitless therapeutic. Within the first recreation, you at the least needed to seek out a well being pick-up. Within the sequel, you possibly can forged a heal on your self infinitely with no cooldown. There are moments within the recreation the place you’ll be confronted with a shifting flooring of lava (oh no!), however these hazards are completely trivialized as a result of you possibly can merely heal via them. You can stroll via these sections at a leisurely tempo and heal all the best way to the opposite facet. Not solely is the second recreation mechanically unsatisfying, it doesn’t even proceed the story in a significant method. You get teleported to a model new, alternate-dimension and give attention to climbing a tower guarded by robots, simply looking for a method again dwelling. It’s a side-quest at greatest and feels completely heartless compared to the true stakes of the primary recreation.
If I had been to attain these Luminous Avenger iX 1 & 2 Twin Assortment individually, I’d give the primary recreation an 8 and the second a 6. It really seems like a brand new growth group was handed the design doc from the primary installment, however half the pages had been lacking and so they simply “made do.” Whereas each are attention-grabbing Gunvolt spin-offs, Luminous Avenger iX 1 is the rather more satisfying expertise, which makes the package deal as a complete troublesome to totally suggest, even when the Change 2 upgrades are noteworthy.
