Cotton Fantasy
Developed By: Success
Developed By: Success
Published By: ININ Games
Date of Release: May 20, 2022
Price: $49.99
Those who have been reading my blog for a while now certainly know my dark secret: I have a weakness for the Cute-em-up style of SHMUPS. Especially the Cotton series as a whole. From its humble beginnings on Japanese retro computers to the home console versions, I've always loved the series. And now Success has released the latest iteration in the franchise, Cotton Fantasy on the Nintendo Switch, but does this new title hold up to the series pedigree?
For starters the general presentation is a sight to behold. colourful 2D cutscenes pop off the screen with decent voice acting at key points in the game. The voice acting continues into the gameplay, and this is where my first complaint arises. There is no translation for the Japanese voices during gameplay (despite subtitles being promised), and the characters talk a mile a minute. Adding to the confusion it doesn't matter which character you select, the game simply proceeds during cutscenes as if you've chosen Cotton herself.
The music is up to par with the rest of the series, and so is the core gameplay loop, but the entire experience seems to lack polish, from the missing subtitles, graphical glitches and slowdown, music looping incorrectly or simply just cutting out randomly, and so forth. The game's polygonal graphics, while sufficient, lack the charm of the series signature sprites. All in all the whole package seems underwhelming, especially with such a steep asking price. My suggestion is if you're a Cotton fan, wait for a sale.
