Climakina" (PS5 version) review! Action RPG in which beautiful girls with machine bodies violently fight against each other in a hard science fiction-like world

A review of the PS5 version of "Climachina/CRYMACHINA" which is now on sale! This unique action RPG combines a hard science fiction worldview with intense battles between beautiful girls with mechanical bodies.

The story takes place in the distant future, after the human race has been exterminated. In the "Eden," a floating Dyson sphere in space, intelligent machines called "Kamiki" have been trying to regenerate the human race, but eventually they start to fight with each other. In the meantime, Raven, a young girl who died of a strange disease in the 21st century, is resurrected in the virtual world of Eden as personality data. The divine machine Enoa, which regenerated Raven, is being attacked by other divine machines and is in danger.

Raven, and Mikoto and Ami, two 21st century girls regenerated before her, fight enemies sent by other divine machines in order to survive. The girls collect "ExP" by being downloaded into their prosthetic bodies to fight, and their "humanity" grows, and when they are recognized as "real humans" by the divine machines, the conflict will end. However, all of the divine planes are peculiar individuals who are working for their own purposes. What fate will befall the three and Enoa?

The main character, Leben, dies once from a strange disease called "renunciation disease.

From left, Ami, Enoa, Raven, and Mikoto. All three except Enoa died in the 21st century and are now regenerated personality data in Enoa.

Intelligent machines, "divine machines," have been trying to regenerate the destroyed human race, but now they are fighting with each other.

The far future, virtual world, artificial bodies, machine intelligence, and humanity are all hard science fiction keywords that seem to appear in the works of Greg Egan and Greg Bear, and this knowledge will help you enjoy this work more. The sight of beautiful prosthetic girls standing on a huge structure, reminiscent of Tsutomu Nibei's popular manga "BLAME! In this sense, this work is a pointed title.

In the game, Leben and the other four characters deepen their relationship, which is depicted in a cutscene called "tea party. The four sharp characters form a pseudo-family: Leben, who hates humans and has a preoccupation with machines; Mikoto, whose supreme mission is to be "cool"; Ami, who looks demure but harbors uncontrollable passions; and Enoa, who despises herself as a machine. The way they form a pseudo-family has an interesting character-content aspect. On the other hand, these women have to fight to survive, and they are sometimes pushed to the brink of life and death. In other words, it is a "late-night anime to play" in the best sense of the word, as it combines the interaction of strong characters and life-or-death battles.

Leben and three others are downloaded into prosthetic bodies and throw themselves into battle to protect themselves from other divine machines. The game is a showy affair, with doll-like details and artwork-like decorations on the prosthetic bodies, which are manipulated to unleash a battle full of effects. There is also a "casual mode" with a lower difficulty level, and just hitting attacks in rapid succession is exhilarating, but understanding the "just evade," "counter," and "family machine" systems makes the game even more fun to play. Just evade and counter are the most interesting action elements of the game. Just avoiding an opponent's attack at the last possible moment will result in Just Evade, which activates special effects such as invincibility, acceleration, and automatic pursuit. Also, by countering certain attacks, you can create opportunities to attack. Some of the strongest enemies launch violent attacks. However, if you watch the signs carefully and make full use of these techniques, you will be more than capable of countering them. It is not only a series of hits that are required, but also technique.

The "kenzoku" (household machine) is packed with RPG-like charm. The two machines floating around Leben and his friends are called "household machines," and each model has its own unique abilities, such as props, melee attacks, and the ability to weaken the enemy. They can be obtained by defeating enemies or picking them up along the way, and two of them can be freely combined from a handheld device. Once activated, the "family machine" takes independent actions according to the "Shikkou" (an item that determines the attack pattern) that has been set in advance. You can equip two flying machines to cover you, or focus on melee attacks, for example.

And the ability of the household machine is determined at random. Not only do the numerical values of the parameters differ, but they also affect the number of thoughts that can be set and the branching patterns. When certain conditions are met, the behavior of a household machine will branch into a special attack pattern called "EX". Even if they are of the same model, the conditions for branching into EX are different, as are the number of attachments that can be set, so depending on your luck, the usability of the machine will vary considerably. Sometimes, the thought device can be obtained separately, and it is used by setting it in the household machine. Since they are consumable items, you will want as many as you can find that are easy to use.

Floating on either side of the leaven is the "family machine.

Ravens can also have "personality enhancement data" and "armament enhancement cartridges" attached to their heads, bodies, hips, and weapons. These are equipment items in this work, and their abilities are also determined at random. It is also possible to search for equipment that increases the parameters of your own fighting style. It is also interesting to search for "subnetworks (hidden stages)" by entering "coordinates," which are like IP addresses. The coordinates seem to have a certain rule, and by changing the value, various stages will appear. We look forward to the excitement of sharing the coordinates with friends and on social networking services.

The battle between the sharply designed enemies and allies is beautiful, but sometimes it is difficult to see the warning signs due to the attack effects. We hope that this will be addressed in future updates.

Climakina" is a rare combination of hard science fiction and beautiful girls. Like "CRYSTAR," which was produced by the same producer, "Climakina" has a unique theme of "beautiful girls driven into an unreasonable situation and fighting back while shedding tears," which may be interesting for those who were attracted to "Crystar. (Text by Shinichi Yanamoto)