Square Enix is full of surprises lately. It's keeping busy by branching out into all kinds of unique projects. For instance, it has Forspoken on the way, an isekai-style action RPG taking a young woman from New York City and tossing her headlong into a fantasy world. At the same time, it's experimenting with tactics again in the form of Triangle Strategy, a project largely influenced by the developers of Octopath Traveler. Even so, Square Enix still managed to surprise fans by bringing back an old classic: Actraiser Renaissance, a SNES title that made a name for itself by fusing two totally different genres together.
In Actraiser, players take the role of a divine being called the Lord of Light who sends an angel and an animated statue to protect mortals from a legion of evil monsters. Players control the statue in action platforming sections, while they control the angel in a series of tower defense sections. These two genres are certainly very different from one another, but Actraiser earned fans by masterfully weaving the two together. Actraiser didn't spawn a long-lived franchise in spite of its success, so Actraiser Renaissance offers a rare experience to play a 1990s classic that'll appeal to fans of city-building and tactics as well as lovers of the eternally popular platforming genre.
Actraiser Renaissance's Combination of Genres
Platforming is crucial to saving the world of Actraiser Renaissance from the demonic Tanzra. During these sections, players control the statue animated by the Lord of Light and fight Tanzra's minions on foot. The statue's sword skills are vastly expanded in Actraiser Renaissance compared to the original games, and there are lots of new spells that he can cast to destroy the forces of evil too. Action platformers such as Metroidvanias have kept Actraiser's style of gameplay very popular. Fans of these game genres will probably appreciate Actraiser's spell system and many boss battles.
Actraiser diversifies its gameplay by interspersing city building segments with the platforming. Occasionally, players take control of the Lord of Light's angel, expanding mortal cities by destroying buildings or obstacles with the Lord of Light's powers, then choosing new buildings to place. Once Actraiser players construct their cities, they have to defend these cities from Tanzra's army in real-time strategy segments. Both well-timed miracles and intelligently placed structures are crucial to fending off Tanzra. With Actraiser Renaissance suddenly on the market, Triangle Strategy isn't the only tactics game Square Enix has to offer, but Actraiser's tower defense style definitely sets it apart from Triangle Strategy.
Actraiser Renaissance is Truly Reborn
Admittedly, Actraiser Renaissance isn't the most famous Square Enix title in the company's history. Even so, it's very significant. While Actraiser's platforming and tactics seem like they could be incongruous with one another, reviewers have historically agreed that both sides of the game are solid, and neither side of the game suffers from its contrasting genre. Not every game succeeds at throwing multiple genres together in this way, which makes the low profile but critically successful Actraiser worth trying.
Reviews seem to indicate that Actraiser Renaissance is a strong title served well by its upgrades. Fans should bear in mind that Square Enix could decide to reignite the franchise if Actraiser Renaissance gets enough strong reviews and sells enough copies. Although an Actraiser sequel with no city-building elements released in 1993, the choice to focus on remaking the original Actraiser rather than reviving the two games together suggests Square Enix sees value in Actraiser's dual genres. In a time where the game industry is increasingly enthusiastic about remakes and franchise revivals, a new line of Actraiser games would hardly be out of place. For now, it's hard to say for sure what Square Enix is planning, but Actraiser Renaissance remains a major gain for fans of platformers and city builders alike.
Actraiser Renaissance is available now for Mobile, PC, PS4, and Switch.
