Back in February, we heard that Byking were working on a new mecha arcade game called Starwing Paradox. Well, it’s now finally released in the Japanese arcades and it’s building up a nice following.
Released at the end of November in Japan, I have been playing the game since then and it’s been a lot of fun overall.
For those familiar with mecha games, Starwing Paradox plays similarly to the Another Century’s Episode games, though without the fixed orbit lock.
What makes the game compelling though is its multiplayer setup and the cabinet itself. The latter is what has garnered so much attention, as the cabinet features a force feedback chair along with dual stick control as well as pedals and a touchscreen.
What somewhat breaks this immersive setup is the fact that the action is depicted in the third-person but from a functional standpoint, the third person camera is entirely essential to keep track of what is going on around you.
Matches are similar in structure to something like Border Break, with each side having a base at either end of the map. You also have points in between that you can capture. What’s different about Starwing Paradox is that the combat is airborne and frenetic with it.
My starting mecha of choice was the Solidea, which is more for assault. This has two weapon configurations, guns and missiles. These are switched between via a scroll wheel on the sticks.
While combat is quite fast-paced, you track targets manually. However, Starwing Paradox uses a similar FCS target window as per the older Armored Core games. In that within range, your weapons lock-on to an enemy. However, this is only a weapon lock and not a movement oriented one.
Combat is visceral and rewarding, you also get a barrel roll dodge move, which is nice. You also have a long-range boost move similar to the one in Another Century’s Episode R, allowing you to travel quickly between points on each map. Thankfully, this is the only feature Starwing Paradox has borrowed from that rather unfortunate game.
When you start the game up for the first time you are taken through a tutorial but if you want to play the multiplayer part, you need a Nesica card.
From the matches I have been playing, there seems to be a big community around the game and there are often queues to play. My concern is that the cabinet is clearly expensive and it may not be making enough money with players.
In addition, without the cabinet, this game isn’t all that different to mecha games that have been available on console in the past. This is something players have already commented on and they do have a point.
To be fair though, what’s different is that the controls are more manual and comprehensive and the combat pacing works well. It is also visually very striking, with vibrant environments as well as unique looking mecha courtesy of Ippei Gyoubu.
Not to mention that you have the whole anime aspect to the game, with the character designs by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and anime cut-ins in combat adding a nice layer of production value to the proceedings.
However, this visual pedigree comes at a cost and some of the more intense parts of combat can result in the framerate to take noticeable hits. While the game uses Unreal Engine 4, it’s clear it still needs a fair bit of optimization.
Overall, I have been having fun with Starwing Paradox and it’s definitely an interesting game to have in the arcades, even if it feels a bit overly familiar from a mecha gaming standpoint. My only hope is that it finds its feet and gives Byking another arcade game to build on for the next few years.
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