Continuing in our previews of upcoming arcade titles thanks to the development of the Exa-Arcadia multi-game platform, let’s shift focus to one of the many shoot ’em ups that will be gracing the system. Previously we’ve talked about the run’n gun Blazing Chrome and fighter Bayani, so today I wanted to cover a game by the name of Vritra Hexa.
When Exa-Arcadia was first announced, it had a strong line-up of shoot ’em up titles including Aka & Blue Type-R, Super Hydorah AC and Infinos Exa. There’s no question that the platform will be a dream for STG fans, a genre that still does exceptionally well in Japan, although it has really struggled out West. Additional STGs have been announced for Exa since, one of which caught my eye as it reminded me of Namco’s ol’ Dragon Spirit.
Vritra has an odd sounding name, developed by Neotro Inc. and released on mobile platforms first, and later to PC on Steam. The game story itself is based upon some stories from an ancient religion out of northern India known as Vedic, where you are a hero dragon that must fight against the hordes of creatures spawned by an evil dragon called Vritra:
The seal that was placed by the gods has finally been broken.Out of the broken seal emerged the Evil Dragon Vritra, feared as the manifestation of the great evil that engulfs heaven and earth.
Vritra’s return spawned evil creatures and cast a cloud of despair over the world, bringing it to the brink of total decay. Sensing the aura of his arch-enemy Vritra, the Hero God Indra clutched the treasure Vajra and headed to Earth.
The countless wars of the gods that have been fought since ancient times is about the begin again
While the Steam version is called “complete,” that moniker really should apply to the Exa version, which will include 2-player support, an arranged soundtrack and full HD graphics. Here’s the initial preview from the January 2019 livestream at JAEPO 2019:
But for something more up-to-date and extensive, here’s almost two hours of the Exa version being streamed at Mikado Arcade in Japan a few weeks ago:
What do you think about this one?
Another story on this still yet unavailable system for US operators.I’ve never read so much and seen so many title releases for something one can not get.EXA GET THIS OUT TO US OPS NOW!
I know, right? For all this information we’ve gotten, you’d think exA would, you know, give us at least a release date. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt, but time is running out. They need to capitalize on the hype!
Japan has always made the habit of keeping games to their own market and sometimes they cite the usual BS being “Cultural Differences”, but honestly seeing how they pulled out of world markets post 90’s and kept all the good titles local is what’s driving harm against an industry revival. So many shmups or fighting games never made it here, plus you have to literally go to a Round 1 if you want to try something like GunSlinger Stratos.
Personally I’ve often thought the bias was partially due to some sense of racism against non-asians as they’re so willing to support asian territories and hardly anyone else. I wish someone would investigate.