Dariusburst: Another Chronicle EX+

DariusBurst Another Chronicle EX+ is a decent game that heavily leans into the arcade genre. It fully commits to the theme, sometimes at the expense of player enjoyment, although you can’t deny the immersion. Gameplay is quite repetitive, and overly challenging, meaning there’s a skill barrier to enjoyment. The high production value definitely wins the game some points, and the audio and graphics are both very impressive throughout. Whilst I have no doubt that fans of arcade games will enjoy this, the difficulty and unvaried nature of the game makes it relatively inaccessible to gamers outside the genre.

A great port of a great title that’s well worth the investment on Switch, on PS4 however unless you are a Darius superfan you’d be better served with a copy of Chronicle Saviours.

Dariusburst: Another Chronicle EX+ doesn't feel like a new game but rather just a cut-down version of the previous one. As such, the mid-range price point doesn't feel like great value for money and given how the game doesn't cater to newcomers very well, the audience it will really appeal to will be better off sticking to its predecessor instead.

DariusBurst Another Chronicle EX+ is as thin as $40 can stretch the fifth iteration of its namesake. Its cumulative and sweeping arrangement of DariusBurst’s horizontal shooting excellence is, objectively speaking, worth an investment of time. Its position against Dariusburst: Chronicle Saviours in the same marketplace, along with its own slapdash assembly, weakens its necessity in any enthusiast’s collection.

Unfortunately, the best way to describe Dariusburst Another Chronicle EX+ is as follows: a console port that feels like it isn’t supposed to be played on console. As a result, it feels like a cheap experience – a rehash of highlights without any thought as to how the package fits together as a whole. Perhaps most egregiously, the medium through which this console version is played appears to be an afterthought at best.