While R-Type Dimensions III was released digitally to lukewarm reviews, it's refreshing to hear that the publisher behind the game, ININ, has taken the views of their audience to heart and committed themselves to making improvements.
Criticism included the graphical overhaul making the game hard to read and that quality control missed glitches in the audio. Gameplay changes, such as power-ups not respawning after you die thus making the difficulty stratospheric, with other changes making the game radically different to other versions (hitboxes, boss changes, enemies popping in and out and so forth).
However, ININ clearly take the game and its reception very seriously and have committed to overhauling the game to bring it into line with player expectations. To this end, the physical release has also been delayed until all the issues identified have been improved and the best version of the game can be played from the cartridge/disc.
A statement from ININ Games:
R-Type remains one of the most important and respected shoot-'em-up franchises in gaming history. We understand the responsibility that comes with bringing this series to both longtime fans and new players.
The passion shown by the community over the past weeks demonstrates just how much R-Type means to so many people around the world. We have heard that passion clearly.
We are committed to earning back the confidence of players through action, transparency, and continued improvements. The work is already underway, and we will continue communicating our progress as updates become available.
We appreciate the feedback, the criticism, and the patience shown by the community. Our teams remain fully dedicated to ensuring that R-Type Dimensions III ultimately stands as a release worthy of the franchise's legacy.
While we didn't have the bandwidth available to review the game on release, we do keep our eyes open and in this case it seems that disappointed players can look forward to serious improvements in the future, for which we can only laud the studio who will, perhaps, avoid this in future.
