To say the least, I'm not currently rolling in gold. More than 30 days of strikes will take my budget and I will have to cut back for a while in order to concentrate on the essentials of life. So goodbye, then, to impulse purchases devoted to gambling and other leisure activities. Nevertheless, the fact that I pre-ordered certain items well in advance will still allow me to temporarily get a little extra tantrum in this area. This is the case today, with the arrival of this copy of ESP Ra.De. Psi which will not only fulfill its role of entertaining me and playfully feeding my PS4, it will also fulfill my expectations as a video game collector.
Released only on the Japanese continent, on December 19th, on PS4 and Switch, ESP Ra.De. Psi is the long-awaited port of a title that made the arcade's heyday in the late 90s. Developed by Cave and published by Atlus, this manic shmup was the object of much covetousness for nearly two decades. An illustrious danmaku with a unique atmosphere and exemplary gameplay, this game was particularly coveted because of a dark rights story that didn't allow the original developer to exploit it as he wanted. Indeed, Atlus, the main license holder of this game, didn't see fit to give it back to Cave and thus allow an exploitation outside of arcade darkrooms.
As the PCB was being sold to the fans at a high price, the M2 team took the initiative to negotiate with Atlus in the hope of distributing this marvel outside of an insider's circle. After more than two decades, ESP Ra.De. has finally made a resounding comeback on the home console, much to the delight of shmup fans. Of course, when this excellent news was announced, I couldn't contain my joy and excitement, while spending a few pennies on the collector's version, during the pre-order openings that took place last year.
So the wait was long and my concern grew as the release date approached. Will this portage live up to my expectations? Anyway, my version reached my mailbox at the beginning of January. At that moment, doubt gave way to joy as well as the pleasure of discovering a more than generous collector, rewarding without any doubt this long and painful wait. Clearly, M2 did not do things by halves and offers us a luxurious packaging, accompanied by a guidebook for the first buyers of the title. Exemplary, seems to be the term to use to qualify such a debauchery of goodies of all kinds, provided inside this box. It includes two sheets of stickers, the arcade markees of the time, an OST CD, of course the game in its box, and a totally sublime artbook (more than 200 pages!), tracing the conception of the game and its universe.
A goldsmith's work, done by enthusiasts for enthusiasts, which many wealthier publishers should be inspired by (Isn't that Ubisoft ?). This is probably the most complete collector's item I currently have in my collection. Thank you M2 for this wonderful version that pays a very nice tribute to a great game !
