Frustratingly, Ginga Force is more ambitious than it is good, dragging down its occasional moments of signature Qute brilliance with a glacially-paced story mode in service of a forgettable plot. With much more generous tuning of the progression rewards, this could potentially be an effective gateway title to welcome newer players to the genre. As it is, it’s weirdly perched between the old and new, with too much grind and too much noise to really land for anyone.

Ginga Force is one of the better shoot ‘em ups I’ve played. As someone who traditionally is not a fan of the genre, this game absolutely gave me reason enough to play each of the levels. It is a shame that the narrative is too difficult to follow as it happens alongside the action. The ability to upgrade weapons and purchase bonus items, even after failing a level, is a welcome ingredient to allow people who only casually play within the shoot ‘em up genre the ability to enjoy the game enough to get through to the end, but the fact that a lot of the good stuff is locked behind "for genre veterans only" difficulty settings does whittle down the game's potential audience a little.

Ginga Force is a high-quality shoot 'em up that has enough content for you to keep playing and replaying. Shoot 'em up fans will love it and this is the kind of thing we love to see on PSN.