Platinum Games Reveals Sol Cresta, And It's Seemingly Not An April Fools' Joke

Developer Platinum Games, the Japanese studio responsible for action titles like Bayonetta and Nier: Automata, is switching things up for its next project. The team is now working on Sol Cresta, a sequel to the 1985 shmup Terra Cresta.

Platinum initially unveiled the game on April Fools' Day last year with a brief trailer. A year later, the studio delivered yet another trailer revealing Sol Cresta, this time confirming that the game is in development for Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4. Despite the announcement date falling once again on April Fools' Day, the below trailer showcases some brief gameplay, as well as a 2021 release window.

The project is in collaboration with Hamster Corporation, which filed a Sol Cresta trademark in February. A South Korean rating was also spotted, likely solidifying Sol Cresta as a real game. According to the trailer, it's part of the Neo Classic Arcade Series Volume 1, although there were no further details shared about that.

Terra Cresta is a 1985 vertical-scrolling shoot-'em-up where players pilot the Wing Galibur, a ship capable of interchanging pieces for various kinds of firepower. The game is a sequel to Moon Cresta, developer Nichibutsu's breakout 1980 hit. Platinum's Sol Cresta would serve as the third entry in the franchise.

In other Platinum Games news, the studio's critically acclaimed action-adventure RPG Nier: Automata recently launched on Xbox Game Pass for PC with a healthy amount of new features, such as 4K UI textures and HDR support. Fans, however, have reviewed-bombed the Steam version because of how inferior it is, although a recent Digital Foundry analysis suggests that isn't the case.