Raiden V: Director's Cut Reviews

Raiden V: Director's Cut is ranked in the 63rd percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
6 / 10.0
Nov 15, 2017

Does not really bring anything new to the genre, but it does capitalize on what made the series popular in the first place, and that is just fine. The soundtrack being an added bonus on top of that.

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Oct 25, 2017

Raiden V: Director’s Cut is very accessible for those who have yet to play a shoot’em up, and while the series is known to be rather challenging, the many difficulties it offers will ease players of any skill level right in. And those looking for a high level of challenge will still find it here, as the hardcore nature of the game has not been diluted. The story is mostly forgettable, but the way it gets presented during gameplay is a huge step forward for the genre. Raiden V: Director’s Cut is simply a must have.

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8.4 / 10.0
Oct 12, 2017

Although Raiden V: Director's Cut isn't a substantial step up from the vanilla version, what's here still makes for an incredible shoot 'em up that's a must-buy for those who don't already own the original Raiden V.

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Rice Digital
Bori
Top Critic
Oct 30, 2017

It will take you about a couple of hours to beat the main story, and after that it is up to you whether you want to hone your skills and try to beat the storyline on the S rank and to try and beat the boss stages. Overall, Raiden V is a welcome addition to the series, but it doesn't add much new to the table. It is fairly beginner friendly and can be enjoyed by the veterans alike, but generally, it lacks in additional content to make it stand out from other shoot-em-ups on the market.

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8 / 10
Oct 23, 2017

Raiden V: Director's Cut is a very fun and fast-paced shoot ‘em up on PS4 that fans of the genre, and fans of the Raiden franchise, are going to love. There's a lot of content to enjoy in this one and plenty of replayability thanks to the different routes available for each stage, and trophy hunters will end up spending even more time with the game if they want to unlock every single trophy in the list. Raiden V: Director's Cut is the definite version of the game and a welcome addition to the PlayStation 4 library, and you should play it today!

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7.5 / 10.0
Feb 23, 2018

Raiden V: Director's Cut is a fine shooter. While it introduces some things to keep rookies engaged, it also has enough to keep veterans playing thanks to multiple routes and plane configurations. There's a limited selection of shooters for the bullet hell crowd to enjoy, and despite its issues with bullet visibility, Raiden V deserves a place in that library.

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GameSpew
Top Critic
70%
Nov 1, 2017

It's a shame that lack of innovation and some strange design choices hinder it. However, it still remains an enjoyable experience for long-term fans of this almost three decade old franchise, or newcomers alike.

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7.5 / 10.0
Nov 22, 2017

Whether you are a serious fan of bullet hell games or new to the genre, Raiden V: Director's Cut is a great place to start. It offers easy to play, but hard to master gameplay and some great moments throughout and lives up to the series name!

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8 / 10.0
Oct 25, 2017

Raiden V is just as good on PlayStation 4, though this rerelease doesn't quite add enough to justify picking the game up a second time.

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8 / 10
Jul 29, 2019

Raiden V: Director’s Cut quietly lands on the Switch with little fanfare, and yet feels right at home along with all the numerous other bullet hell shmups currently available on the system.

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7.5 / 10.0
Oct 20, 2017

Raiden V: Director's Cut offers a wide variety of weapons and difficulties that are sure to keep players busy for some time. I could have used a few additional modes, ships, and weapons, but what's provided was enough for me to have a blast. Hopefully, the success of Raiden V: Director's Cut opens the floodgates for the bullet hell genre on consoles in the west.

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8 / 10.0
Nov 2, 2017

Raiden V doesn't feature any crazy features or design choices that turn the shoot 'em up genre on its head, but it doesn't need to. Instead, it offers up an extremely polished shooter that sticks to the basics, while also having plenty of customizability due to a robust weapon system. There's enough missions and story branches to keep players busy for quite some time, and it's a great addition to any SHMUP fan's library.

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8 / 10
Oct 23, 2019

Raiden V: Director's Cut brings the expanded version of this vertical shoot'em-up to the Nintendo Switch, with its mix of frantic action, local co-op mode and top notch soundtrack. Its minor flaws, such as an overwhelming amount of information, are easily drowned by the game's enveloping pace. Raiden V: Director's Cut is easily one of the finest shoot'em-ups available for the Nintendo Switch catalogue.

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7 / 10.0
Oct 19, 2017

Raiden V: Director's Cut is a solid, retro-flavored shooter that does a lot right but doesn't innovate or advance the genre forward in any way.

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Drew Leachman
Top Critic
6.5 / 10.0
Oct 19, 2017

All in all, it's a decent ride of a game and done really well, but I find that because of the high price point, only the shump veterans should look into getting it.

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78 / 100
Oct 18, 2017

Raiden V: Director's Cut has a nice rhythm and flow to it and the difficulty seems neutral enough to be appealing to most gamers.

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8.5 / 10.0
Nov 22, 2017

It had been a while since I last played a Raiden game and Raiden V: Director's Cut was pretty enjoyable after reacquainting myself with the series, my eyesight issues aside.  The fact you can beat the game on any difficulty can seem a tad off putting, but this is actually a good concept for newer players so they can experience the story then increase the difficulty when they start to improve so they can get a better ending.  That combined with the boss challenges give quite a bit of replayability  to the game and being able to take things a stage at a time makes it great to play in short bursts.  Overall a pretty good entry for the series.

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TheSixthAxis
Top Critic
7 / 10
Oct 24, 2017

Raiden V tries to add something new the shoot 'em up genre which is admirable, but unfortunately most of the ideas don't live up to expectations. The Cheer system may have worked better if you could let spectators view your game, and the running commentary is like trying to listen to couple arguing at back of a bus when you're at the front and have someone playing loud techno music on their phone right next to you. For a shoot 'em up there is a lot of content and the main mechanics have clearly been honed to perfection over the last twenty five years, making this a good, solid entry to the series.

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Metro GameCentral
GameCentral
Top Critic
7 / 10
Oct 23, 2017

A director's cut that for once makes a significant difference, with new levels and the return of co-op – although the underlying game is still slightly flawed.

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