& then it turns out said whip physics is used for Castlevania.
I loved playing with this so much lol
I'm glad someone out there made this transparent gif
I loved playing with this so much lol
I'm glad someone out there made this transparent gif
Thanks for the thread, Dreamboum, did the deed and got it right now. Game is great. Played on easy till stage 4, afterwards it was game over for me lol.
Just beat the game on easy and normal. This shit is phenomenal, the 2D sprites and (particularly) the music are crazy good.
Theres a bunch of stuff to unlock in the shop as well... I noticed that George Kamitani is credited as a gallery artist. Maybe he snuck some work in there for his buddy Shigatake?
Theres a bunch of stuff to unlock in the shop as well... I noticed that George Kamitani is credited as a gallery artist. Maybe he snuck some work in there for his buddy Shigatake?
By shmup standards this game is extremely easy on Normal and below, which is totally fine. It's not an arcade shmup, after all, so it's not going for that level of challenge.
The real challenge in this game is score-chasing on higher difficulties IMO. On normal and below it's just a really fun romp that's very accessible to new players.
But yeah, clearing it on the first go on normal or below is completely understandable for anyone who has cut their teeth on Arcade shmups for years.
I know there's the Shmups (Shoot 'Em Ups) official thread, but any quick recommendations for other games that are par to the style of this one? I've now got the itch, and I need MORE. :)
Another somewhat recent indie shmup that's also very accessible to new players and sports impressive presentation like this one is Drainus.
View: https://youtu.be/wJi0qAeY_fM?si=mkcTMSLaiOklvvoI
If you want something a little more challenging in the traditional bullet-hell sense, then I'd also strongly recommend Gunvein.
Gunvein for Nintendo Switch Trailer 60 fps
eShop Release Date is 11th May. The eShop pages are live.Gunvein is an intense, dynamic bullet hell STG inspired by the arcade masterpieces of CAVE, Taito an...
youtu.be
Adding two more, they are not "par to the style", but you might still like them, Temtastic Muns.
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/809020/ZeroRanger/
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1718160/Crimzon_Clover_World_EXplosion/
Crimzon Clover is like when you go from drinking any kind of beer to only drinking the finest scotch. An acquired taste, but the top of the game.
Thanks for the recommendations, all! Great to see several of these feature playable demos too, so will definitely give 'em a shot!
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Another somewhat recent indie shmup that's also very accessible to new players and sports impressive presentation like this one is Drainus.
View: https://youtu.be/wJi0qAeY_fM?si=mkcTMSLaiOklvvoI
If you want something a little more challenging in the traditional bullet-hell sense, then I'd also strongly recommend Gunvein.
Gunvein for Nintendo Switch Trailer 60 fps
eShop Release Date is 11th May. The eShop pages are live.Gunvein is an intense, dynamic bullet hell STG inspired by the arcade masterpieces of CAVE, Taito an...
Don't want to derail because this game looks awesome and I'm super excited to check it out, but had to give a second shout out in support of Drainus, extremely accessible if you suck at shmups (like I do) and is gorgeous to look at. Devil Engine is also a really cool relatively recent shmup but found it way too hard for me
I actually kinda hate Dranius. It suffers from the same problem all Ladybug games do regardless of genre - visually awesome, lots of interesting ideas in the gameplay that allow them to expand on cool pixel effects and animations, but completely unbalanced and just boring to play. Sorry (not sorry), but Ladybug games are the very definition of style over substance and spending any extended amount of time with them just makes me annoyed because they trigger every single game design pet peeve I have. It's unfortunate because they are very pretty.
Heavily recommend Zero Ranger though. Excellent game. A bit hard and not that welcoming for newbies, but the game does have a nice system of earning stuff that makes progressing easier bit by bit. It's meant to be replayed many many times. Design is very tight.
Heavily recommend Zero Ranger though. Excellent game. A bit hard and not that welcoming for newbies, but the game does have a nice system of earning stuff that makes progressing easier bit by bit. It's meant to be replayed many many times. Design is very tight.
I do mostly agree with you on your points about Ladybug's game design, but with Drainus I still really enjoyed it despite all of that. It's style over substance in many ways, but I think it's by far the best game they've made to date.
Give us 5 more glorious stages Shigataka sama!
Lol. I mean sure, but this took him six years!
Drainus would have benefited from an arcade mode with a preselected loadout at the start of the game, like traditional Gradius. That would fix a lot of my issues with it.
DEVIL BLADE REBOOT is legit fun and really well designed. It shows great use of a stock shmup maker. I really like how it has a robust unlock system and Gallery as well. The creator is definitely proud of his own work! Having a blast.
Yeah I think a lot of -little- things could be changed to greatly improve the game, and this applies to all Ladybug games. I dunno if I'll say Dranius is their best game, but it is certainly close. I had a lot of braindead fun with it until it just went on for a bit too long. I think having 2 less stages would be good for the game too.
Made it through Stage 1-4 with only 1 death, then took another death in Stage 5 and then the Stage 5 and 6 bosses were just screens full of death, but I squeaked out a hard mode clear on my last life lol
It's tough to do back to back runs of hard. I'm finding it actually mentally exhausting (and I kind of love it).
It's tough to do back to back runs of hard. I'm finding it actually mentally exhausting (and I kind of love it).
game is awesome. definitely feels like a lost PS1/Saturn shmup with really great production values.
Yeh I cleared normal 1cc on my second run so it's definitely on the easy side. The bomb/shield strat is so strong.
Yeah. Normal feels like a tutorial. Hard feels more like the actual game, and then Inferno is a nice challenge beyond that.
Nice review from Time Extend here.
Review: Devil Blade Reboot (Steam) - An Utterly Essential Shmup
The devil inside
www.timeextension.com
I gotta say I play a lot of these Indy Shmups and this one feels special. I am impressed with the simple but effective systems. The presentation and graphics is off the charts. The music is fantastic and makes you feel like your fighting having epic battle constantly(props especially to the Episode 4 Boss music). And the scoring is really well done. Additionally all the unlocks and extra modes and difficulty levels keep you coming back. Just all around great and a game that should be highlighted.
I know their is some controversy in the community due to Electric Underground refusing to review it due to the streaming restrictions but really this game should be highlighted because honestly it does every single thing right except for a thing that really only effects influencers and nobody else.
Highly recommended.
I know their is some controversy in the community due to Electric Underground refusing to review it due to the streaming restrictions but really this game should be highlighted because honestly it does every single thing right except for a thing that really only effects influencers and nobody else.
Highly recommended.
I'm sorry but that guy is such a dork about where he directs his ire and criticism and is frankly kind of insufferable.
The opinion is valid but should have been in a separate video. The game itself is fantastic and probably one of the better games to come out in this genre in recent years.
I feel exactly the same as you regarding that Electric Underground video for Devil Blade. I actually do like a lot of Mark's videos, but this one was a huge miss IMO. I had to leave several comments and a Dislike on that video because I thought it was just so unnecessary. This game of all indie shmups deserves a proper review and not whatever the fuck that video was.
i think he has his own personal, slight misgivings about stuff and then makes absolutely negative rants based on small quibbles. he did this with his REmake 4 review, he makes lots of macro-level generalizations about the games industry as a whole off of a handful of experiences he has, plus there is no universe where Raizing deserves to be ranked over Konami for shmup developers.
the last point isn't nearly as bad as the other two, but dang it, it feels nearly ahistorical for me.
Haha. Well, I actually have very similar tastes to him when it comes to shmups, and I do personally agree with that ranking.
But that makes sense that you and I differ in that regard, because I'm pretty sure we have pretty opposite tastes within this genre. I very much prefer danmaku style shmups and have rarely encountered a classic shmup that I actually enjoy.
But back on topic, that video of his had me so annoyed that I was considering unsubscribing from his channel out of sheer spite toward it. I didn't end up doing that, but the fact that I was considering it says enough. That video absolutely sucks.
i don't know how someone can't enjoy a 90s Konami shmup (like Gokujou Parodius) and a 90s bullet hell similarly. crazy dodging, medal chaining, fun weapon loadouts-- got it all!
yep. it's remarkable.
To be fair it appears the video has been taken down after the dev clarified he really didn't intend to copyright strike anybody it was more to prevent spoilers. Apparently the translation made it seem more harsh than intended as it was supposed to be a kind suggestion to please not spoil the game.
I am glad the video was taken down since it was unnecessarily harsh to great game. Actually looking forward to Mark doing a review because this very much checks all the boxes on what I believe he likes.
Good. This game doesn't deserve any negative coverage whatsoever.
I just played this for a while and I am shocked by how good it is, it's on the easy side on easy/normal which I appreciate while the challenge is clearly in the other difficulties.
Also everyone needs to play ZeroRanger.
Also everyone needs to play ZeroRanger.
Now that I'm switching up and playing the game for high scores, I'm really coming to appreciate the Boost system. Beyond the added challenge of no longer relying on Bombs to come in clutch, there's just something deeply satisfying in getting that Berserk level to 4000% and above. :)
honestly love this game. this is clearly designed by someone that has a deep understanding of the mechanics and history of the genre.
i think the length is fine too. it's about perfect for an arcade shmup. i wouldn't mind another level or two, mind you!
i think the length is fine too. it's about perfect for an arcade shmup. i wouldn't mind another level or two, mind you!
Layer Section/Rayforce definitley matches in terms of music. It's probably one of the greatest shmup OSTs ever. Presentation is also up there. The control is excellent (perfect speed) but it has big hitbox coupled with some pretty crazy later stage bullet barrages that definitely make the game more memo heavy than Devil Blade.
Certainly better than my current 10 million on Normal, though I've seen streamers cracking 22 mil and up. o_O;
