-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
The Mega-Cave Shooter Post, because they're totally awesome and sweet
- Thread starter Victrix
- Start date
iconoclast
Member
I uploaded my Ketsui 122m 1-ALL replay to youtube, if anyone wants to check it out.
Stage 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD-rWYi6_Ik
Stage 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GceM2xXH4Es
Stage 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijUOmmTb1yg
Stage 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4jE3J3JxL8
Stage 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63wqpUCscqA
Made a bunch of stupid mistakes, and there are a lot of areas I could improve on, but I'm still pretty happy with this run for now.
It's worth getting because Muchi Muchi Pork is amazing. It's easily one of Cave's top 5 games. Of course, Pink Sweets is good too, and it's a nice change of pace since it's very different from Cave's usual style. Plus the PS arrange mode is awesome. It's a great package.
Stage 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD-rWYi6_Ik
Stage 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GceM2xXH4Es
Stage 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijUOmmTb1yg
Stage 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4jE3J3JxL8
Stage 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63wqpUCscqA
Made a bunch of stupid mistakes, and there are a lot of areas I could improve on, but I'm still pretty happy with this run for now.
HitokiriNate85 said:
It's worth getting because Muchi Muchi Pork is amazing. It's easily one of Cave's top 5 games. Of course, Pink Sweets is good too, and it's a nice change of pace since it's very different from Cave's usual style. Plus the PS arrange mode is awesome. It's a great package.
depths20XX
Member
iconoclast said:
Nice job. I'm still going for the 1-ALL myself but think I have a ways to go. I keep coming back to this game and I'll play it a bunch for a week then stop for months. That's probably why I don't feel like I'm getting any better. Not to mention getting distracted by all the other shmup releases. I can get to 1-4 but that's it.
Princess Skittles
Prince's's 'Skittle's
That cover is astounding.naoki5001 said:
sixteen-bit
Member
I wonder what this means for a potential GoD release :/epmode said:
Barry Lightning
Banned
whats the point? or let me rephrase that: no.Slermy said:
JustAnotherOtaku
Member
Thought that I would ask this to my fellow shmupers since we all have experience of importing in here, rather than start a new thread.
Basically, for the past 3 years or so I have been able to get 99% of my Japanese/Asian games from a friend in HK. He would buy them locally or have Playasia ship them to him and then onto me. This meant I was getting games in 4-7 days usually, much better than the 6+ weeks it takes PA.
Anyway, his circumstances have changed and he's no longer able to do this so I'm looking for the best places to import from. I just used Yesasia for Akai Katana and am hoping it gets to me quickly and is not lost or anything.
PA take far too long to get things to me.
NCSX are good, but IIRC don't take PayPal and shipping to the UK is quite pricey.
eBay is good now and again, but games like Akai Katana are always marked up (£65 versus £55 everwhere else).
Feels weird to ask this as I'm usually one of the people answering this when asked by others but basically I need:
- Quick (10-14 days at the longest) delivery to the UK
- Reasonable postage
- No chance of customs charges
I know there are a few other places (AmiAmi, Japanvideogames etc) but have never used them so please, shmup-GAF, any advice would be great
Basically, for the past 3 years or so I have been able to get 99% of my Japanese/Asian games from a friend in HK. He would buy them locally or have Playasia ship them to him and then onto me. This meant I was getting games in 4-7 days usually, much better than the 6+ weeks it takes PA.
Anyway, his circumstances have changed and he's no longer able to do this so I'm looking for the best places to import from. I just used Yesasia for Akai Katana and am hoping it gets to me quickly and is not lost or anything.
PA take far too long to get things to me.
NCSX are good, but IIRC don't take PayPal and shipping to the UK is quite pricey.
eBay is good now and again, but games like Akai Katana are always marked up (£65 versus £55 everwhere else).
Feels weird to ask this as I'm usually one of the people answering this when asked by others but basically I need:
- Quick (10-14 days at the longest) delivery to the UK
- Reasonable postage
- No chance of customs charges
I know there are a few other places (AmiAmi, Japanvideogames etc) but have never used them so please, shmup-GAF, any advice would be great
JustAnotherOtaku
Member
omenaa said:
They look good. Site being in French would suggest they ship from France or is it Japan?
manzo
Member
I'm using YesAsia. 5-7 days to Finland, no custom charges.
Also, it's way cheaper buying in USD + free shipping rather than in JPY (strong against Euro) and with japanese shpping rates.
Example: Bullet Soul = 65,30 from neoamusement with shipping, ~57 with shipping from YesAsia.
Also: Akai Katana shipped. Now I have 5-7 days to get enough of Otomedius X until AK arrives.
Also, it's way cheaper buying in USD + free shipping rather than in JPY (strong against Euro) and with japanese shpping rates.
Example: Bullet Soul = 65,30 from neoamusement with shipping, ~57 with shipping from YesAsia.
Also: Akai Katana shipped. Now I have 5-7 days to get enough of Otomedius X until AK arrives.
Chiaroscuro
Member
after I started to use ami ami I never shop Japanese games elsewhere.
http://www.amiami.jp/shop?set=english
http://www.amiami.jp/shop?set=english
gunstarhero
Member
_dementia said:
Man, I hope so - so jealous right now!!!
sixteen-bit
Member
I've used these guys for figure models and such in the past and they're great. Definitely getting my next import game from them.Chiaroscuro said:
JustAnotherOtaku
Member
Chiaroscuro said:
The don't mark down to avoid customs though. Or if they do, they don't admit it on their ToS.
Today I received my copy of AKS and I was about to try it when I was promped the new dashboard update. I did it and nearly had a heart attack: error E64. Now the console boots up as normal, but it still asks me to download and apply the update. What should I do? :-/
The update was downloaded from the EU Live, as I did with all the other ones, but maybe this time I should download it from the JP Live? I don't want to try again untile I'm sure of what I'm doing, if I break this 360 I'm screwed, Microsoft will never help me.
The update was downloaded from the EU Live, as I did with all the other ones, but maybe this time I should download it from the JP Live? I don't want to try again untile I'm sure of what I'm doing, if I break this 360 I'm screwed, Microsoft will never help me.
Kandrick
GAF's Ed McMahon
danmaku said:
This update is a bit different from the others though, as this one flash the dvd-drive firmware as well.
The only error reports from this update i saw were from people in beta that changed the whole dvd-drive or modified the firmware.
edit: I updated my JP 360 when i logged on the JP xbox live and it worked just fine.
Got my AKS yesterday and just tried it for the first time. Seems cool! Is there a good guide to the gameplay systems for the 2 modes? (assuming Shin is just Arcade with better visuals).
Graphics look really nice and I really love the bullet patterns in this. Don't really understand the red sword beams bosses fire at you or how you sometimes fire off a sword that turns everything into giant gold. Also from first glance, the main game and the arrange game seemed pretty similar.
Graphics look really nice and I really love the bullet patterns in this. Don't really understand the red sword beams bosses fire at you or how you sometimes fire off a sword that turns everything into giant gold. Also from first glance, the main game and the arrange game seemed pretty similar.
The Shin mode isn't just "arcade with HD graphics", the scoring system is different (and it has an extra stage, iirc).
That's what I understood of Shin mode:
- normal shot: enemies drop blue balls, increases hit counter and the circular gauge around the ship
- laser: enemies drop green balls, increases the green bar that fuels the ninja mode (kinda like the green gems in Espgaluda)
- when you pass in "ninja mode" and use laser you can destroy bullets, when you go back to "ship mode" you fire a storm of katanas around you and everything turns into gold
That's what I understood of Shin mode:
- normal shot: enemies drop blue balls, increases hit counter and the circular gauge around the ship
- laser: enemies drop green balls, increases the green bar that fuels the ninja mode (kinda like the green gems in Espgaluda)
- when you pass in "ninja mode" and use laser you can destroy bullets, when you go back to "ship mode" you fire a storm of katanas around you and everything turns into gold
danmaku said:
What messes me up is that this doesn't seem to happen consistently in the couple of runs I've done so far. It's like totally random; sometimes in ninja mode I can destroy bullets...sometimes I can't. And when I change back, sometimes it does nothing, sometimes it blows up everything and gives me huge score points.
There's definitely something I'm not grasping here.
Yes, it's not entirely clear how it works. Looks like you have to wait some time before going back to ship mode, if you change too soon the blast won't happen.
Also, I just noticed that there's a red bar on the left of the screen. It's barely visible, but it's there and it represents your chain; the game has a dodonpachi style chaining (much easier to keep, thanks god).
edit: I think I got it. When you go into ninja mode you fire some blue spheres and then they come back to your ship as rotating swords. If you go back to ship mode after that, you'll fire the katanas from your pod and destroy everything in your path. The more symbols you have around your ship, the more devastating your attack will be. If you have no symbols around your ship, you won't perform the katana attack. Apparently, you get those symbols by collecting the blue balls.
edit2: lol the pilot of the third ship looks like an old lady but according to the manual she's 17. WTF Cave?
Also, I just noticed that there's a red bar on the left of the screen. It's barely visible, but it's there and it represents your chain; the game has a dodonpachi style chaining (much easier to keep, thanks god).
edit: I think I got it. When you go into ninja mode you fire some blue spheres and then they come back to your ship as rotating swords. If you go back to ship mode after that, you'll fire the katanas from your pod and destroy everything in your path. The more symbols you have around your ship, the more devastating your attack will be. If you have no symbols around your ship, you won't perform the katana attack. Apparently, you get those symbols by collecting the blue balls.
edit2: lol the pilot of the third ship looks like an old lady but according to the manual she's 17. WTF Cave?
Ok, I watched the INTRO TUTORIAL and it basically explained everything (which is pretty much what you said danmaku, but I'll try to lay out everything just to be more clear):
When in ship mode:
normal shot = gets blue gems and builds the circle around your ship, each symbol on the circle will become an aggressive shield when in ninja mode
hold shot = gets green gems and builds your ninja mode green meter
The more of each meter you have already, the faster the meters build.
When in ninja mode:
normal shot = gets blue gems, you never actually use this imo
hold shot = WHEN FIRST PRESSED WILL FIRE OFF ALL YOUR BLUE GEMS TURNED SHIELD which will fly forward and cancel any bullets and each one that hits an enemy becomes a SWORD (up to 16 max swords). Afterwords your hold beam will get mini-swords that build into regular swords and also create SPAWN BULLETS everytime you kill an enemy with hold shot.
When changing back to ship with SWORDS:
-They fly forward and create giant points, these giant points SHRINK quickly over time so you want to rush forward and collect them as they spawn.
Also, I think you need at least half of your blue gem meter filled (it will flash at 50%) to fire enough blue shields to get max katanas if they all hit.
So basically, not having watched any replays or read any guides it seems to me after playing for a few hours this morning that the key to scoring is:
(assuming you have some green meter at the very start)
1. Stay as a plane and use normal shot to build up your blue gem meter to 50% (it will flash gold)
2. Once it's at 50% and there are enough enemies in your path that all your shield bullet cancels will hit something, switch to Ninja mode and hold shot to launch your shields.
3. Once they've fired off, hit enemies, and returned as giant swords, wait until there are lots of enemies in your path and then switch back to plane mode and fire off all your swords.
4. Chase down your swords and collect all the giant score icons while trying not to die
5. Build up some green meter again. YOU DON'T NEED TO FILL IT. You only need enough time in Ninja mode to switch in, fire your shields, wait for a good moment and then switch back to plane mode. Usually if you have like 30-40% full green meter it'll be enough.
6. Repeat step 1
The variances are that you tend to want to use normal shot on grunts to build blue and hold shot on bigger enemies to build green.
BOSSES: The way to maximize your score is to make sure you kill them with a giant sword launch for giant score points. THE PROBLEM with this is that bosses don't give many blue gems. This means if you do the ninja switch bullet cancel -> plane switch giant sword cancel in the first 1/3rd or second 1/3rd of the fight to save your ass and do massive damage (because 16 swords grinding the boss is how you really do good damage against them), you're not going to be able to build up enough blue gem to do it again at the end to deliver the final hits and get the giant score points. So really, if you want to max your score, you need to save your ninja mode switch and plane switch back until the very end of the fight where the boss has like 10-20% HP left. The trick to surviving to that point without any bullet cancels of ninja mode slow motion is BOMBS. AFAIK there's no penalty in score or either meter for bombing, so USE YOUR BOMBS to save your ass and let you hold onto your blue gem meter until the boss is almost dead. The problem is that if you get hit once and die your blue gem meter resets and you've lost your chance.
That being said, sometimes it's best to focus on surviving over points and bosses are one spot where that rings true because if you beat the boss and get the stage end bonus, the amount of points you're going to get there and at the start of the next stage are MUCH greater than any amount of points you would have gotten from killing the boss with giant score points. When I was doing runs trying to save my swords to kill the bosses I'd often die and only make it 1-2 stages in. When I focused on survival at times I needed it, I got to stage 3-4 and had a much higher score even without the boss finishing bonuses.
Also the game auto-bombs if you have 3-4 bombs and when it does it USES ALL YOUR BOMBS UP. So don't let it auto-bomb, if you're in a pinch HIT BOMB. Bombing helps a lot here for keeping your score up.
Anyhow, using that strategy I had a 108 million point run this morning. Nothing amazing, only ranked ~250 on the leaderboards, but I'm a casual (aka, not that great) Cave/shmup fan and it's not often I make it in the top500 let alone top1000; so I'm pretty happy with that
Game is a lot of fun. The constant switching back and forth intense high scoring gameplay reminds me a lot of Futari, which I also really loved. I like high risk, high reward scoring systems in my shmups since I never go for 1CC because I don't have the skills so I just try to maximize my scoring in the early stages.
When in ship mode:
normal shot = gets blue gems and builds the circle around your ship, each symbol on the circle will become an aggressive shield when in ninja mode
hold shot = gets green gems and builds your ninja mode green meter
The more of each meter you have already, the faster the meters build.
When in ninja mode:
normal shot = gets blue gems, you never actually use this imo
hold shot = WHEN FIRST PRESSED WILL FIRE OFF ALL YOUR BLUE GEMS TURNED SHIELD which will fly forward and cancel any bullets and each one that hits an enemy becomes a SWORD (up to 16 max swords). Afterwords your hold beam will get mini-swords that build into regular swords and also create SPAWN BULLETS everytime you kill an enemy with hold shot.
When changing back to ship with SWORDS:
-They fly forward and create giant points, these giant points SHRINK quickly over time so you want to rush forward and collect them as they spawn.
Also, I think you need at least half of your blue gem meter filled (it will flash at 50%) to fire enough blue shields to get max katanas if they all hit.
So basically, not having watched any replays or read any guides it seems to me after playing for a few hours this morning that the key to scoring is:
(assuming you have some green meter at the very start)
1. Stay as a plane and use normal shot to build up your blue gem meter to 50% (it will flash gold)
2. Once it's at 50% and there are enough enemies in your path that all your shield bullet cancels will hit something, switch to Ninja mode and hold shot to launch your shields.
3. Once they've fired off, hit enemies, and returned as giant swords, wait until there are lots of enemies in your path and then switch back to plane mode and fire off all your swords.
4. Chase down your swords and collect all the giant score icons while trying not to die
5. Build up some green meter again. YOU DON'T NEED TO FILL IT. You only need enough time in Ninja mode to switch in, fire your shields, wait for a good moment and then switch back to plane mode. Usually if you have like 30-40% full green meter it'll be enough.
6. Repeat step 1
The variances are that you tend to want to use normal shot on grunts to build blue and hold shot on bigger enemies to build green.
BOSSES: The way to maximize your score is to make sure you kill them with a giant sword launch for giant score points. THE PROBLEM with this is that bosses don't give many blue gems. This means if you do the ninja switch bullet cancel -> plane switch giant sword cancel in the first 1/3rd or second 1/3rd of the fight to save your ass and do massive damage (because 16 swords grinding the boss is how you really do good damage against them), you're not going to be able to build up enough blue gem to do it again at the end to deliver the final hits and get the giant score points. So really, if you want to max your score, you need to save your ninja mode switch and plane switch back until the very end of the fight where the boss has like 10-20% HP left. The trick to surviving to that point without any bullet cancels of ninja mode slow motion is BOMBS. AFAIK there's no penalty in score or either meter for bombing, so USE YOUR BOMBS to save your ass and let you hold onto your blue gem meter until the boss is almost dead. The problem is that if you get hit once and die your blue gem meter resets and you've lost your chance.
That being said, sometimes it's best to focus on surviving over points and bosses are one spot where that rings true because if you beat the boss and get the stage end bonus, the amount of points you're going to get there and at the start of the next stage are MUCH greater than any amount of points you would have gotten from killing the boss with giant score points. When I was doing runs trying to save my swords to kill the bosses I'd often die and only make it 1-2 stages in. When I focused on survival at times I needed it, I got to stage 3-4 and had a much higher score even without the boss finishing bonuses.
Also the game auto-bombs if you have 3-4 bombs and when it does it USES ALL YOUR BOMBS UP. So don't let it auto-bomb, if you're in a pinch HIT BOMB. Bombing helps a lot here for keeping your score up.
Anyhow, using that strategy I had a 108 million point run this morning. Nothing amazing, only ranked ~250 on the leaderboards, but I'm a casual (aka, not that great) Cave/shmup fan and it's not often I make it in the top500 let alone top1000; so I'm pretty happy with that
Game is a lot of fun. The constant switching back and forth intense high scoring gameplay reminds me a lot of Futari, which I also really loved. I like high risk, high reward scoring systems in my shmups since I never go for 1CC because I don't have the skills so I just try to maximize my scoring in the early stages.
^^^^^^^ Sounds fun! Can not wait for my copy to arrive. Loving the demo with all the sound effect...the katana sound is pure arcade bliss.
And, I gave Ketsui an hour whirl today. Still can't comprehend why anybody could find the game fun. It is brutally difficult. Back to the shelf for another six months.
And, discovered Arrange A on Daiffukatsu. Unbelievably fun. Gotta be my favorite mode of all the Daifukkatsu modes. So clean.
And, I gave Ketsui an hour whirl today. Still can't comprehend why anybody could find the game fun. It is brutally difficult. Back to the shelf for another six months.
And, discovered Arrange A on Daiffukatsu. Unbelievably fun. Gotta be my favorite mode of all the Daifukkatsu modes. So clean.
Chiaroscuro
Member
JustAnotherOtaku said:
They don't. But all custom labels are filled in yens. I found out that our custom services are too lazy to calculate taxes if the declared ammount is not in US dollars. Never get taxed, even in really huge packets.
I tried the Akai Katana Zetsu mode and I like it more than the Shin mode. It's like a "black label" version of the arcade mode, as it's easier and you can score higher. Scoring system is almost identical to the arcade mode, with the gold items that circle around your character in ninja form. Very cool effect!
Brief guide to the scoring system: http://www.cave-stg.com/?p=1514
Brief guide to the scoring system: http://www.cave-stg.com/?p=1514
Just got my Akai Katana Limited Edition and unfortunately looks like one of the corners is scrunched a bit
How good is Play Asia at swapping for damage like this, or am I kinda hooped? Normally don't really care but part of the incentive of going for the limited edition, especially on cave games, is that I expect it to be a bit of a collectable.
How good is Play Asia at swapping for damage like this, or am I kinda hooped? Normally don't really care but part of the incentive of going for the limited edition, especially on cave games, is that I expect it to be a bit of a collectable.
iconoclast
Member
1-ALL'd Dai Ou Jou Black Label just now with Shotia. Kinda feel like a chump for playing her, but I've been to the final boss a few times with Exy as well, so hey. Got a garbage score too (73m), but I'm never going to put in the time to learn how to fully chain each stage. Hell, I still don't even know where most of the bees are and I've played for 30ish hours.
Now to get the 1000/1000 in DOJ and Death Smiles 2, and then I'll finally order Akai Katana. Can't wait!
Now to get the 1000/1000 in DOJ and Death Smiles 2, and then I'll finally order Akai Katana. Can't wait!
mjemirzian
Banned
Is it such a good idea to wait? I figure they go out of stock quickly with the print runs.
Anyway congrats again.
Anyway congrats again.
iconoclast
Member
Usually, waiting means you'll only miss out on the first print bonus, and I don't even know what AKS came with (if anything). I probably won't miss it.
I would've ordered AKS when it came out, but I figured I'd catch up on some of my older games first since I like to focus on just one shooter at a time.
I would've ordered AKS when it came out, but I figured I'd catch up on some of my older games first since I like to focus on just one shooter at a time.
Is it just me or is 1.1 mode on Deathsmiles WAAAAAAY more fun than the arcade mode? Having full control over your familiar makes the game waaay more intuitive and I don't have to fight to make sure I'm shooting in the direction I want to me. Also makes vertically oriented levels much less horribly frustrating.
A Huge Battleship
Member
Yep. After I started playing 1.1 I've found it hard to go back.Nikashi said:
ARRGGHGHH so close to a 1CC (No EX) on Deathsmiles 1.1. I can beat Jitterbug without bombing now, and had 4 stocks of life against the last boss, but I still can't deal with the faster dodging required, although I got him down to 20% HP.
I should have it done by the end of the weekend if I can just be a little more conservative.
(My path is B-1(2), C-2(3), C-3(3), B-2(2), A-1(3), A-2(3))
I should have it done by the end of the weekend if I can just be a little more conservative.
(My path is B-1(2), C-2(3), C-3(3), B-2(2), A-1(3), A-2(3))
Beat Princess Debut. Well, at least one version and one ending. I guess it is designed to be played multiple times. Simple, but I had a bit of fun for an hour or two over a few weekends. Definitely had more fun with it than the Hannah Montana DS game, but it is a far cry from EBA or Ouenden. Still, good fancy design with the menus and baroque filigree that appears in the menus of Futari and Espgaluda. Not reccomended but worth a pick-up if you can find it for cheap and nice to put it in the collection.
Speaking of Cave games proper. I'm struggling with Akai Katana. Read the threads on Cave-STG and Shmups but can't really figure it out. Sometimes massive gold pops up when I change, other times not. Anybody have a hint or two? Playing the stock game with tbe red menu.
Speaking of Cave games proper. I'm struggling with Akai Katana. Read the threads on Cave-STG and Shmups but can't really figure it out. Sometimes massive gold pops up when I change, other times not. Anybody have a hint or two? Playing the stock game with tbe red menu.
iconoclast
Member
I got Akai Katana yesterday (came with the first-print DLC as well). I've mainly been playing Zetsu mode, and I gotta say, I absolutely LOVE this game. It's amazing. The scoring system is fantastic, the graphics are amazing, the soundtrack is excellent, the stages are superbly paced. I know I've only played this for like a day, but this is already one of my favorite Cave games. If anyone's on the fence, I say buy it immediately!
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Hmm... I'm kinda tempted to pick up a Cave game since I haven't bought anything since Daifukkatsu... I want a region free game since I only have my US 360 with me right now, and I'm trying to decide between Mushihimesama Futari and the Pink Sweets/Muchi Muchi Pork pack. I'll get both eventually, but just one for the time being.
What should I do!?
What should I do!?
InfiniteNine
Rolling Girl
Get Mushi Futari obviously!Chacranajxy said:
Danny Dudekisser
I paid good money for this Dynex!
Futari is what I'm leaning towards... mostly because I still haven't warmed up to the aesthetics of Pink Sweets and MMP...
fuck, I wish I'd brought my Jap 360 with me so I could nab Akai Katana Shin at least... :-/
fuck, I wish I'd brought my Jap 360 with me so I could nab Akai Katana Shin at least... :-/
iconoclast
Member
Chacranajxy said:
Hmm. I love Muchi Muchi Pork, but if I had to choose, I'd go with Futari. But really, I'd say you can't go wrong either way. Both packs are top notch.
It's worth noting that Pink Sweets has a really good Arrange mode. Futari's is kinda terrible.