What are you playing right now?

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I've been playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the Nintendo 3Ds since getting them both for Christmas. Today I spent a lot of time on the tropical island where Tortimer is spending his retirement. Kapp'n will take you there at the dock but it costs 1000 Bells, and only the mayor can go (only the first villager is mayor, the three other villagers who can live in in the town are just residents). The island is great because like in the first AC it's always summer, so I can catch fish and bugs that I cant find in the winter right now. Kapp'n has a wife, mother and a daughter who live on the island. You can go on island tours with Tortimer by talking to the wife or buy things from the mother, but you need medals instead of Bells. If you go on a tour with Tortimer you can play mini-games where you hunt bugs or fish or even whack a robot with a toy hammer to win medals. You can also rent things like a diving suit and go swimming and dive for sea creatures that can't be caught with the fishing rod, but be careful of the jellyfish. If they sting you your villager will thrash around in pain for a few seconds. You can also collect coconuts and tropical fruit and sell them back home or plant them. One of the unusual fish I caught was a whale shark-twice!

Whoa, someone other than me on this forum knows of Ketsui! You win five internets for this.

360 version in my case. I imported all of Cave's games as each was released. This turned out to be very expensive. Not that I cared much...

My favorites though remain Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Black Label, and either version of Mushihime-sama Futari.

It's just too bad that Cave has basically fallen apart at this point. As far as I know, DDP SaiDaiOuJou is their final shmup.

EDIT: Actually I went to their central website just in case they had done something new recently, as that sort of game goes.

I now wish I had not done this. Ugh. There's no doubt now that their shmup days are over.

^
It has quickly become one of the only games I feel like playing lately... I find it quite exhilarating. It seems to require a perfect balance of calm and vigilance to navigate the ship through bullet swarms... I like that. I also find all the pattens and colors rather relaxing and almost hypnotic, which I find the contrast of the bodily state from the mind interesting, because at the same time, my heart-rate tends to get very fast during the more heated screens.

Yeah, I'm a little disappointed that I got rid of my 360 back in early 2012. The PS3 really doesn't have many titles from the genre, and even fewer that have disc copies (The only ones I can think of that have discs are Ketsui, Mamoru-kun wa Norowarete Shimatta, and Under Defeat HD). Though, maybe it's not such a bad thing that I got rid of it, as I'd be all obsessed-ish about finding them all if I still had a 360, and some of the Cave games seem rather expensive now(Maybe they have always been... Ketsui was somewhat expensive to import, but I received a fair bit of Amazon store credit over December). I'm fairly new to the genre though, as the last vertical shooter I played extensively was probably Astro Warrior for the Sega Master System(Might have been my first game ever played).

I'm still trying to get a hang of playing. My best attempt so far is making it just before level 2's sub boss (The twin tank thing) without dying or using bombs. I'm not sure which ship I prefer most though, I think I like the blue straight shot ship because it seems easier for my eyes to keep track of. Also, outside the bosses, I tend to prefer rapid firing the manual cannons because the ship moves a bit faster while doing so. So, with the straight shot, I pretty much know where my bullets are firing without having to watch their trajectory to make sure they connect like I would with the spread shot.

Last edited by Lace-Bane on 05 Jan 2015, 3:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.

I'm playing the Sims 3. It's fun and I don't want to upgrade to Sims 4. My laptop would explode anyway.

Ah, I played a little bit more today, and now I get it. The ship's manual cannons are not meant to be used in excess(even though I can turbo tap buttons >_>)... I didn't realize the score multiplies when using the focused fire, and that it's a lot more efficient to do so as well. I think I like ship "A" better then, as for evasion, the spread shot is a bit more helpful for clearing a bit more space for movement when feeling too crowded.

Just beat the Japanese version of Final Fantasy IX! Boy, what a game!

there is criteria to meet in order to go to the island, but it's not restricted to just the mayor. I've been playing since the game first came out, along with my sister and my best friend on my copy and they could both go to the island.

Just restarted Hardcore in Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition. Hopefully I won't die this time....

WWIIOL: Battleground Europe, War Thunder, World of Tanks for fun. I am obsessed with WWII era machinery, specifically British and German technology.

For a serious hobby I grind small stakes online cash games on a variety of poker clients.

How to Survive & Mario kart 8 150cc

Madden NFL 12 on my Wii.

Shovel Knight on the 3DS and i'm currently on Propeller Knight's stage, The Flying Machine and it's murdering me. I think i have died there about 9 times now. That aside i have had a lot of fun with it so far. The music and gameplay is great and the game just has a really good charm to it.

Hm, how much did the game explain of itself? Or did it explain anything? It kinda sounds like it might not have explained the firing modes whatsoever.

You should be able to set up 2 different firing mode buttons: 1 that is "rapid fire".... so you dont have to smash the button 10 bazillion times, which can seriously mess up your wrist after awhile (been there, done that... seriously, it *really* hurts, avoid it if you can), and the second that is "direct fire". As with any Cave shmup (and most bullet hell games) the second firing mode... done in the arcades by holding the fire button down, but it's best as a totally seperate button here... moves your ship slower, along with whatever alternate function the firing mode also has.

The slow movement is super-important... way more so than fast movement. Movement that is too fast in these games is all sorts of bad. Typically, faster movement is used to reposition yourself between patterns, or in specific parts where a given pattern may require a burst of quick movement to be dodged; in Ketsui, the third boss has an example of this being necessary.

The other differences between the firing modes are all related to the scoring system... typically, these games are played for score, and the scoring system is usually complicated; I can explain how Ketsui's scoring works if you should be interested. It isnt NECESSARY to play for score, but it's one of the major draws of the genre. And it DOES earn you extra lives. There is also a 1up that can be found in stage 3. It is amazingly irritating to get. It involves that awful midboss, that stupid boat. I hate that thing. Every Ketsui player hates that thing.

Also, that tank thing in stage 2 is horrible, aint it? One thing I've noticed about Cave's games: The difficulty curve, particularly for bosses, can be absolutely all over the place. The 4th boss is alot less irritating than that stupid tank. I always hated that thing.

Also, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcYW0XNnt-Y

I recorded that awhile back... it might be useful for hints on getting through certain areas, particularly the boss patterns. Though, I *dont* suggest using the tactic I tend to use; you might notice that I zoom forward and tend to sit right in front of whatever I'm attacking.... yeah, dont do that. I know it works most of the time when I'm doing it, but.. yeah, dont do that. And I do have a couple of really damn stupid deaths in a few places in that video, as a result of trying way too hard to score extra points... the scoring system is grand, great risk-reward thing going with it.

It should be noted that Ketsui is... well, it's not a game I would actually suggest to someone that wants to get into the genre for the first time, as it's one of the crueler ones, really.

The genre though can get REALLY mean.

Example of that, and also an example of the slow movement being extremely vital:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uON3zty3-Q

One of my all-time favorite shmups, that one. That mode is basically.... the hardest thing in gaming, period. Probably less than 20 people have ever beaten it. The final boss is a total nightmare. Just as an example of how hard the game is, I can do all of that crazy stuff in stage 1, and for the most part, I get through it without even using a bomb, let alone dying.... but then comes stage 2. I dont have a chance. I havent beaten stage 2. It just destroys me. And it only gets worse from there.

A muuuuuch friendlier game would be Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu... I really suggest that one, if you should decide to go after another of Cave's games. The game is freaking brilliant. It's great for beginners, but great for pros as well. So freaking good.

If you decide you like the genre, I can also give you some suggestions as to other games you may wish to try out. I can suggest various games on the consoles... though obviously those are harder to get... or I can suggest a bunch found on PC; fortunately, either the 360 or PS3 controllers can be used with any PC shmup. There's tons of different styles of this sort of game out there, from those that play similarly to Cave's games, to some that are very... outlandish. So yeah, if you'd care for some possible suggestions, lemme know, I'd be happy to provide some. There's even a few that can be found on PSN, beyond the ones you've mentioned.

...and yeah, Cave's games have been very expensive right from the start. I got used to paying a really damn stupid amount for each one as they released. Particularly with shipping. I seem to recall paying $120 sometimes... so worth it though, at least to me.

I don't think Ketsui has any English explanation for how the game plays in game, and the manual is solely in Japanese. So, I've mostly just been figuring things out through trial and error. What I’ve been able to figure out is that the focused fire seems to lock on to whatever you almost bump with the nose of the ship. So flying up close seems to target certain pieces of enemy boss crafts. Also, it seems like score tallies much higher at the end of a stage if I mostly use the focused fire rather than the standard cannons... it’s really hard to tell though, as I don’t really have the ability to watch the score on the hud to personally note comparisons as I can’t let my eyes off my ship for even a moment without getting dead in less that the blink of an eye by stage two.


Thank you for letting me know about the auto firing mode. I didn’t really think to go into the button configuration, and while I did try all the buttons on my controller in game, I didn’t realize that the auto fire buttons already assigned were for holding down... I just thought they were standard firing buttons in an awkward place. That really does help, at least now, with knowing that, I can get to level two’s boss before getting obliterated

If you have the time, I’d certainly like to know how the scoring system works. I have no idea why my #1 placed score was like 1 million and something points, when I wasn’t getting as far as I can now, and I typically only get about 600-ish thousand by the time I reach just before the level two boss... extra lives sound really good


Yeah, I feel like if I can make it through the first grid like swarm of those ball like bullets, I can typically beat it without dying... but it’s very hit or miss for me so far... like just about every part has been as of yet. I’m kind of used to being able to learn what to do in a game, and not having much trouble afterward... I like how Ketsui doesn't seem like the type of game that solely requires being "learned". It seems like even if I could anticipate where all of the enemies entered screen(memorization seems highly unlikely with such chaos), skill would still take higher precedence toward survival.


Yeah, I’ve seen a couple of videos, and often, they seemed to fly straight to the top of the screen to take out the enemies before they really got a chance to do much... it’s something I gave up on as I just get killed almost immediately when I try it. I do fly up to boss ships to target their parts, but then back off knowing there’s a much higher chance of getting shot point blank in the face.

I’m sort of curious though, in the first level, with the first sub boss... is there a reason to blow off the left wing’s cannon? The other video I watched did it too, and I’ve mimicked it before, but it seems to drag the battle on, more than it provides any practical offensive defense. I found that if I target the cockpit from the start, and fly straight down the screen's center and dodge the blue waves in a way to keep the fire stream honed in on the cockpit as well, the battle goes much quicker just dodging the cannon fire that comes from the wings when it does.

The video is definitely helpful though, thanks. I can now make my way through the beginning of stage two, to it's sub boss, without dying... the focused fire doesn't do so well there for some reason like it does in stage one, and was getting me dead almost every time.

I'm thinking, maybe I should just try practicing the individual levels until I get a better feel for each of them. I mean, I get stage one, because I have to do it well every time just to get to stage two. At least, I think stage select is an option.


It’s good to know I’m not just extraordinarily bad at it . I do really like it though, and I’m not really the sort to be bothered when there’s no victory in sight. It’s rather common for me to want to learn something, and pick up something far beyond my level to accelerate the learning process.


That was actually the video you posted in another thread which got me to look into what shmups were available for the PS3... which is how I found Ketsui. I was hoping that one was on PS3, but sadly it is not. Like I said, I’m not too worried about winning, it just looks quite fun.


I think if I really get into it, it looks like I would probably do best to try and replace the 360 I sold(I don’t regret that, it was making dying noises since the day I bought it, so I doubt it would be working today if I still had it). I’d not be that interested in any other 360 games, so maybe the 4GB version wouldn’t be a problem... they’re rather cheap-ish now. My only computer is a macbook pro. I don’t like playing games on it because it gets really hot doing just about anything that’s not a text document(Metal computer case + Desert heat = Bad).

I’d be curious to know which games can be found on PSN for now though. The store has become excruciatingly chaotic and counter intuitive to navigate, so I don’t even bother skimming it anymore. Sony has tried so hard to push their new downloads, that they forgot it might be good to have an easy way of skimming through the old without having to do a search.

The only other consoles I have at the moment are NES, SNES, N64, Game Cube, and a PS1... though Game Cube games have become, in many cases, rather expensive because I either have to buy them new or at very least find ones that come with their cases, as those darned little discs don’t really sit well in CD binders... and if I have to have a game's case, it "has" to have it's manual too -_-


It looks like a few of Cave's games are not so expensive on Amazon now that they have platinum editions on Xbox 360... I just wish they had ported more over to the PS3. I'm not nearly as much a fan of the 360's controller's layout or it's nature to quickly deteriorate.

Picked up the Dragon Age awakening xpac. So playing though the game again for the 3rd time then playing though the xpac. Still one of my favorite games of all time and 2 wasn't bad but I hate the combat in 3. I bought 3 but just can't get myself to play it.

Just curious, are there any differences between the US/Japan versions? Why Japanese? IX was my favorite Final Fantasy.

Yeah, I can write up a quick guide for scoring for you. It'll be wordy though, though as you seem the sort that doesnt mind reading long posts (unlike so many others...) I'm doubting that'll be a problem. But I'll send it as a PM, so it's seperate from this post and not taking even MORE space. Not writing it up right this second; making a couple of posts on the forum here, and then it's meal time. I'll put it together a bit later in the day (or what passes as "day" for me) and send it, so expect that.

EDIT: Oh, and the bit about the focused fire. It has nothing to do with getting close. When you use that fire mode, note that your ship puts out a bizarre multicolored flickering beam thing in front of it; it has limited range. Whatever that beam strikes is what the ship will then lock on to. Limited range, but you dont have to get right up in the target's face at least! Once you're locked on, you dont need to worry about range unless you drop the lock by letting go of that firing mode. You'd need to reestablish it after that.




Yep. Memorization can be important, more or less important depending on the individual game, but it cant beat the game for you like it can for so many others these days. Alot of niche games are like that in a general sense... it's one reason why I tend to avoid mainstream titles, because once I understand how it works, the rest is usually easy, and I dont like "easy". With these though... yeah, it takes way more than that. The original Mushihime-sama, for instance. I beat that one some time ago. Ultra mode. It took bloody forever for me to get the hang of actually making it through the stages and the bosses, considering the absurd difficulty of the game. That final boss though... that one was something special. I reached the thing after a certain amount of practice, but BEATING it? I didnt manage to actually defeat that horror until probably about a year later. Despite having gone through the rest of the game. Just think about that for a moment...



Yeah, some players will do that, getting right near spots so as to pop things as they come out, though it's not always necessary. Often it depends on the firing type being used. A ship that fires some sort of concentrated beam forward, like those in Dodonpachi, doesnt need to be up close to do maximum damage; simply having the beam already striking the spot that the target will appear in will do the trick. In Ketsui, the reasons are actually all tied to the scoring, not to killing everything quickly (there's better ways to do that).

For the midboss in the first stage, what I do there is, again, mostly about scoring. Yeah, it drags the fight on, but that's the thing about scoring in these games... it often requires you to do things that add even more danger to what is already a chaotic situation. In this case, the left side turret is targeted first because it alters the second pattern that the thing uses; note that with the second pattern, it starts dropping things from the right side turret, which then shoot their own shots to the left. If I didnt pop the left one, it'd be doing it from that side too. No left turret means I can let the midboss continue to be there a bit longer without increasing danger too much.

You might also notice that I dont kill the thing immediately; I stop firing for a short time when the thing is ready to pop. Again, connected to the scoring; something like a midboss has a high base point value, which I want to multiply as much as I can before destroying it. So that's what that entire set of tactics is all about. If playing purely for survival, it's best to just blow the cheese out of the thing ASAP.

There's actually a really strange-looking tactic that can be done with the actual boss of that stage, which involves starting the fight right next to it's rear right rotor, but that one is aggravating so I usually just dont bother with it.



Yeah, typically being new means you're going to explode alot. Over and over and over... Lotsa practice is what'll do the trick, indeed, heh. Seeing replays done by other players can also help too. If Ketsui on the PS3 is anything like the 360 one, it should have a function that allows you to go onto the leaderboards, and download replays from the higher-scoring players to watch. However, early on, this isnt going to really help much; all it'll do early on is teach you ways of dying faster. It's best to learn the game as much as you can, survival-wise, before worrying about that aspect, so you actually really get something out of it. You can save your own replays too.





Ah, yeah, a laptop.... ahhh, not the best for gaming. Or dealing with heat, for that matter. And moreso, a laptop that's also a Mac... yeah, you'll not find much on there.

Now as for PSN, the biggest example I can think of (well, that I can remember right now anyway) is the Gundemonium games. There are 3 of these: Gundemonium Recollection, GundeadliGne (yes, that's spelled and written correctly, no, I dont know why the name is like that), and Hitogatta Happa. I play these mostly on Steam, but originally I had played them on PS3 and still have them there as well. The first two are fantastic, as bullet-hell shmups go. They are not done in the same style as Cave's games. They're just as bullet-filled, and have the usual trappings that any bullet-hell game has, but they go in a different direction from there. Very different pattern styles and stage design, scoring system, character setup... and yeah, I know, the character sprites are bloody enormous, but they have the same super-tiny hitbox as any of these other games. Doesnt take long to get used to it actually. Even Cave has a couple of games where the player ship/whatever is abnormally large in terms of sprite size.

Both of those games, great either for new players or pros, and there's alot to do in each.

If you get them, start with Recollection. GundeadliGne is more confusing, due to direction switching (similar to Cave's Deathsmiles game).

Hitogatta Happa on the other hand.... ahhh, I actually dont recommend that one, out of that trilogy. Most bizarre shmup I've yet seen, and it doesnt help this by also being absurdly brutal. Stick to the other two.

This particular developer actually does have a bunch of other games done in a similar style to these, but those are all on PC (and annoying to get).



NOBODY into this genre likes that controller. Nobody. The thing is freaking awful. I mean, you get used to it to an extent, but... uuuugh.

The most important part (for this genre), the dpad, is just.... bad, with that thing. It's still better than using the analog stick, but still.... it's pretty bad. As opposed to the PS3 controller, which is wonderful. I too would love these games to hit the PS3 or.... anywhere else, but no, only Ketsui has ever done this. There's the PS3 Ketsui, and also the funky "Ketsui Death Label" on the DS, which is it's own unique... thing.


Just keep in mind, if you decide to get a 360 for these... as there really are ALOT of them on there... it needs to be a Japanese unit. There are only a couple of these (I can think of like, a whole two) that are NOT region locked. Most of them are. So importing games like these requires the fun (expense) of importing the console itself. Annoying, but... aint much that can be done about that. I can come up with a big pile of suggestions for that thing, as I have pretty much all of them. Make sure you research what you're buying first though. One thing to keep in mind is that a Japanese 360 unit is probably NOT (but sometimes it is!) compatible with the power units that are found elsewhere. So you want to make sure that it's going to come with one. You know, that stupid grey brick thing. And make sure it's the RIGHT one. I think you can guess as to what might happen if you stick the wrong power unit into the wrong machine. Though USUALLY they're structured so that they wont actually even fit if that's the case, but I've still heard of it sometimes being otherwise.

There's a few other things on the PS3, as shmups go (not necessarily bullet-hell types), but my memory is bloody horrible and they're not coming to me at the moment.

Except Alpha Mission 2: I remember that one being on there. If you like older shmups (not a bullet hell type), that one is a great one. Might be worth looking up.