Quick Thoughts: Mushihimesama on Steam

A while ago, there was that announcement that Cave's shoot 'em ups were going to start making their way onto Steam. It's been about a week since the first of these appeared there, and they went with Mushihimesama. I was wondering what game they would choose, and figured it would probably be either this or one of their Dodonpachi games since these are their most well known series. Of course, I wasted no time in picking it up because Cave shmups are amazing, and, minor technical issues aside, it's been a lot of fun playing this on my PC.

There are a few game modes including Novice, Normal, and Arrange. They're pretty self explanatory with Novice being a slightly toned down version of the game for those new to bullet hell shooters. Normal is just as you would expect, and Arrange has different music, tons of bullets (but a smaller hit box on your character), and crazy high scores. I've been spending most of my time in Arrange mode because all of the bullets flying around have me thinking, "Weeeeeeee!" the whole time I'm playing, and there's something immensely satisfying about seeing the big numbers flashing on-screen as they're added to my score.

Some folks have run into technical issues, myself included, however. The big thing that I was hit with is trying to get the game to run in fullscreen, as it left my monitor black with sound still working and no way to exit it. Even alt-tabbing had no effect, so there was no alternative but to force the computer to shutdown by holding down the power button. There have also been some issues with frame rate and resolution, but these as well as other problems are already being addressed by Degica. The game is still plenty playable on my end so long as I do so in windowed mode, but it would be nice to see these tweaks get implemented as soon as possible.

Just in terms of soaking in the atmosphere of Mushihimesama, though, it's great. It just screams of the arcades from the art, to the music, and all of the stuff happening on the screen. Whenever I'm in Japan I make a point of playing this game at one of the arcades I like to pop by there, so it's nice to have a legitimate way of experiencing this at home.

It's hard not to smile while dodging all of the bullets are whizzing by, with the music blasting. I'm not very good at these games, but they're exhilarating to play, and pretty darn satisfying as one gets used to them and progress becomes noticeable. I'd even say that Mushihimesama is a pretty good game to look into for people who want something a little more entry level for bullet hell shmups. The Novice mode is great for introducing players to the genre, while Normal is a nice, logical progression to harder content, especially if playing it on Maniac setting or higher.

I'm certainly having a good time with the game, and it's been getting far more play time than a lot of other shmups in my library right now. It's great for a nice time waster or serious progress, depending on how you want to approach the game, or just soak in Mushihimesama's atmosphere. There really is a lot to enjoy here, and it's doing a lot to renew my interest in shoot 'em ups. Now I'm just curious what Cave game will show up on Steam next.

Shooting the Ships in Steredenn

Bullet hell shooters and rogue-likes are two genres that I've never really thought of in the same breath. At their core, they've traditionally been very different types of games. In one corner, we have the shmups, where a key part of mastering them is intense memorization, knowing exactly when and where enemies are going to come from, and having intimate knowledge of bosses' bullet patterns. Meanwhile, rogue-likes' main draw is the promise that each outing will be different. No two adventures will be the same. This flies in the face of bullet hell shooters, as it eliminates the need to remember everything since enemies won't necessarily be the same, come from the same places, or use the same bullet patterns.

Nonetheless, some folks have opted to make a game that combines these two very divergent genres with Steredenn. The game is still in development but from what's there so far, this unexpected hybridization works surprisingly well. Instead of making mental notes on each playthrough of the game, keeping track of everything that happens, the player is forced to fly by the seat of their pants and rely on instinct in order to survive.

This isn't to say that every each playthrough will be utterly unique from the next, as there are certain basic patterns that seem to recur from time to time. I've noticed similar ship formations or laser deployments that happen on a somewhat regular basis. Also, the bosses follow a set pattern of scaling power, going from a very simple introductory one to much more decked out ships later on, all the while sticking to the same models. There seems to be a variety of bullet and weapon patterns when fighting these guys that varies on each playthrough, but the vessels themselves stay the same.

Weapon choice is pretty standard stuff with bullet shots, rockets, lasers, and bots. The last of these feels a tad overpowered at the moment, though, as it's easy to deploy a bunch of these and they will auto-target incoming enemies, continuing to fire at them until they're destroyed. Putting out lots of these results in tons of concentrated fire on enemy ships, making quick work of them, and they can also be used to block incoming fire. If you saturate the screen with these things, the game feels a bit easy.

I'm having some mixed feelings about the visuals, however. It's that pixelated psuedo-retro look that has been popular for the last while. At first, it was an art style that was kind of pleasant to look at, but the indie game scene is becoming so saturated by it that it's beginning to wear its welcome. The stuff in Steredenn sort of reminds me of Dungeon of the Endless in terms of art direction. It's not horrible per say, but for those who have played quite a lot of games with this aesthetic of late, things may feel a little bit long in the tooth.

Nonetheless, the game could turn into a decent time waster. A randomized shmup does have its charms and is a nice departure from the legions of fantasy-based games that go the rogue-like route. One can only take so much swords and sorcery before going bonkers.

Review: Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype (PS Vita)

Nothing like a good ole fashioned horizontal shoot-'em-up to take the rough edges off of a lousy day! Unless, of course, you suffer from an advanced case of obsessive compulsive disorder… then perhaps this may not be the preferred method to decompress.