Games

[Recap]

Mine is more one of hate, if anything. I never give a shit about new modes since the 'original' mode takes forever to be cleared. And I need new graphics and stuff if they pretend me to learn brand-new mechanics, system, whatever. Full price for little more than a revision sounds wrongful. Glad I'm not into PCB collection.

[icycalm]

Yeah, I hear that.

But really, you didn't like the three different modes in Mushihime? Granted, I haven't cleared any of them, but I've spent a lot of time in all three, and they each feel *almost* like a brand-new game. I mean naturally you'd want to clear one before moving to the next, and perhaps if I'd put all my time in Maniac I would have cleared it by now, but over the course of several months I have enough time to explore all three modes, even while I am still focusing on one of them. The extra modes just keep the "game" (meaning the graphics, stages, etc.) fresher for me for a longer time. That's why Mushi still feels largely unexplored to me, unlike Espgaluda, which, though I've yet to clear as well, I feel like I know inside-out.

It's the same thing here, only you have to pay twice as much. And I mean I really can't blame Cave, no matter how much I may want to. These games are not meant for consumers, after all (-- at least in theory, because in practice I am beginning to suspect that they base their release schedule policies on the assumption that a considerable number of copies will be sold to consumers...)

[Recap]

Laughs...


And this is only half the display resolution. Can't wait to see full rez snaps.


Homepage: http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/Xbox36 ... index.html

[Jedah]

First Ketsui & Daioujou then Death Smiles. Is Microsoft giving away for free the development kits in Japan? Why a small company chooses to port their hardcore market shmups to a machine that has the smallest user base in their territory? Hope the games will be region free.

[adrenalinq]

Aksys is interested in localizing Death Smiles. Maybe they will release DOJ and Ketsui too.

[Jedah]

Start the prayers...

[icycalm]

EOJ has posted some quick impressions from Mega Black Label:

Just got my kit this afternoon, and played for about an hour.

Things I like:
-The new scoring system (I love the power up at 500)
-Higher skull values (each plain one adds 3 to your item counter)
-you get skulls when you cross 500 on the counter from enemies that previously didn't drop skulls (and never drop skulls in DS)
-you suck in skulls a lot easier, with a wider "suck in" range (similar to Futari BL)
-The new ice stage is *awesome*. A lot harder than it looks too.
-The rank 999 levels are a great challenge, and really makes the original DS seem watered down in the challenge department in comparision (in the first 6 stages)
-Some of the colors look brighter, and some of the bullets have a pinkish hue, instead of the pure purple of DS
-suicide bullets from bosses when you play on rank 3
-some boss patterns have been tweaked (for the better).
-Sakura is a lot of fun to play. Her dual options make the later stages (like the Ice Palace) easier, but her weaker shot makes boss fights harder, so it's a tradeoff.
-The other characters seem to be rebalanced - Windia is beefed up a bit, Follett seems a bit stronger, and Rosa is slightly toned down. Overall it all feels better balanced compared to DS.
-It's easier to time the "refill", so you don't really need to do the annoying bomb refills anymore (unless you want to).
-No need to suicide any more.

Things I don't like:
-Still no option in the dipswitches to turn off the long, boring in-game cinemas.
-Not sure if I like how the suicide bullets no longer add to your score nor to your item counter - they're pretty much worthless in terms of score. But I guess they had to compensate for the higher skull values and quicker power-up ability.
-Entering power-up mode still isn't quite quick enough - there is a split second delay that can cost you lives. Also, having an option to use the D button to enter power up mode would have been nice.

After playing this it might be hard to go back to the original DS.

http://www.cave-stg.com/forum/index.php ... 61#msg8061


And here's a huge (1.8 GB!) superplay video in two parts:

VTS_01_1.VOB (1024 MB)
VTS_01_2.VOB (800 MB)

Game: Death Smiles Mega Black Label
Player: LES
Character: Follett
Other: +Ice cave / +Canyon
Score: 8,100,144,608
Comment: Very close to the world record, highly recommended download

The player's comments (in Japanese) are here.

[Vert1]

I only watched the first minute (hate spoiling games). That little dragon screams Forgotten Worlds. Looks fun.

[icycalm]

So the port is coming out April 23, priced at 7,140 yen for the regular edition and 9,240 for the LE.




And the by now obligatory Hori stick, again on the 23rd (exclusively available through Amazon, looks like), for 14,800 yen:



There's more hype generation about this port than there was with Arcana Heart, which, for a shooter, is definitely saying something.

http://cave-game.cocolog-nifty.com/blog ... -5826.html

[Jedah]

The stick is absolutely gorgeous. It seems that is based on this.

[icycalm]

Famitsu: 7 / 7 / 7 / 8 (29/40)

[Vert1]

Death Smiles is coming to America!

http://www.destructoid.com/deathsmiles- ... 0702.phtml

[El Chaos]

Well, here's the official American webpage: http://www.aksysgames.com/games/deathsmiles/

Nothing special to see there.

[cern32]

Some people are trying to convince aksys the us publishers of Death smiles to make it region free for PAL.

http://www.aksysgames.com/forums/topic/436

[icycalm]

aksys

us

Banned.

[MrPattywagon]

The North American Xbox limited edition will be released on June 29.

http://www.aksysgames.com/2010/04/06/de ... ools-joke/

* Deathsmiles Faceplate featuring four cute angels trapped in a creepy gothic cage! This faceplate was never released in Japan, go us!
* Deathsmiles Premium Arrange Album! 15 spooky high energy tracks selected by Manabu Namiki, Director of Deathsmiles!
* Deathsmiles horizontal artbox and game to compliment the shmup orientation!

Nice goodies if you're inclined. Mega Black Label is included.

I have never played a Cave shooter and all that I know about the genre I learned here, but a local release makes this difficult for me to pass up. I'm excited.

[Nic P]

Released in Europe as Deathsmiles Deluxe Edition on Feb 18.



http://www.risingstargames.com/games/deathsmiles-xbox-360.html

Features

*Left/right shooting mechanic, surrounding you with enemy units and gunfire from both sides of the screen

*The player will need to employ strategy and think about enemy positioning as your shots may be blocked by obstacles

*Deathsmiles features a selectable difficulty level that allows you to choose how to proceed through the game, ensuring that newcomers are as welcome as veterans

*Different stories and conversations will appear during both single player and two-player cooperative play, depending on the character(s) chosen

*Arcade Mode - featuring the same gameplay and accuracy as the original arcade release
Xbox 360 Mode - a high resolution version of the arcade game
Version 1.1 - an original mode for the Xbox 360.

*Mega Black Label - an expanded version of the game included on the disc and features:
New playable character Sakura
New stage Ice Palace
More challenging scoring system
New difficulty setting, level 999

*Play with a friend via Xbox LIVE, where the player can also measure up their success by submitting their scores to the online ranking service

Comes with the game, soundtrack and a desktop accessory disk, which apparently "offers fans the ability to kit out their PC for a full Deathsmiles experience":

http://www.game.co.uk/Games/Xbox-360/Shooter/Deathsmiles-Deluxe-Edition/~r353506/?s=deathsmiles


Not sure what that means, but more Deathsmiles is good, right? ;)


Retails for £25. You can pre-order it right now from GAME or Amazon UK for a frankly astounding £17.91.

Ordered mine today, which is good, because I was starting to have dreams about the damn thing!

[Let_It_Riot]

A patch was released for the NTSC-U version of Deathsmiles on the 15th.

There’s a patch out for Deathsmiles! It releases today, and allows Deathsmiles to run at optimal capacity. It fixes several key issues, including a de-sync problem that prevented players from viewing their level replays properly. It also adjusts the slowdown on several levels. Game on!

http://www.aksysgames.com/2011/02/15/deathsmiles-patch/

From what I've heard the changes are to make the slowdown identical to the NTSC-J version. Previously the NTSC-U version had most of its slowdown removed from the arcade, so it made surviving, let alone scoring much more difficult than it should have been.

I cannot confirm that the slowdown is now the same as the Japanese release though as I do not have the Japanese version, it would be much appreciated if someone could shed some light on this.

[raphael]

If the slowdowns end up being identical, they'll now have to add worldwide leader-boards for all three regions.

[Let_It_Riot]

If the slowdowns end up being identical, they'll now have to add worldwide leader-boards for all three regions.

I was unaware that the PAL and Japanese versions are identical in terms of slowdown, did someone do some testing?

If all of this turns out to be true that would be rather interesting!


[Banned for dump-quoting. --icy]

[Some guy]

Cave shoot ’em up Deathsmiles coming to PC via Steam in spring 2016
http://www.allgamesbeta.com/2015/12/cav ... ng-to.html

Deathsmiles Steam PV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPQVfYI9cWo

http://deathsmiles.caveshmups.com/