Games

[icycalm]

http://insomnia.ac/reviews/custom/pinksweets/review.php

I added a new video which shows two players taking on the third stage. I think it shows off very well how fun the two player mode is.

It's a rather large download, but worth it.

[Reid]

I like this game. Yup.

[Hayama Akito]

Hey icy: have you thought about uploading your videos to Youtube or something like that? I love the quality of your videos for sure, but sometimes I can't deny that downloading 100+ megs on videos is an ass mission. I will download the video, but not now, maybe tomorrow.

And well, about Pink Sweets, I just hope that the game is good because the first Ibara was probably the worst Cave game ever IMHO.

[icycalm]

Dude, I understand that for people with low bandwitdh and/or small hard drives my videos might be a hassle to download, but for me quality comes above all -- and YouTube's quality sucks.

But even if they improved their quality I would still not use them. YouTube and other such websites are made for amateurs, and people who just want to upload a video of their kid's birthday or something. For professional websites that take their job seriously, sending their readers to another site without receiving anything in return is plain simply stupid.

As for Ibara, as I mentioned in the review, Yagawa's games are an acquired taste -- they are not for everyone. This means that you have to do some work to get to appreciate them. If you are prepared to do that, try Raizing's Battle Garegga and Great Mahou Daisakusen. Play each game for 2-3 months, try to get some decent high scores, and then try Ibara again.

If this doesn't work, then forget about Yagawa's games altogether.

[Hayama Akito]

I finished Battle Garrega and I can't even pass stage 3 on Ibara... and I don't get the feeling to try to pass, comparing to other games.

And to be honest I find Dangun Feveron harder on the Cave side.

Well, it was just a suggestion icy =P

[icycalm]

Well, it was just a suggestion icy =P

I understand that.

I finished Battle Garrega and i cant even pass stage 3 on Ibara... and i dont get the feeling to try to pass, comparing to others game.

So because you can't get past the third stage, and because you don't feel like trying harder to get past it, you are saying Ibara is Cave's worst game?

You are going to have to come up with better reasons than that, my friend, if you want your opinion to count for anything! :)

[AlphaONE]

I played and cleared Ibara and it was fun, but Mushihime-sama just felt like a better overall experience.

But both were great games!!

[lock]

I had no played Ibara too much but I think the system it's quite strange, and sometimes makes you play in an artificial way. For example, my first play I got to the 2nd level. That's pretty normal uh? Ok, the second time I played better and got more items than the first time, so the first stage boss kicked my ass! Should I try not to get so many items to make the game easier?

Now I have Ibara, Espgaluda and Mushihimesama. I had not beat any of them so I guess I will not give Ibara a new chance until I can beat EspG and Mushi... Maybe I change my mind then...

I love the Ibara art, anyway.

[icycalm]

But both were great games!!

I love the Ibara art, anyway.

Quoted for the truth.

Don't worry about Ibara for the time being, Fran. Once you play the hell out of half a dozen Cave games, and you start craving something different (so, in about a year or two), then you'll go back to Ibara and start enjoying it.

It just takes time.

[Macaw]

I've been listening to the Pink Sweets OST and have to say that its totally awesome. Solid techno stuff. I dont understand why so many people hate the music, my guess is probably the cutesy/playful nature of some of the tunes.

Anyways, it will be interesting to see if another Yagawa shooter appears this year from cave. It appears the main reason Ibara was unpopular was because it was so frustrating, mainly due to the fact that getting heaps of medals requires incredibly risky maneuvers and tactics, while in Garegga and Batrider you mainly are able to just stay in the bottom part of the screen shooting enemies and occasionaly bombing the secret medal locations. As for Pink Sweets it appears as though it is unpopular because its 'boring'. I havnt played it myself, and when I finally do I will most probably enjoy it because I am a huge raizing fan, but from what i've read that seems to be the main problem people have with the game. Well, that and the fact its so different from other cave and even raizing games.

So it will be interesting to see what comes next from cave. At this point I'm more interested in the general style of the shooter rather than what scoring mechanics it has. This recent wave of cave sequels has made me wish more than ever that their next project has a more old school vibe to it, where the player controls a spaceship rather than some flying girl or somthing. Its obvious cave has been putting more T&A into their games in order to attract more people to play a fading genre, and even if they continue doing so I dont see how that would stop them from creating a game with a more serious theme.

[icycalm]

At this point I'm more interested in the general style of the shooter rather than what scoring mechanics it has.

In theory I feel the same way, but in the end I find that the so-called "system" of the game is just as vitally important -- especially in the long term. I get more excited in the beginning about a shooter with lots of style, but for me to invest any amount of time in a new title its system must be solid, fun, and addictive.

With so many hundreds of awesome shooters to play these days, a game simply can't hold my attention if it doesn't perfectly combine style with play mechanics. And even the music has to be at least above average...

And yeah, I am also very curious to see if Cave's next title will be directed by Yagawa. I am also wondering whether they'll upgrade their hardware. They've been using the same board for quite a while now...

[lock]

I've been listening to the Pink Sweets OST and have to say that its totally awesome. Solid techno stuff. I dont understand why so many people hate the music, my guess is probably the cutesy/playful nature of some of the tunes.

Hi Macaw, is there a Pink Sweets OST? I've hear that the musician is Yuzo Koshiro. Considering he's one of my childhood gods I really would like to know where to get it!

[icycalm]

Yuzo Koshiro definitely had nothing to do with the Pink Sweets OST. The staff roll says "Cave Sound Team" -- whoever that's supposed to mean.

You can get it from Play-Asia, if you want:

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-8l- ... -1ogk.html

It's... quite unusual, though, as far as STG soundtracks go, so I'd suggest you try to get hold of and listen to a couple of tracks before deciding whether to buy it.

[Macaw]

Yuzo Koshiro is actualy a guest composer on the OST, he provided a couple of the arranged tracks on disc 2.

[icycalm]

Here's the rundown of how this game looks at high levels of play:

PS definitely IS the black sheep in Cave's catalog. At the recent Cave festival it was the only recent game that wasn't on display, for example, and as you mentioned it's the only recent Cave game not to get a superplay release (though MMP didn't get a proper one either).

The problem with PS is 1) it's ridiculously difficult, 2) you basically have to break the game (max out rank, get infinite lives) if you want to score well, 3) you have to milk everything for about 80 minutes (seriously, that's how long a 1 credit clear lasts with full milking), but the milking is basically just ticking away with your shot on midbosses and bosses, and 4) it's buggy and can randomly freeze in the later levels. Hardly a formula that appeals to most shooting fans.

http://www.cave-stg.com/forum/index.php ... 77#msg7977

Despite all that, several top Western players, including Plasmo, Kiken and Dave_K, swear by the game (Kiken has it in his top three shooters ever...), and the same goes for several top Japanese players. Still, these guys are the niche within the niche. It's like Battle Garegga, only worse. Basically, I just think that this game could have done with a 1.5 release or a Black Label. Unfortunately, due to the low level of popularity, caused primarily by the off-beat cute 'em up theme, this was not deemed financially justifiable.

But basically, as long as you play to clear it and not for score, all the above problems disappear. Which is just fine by me! Every other element of the game is so well-designed and feels so fresh and different, that I think we should be able to excuse the high-level problems and enjoy everything else (this task is made even easier for those who are incapable of playing the game at a high level in the first place :)

So anyway, I look forward to one day buying the PCB and getting even further into this little gem.

[icycalm]

Some more worthwhile comments on this game (the bolded part especially was news to me):

Pink Sweets is a lot of fun if you try and max the rank out and get the infinite lives trick by the end of Stage 3. Which, admittedly, is probably the weirdest way to play any shooter, ever. If you don't do this, the game sucks because it's basically impossible to 1CC unless you do a boring low points, no item pickup play to control the rank.

Score Attack mode is awesome too.

But yeah, MMP is better. Easy to pick up and play, without the atrocious difficulty. Super fun scoring system as well.

Ibara and Pink Sweets are not alike in terms of rank. In Pink Sweets you cannot lower the rank, you can only slow its rise. That's a big difference from Ibara and MMP (in both games you can lower the rank by suiciding a few times periodically).

If you want to go for a high score your only option in Pink Sweets is to get the infinite lives trick (get 6 lives total without dying) and then max the rank out and play through to the end. That is not easy, but it's not impossible either.

http://www.gamengai.com/forum/viewtopic ... 3896#13896

The whole deal surrounding the infinite lives trick, which was not yet known by the time I wrote my review, reinforces even more the uniqueness of this game. As EOJ says, playing the game with the trick in mind is "probably the weirdest way to play any shooter, ever". I really hope Yagawa is still with Cave...