[AC] [360] [TAB] [MOB] Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu

[Jedah]

No it's not an April fool's joke! According to Shoot The Core Cave is about to unveil a new game in the Donpachi series!! The game will be presented at the AOU Show on February 15th. Undust your STG skills -- this is going to be one hell of a pink bullet ride!!

[icycalm]

Thanks for the news, Milto. Sorry for removing your link to Shoot The Core, but the guy doesn't deserve it. He basically read about the game on Shmups and then posted a blurb on his blog, without bothering to link any sources at all. Man, bloggers are some lazy motherfuckers.

Basically, most news on shooters come from danmaku gata, and, for those who can't read Japanese, and don't feel like using a translation tool, the most important stuff gets posted on Shmups and Postback within a few hours. So here's all the links you need:

http://www.danmakugata.com/
http://shmups.system11.org/viewforum.php?f=1
http://postback.geedorah.com/foros/viewforum.php?id=1


So back on-topic, here's the story so far. Cave has announced that the game will be shown at AOU 2008 on the 15th and 16th of February:

http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/ ... _eaf2.html



(Daifukkatsu means "great revival")

The only thing I have to note is that Ikeda has gone from hardly ever making sequels, to making only sequels. The last original game he made was Mushihime-sama, and that was back in 2004! Here's all the games he's made since then:

Espgaluda II
Mushihime-sama Futari
Dodonpachi: Daifukkatsu

So yeah. I've no idea how this will turn out, but if he keeps going on like that his next game better be Ketsui: Goku Fukkatsu (extreme revival!) or else!

[icycalm]

Interview with Ikeda:

http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/ ... at8154403/

Not at all informative, but beggars can't be choosers. Translation courtesy of my very good friend EOJ:

Q: After Daioujou, didn't you say the Pachi series was over?
IKD: For me, it was supposed to be the end. But, from a business perspective, I sorta had to read between the lines of "it would be good to end it" and gradually see what I (should) do. [laughs]

Q: Why did the company give such airs to you? Was it that the fans were demanding a sequel?
IKD: Yeah, maybe, but it wasn't just the fans. The demand from the operators was also great. When it's like that, we can do nothing but strengthen our resolve.

Q: Please explain the concept and characteristics of "Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu".
IKD: The concept of this work is certainly more than "the clash of power vs. power", rather it is "If I am able to do it, I will answer". Well, in a word, "Uaguguooae!"

Q: Um, so is it like a fist fight? With Mechas!?
IKD: It's not a fist fight like in Dogyuun. It's just, in terms of nuance, to call it "Dodonpachi Oogenka" (NOTE: "Oogenka" means 'huge fight') or "Dodonpachi Uaguguo!" is a probably a bit more suitable.

Q: Ah. Anyway, what kind of game system will it have? Will it be the same as previous installments?
IKD: I can say it will feel the same as always, and I can say it will feel the same as always. For details, it's just a matter of looking forward (and waiting) until the AOU show.

Q: Why was this game established as a "sequel to Daioujou"? In terms of "Daioujou", being a "Daioujou" that does not produce a peaceful death (NOTE: "Daioujou" means 'peaceful death'), is it that there is some unfinished business left?
IKD: In the world of "Dodonpachi", because not much has been done outside of mechas, in making the overall view of this game come together, there was a request from the designer's side to entwine the Element Dolls in the story. So in establishing that, it was placed in a position of being "the sequel to Daioujou".
Though as a game, while continuing the tradition of the Dodonpachi series more than "Daioujou", it includes new elements, and because of this it probably doesn't feel much like "Daioujou".

Q: The element dolls from the last game will appear then?
IKD: I answered this just before, but yes, the Element dolls will properly appear in this game. Only, they will be a bit different. In a sense, the way
Cave tends to change things.

Q: Indeed, so other characters will be newly introduced, right?
IKD: Other characters? Hmm. Let me think... please find out about that at the AOU show.

Q: This game is "Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu", but isn't the Dodonpachi series righteous in its nature?
IKD: Yes! Yes, that's it. Essentially Donpachi is the pioneer. Personally, I started from Donpachi, so I want to support the "Donpachi" series, but the way of referring to it as the "Dodonpachi series" has become widespread... and really, a title like "Donpachi Academy Crossbow Club ~ Someday a Danmaku Celeb" seems a bit impossible, doesn't it.

Q: So, a Danmaku Celeb? Something like Kuroganeeze?

Q: To conclude, could you say something to all the fans and players?
IKD: This time, there is a "Dodonpachi" feel, but also new elements. It incorporates the new and old, so with those "various meanings", please look forward to it.

http://www.danmakudreamer.com/viewtopic.php?p=1146#1146

Also:

According to am-net this will have a Spring 2008 release, so likely sometime in April or May.

[CosMind]

This spring? Amazing! I had honestly expected to be shocked if it hit by autumn.

Sweet action, indeed.

[Molloy]

Ahh, I love translated Japanese interviews. Especially with small developers. They're so evasive in a cute sort of way. Edge Magazine used to do a lot of them with the likes of Treasure or G.Rev but they haven't done so in ages.

[icycalm]

From Mihara's blog:



http://mihara.sub.jp/top/blog/sb203/log/eid1413.html

More here:

http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/ ... _26e7.html

I smell epicness in the air.

And lolis, of course. Always lolis, god bless their souls.

[KarlCarlson3]

As this is my first post, I'd just like to start off by saying hello and I'm really liking the site.

Anyway, Arcade Renaissance posted links to a few shaky cam videos from AOU:

Promo Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMsljw_YdQY
In-game Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFYJSooj6wQ
In-game Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAmr3fNPQh8

http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/com ... aihukkatu/

[icycalm]

Welcome to the forum. Note that I replaced your link to Arcade Renaissance with the proper link. No big deal, I am sure if you stick around long enough you'll figure out how this place works (see also the second post in this thread).

More info here:

http://insomnia.ac/news/dodonpachi-daif ... -unveiled/

[RyanDG]

On that note -- did you see the new videos in this update icy?

http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/com ... _gameshow/

Once you get past the stage show (someone really should archive all their dance numbers for posterity), there is a small selection of videos and images of the game in action...

[icycalm]

Man, these guys are so fucking lame. What's the point of shooting half a dozen 5-second clips -- and shit quality clips -- and filling a page with a billion youtube windows? Just sit your ass in place for 10 minutes with a decent camera and get it over with!

Oh well. At least the screens are decent(ish).



Ikaruga: Daifukkatsu!

[RyanDG]

Man, these guys are so fucking lame. What's the point of shooting half a dozen 5-second clips -- and shit quality clips -- and filling a page with a billion youtube windows? Just sit your ass in place for 10 minutes with a decent camera and get it over with!

Guerrilla film making at its finest. Most of it probably has to do with the fact that they think they have to be stealth-like considering the presence of no camera signs (for non-authorized visitors). Even though I don't recall anyone ever claiming they were kicked out of a show for taking pictures, I know that it may still make some people feel like they need to be discreet none-the-less -- especially if they didn't sign up to have prior authorization to be filming.

[icycalm]

Ugh. New Cave: No filming. Got busted twice. Total DDP video running time: 0:00:01. So lame.

Looks like they are really cracking down this year. I guess we should be thankful we even got this much footage. Still, if I was there I am sure I would have done better. We are a crafty race the Greeks...

Some funny quotes from Shmups:

On the bright side, the game is amazing. I'm torn between this and sending my son to college. Not been this excited since Galuda 2.

It has it all. Chaining, hypers, bullet cancelling, phalolasers, slowdown, and transformer school girl bosses.

Your son can get scholarships or if he fails at being intelligent, student loans.

So clearly you should just buy the game.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... &start=300

[icycalm]

GP has written his impressions from the show, with the most thorough analysis of the game's system yet:

The type of ship, is where the game strays from it's predecessors. Bomb Type, as it's called, is the orthodox type which launches bombs with the B-button. The shot type lets the player toggle between standard shot and a stronger shot. The downside is, this type cannot use bombs at all.

The hyper gauge fills up, and stays at 100% until the player goes into hyper mode. Like before, hyper mode will raise the rank, but far, far more than before. It's like kakusei mode on steroids. Bullets everywhere, and no, you can't dodge most of the patterns. So how do you get through them? In hyper mode, the shot will actually cancel bullets. Each cancelled bullet adds a hit to the hit counter, but does not effect the combo gauge. What does this mean? If you're using the shot to jack your hit counter up (getting several hundred is a breeze), it's all for not if you're not killing some enemies in there as well, as you can very easily break the chain. So what fun is that if you can just cancel all the bullets in hyper mode? Well, there's these phallic looking lasers that the enemies shoot, which are unaffected by the shot. Your laser, however, will deflect the enemy lasers (depending on their size). This is true in both normal mode and hyper mode, by the way. So generally, the risk in hyper mode is that you have to shoot the laser to deflect the lasers, shot to cancel the bullets, and either of the aforementioned to continue killing enemies to keep the combo gauge from running out. When all of this shit comes at you at once, it's much easier said than done. I couldn't figure out the details on how, but the chain doesn't always go to zero when the combo gauge goes down. Sometimes though, it does. It either has to do with the hyper gauge being full, or the last enemy you killed. The last note about chaining is that the chain can be carried into boss fights though, and will greatly affect the end of stage bonus as long as you can hold it all the way through the boss fight.

http://www.gamengai.com/bn_inf.php?type=article&id=1717

It's several pages long and includes info on other games besides DDP. A great read.

[icycalm]

One thing I should've fit in there but somehow forgot... I don't recall picking up a power up item -- at all.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 922#328922

[Molloy]

I never understand why Cave don't take matters into their own hands and... you know... release trailers of their games. And big screeshots. Often six months after a game comes out there still aren't any decent screen captures. They already release loads of gorgeous 2D art to promote the games. Why not throw in some nice videos... there are lots of good places they could host HD footage for free, like http://stage6.com/ for example.

[RyanDG]

Great write-up as usual by Gamengai...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFuS9E1ndtY

I think everyone will get a kick out of this video for obvious reasons. And as a bonus -- it's not a 5 second clip this time... 5 minutes of footage.

[icycalm]

lol, the player is Paul, aka Gaijin Punch. What are the odds, eh? Funny thing is he looks bored. Most people look bored when they play these games, even though they aren't. I probably look bored too, I think. Go figure.

[Dale]

I tend to make little squealing noises when I almost die or breathe real rapidly. I also sing *Give me the gold I want the gold**Give me da Give me da Give me da gold* as my multiplier goes up. I also cockily make fun of bosses I've had trouble beating in the past.

Of course most people have more tact and class then me.

The game looks great. Seems like the new system works well. The most interesting part I saw is when you can get more gold by tap-shooting but can't stop the lazers, and vice-versa.

[icycalm]

GP emailed the guy who filmed that last video, and he gave him a torrent of the original high-res version. I uploaded it for posterity (note it's 324MB):

http://insomnia.ac/archive/games/custom ... ch_aou.avi

See how much better the original version looks compared to youtube. All youtube does is butcher perfectly viewable videos, to the point where I don't even feel like watching them anymore.

Anyway.

Watching this version of the video, I can say I am rather disappointed with the game. For one thing, the system is indeed interesting, but a little too artificial for my tastes (see also Mushihime-sama and Futari, and Espgaluda II); the designs have more in common with the first two Donpachis instead of with DOJ, which is a minus for me; and technically the graphics are nowhere near the technical excellence of, say, Death Smiles, even if the "pixel work" might indeed be on a higher level.

Also: enemy lasers are ugly and make the game look ugly, though on the plus side I don't mind the giant doll bosses anymore.

So yeah, if I had to rate it right now I'd give it 4/5. They should have made a sequel to Guwange instead. More interesting directions to go from there, and the game would have been no less popular with the "merchants".

Oh well. I'll still play it and doubtless enjoy it, but DOJ will remain the pinnacle of the series.

...

On another note, it's surprising the amount of criticism one can level at a game from a single 5-minute video clip. I should be doing that from now on. Fuck playing the game -- reviewing from videos is the way to go.

[icycalm]

Release has been pushed back to May. Gives everyone one more month to save up the extra couple hundred thoudand yen lol.

[icycalm]

From the second loke:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyMw9uDcQDo

[icycalm]

Official website, at last:

http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/daifukkatu/

Nothing there other than a couple of clean, but tiny, screens of course.

[zinger]

The official site has been updated with story, charactor (...) and a fairly elaborate system explanation.

[zinger]

http://b-board.rdy.jp/torrent/details.p ... 000fba251e

High quality footage of the entire first loop.

[zinger]

Counter stop in the first loop:

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm3639378

I wonder what is more costly for Cave: delivering after deadline, or these kinds of bugs or oversights (extend bug in Pink Sweets, counterstop in Mushihime-sama Futari) and revisions?