I didn't really like it. The music was phenomenal as usual but aside from that this game wasn't super remarkable. Every stage felt super samey, nothing really stood out. Mechanics seemed like just a retread of DOJ. An unfortunately lackluster final game from CAVE.
The music is okay but I would tell most people to just play it ironically.
If you 1CC this game, click here for a surprise! One of the most difficult games I have ever played, I don't know how people master how insane Saidaioujou goes. Too bad playing it is a bit of a pain, thanks CAVE!
more like DoDonPachi SiDeHoe lmao
I still don't get how the fuck the "story" mode is better than the arcade mode. Also I finally realized Guwange is a better shmup + ratio + mame version sucks ass
Someone finally beat the TLB after a decade plus. Thank god I don't need to play this piece of shit game anymore. I've won.
I have to confess to not be a big fan of the original Daioujou. It lacks a lot of the style and appeal the original DDP had for me. Very muted and boring colors, enemies and especially bosses look like glorified trashcans, and it lacks a lot of the imagination found in bullet patterns you see in other Ikeda games like Ketsui and Progear. Even though I'm sure it has more mechanics, it feels dumbed down and especially Black Label with its even longer combo timer doesn't keep me on the edge of my seat like Donpachi and DDP always do.
So someone looked at this and has a brilliant idea. What if we make this game again, on lower quality hardware, and put animes in it. Voila, Saidaioujou. But if I just left it at that, I'm afraid I'd give off an impression that's too positive for what this game actually feels like to play.
This game is unique in that it's the only Ikeda game that just feels really shit to play moment-by-moment. Despite the bullet count only going up from game to game. The hitbox is made bigger, and it just feels worse overall. It's hard to put my finger on it, but deaths often feel unfair to me in a way that doesn't happen in other Cave titles.
The visuals? The whole game looks similar and flat. SDOJ is going for this blue futuristic look with everything having the default Photoshop outer glow effect. Every stage looks the same to me. And the worst crime a shmup can commit? Bad explosion graphics.
The music and sounds? The crunchiest. Part of this is because of the cv1k hardware, but even other cv1k titles like Futari sound better than this. Usually developers get better at this the more familiar they get with the hardware, but somehow this is a big downgrade from Cave's previous titles. It might actually be the worst I've ever heard a game sound.
Scoring? That's fucked up too. Because it's basically impossible to break the chain if you know what you're doing, the goal now is to get that chain number as high as possible. And on stage 3 & 5, you can get the overflow glitch, where if the combo goes up high enough, you get a shitton of points for each additional hit. The world record replay doesn't even have 'splits' for the other stages and focuses on getting the overflow as fast as possible. So the one part I still like about Daioujou has been reduced even further in this game.
So while I personally thought this was a huge disappointment, if you're just here for the bullet patterns and you have an above average tolerance for the animes, it still plays like any other Ikeda game and if that's all your care about, give it a try for sure. But for me I don't think I'll ever play this again, while I can play literally any other Cave title.
So someone looked at this and has a brilliant idea. What if we make this game again, on lower quality hardware, and put animes in it. Voila, Saidaioujou. But if I just left it at that, I'm afraid I'd give off an impression that's too positive for what this game actually feels like to play.
This game is unique in that it's the only Ikeda game that just feels really shit to play moment-by-moment. Despite the bullet count only going up from game to game. The hitbox is made bigger, and it just feels worse overall. It's hard to put my finger on it, but deaths often feel unfair to me in a way that doesn't happen in other Cave titles.
The visuals? The whole game looks similar and flat. SDOJ is going for this blue futuristic look with everything having the default Photoshop outer glow effect. Every stage looks the same to me. And the worst crime a shmup can commit? Bad explosion graphics.
The music and sounds? The crunchiest. Part of this is because of the cv1k hardware, but even other cv1k titles like Futari sound better than this. Usually developers get better at this the more familiar they get with the hardware, but somehow this is a big downgrade from Cave's previous titles. It might actually be the worst I've ever heard a game sound.
Scoring? That's fucked up too. Because it's basically impossible to break the chain if you know what you're doing, the goal now is to get that chain number as high as possible. And on stage 3 & 5, you can get the overflow glitch, where if the combo goes up high enough, you get a shitton of points for each additional hit. The world record replay doesn't even have 'splits' for the other stages and focuses on getting the overflow as fast as possible. So the one part I still like about Daioujou has been reduced even further in this game.
So while I personally thought this was a huge disappointment, if you're just here for the bullet patterns and you have an above average tolerance for the animes, it still plays like any other Ikeda game and if that's all your care about, give it a try for sure. But for me I don't think I'll ever play this again, while I can play literally any other Cave title.
In a 2012 interview Cave devs explained that if SaiDaiOuJou was going to be their last game, it had to be a very straightforward experience. A game that's very simple and puts all of its focus around the good ol' dodging bullets, but with a contemporary approach. As a result, SDOJ is a pure bullet hell with 0 gimmick mechanics, but with all the over the top excess of the later Cave releases. The game can be way too much, and leaves very little window for casual plays. If you want to make a dent in it, you gotta sit down and commit to getting your ass kicked. There's very little in the way of strategy or understanding how to play it, you just need to dodge like your life depends on it. It's brutal. It's insane. It's non stop sensory overload. But at the same time it's oldschool as hell.
I'm still figuring out my feelings towards this game because, aside from the amazing OST and ultra futuristic presentation that pushes the limits on what can be readable in a 2D bullet hell, there's not a lot to say outside its intensity. I respect the back-to-basics approach, but it's easy to feel like there's nothing in the game you haven't seen from previous Cave offerings.
But what the hell. Even at its most derivative, Cave games can be a fucking blast, and this is no exception.
Let's pray to god we get a proper Steam port. I can't buy the wonky Xbox port from my European 360 and I'm not paying 4000+ bucks for the Exa version and system.
I'm still figuring out my feelings towards this game because, aside from the amazing OST and ultra futuristic presentation that pushes the limits on what can be readable in a 2D bullet hell, there's not a lot to say outside its intensity. I respect the back-to-basics approach, but it's easy to feel like there's nothing in the game you haven't seen from previous Cave offerings.
But what the hell. Even at its most derivative, Cave games can be a fucking blast, and this is no exception.
Let's pray to god we get a proper Steam port. I can't buy the wonky Xbox port from my European 360 and I'm not paying 4000+ bucks for the Exa version and system.