Played in Cozmic Collection Arcade (PC). Route was A-B-E-H-L-Q-V.
On occasion I'll call a game 'sublime' as the best way to describe my experience with it, and Darius Gaiden is undoubtedly deserving of such a word. In short, the game kicks ass.
I had no idea what to expect going in other than hearing that it was generally better than 2, but this game blew me away with just how enjoyable and beautiful of a time it was. This wasn't just a step up from 2 but an entire building's worth of stairs above 2. I can only imagine there were a number of games in between them, or otherwise I guess this team just had the magic touch that wasn't there for the first couple games.
The difficulty is here to be sure yet tempered, the levels are just as engaging if not more so than previous installments, and the general presentation is in a higher league than many of its contemporaries in the medium in general around this year, not just within its genre, subgenre, or within its own (already proven gorgeous) series up till now. It's genuinely impressive just how impactful the sound and music cues in this game are, whether they be for level or scene transitions, for boss appearances, or even the "WARNING" message. Of course, the music itself feels great to listen to but that seems to go without saying in this series.
I think what might feel most notable about Darius Gaiden's design is that it's seemingly the first of these games that actually lets you recoup your losses to a decent degree if you die during a level. In previous games you were effectively beat down into the dirt as soon as you died because you'd never survive for long enough to level anything up again, but Gaiden is more generous with its powerups to the point where it feels like a credit actually matters for giving multiple tries rather than being interchangeable with a single life. While I do think the powerups could still be a little more generous from there as the game is still quite intense and losing a life does still almost guarantee a lost credit soon after, I think Gaiden does indeed hit a happy medium for challenge and reward even if only just. At the very least the game feels miles better to control compared to the first two games (read: finally not so sluggish), and that counts for quite a lot more in the grand scheme of challenge and fairness.
That said, I adored the variety in bosses and their gimmicks in this game. Quite a lot more memorable than the already relatively memorable previous ones, these bosses were both intimidating and had cool animations and extra effects too. I found them both visually appealing and engaging to play around, and while the game still doesn't seem to quite have bosses become progressively harder, it at least isn't quite as all over the place as the first game, for example.
As a still relative newbie to shmups as a genre (I've got maybe a little under ten done by now), I don't think I have any particularly deep comparisons or commentary about it in relation to it. However, I can at least say that in the realm of games in general this one has impressed me as a sequel more than the vast majority of sequels I've played, let alone third entries. It's a case of improvement that's so beyond incremental that I can't help but smile just thinking about the game. In the realm of shmups I've played, I think at this point it's probably my favorite (though that is, of course, subject to change as I get more into them). The same may go for arcade games I've played in general as well, though there's certainly some stiff competition there.
When it comes to arcadey titles I don't often feel the urge to go back to a given one after finishing it a time or three, but with this one I think it's gotten its bioluminscent lure close enough to my eyes that I'm pretty convinced I should practice it some more. Hell, I even came out of this wanting to go back and try getting to a point of doing a 1CC run if I can. Maybe that won't happen right now as I've only just recently healed from an arm injury, but once I've been better for a while...
On occasion I'll call a game 'sublime' as the best way to describe my experience with it, and Darius Gaiden is undoubtedly deserving of such a word. In short, the game kicks ass.
I had no idea what to expect going in other than hearing that it was generally better than 2, but this game blew me away with just how enjoyable and beautiful of a time it was. This wasn't just a step up from 2 but an entire building's worth of stairs above 2. I can only imagine there were a number of games in between them, or otherwise I guess this team just had the magic touch that wasn't there for the first couple games.
The difficulty is here to be sure yet tempered, the levels are just as engaging if not more so than previous installments, and the general presentation is in a higher league than many of its contemporaries in the medium in general around this year, not just within its genre, subgenre, or within its own (already proven gorgeous) series up till now. It's genuinely impressive just how impactful the sound and music cues in this game are, whether they be for level or scene transitions, for boss appearances, or even the "WARNING" message. Of course, the music itself feels great to listen to but that seems to go without saying in this series.
I think what might feel most notable about Darius Gaiden's design is that it's seemingly the first of these games that actually lets you recoup your losses to a decent degree if you die during a level. In previous games you were effectively beat down into the dirt as soon as you died because you'd never survive for long enough to level anything up again, but Gaiden is more generous with its powerups to the point where it feels like a credit actually matters for giving multiple tries rather than being interchangeable with a single life. While I do think the powerups could still be a little more generous from there as the game is still quite intense and losing a life does still almost guarantee a lost credit soon after, I think Gaiden does indeed hit a happy medium for challenge and reward even if only just. At the very least the game feels miles better to control compared to the first two games (read: finally not so sluggish), and that counts for quite a lot more in the grand scheme of challenge and fairness.
That said, I adored the variety in bosses and their gimmicks in this game. Quite a lot more memorable than the already relatively memorable previous ones, these bosses were both intimidating and had cool animations and extra effects too. I found them both visually appealing and engaging to play around, and while the game still doesn't seem to quite have bosses become progressively harder, it at least isn't quite as all over the place as the first game, for example.
As a still relative newbie to shmups as a genre (I've got maybe a little under ten done by now), I don't think I have any particularly deep comparisons or commentary about it in relation to it. However, I can at least say that in the realm of games in general this one has impressed me as a sequel more than the vast majority of sequels I've played, let alone third entries. It's a case of improvement that's so beyond incremental that I can't help but smile just thinking about the game. In the realm of shmups I've played, I think at this point it's probably my favorite (though that is, of course, subject to change as I get more into them). The same may go for arcade games I've played in general as well, though there's certainly some stiff competition there.
When it comes to arcadey titles I don't often feel the urge to go back to a given one after finishing it a time or three, but with this one I think it's gotten its bioluminscent lure close enough to my eyes that I'm pretty convinced I should practice it some more. Hell, I even came out of this wanting to go back and try getting to a point of doing a 1CC run if I can. Maybe that won't happen right now as I've only just recently healed from an arm injury, but once I've been better for a while...