Easily one of my favorite shmups. Mechanically, it's fairly simple as far as shmups go; you shoot down enemies while avoiding fire. You got focused shooting and movements, bombs, etc. But there's something different about Mushihimesama that makes it so fun to play, I can't explain it. Weaving through dense bullet patterns while mowing down wave after wave of enemies feels so satisfying.

The soundtrack is great too. My personal favorite mode was Original 1.5 MAX, mostly because of the exclusive gameplay mechanics, but also because it's got the best arrangements of each song. Hearing "Like a Night of Falling Stars" for the first time is not a feeling I'll forget anytime soon. I also want to mention the aesthetic. The whole bug and nature theme it has is really unique, and cool too. Mushi is such a great game in every department.

FUCK Stage 3 though.

Absolutely remarkable 2D rogue-like. I tried it a few years ago and I got bored of it quickly, before even getting the first boss cell. But I picked it up again and played all the way through to the secrete ending, and had a blast. It's very satisfying to play; carefully rolling through and parrying attacks to methodically tear apart waves of enemies. There's lots of different weapons to use, and runs are fairly consistent. Some may call this a negative, but they're too hung up on the "rogue-like" side of things. I don't want to be stuck with shitty weapons or a boring run because of bad RNG, and thankfully, in Dead Cells, this won't happen. It's perfectly replayable too, with you unlocking higher difficulty levels that change up enemies, make things less forgiving, and even open up new areas. The game looks and sounds great too.

Would be just as good as rush, maybe even better, if it weren't for the stupid fucking mini games. They're cool at first, but then you realize you're spending more time doing them than actually playing the game. Plus there's mandatory grinding to progress through the main story AND to get the chaos emeralds (the last one is borderline impossible without an upgraded ship). The hidden islands and missions feel like boring padding as well.

It's a shame, because the level design is about the same as Rush (less bullshit deaths, but not as satisfying to play), but the bosses are WAY better. The soundtrack is cool too, but it doesn't hold a candle to Naganuma's work in Rush. Don't think I'm gonna bother with the true ending this time around, even though the boss looks really fucking cool.