+the cylinder concept here is great, as it keeps you trying to clean out each area in hopes that no area gets too overwhelmed with enemies to deal with
+I only messed with the other ships a little bit (there's 3) but they all have entirely unique features, giving some good variety
+the art design is cool and voxels are neat but what I really love is how enemies and areas crumble into a wave of blocks upon destruction. such a satisfying effect
+saving the humans (by first destroying their keepers and then rescuing the human themselves) gives a bit of forward momentum other than just mowing down enemies. thankfully they're all optional, and also thankfully each one gives the same bonus each time, making it so that you can memorize which humans will give lives/bombs and which ones just give points
+each boss is unique and usually has multiple phases. definitely some are way easier than others (the bouncing block one in particular stands out) but there's very few repeated elements
+enemy variety is also excellent, with each level introducing new foes and each wave mixing up the enemy composition. many just follow you and shoot of course, tho there are so more clever ones as well, such as a beam-shooting ship that is surrounded by reflecting mirrors that contain the beam until you destroy them to get to the ship itself
+boosting at will (on a cooldown) is a fun mechanic, and although it isn't very controllable it's an extremely useful panic button thanks to its invincibility and blast radius at the end. between that, your overdrive shot (which you charge by killing enemies), and your bombs (consumable), you have three separate moves to get you out of any situation at any time
-it's not really a detriment to the game but this is a rather difficult experience, and even with only five levels this may take a bit of time to really get the hang of. it's a one-hit kill and lives are scarce... I'd love to do a 1cc someday for the trophy but it's not happening soon lol
-a full tutorial stage would have been nice to explain how the human mechanic works. the game does have audio and visual cues for when the keepers are coming down, where they're coming and going, which human they free, and where the current humans on the map are, but it took me quite a bit of time to figure this out via trial and error. a little more information on the extra moves would have been nice as well
-I would've really enjoyed a twin-stick mode, since the game only uses the right stick to shoot left or right. wouldn't have to be the whole game, just a single ship maybe
certainly was a frustrating experience at times but when I finally beat that final boss after so many attempts I felt amazing. probably the most mainstream shmup developer around making these, tho their new title is a roguelite third-person shooter with bullet hell elements (looks cool!! reminds me of vanquish). even at its short length, I was very satisfied by this experience thanks to the quality and care of its throwback-arcade mechanics. maybe in the future we'll get a nice ps5 side project in this vein, or even a VR shmup title....
+I only messed with the other ships a little bit (there's 3) but they all have entirely unique features, giving some good variety
+the art design is cool and voxels are neat but what I really love is how enemies and areas crumble into a wave of blocks upon destruction. such a satisfying effect
+saving the humans (by first destroying their keepers and then rescuing the human themselves) gives a bit of forward momentum other than just mowing down enemies. thankfully they're all optional, and also thankfully each one gives the same bonus each time, making it so that you can memorize which humans will give lives/bombs and which ones just give points
+each boss is unique and usually has multiple phases. definitely some are way easier than others (the bouncing block one in particular stands out) but there's very few repeated elements
+enemy variety is also excellent, with each level introducing new foes and each wave mixing up the enemy composition. many just follow you and shoot of course, tho there are so more clever ones as well, such as a beam-shooting ship that is surrounded by reflecting mirrors that contain the beam until you destroy them to get to the ship itself
+boosting at will (on a cooldown) is a fun mechanic, and although it isn't very controllable it's an extremely useful panic button thanks to its invincibility and blast radius at the end. between that, your overdrive shot (which you charge by killing enemies), and your bombs (consumable), you have three separate moves to get you out of any situation at any time
-it's not really a detriment to the game but this is a rather difficult experience, and even with only five levels this may take a bit of time to really get the hang of. it's a one-hit kill and lives are scarce... I'd love to do a 1cc someday for the trophy but it's not happening soon lol
-a full tutorial stage would have been nice to explain how the human mechanic works. the game does have audio and visual cues for when the keepers are coming down, where they're coming and going, which human they free, and where the current humans on the map are, but it took me quite a bit of time to figure this out via trial and error. a little more information on the extra moves would have been nice as well
-I would've really enjoyed a twin-stick mode, since the game only uses the right stick to shoot left or right. wouldn't have to be the whole game, just a single ship maybe
certainly was a frustrating experience at times but when I finally beat that final boss after so many attempts I felt amazing. probably the most mainstream shmup developer around making these, tho their new title is a roguelite third-person shooter with bullet hell elements (looks cool!! reminds me of vanquish). even at its short length, I was very satisfied by this experience thanks to the quality and care of its throwback-arcade mechanics. maybe in the future we'll get a nice ps5 side project in this vein, or even a VR shmup title....