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I have returned from Taito Hey with pictures. Some of them are actually not too bad! I need to stop taking pictures so I don't accidentally become not complete shit at photography!

First, the colors on RayForce.



Yes, it looks like pre-patch. You might not be able to tell from the pictures, but it's totally 100% pre-patch. The dirt in the first picture is actually slightly pink, so they probably had the red turned up a little bit too high. At this point, we have a real Layer Section disc on a real Saturn, MAME, City Connection, and Taito Hey all looking like pre-patch. Yep, M2 probably fucked up the colors. Good job.

Next, the control panels. PREPARE TO BE AMAZED



So yeah, now I have more questions than I did when I went there. I guess that's how it is.

Steven, thanks for the pics. Yeah if I can go by how the pics look on my phone rn I'd say there's still more contrast than M2 prepatch with some nice dark shadows on the rocks. Closer to the City Connection look. Definitely closer to either of those than M2 after the patch for sure. Wonder what the deal is with that? M2 did do detailed patch notes (not some bullshit Nintendo style patch notes like "made the user experience more enjoyable") and didn't mention this at all.

The Rayforce config makes sense. The bottom row seems to be there to give the option to hold auto with your index finger rather than have it on C. Having the default internal auto off is a must if you want 30hz to function correctly. Something about the pacing of the internal auto interferes with the 30hz button's ability to produce a faster rate.

The Raystorm one doesn't make sense to me either. Maybe they just didn't set it up correctly? Here's a pic of another Raystorm config which seems more logical:

As this tweet from a Japanese player clarifies, the spinners will spawn on the opposite side of the screen you are on each time (though the exact location is random). You don't have much time to attack and get back into position if you want to keep them all starting on the same side. And if they spawn too far away, there simply isn't a chance to chase them down. In that case I either risk going for it, or more frequently just let them come closer to finish them off. You definitely do not want more than three of them on screen at the same time. I'm pretty sure their hitbox is the whole laser.


This is neat but seems impossible to focus on in practice, since once they start firing 4 or 5 lasers at once, how can you even tell (or care) where they are being emitted?

This is a part that is definitely still a filter, and I think that less-skilled players like myself are going to have to either a) get lucky, b) bomb, or c) accept a death. It doesn't help that the part right afterwards feels like a bit of a crapshoot as well with the sporadic enemy rush. Not to mention the boss's randomly picked attacks...

I made it to the final boss two nights ago (but only the first phase), so I'm happy I got that far, but iirc both my spare deaths happened in stage 5. It's going to take a lot of time to get back there. You really need to have a route for the stage 6 boss (easily the hardest boss in the game aside from the final), and for stage 7 which can overwhelm you very quickly.

One thing that was pointed out to me that I didn't realize that the final boss, Yggdrasil, doesn't die "normally," in that you think attacking the giant core in its center would do something. Apparently it doesn't. The only way to kill the boss is to kill its ring of small blue laser emitters that surround the core, otherwise you are going to be making zero progress the whole fight.

Ray'z is now showing up for an English release on the switch. I forget exactly when it's scheduled but it's on the coming soon section.

Yes, that'd be the Switch port that only has the latter two stgs of Raystorm & Raycrisis but not Rayforce.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

No, they've also put up a listing for the proper, full collection with all three games: https://www.nintendo.com/store/products ... gy-switch/

Frankly I thought they weren't going to. Maybe they got shamed into it this time? Glad they did though!

It's on UK and US PSN too now.

Do you have a link for US PSN? I'm not seeing it on the website. Only an import PSN listing: https://store.playstation.com/en-tw/concept/10005249

US:
https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10005249

UK:
https://store.playstation.com/en-gb/concept/10005249

Cool, thanks.

Kind of crazy that I still can't find it via a manual search on Google or Sony's own site.

6/30.. still a bit of waiting to go.

Searching "Ray'z" on the various PlayStation stores turns it up.

Someone tell me when it's spring please, because according to Strictly Limited Games it can't be, as they haven't yet shipped my game!

Their March ship date slipped to "Spring" but has been updated as "July" for some time now.
I'll be surprised if it ships in July. Not as surprised as finding out some people still defend and bolster excuses for these pre-pay scheme companies who never ship when they say they will.

Even First Press Games still hasn't announced when it's Switch port bundled sets of Crimson Clover will ship (even though they opened pre-orders for it back in September of 2020) -- it's already almost the end of May 2023 & nothing to show for it. What's taking them so long?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Back on page 10 I got quite a bit of pushback when I suggested that SLG wouldn't ship this on time. It's no surprise to me at all that they didn't, or the degree people will go to defend their practices.

And I ordered Eschatos from them. But I know what to expect and when it comes out 6 months or a year later than they claim, I won't mention it because I knew what I was getting into. Any time I can buy an import physical release instead, I do.

PC Engine Fan X!: That is SOP for First Press Games. If you're waiting for an LE and not just the standard edition, you will be waiting a very long time. Those of us who ordered Ginga Force and Natsuki Chronicles standard edition waited over two years to receive the games; Natsuki Chronicles was ready 8-9 months earlier but they did not split orders. Those who ordered the LEs or the megapack of both games and soundtracks like Steven did are still waiting, and will likely be still waiting for quite some time. It does appear the soundtracks are near finished so that is some progreess at least.

Their update page is here:
https://firstpressgames.com/pages/release-progress
That states the regular edition of Crimzon Clover is "submitted to lot check" whatevr that means.

in 22 march they updated the page an it said june now its slipped one month more. Read the updates more often.


Time will tell if the get it out by the summer or not. If people have a problem waiting abit then buy digi or jap version. I dont mind waiting a couple of months to get more patches on cart and cheaper shipping and no customs taxes. To Each Their Own.
If this was a only digi release then there would be a uproar and cart begging. When a company takes the chanses to bring a cart version of say eschantos then people are upset anyway because the dont want to preorder and wait for it. Im damn happy these games are coming out on cart and gladly wait for it, if that is what it takes to get cart releases. bunch of crybabies.

Edit: im talking about slg releases, not other companys

“Lot check” means submitted to the publisher for approval. Because it’s physical it likely means review of packaging, too.

Sorry what? Is the UK release compromised on switch?
I was gonna get this
Should I go PS4 version?

The version without Rayforce will be available on PS4 too. I don't get it, but I assume they just wanted to make a cheaper collection with just the "HD" titles available alongside the complete version. Just make sure you order the one called "Ray'z Arcade Chronology" for either system and you're good. "RayStorm x RayCrisis HD Collection" is the title you want to avoid.

Cheers pal

Stellar work there on missing the point.
The issue is continually and regularly being lied to about lead times and projected shipping dates.

Well slg have been pretty transperent with why Rayz wasent shipped in spring. Im glad they waited to add patches. so what the issue with this slg release. You have to wait 4 months more from the jap release. Rayz hasent showed up in any western estores either yet.
Im tierd of all the moaning every singel thread were there preorder of cart release. And ppl have to air past grievances evey time and even bring up other companys aswell into fold.
I order darius cosmic from slg , and it was pretty on point. And time will tell how they do with rays and mecha ritz, eschantos.

Oh wow, yeah PS4 has 36 quicksave slots per game. I did order the Switch physical SLG release too, but more for the portability... the PS4 will remain my preference for training though. I have 20-something save states on Rayforce right now lol.


On a separate note: what's a good spot to get that PS Trophy in Raystorm for using a special attack for 100,000 or more points? This also makes me think I could be using the special more effectively for scoring purposes, I tend to hoard it and am not really sure when to deploy it. Glad this particular trophy/achievement exists, because it's nudging me in the direction of doing a better job of using my tools for scoring.

Lied to is a little much. They are clearly not always realistic with their shipping dates but that's different than they know they won't make it and just make up a date. In any case, if it bothers you that much vote with your wallet. Having said that, a three month release delay for Rayz is less than nothing.

I don't mind waiting, but while I liked the products overall, presentation from SLG was often a bit disappointing with issues like misprinted or bare bones manuals (Panorama Cotton, Mega Turrican), iffy translations (Panorama Cotton), games locking up on some systems (Mega Turrican Genesis), or untranslated content (Sagaia GB in Darius Cozmic Revelation, though they did provide a nice translation guide later). However, Their Egret II Mini release was solid and came with manual corrections out of the box.

I'll be charitable and consider that they continue to operate on wishful thinking - after what?, 5+ years?
If indeed their projections are wishful thinking and repeatedly it has failed to manifest itself, they are lying to themselves.
How on earth could they think that they would release Rayz in the same month that it was released by M2 in Japan. That suggestion was never plausible, but that's what they advertised when they started taking money for it.
Eager to believe them, I considered that perhaps after their years of pledges to improve and involvement with M2/Taito, that perhaps they could pull off a release in conjunction with the Japanese debut. I wanted to see them succeed.
But no. Of course that date slipped, and slipped again.
Oh? it's so they can provide updates on disc/card? Didn't they foresee or plan for that? Oh? they didn't know it needed updates until the game went public? - well then they certainly weren't on any realistic production schedule to get it out in March to begin with. Were they?

Of course I've voted with my wallet. You have no idea what I've purchased and haven't purchased. Am I not allowed to purchase anything from a company that I see as run poorly?
Don't get it twisted though. I've never complained about waiting. It's being bullshitted to that I complain about. And now it's the apologists that I complain about.
That someone doesn't recognize that they're being lied to does not make things "transparent".
It isn't this release, it is a history going back to most of these company's beginnings - overly ambitious release schedules. Their excuses have changed over the years, but little else has. Yes there is the very occasional instance where it works out. On the other hand (the hand they most often play) we have SLG saying they will release new Gameboy carts and SNES carts in a few months from when preorders opened (Ninja Kun games) while the previous batch of carts saw extensive delay after delay. Did they really work out their production issues after the last string of delays and excuses? No, of course they didn't. Like every preorder ship date before it, the timelines grow and grow. Entirely predictable to the outside observer, yet somehow the people actually on the inside involved firsthand in the industry aren't able to schedule and project their release?! Almost never. For years! And no one is lying? To us or themselves?

Let's take everything you say at face value. They're incompetent or don't care about figuring out realistic dates. If this has been going on for 5 years, I'm not sure you're doing anything at this point other than old man yelling at clouds. This is how they operate, it might not be right but if you want the stuff they sell, patience is required. I find that the best approach in these situations is not to think about it until you get the shipping email and then it feels like a nice surprise. Speaking of, apparently the Turrican ultra sets just shipped.

lol

Anyhow, according to my soytendo switch I have already clocked over 70 hours into my Ray'z trilogy. Most of that time has been RayStorm and RayCrisis; I haven't even really touched RayForce yet.
But I have joined that very small group of westies who have managed to get a 1cc in the infamously difficult RayStorm, so I feel accomplished. I eagerly anticipate and look forward to the smug sense of superiority this clear will grant me.

I have continued pushing on with Storm and Crisis after my clears in order to improve and get better scores. In the case of Crisis, it's partially because the patch wiped the leaderboards, erasing my previous spot. With Storm, it's more a case of a self-imposed challenge, Stockholm Syndrome with the game's bullshit, and the desire to see if I can top ol' Kollision's ancient RayStorm score with the R-Gray02 (all of my raystorm practice has been with the R-Gray02, for extra maddening insanity).

I've discovered some decent tricks to really help improve my score in Storm, including the the hidden bonus multiplier that the crashing jetski in stage 3 has (it grants a ~1,000,000 points if killed with a x16 lock-on!). I've gone from going into stage 7 with 6 million points, to having that score by stage 4 or 5. It's nice to see a certain tangible sign of improvement but the game is very much a "hope the rng is in your favor" type of thing with my runs.



The bomb's value goes with every target it kills, so you have to bomb in a spot that has loads of enemies. Somewhere in stage 4 might be good, or the place with all tanks and turrets in stage 5.

Unless you are going for score though, bombs are a smokescreen or red herring. There is NO hoarding or spontaneity, you WILL bomb at the same points every time if you want to get out of the game alive.

Here are your mandatory "bomb here to not fucking die" spots:

Stage 4: during missile spam at the end of the stage, alternately: destroying the boss's laser cannons (they can be safe-spotted at the far left edge of the screen however)
Stage 5: a) either during the huge enemy tank spam, or more importantly, the disco-ball section, b) during the boss to protect yourself from his instant orange spread pattern
Stage 6: don't bomb ANYWHERE during the stage, only bomb after executing a full-lock on one of the boss's two bits to start the fight out to kill it plus damage the other (for a faster kill)
Stage 7: either during the first descent when the laser cannons shoot their homing lasers, or during the high speed section, but don't bomb too late into the stage because you NEED to save a bomb for the final boss (Stage 7 core boss can be safe spot killed without bombing)
Stage 8: you MUST bomb at the first phase; full lock one of the four gates to the core, and while you are attacking another, use the bomb to destroy the four satellite bits (reskinned from stage 6 boss) and get the next phase started proper. By the final phase you need to use the next bomb you saved up in order to either perform the quick kill strategy or have a safety net for the giant laser attack.

Oh, I have that one, on my shiny new PS4 that replaced my stubbornly-surviving PS1. I suspect it might've been earned at that absolutely monstrous defensive line of tanks, turrets, and launching aircraft that greets you at the docks of stage 5, after the initial sortie through the asteroids. At max Rank, you'll arrive to find a virtual carpet of bullets blocking out the scenery below.

I blew 'em all up just for fun, and for the purposes of MIRIN the crystal-clear, buttery-smooth scene on PS4 HD-NEOCLASSIQUE rev. (it kinda chops on PS1, there, bomb or not... actually holy fuck, I wonder how the Saturn's "Layer Section II" fares )

I'd long before learned not to, though - a combination of proactive speedkilling and careful herding will see you through - preferring to stow the bomb for the section immediately after, featuring everyone's favourite Raystorm enemy, the Spinneh-Mah-Winneh RNG Tumble Dryers of Mobile Laser Death. If shit goes south, it's good to have a trump card. And if not on them, then the boss Gaiseric, who as ING has detailed can do some crazy shit, presumably enraged at never receiving those promised revisions for planetside deployment.

EDIT: Oho! I see young ING-san has offered similar comment.



Congratulations ING! Everyone salute! Remember to always be charitable to the noobs, they too will one day join the august ranks of... Those Who Survived Raystorm

Where am I yelling? What "I'm doing at this point" is recounting their behavior as a company so that others may be informed.
Why are you telling me to do exactly what I already do? - patiently wait for the release for the few items I do order from them.
I've never complained about waiting. I've complained about the predictable excuses they recycle and churn out for every release.

Incompetence isn't what I think is going on (besides with the graphic design issues). These are effectively ponzi scheme companies. Some continue to scrape by (First Press and SLG), some seem to be thriving (LRG), and some have left the customers high and dry (Watermellon, Dispatch)
They rely on launching and taking money for new products to manufacture and fulfill the old orders that they sold. Maybe they'll turn it around and actually get their act together, but most likely the cards will fall at some point and shit isn't going to ship - as we saw with Dispatch.

I didn't really have anything more to say on this topic after my initial comment. I had no desire to respond to CRPs defense of SLG, but you needed to defend them too, so hey let's derail the thread some more.