Deathsmiles coming in spring.. (iPhone)

[Avatar Ignis]

I dont mean to be a debbie downer, but this is definitely my least favorite of the 3 cave games on ios. Familiar control is an absolute nightmare for me. After playing the iphone mode for a little bit i just decided to restart playing the xbox version of it and i'm enjoying it alot (one of my faves on console).

Even with the screen on the smallest setting i still get hit by the mystical thumb-obscured bullets. I never had that problem with the other cave games

[VJFranzK]

This is my video review ( as Dracula ) for those who are interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5EgaMB1Gfg

I'm finding it very playable on the iPad!

In fact, some danmaku seem MORE precise on this device than a joystick?
(check out the obviously named "Danmaku Unlimited" for another new choice,
and of course, the iconic "R-Rootage")


Perhaps not as complex gameplay-wise as Dodonpachi, Ikaruga, etc.
but the game world is really nicely done.


( And WHY don't we have an official i-KARUGA, I'd like to know?

[pentarou]

Abysmal drop rate on Hard is driving me up a wall, totally sick of "S" rings (have a full set of 9 of each).

If 2ch is to be believed, there are four unique weapons, one for each of the original characters, which change your shot/laser accordingly; all of them seem to drop on Hard mode. I seem to have equipment that matches their costumes, too, so I'd wager there are set bonuses for each of the unique weapons.

Equipment list (JP)

Also, if this screenshot is real -- this is totally not cool.

[Icarus]

Abysmal drop rate on Hard is driving me up a wall, totally sick of "S" rings (have a full set of 9 of each).

Even with the Rabbit's Foot (+50% item drop rate) I rarely see useful items drop on both Normal and Hard. It's an even bigger nuisance, as to give myself a chance of better items, I have to fill a trinket slot with an item that doesn't provide a stat boost, leaving me horribly underpowered for the whole of Hard difficulty. Fighting through Volcano with under 330 to Shot, Laser and Guard on Hard diff is painful to say the least - you need at least 450 on those three stats to stand a fighting chance.

[Avatar Ignis]

Also, if this screenshot is real -- this is totally not cool.

That is really not cool. I'd hate to know that i can only reach maximum potential by paying money for equipment

[AliceMargatroid]

Maybe there is a 0.005% chance to drop that thing.
115 yen are 1.5 UsDollar. That's just insane.

[pentarou]

You can preview the stats even when the list says "getting item information" -- the stats aren't that great, although the descriptions make it sound like there will be set bonuses involved.

I'm hoping there is something more to this, e.g. changing appearance / shot type / etc.

Even with the Rabbit's Foot (+50% item drop rate) I rarely see useful items drop on both Normal and Hard. It's an even bigger nuisance, as to give myself a chance of better items, I have to fill a trinket slot with an item that doesn't provide a stat boost, leaving me horribly underpowered for the whole of Hard difficulty. Fighting through Volcano with under 330 to Shot, Laser and Guard on Hard diff is painful to say the least - you need at least 450 on those three stats to stand a fighting chance.

I haven't found a Rabbit's Foot, but I do have a Burst Seed that does the same thing -- however, for whatever reason I find I'm getting more S rings with it equipped. With the item unequipped, I'm finding a lot of accessories ... Dragon Dolls, Forks, Model Cars, Heart Necklaces.

All of which are also pretty useless but I'm not sure which is more 'rare'.

Blue Lantern / Pumpkin Mask combo set drops in Normal mode, which nets you 236 Shot / 225 Laser / 120 Magic / 120 Guard. I have a Papillon Dress that adds another 170 Laser / 150 Guard, so that's been my mainstay along with a Satan Doll (+50 all, 4x gold drop) which helps immensely with getting into Power Up mode more often. The third chapter and onward in Hard is now mostly credit-feedable, but the last boss still one-shots me so I haven't quite gotten to the ending.

I'm reading on 2ch that Windia's unique Wing Sword has something obscene like 600 to Shot, so I suppose the plan is to grind until I find some uniques, then Hard should be a bit more survivable.

[Icarus]

I already have the Pumpkin Mask and Blue Lantern, it's been my equipment mainstay since I first acquired it. At the moment I'm having to balance out my stats to account for the Rabbit's Foot, by equipping the Flowery Apron and Queen's Heels (+120 Laser, +230 Guard with these two items, and x3 Gold droprate), occasionally switching to the White Shoes (+100 Laser, +130 Lock) to give myself enough power to get through Volcano.

EDIT: Just acquired the Wand of Justice from Mary on Hard diff. Follett's weapon! ^_^
(And I was playing with Rabbit's Foot unequipped, as well.)
Stats aren't fantastic however, just +150 Laser and +120 Guard, which makes it not as good as the Pumpkin Mask/Blue Lantern pair in terms of attack power.

EDIT2: I definitely think you need at least 550 to 600 on any attack and defense stat to make it through Hard - even with 450+ on Laser, it takes me ages to cut through certain enemies five or six stages into the run.

[Treasurance]

YES
beat The Gorge for the second time on Hard and got Thorny Whip (Rosa's weapon)
EDIT: 120+ shot and 120+ lock? Damn. The wide range kinda makes up for it though

[Exarion]

Also, if this screenshot is real -- this is totally not cool.

That is really not cool. I'd hate to know that i can only reach maximum potential by paying money for equipment

Those items aren't really that good. You can find better items just by playing normal mode, the only issue I could see would be someone trying to collect everything.

[pentarou]

White Shoes (+100 Laser, +130 Lock) <-- where did these drop?

Stats aren't fantastic however, just +150 Laser and +120 Guard, which makes it not as good as the Pumpkin Mask/Blue Lantern pair in terms of attack power.

YES
beat The Gorge for the second time on Hard and got Thorny Whip (Rosa's weapon)
EDIT: 120+ shot and 120+ lock? Damn. The wide range kinda makes up for it though

Hmm, perhaps I misread, then, and the ">600" was total shot power with the Wing Sword equipped. Slightly less game breaking then! Would like to see a full set with bonus though. I have Rosa's dress and brooch, just need the shoes and the weapon.

(... what is this, cave co. ltd. pokeymans, gothic lolita edition?)

Anyway grats guys, I'm jealous - where's my unique weapon after running C1 - B2 a bunch of times?

Finally beat The Gorge for the first time, used 4 credits, 2 on the twin dragons alone lol -- i have no idea how to dodge that pattern with the rocks and the crisscrossing bullets. Picked up found a Black Widow (I think it's Casper's dress) for my troubles, +120 shot / laser. Not bad...

This is more or less my item list to date - only stuff I've found (about 47%), not a translation of the JP wiki. Couple unconfirmed drops from 2ch:

B1 - Crystal Skull
B2 - Wing Sword (Windia unique)
A2 - Casper unique?

2ch confirms C1 - Wand of Justice (Follett unique) / Gorge - Thorny Whip (Rosa unique).

[Icarus]

The worst thing about the Wand of Justice is that it appears to be much weaker than the default weapon at the same stats - I tested out this thought by equipping it and boosting the Laser stat to around 480, and it actually took longer to destroy larger enemies than the default weapon's Laser at 350! Quite disappointing, especially given that the stats on the thing are quite desirable for Hard difficulty.

Can't recall where the White Shoes dropped, but it was definitely before the Gorge - I think it was in Port Town when they appeared.

I can confirm the Crystal Skull drops in Forest, off the boss I believe. I have two of them, lol.

I'll list some of my gear that aren't on your list shortly. I had a pair of ninja shoes appear in the Gorge for the second time last night, and this time I managed to clear the stage and keep them. Stats aren't excellent, but it's another to add to the collection.

[Treasurance]

Haha, beat Hard mode now. Used only 2 continues thanks to Thorny Whip. Does more damage than the stats imply, you see.

Also, there was a third ending, which I obviously took. And it was clearly the best ending.

[pentarou]

Got a Wand of Justice. I agree it is rather disappointing

Found a Scarecrow B on Normal mode - familiar blocks all bullets, in exchange for -100 to all stats.

Gonna try running through Hard with this on, and see if I can survive with only 385 Laser and 0 Defense / 170 Guard

Edit: It doesn't block boss bullets. Boo!
____________________________________________________________________________________

In other off-topic Cave Co. Ltd. news, hot off the press:

Afterschool Picture Show Club - Storytime with full facial animation from 2D girls? (Japanese)

Derby Classics @ facebook – Exciting racehorse social simulation game (English) (Press Release)

uhhh so I'm not really sure what's going on either, I guess the non-STG divisions of Cave wanted a piece of the action too

[Frederik]

Man, I need to play this game more - seems I´ve been missing a lot of stuff on iPhone mode. Nice to hear you can actually get different weapons and not just get stat boosts, which makes this whole thing much more interesting to me

[pentarou]

Found a Scarecrow C (+0 to all stats, same effect as Scarecrow B), now I can survive till the last boss on Hard and then I die miserably!

Tried using Follett's wand again. While the shot/laser are frustratingly weak, the Lock Shot decimates everything in Hard Mode. If only it wasn't so hard to aim! I keep taking damage even with the scarecrow equipped because of poor familiar placement when the screen is crowded with bullets.

Follett's attacks seem to be disproportionately affected by your shot/laser/lock statistics. I was still mowing down bosses with a Lock of 250, things didn't seem particularly different from a Lock of 400-500. (edit: Lock of 90 was pretty underwhelming, though) And the laser does terrible damage no matter how high you boost your Laser stat. If this is what I can expect from the other unique weapons, my plan will be to hunt down Windia's (shot) or Rosa's (laser) weapons next.

Would be great to test this out with the last boss, if someone can just figure out what path you need to take to inherit Follett's familiar. Rosa and Casper's familiars seem pretty useless, and I usually end up with Windia's.

Edit:

[Kaspal]

so, the update is here, and guess what? THEY ARE CHARGING YOU 2 DOLARS FOR A +5 CONTINUE!!!... they've fallen to the lowest level in my book man!... rather than putting a continue at such steep prices in the store (the 5th continue costs you 4million gold), the are willing to charge you real money for it now!... and the drop rate is just ridiculous!...

im not forced to buy anything nor will i buy a thing on the game, but again, for me, they've really fallen way too low now...

[StarCreator]

If it makes them money, then obviously it was worthwhile. As you yourself said, nothing is forcing you to buy it. Stuff like this wouldn't exist if there weren't actual profit to be made.

[Frederik]

I´ve given up on iPhone mode and just play arcade mode anyways At least that mode is complete as it is.

Though I wouldn´t mind a Mega Black Label DLC. I think DLC is fine if it actually adds more content to the game, stuff like several bucks for more continues or a new set of jeweled underwear that only increases stats isn´t really my cup of tea. I also would love a Black Label DLC for DDP:R.

[pentarou]

Massive update in the works.

I guess they're going to be showing it off next week.

[Treasurance]

What the hell, Dodonpachi laser and Kosame's arrows? Finally something I could pay for...

[raiod]

I have a jailbroken phone and in my deathsmiles folder there are also icons for a ketsui and futari style weapon!

[Treasurance]

now that there would just be ddp/ketsui/guwange/futari inspired extra stages...

btw checked out the folder, too bad the sound files aren't in any replaceable format

[chempop]

THEY ARE CHARGING YOU 2 DOLARS FOR A +5 CONTINUE

Are you serious, that is disgusting. It's one thing to have customers willing to buy crap merchandise branded with their popular characters and icons, but it's pretty low to charge for credits in order to play a game that you already purchased.

[Kaspal]

THEY ARE CHARGING YOU 2 DOLARS FOR A +5 CONTINUE

Are you serious, that is disgusting. It's one thing to have customers willing to buy crap merchandise branded with their popular characters and icons, but it's pretty low to charge for credits in order to play a game that you already purchased.

Yes, im serious. Like i said, i have no problems with the continues being so steeply priced in the game (by the time you buy the 5th, it cost you 4M gold, and it takes you a lot of gaming to get that much gold!) since i usually dont continue (unless theres a rare item acquired which i dont have, so i continue so i can keep it... i've done this once), but SELLING YOU for REAL MONEY the continue credits its just low!.

now, lets see what are the new stuff they're gonna bring to the table with the next update... lets hope not everything must be bought (i dont mind paying for something, but if you could give some cool stuff for free and some have to be bought, that'd be somewhat acceptable... i think).

[pentarou]

Itemlist @ 68% complete (percentage not including DLC)

JP wiki is meanwhile leaps and bounds ahead of me now, looks like.

Unique weapons DO have a set bonus but unfortunately they require five pieces of equipment including the appropriate accessory, so no equipping Satan Doll for massive scoring opportunities. Still grinding A-1 for Windia's hairband so I can at least have one complete set.

I'm sick and tired of getting Gauntlets from the last boss and Silver Shoes from the twin dragons, someone at Cave is really cruel I think

Found a hidden achievement posted on 2ch called "Super Armor" if you survive an entire level without moving. Obviously easier to pull off in Easy mode

Yes, im serious. Like i said, i have no problems with the continues being so steeply priced in the game (by the time you buy the 5th, it cost you 4M gold, and it takes you a lot of gaming to get that much gold!) since i usually dont continue (unless theres a rare item acquired which i dont have, so i continue so i can keep it... i've done this once), but SELLING YOU for REAL MONEY the continue credits its just low!.

now, lets see what are the new stuff they're gonna bring to the table with the next update... lets hope not everything must be bought (i dont mind paying for something, but if you could give some cool stuff for free and some have to be bought, that'd be somewhat acceptable... i think).

Last week I found a Deathsmiles II machine and spent JPY 200 ($2.50) getting my ass handed to me in a noisy smoke-filled arcade, which was incidentally full of salarymen playing horse rearing simulation games. Also, I saw Ketsui DS used in Akiba for something on the order of JPY 5000-6000. I think I'm OK with $2 for five reusable credits in an iPhone game that cost me $5.

Definitely looking forward to the DLC Guwange/Dodonpachi weapons, those look like fun.

[StarCreator]

THEY ARE CHARGING YOU 2 DOLARS FOR A +5 CONTINUE!!!

And the first question to come to my mind is, how much does a continue cost at the local arcade?

[pentarou]

Happened to be awake, so I just hopped on the Cave ustream to see ... uh ... MasaKING in a maid costume. Also:

• Update coming in about 3 hours with puzzle, costumes (palette swaps?), and DLC items, bug fixes and some new options (screen rotate, move screen area to right/left)
• DLC items cost about $3 to $4 apiece :/
• Mushihimesama weapon looks pretty powerful but only seems to affect shot, not laser/lock
• Bug Panic OST announced
• Espgaluda 2 HD version in development

[pentarou]

Ok so I just bought the DFK and Guwange weapons and the +200% drop rate accessory and ran through Stage A-1.

The drop rate just went from "nonexistent" to "insane". I picked up about 10 item drops, and pretty much every possible drop from the stage including three (3) of the White Ribbon I've been hunting for in the past week. Despite being $4, this is sorta game-breaking.

Probably won't help with the boss rare item drop rate though.

[Icarus]

£1.99 for each weapon, and £2.49 for the Lucky Charm? Errr, no, I think I'll stick to Arcade Mode now. :/
Was hoping for more of a tweak to drop rates, but guess I won't bother with the hunt now.