Psyvariar Delta

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ciox
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by ciox »

TransatlanticFoe wrote:Cheers all, so what's the new Delta mode all about? Sounds like I'd be getting it mainly for that then - never played Cybattler and don't have the means to, with my PC now deceased.
It does only one thing but it does it very well in my opinion, it remixes the enemy waves in the stages, usually showing some combination of enemies you didn't see before and making you move in a way you didn't in the main game, makes things a bit more challenging too.

Oh right, there's also some minor stuff like some extra color shader effects in the background, and the ship using Medium Unit graze graphics during the stage and Revision graphics during the boss.
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BIL
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by BIL »

Missed out on several big 2018/19 STG releases, this being one of them. Having caught up on the thread and nabbed the PS4 version, I'm wishing I'd ranked Revision higher on my top 25 vote. God damn this rocks. Haven't even gotten to MU and Delta yet, happy as a clam just having Revision loading arcade-quick for now.
evil_ash_xero wrote:On YouTube, playthroughs of the original are like 11 minutes or something. And the new one is 18.
Any explanation for that?
IMO, Revision is the sort of performance-intensive gaming that benefits from a brisk ten-fifteen minute runtime. Setting personal bests means going absolutely balls/wall from beginning to end, dicing death with the kind of mortal intensity that slows the perception of time. It's not just numbers, either. Competent play - buzzing and body-ramming through stages wreathed in burning plasma, riding the line between invincibility and oblivion, the CPU dispassionately machinegunning LVLUPS - is visceral on a par with the most feelgood fire/forget STGs. I would call it a remarkably good example of minimalist, technique-driven, infinitely challenging "score attack" design coexisting with the universal entertainment of death-defying carnage.

this dude Image

Image
*bup bup bup bup* doya doya doya doya wanna dance? ♫

As a series, Psyvariar always reminded me of fellow G-NET buzzing alumnus Shikigami no Shiro. They don't have the filmic stature of marquee Cave, Raizing or Treasure (or going back a generation, Konami, IREM or Taito), but where elemental, razor-sharp STG action is concerned, they are golden.
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EmperorIng
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by EmperorIng »

BIL I'm glad you're part of the Delta boiz now 8) I've played less with Delta (though I knocked out a pseudo-1cc of the x-c route with Blanche, the DLC character), but having Revision so easily playable and accessible is a marvelous thing indeed. Having visuals in high-definition is definitely a big point in this game's factor; I wonder if I'd be as effective if I was staring deep into a slightly-blurry CRT screen.

Another wonderful thing are the meters/widgets on the side. While close-ups are a little superfluous, having a handy look at your experience meter on the side (with the other UI shaders indicating your experience) is a perfect and effective means to time your shots, take-downs, and where to position yourself for maximum buzz.

The game's progression (locking off the true ending and harder stages based on your experience) is a great way delineating progress, and gives those looking for the true clear the wherewithal to go all-in right from the first stage, trying to maximize every single point. Milking the bosses as much as possible, maximizing your level-ups, and making it to the final zone, X-D, will push the game's play-time closer to the 30 minute mark. I like that the game rewards you for being good by giving you... more of the game! It's addicting and with Shmup Slam 2 over I'm looking forward to pushing my scores in Revision higher, so I can get to X-D and the true clear.

The DLC character, Blanche, is also loads of fun to play as well (an the Cybattler arrange is ace). Her (his? its?) rechargeable shield is a great way of softening the game's relentlessly difficult bullet patterns, and her melee attack shreds tough enemies apart. The multi-directional nature of the mech can be a little awkward at first, but you can get some really great screen control with Blanche's spread shot.

My run of an X-C clear on Delta with Blanche - the funny thing is that I was originally started goofing around as a joke (to de-stress after Revision runs), but as I got further along I played more seriously and managed to pull out a 1cc - within inches of getting the level requirement for the last area (218 is the cutoff).

At the very least, it gave me a deeper glimpse into Delta, and I like what I'm seeing. Lots of more bullets and enemies, meaning lots more ways to go through the stages. Coming up with new routes in this mode with the Revision ship will be well worth the time for someone willing to do so (and that someone might be me).

While I am a little bit bummed hoping there would be a new boss, for what it's worth, giving a modern release (seemingly rebuilding much of the game from the ground up, if the unity launcher is any clue), offering up a number of mix-n-match opportunities, and having a new DLC character that plays totally differently is more than adequate, given how shmup releases are. Shmup fans might be a little spoiled (see ESPRaDe Psi, with people down about the lack of a true arrange mode, despite having a new TLB and character!).
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Jonpachi
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by Jonpachi »

Blanche is definitely female. The name bugs me because while playing I can't help but think of Golden Girls.
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ciox
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by ciox »

BIL wrote:Missed out on several big 2018/19 STG releases, this being one of them. Having caught up on the thread and nabbed the PS4 version, I'm wishing I'd ranked Revision higher on my top 25 vote. God damn this rocks. Haven't even gotten to MU and Delta yet, happy as a clam just having Revision loading arcade-quick for now.
evil_ash_xero wrote:On YouTube, playthroughs of the original are like 11 minutes or something. And the new one is 18.
Any explanation for that?
IMO, Revision is the sort of performance-intensive gaming that benefits from a brisk ten-fifteen minute runtime. Setting personal bests means going absolutely balls/wall from beginning to end, dicing death with the kind of mortal intensity that slows the perception of time. It's not just numbers, either. Competent play - buzzing and body-ramming through stages wreathed in burning plasma, riding the line between invincibility and oblivion, the CPU dispassionately machinegunning LVLUPS - is visceral on a par with the most feelgood fire/forget STGs. I would call it a remarkably good example of minimalist, technique-driven, infinitely challenging "score attack" design coexisting with the universal entertainment of death-defying carnage.

this dude Image

Image
*bup bup bup bup* doya doya doya doya wanna dance? ♫

As a series, Psyvariar always reminded me of fellow G-NET buzzing alumnus Shikigami no Shiro. They don't have the filmic stature of marquee Cave, Raizing or Treasure (or going back a generation, Konami, IREM or Taito), but where elemental, razor-sharp STG action is concerned, they are golden.
Yeah, that's it right there, the short levels in Revision/Delta already make you risk death about 20-30 times, you don't need any more than that, for the levels to be longer the game would have to be significantly slowed down or simplified.
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Bananamatic
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by Bananamatic »

The levels are short because you're supposed to milk the bosses, once you do that with all stages Revision becomes around 25-30 minutes? If you're speedkilling anything before X-D you're arguably playing the game wrong because you're intentionally screwing yourself out of the last level unless you're really good to the point where you don't need the boss levels
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by EmperorIng »

As I recall, Maximo made it to X-D recently without doing excessive boss milk, which I didn't think was possible. I need to rewatch his replay.

I have a really, really hard time doing the milk for AFX-2 when he has those two orange rings come from his sides. I feel like I have a appx 50% success rate for it.

Honestly, I don't know how you're supposed to even be killing enemies that much, outside of the X stages. It's hard enough to focus on the bullets as opposed to 100% destruction. I wish I could pull it off on Earth, because that's a free bomb waiting to be grabbed.
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BIL
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by BIL »

Now I'm wondering if ash only glanced at one-half of that Revision superplay like I did. :lol: (part 2) ISO's run from the PS2 Appreciate DVD is indeed like 30 minutes too.

Either way, yeah. Super high-performance game, not a wasted second.
EmperorIng wrote:Another wonderful thing are the meters/widgets on the side. While close-ups are a little superfluous, having a handy look at your experience meter on the side (with the other UI shaders indicating your experience) is a perfect and effective means to time your shots, take-downs, and where to position yourself for maximum buzz.
Was gonna say, the endearingly-titled Invisible Time (precious Engrish! on par with Shock Troopers' Lonly Wolf) gauge, the optional hitbox displays and especially that screen-spanning EX meter were giving me immediate Shottriggers vibes. Super handy for getting noobs like me up to speed with exactly how exploitable the LVLUP aura is. I'm not the best judge of M2's arranged content - I respect the hell out of the effort, I'm just always fixated on the arcade content - so just being able to mix/match MU/Revision/Delta stages and ships is plenty amusement for me. :cool:
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by Weak Boson »

great to see this game getting a bit more love :D

You definitely don't _need_ to milk bosses to reach X-D, as long as you get a decent amount out of the stages. But there are certain patterns where it's very profitable to do so even for a low score run. It's well balanced in that sense because you can decide which parts are worth milking and which you just want to power through for your own personal target.

100% destruction is in general not worth it imo, since it generally prevents you from getting as many levels, which hurts your damage output in the long run. The exception to this is the X- stages, but in my experience it's only really possible to do this on X-A in a low level run.

For the AFX boss milk - the boss' movement is not random so you should get a feel for where the safespot is with some practice. But the most important thing (as with all boss milks) is to get your gauge to the right level before the attack starts, so that your levels come at the right time to lets you survive the overlapping patterns and also get out safely. iirc for this one you want the level up to come just before the patterns overlap, but you can check what they do in the superplays.

You can always shoot the boss to increase your gauge a little so once you get a feel for where you want it to be it becomes fairly consistent.


Delta is a very fun mode. I really need to go back to it since I know I can increase my high score. The stages are just as quality as Revision which is very high praise.
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

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I've had the Switch version for a while now, and decided to double-dip and order a PS4 copy while they're still cheap ($25 at Best Buy right now). I was messing around while waiting for it to arrive, and decided to go ahead and pre-buy the Cybattler DLC... and it's nowhere to be found on the US Playstation Store. The game itself simply doesn't show up at all when searching the store, and there doesn't seem to be any way to purchase it digitally or access the DLC. So weird. Has it been delisted already?
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by Ms. Tea »

Jonpachi wrote:I've had the Switch version for a while now, and decided to double-dip and order a PS4 copy while they're still cheap ($25 at Best Buy right now). I was messing around while waiting for it to arrive, and decided to go ahead and pre-buy the Cybattler DLC... and it's nowhere to be found on the US Playstation Store. The game itself simply doesn't show up at all when searching the store, and there doesn't seem to be any way to purchase it digitally or access the DLC. So weird. Has it been delisted already?
Weirdly enough, I can't find evidence it came out digitally on PS4 outside Asia. No idea why.
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

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Oh wow, that's news! I had been considering getting the Japanese collector's edition that comes with a DLC code, but Best Buy had the US release for only $25 so I went with that instead. I really enjoyed the Cybattler mech (Blanche) in the Switch version, and it's sad to see there's no way to get that on PS4.
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

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I'm sure the Blanche DLC - and, presumably, the full game - were on the US store at some point, but as far as speculation is concerned I've already griped about the publisher enough on here. :P
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by jedinat »

Am I the only one that really can't stand this game? I've tried it a few times every time I see that it's on sale, have watched reviews, literally everyone seems to love it. I think it's ugly, the music is meh, and the grazing to become invincible for a couple seconds so you can graze more is really lame. Shmups are about shooting shit, not keeping things alive so they can shoot at you.

Anyways.
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BIL
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by BIL »

I think the game's appeal comes down to the Compile-esque body ram mechanic. I didn't get Psyvariar 2 at all via its Shooting type, but seeing Revision played competently, with the burst invincibility used as a precision scalpel, slicing into and through patterns and their senders with sudden death perpetually pixels and frames away, really hooked me. It's aggressive and visceral but also deadly precise, and there's some nice feedback attached to a rampaging LVLUP chain. It helped in my case that I like Aleste, Zanac etc's similar conceit, and this was the logical progression (generating burst iframes not by picking up items but interacting directly with bullets and enemies).

As a conventional shooter it's nowhere as compelling, but then it's not meant to be played like one. I could get this all/nothing approach leaving some cold.
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

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Psyvariar is perhaps the one shmup where I will go for the hardest difficulty available to me, get the 1CC, and come away feeling like I am awful at the game. I really enjoy it, but I accept that I do not really have the chops to play it at a top-tier level, and I can definitely see that as a turn-off for many.
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

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jedinat wrote:Am I the only one that really can't stand this game? I've tried it a few times every time I see that it's on sale, have watched reviews, literally everyone seems to love it. I think it's ugly, the music is meh, and the grazing to become invincible for a couple seconds so you can graze more is really lame. Shmups are about shooting shit, not keeping things alive so they can shoot at you.

Anyways.
Thanks for letting us know.
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by Zeether »

So what's the best way to get good at buzzing? I've been holding the roll button but I feel like I need to tap it for the movement boost at the end.
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by Weak Boson »

Tapping the roll button for speed would probably be my number one tip, since you need speed to get the most buzz in the stages. Otherwise it's just about routing and managing your guage. There are a lot of places in stages but particularly in bosses where you need to prepare your gauge in advance in order to trigger a level up at the right time. During stages destroying enemies is a good way to give your gauge the bump you need to get to a level up, while in bosses you want to damage the boss a little to fill it if you are short, or stop rolling if you might have too much. There's a lot of flexibility in not only how you can route the game depending on your goal, but also on how you adjust your routes on the fly.
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by Zeether »

I figured tapping would work since I seem to be going too slow, on Earth I keep messing up the very beginning
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by heli »

Is there no spider boss in this one ?
I have tried all game modes.

I can not get the dreamcast experience.
The first 2 levels are nice on DC because of the spider boss and animation and music from level 1,
the rest i always thought is cheap, now they made all levels cheap.
I do like the new game mode, and i have to try that roll button.
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BIL
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by BIL »

Nope, no spiders clambering up and down metal shafts in this one. Image No big metal bastard turning Doomed Megalopolis into a smoking crater either. Better music, though! Image
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ciox
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

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https://twitter.com/exaarcadia/status/1 ... 9906206721

Some video of Psyvariar Delta AC for the EXA arcade system.
Looks very similar to what's on console and PC, except for one key detail, Delta Mode features remixed bosses in addition to the remixed stages, just check out the patterns, most interesting is the weaker bosses getting a boost, like the desert boss SQ-P.
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by FlyingFinn »

I decided to buy ps4, switch and pc version just to be sure. :D Mostly playing Pc version though with my 1440p screen that works in TATE mode too.
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by scrilla4rella »

Good to know this port runs in 1440p. I may have to double dip as well.
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Re: Psyvariar Delta

Post by SPM »

Does anyone know if there's some way to quickly restart a stage in "Replay Mode+"? The restart option takes you back to stage select and you have to go through the replay every single time (I know you can skip it, but it still takes time and it's annoying).

It could be a great mode but I can't enjoy it this way. Also, why don't X/XX stages have replays? the ship stands still until it dies... weird.
Like this it's better to just use practice mode instead (at the cost of a replay to watch later though).

I love everything else, what a gem :)
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