Cotton Reboot, COTTON ROCK N' ROLL 2 ANNOUNCED!

[pablumatic]

SLG details are up for the Western release of Cotton Rock'n Roll, and the stupid title change to "Cotton Fantasy" is pretty weak.

Very uncreative name. Maybe they're going for an unspoken "Sex" Fantasy since Silk's assets are so prominent on the box art.

[Lux]

ETA for all Reboot collector editions has been uptated to "Q4 2021/Q1 2022".

[AimeeSH]

Cotton Reboot on Steam requires some fairly QOL improvements... No option to boot to FULLSCREEN other than ALT+ENTER and no EXIT other than ALT+F4. PIA for those that plan to integrate into their arcade setups.

Not to mention that it actually costs slightly more than the console versions and has a max resolution of 720p.

Isn't Cotton Reboot still 720p on console?

At least on the Switch it feels that way, same for the Switch UI always at 720p, even if the output is set to 1080p.

I think what's happening is it gets upscaled twice. Either the Game or Switch is upscaling 720p to 1080p internally before outputting to the TV/Monitor which then gets upscaled again to its native resolution. As I notice if you set the Switch to 720p it looks better then 1080p in several games, as it limits the upscaling to one time. To my eyes it looks like the Switch is using either Bilinear or Bicubic 720p -> 1080p.

I think the sprites in the Reboot are drawn 1:1 pixel when set to 720p and require scaling if set to any other output resolution.

I can grab some screenshots(Switch) using a capture card, before and after upscaling has occurred if your interested in seeing the difference. 1080p docked output is noticeably more blurry/soft vs 720p output from the Switch.

--- Edit: (adding screenshots)
Note that my monitor is 1440p so upscaled images are how they are seen on my screen after upscaling. Excluding the native 720p/1080p screenshots as they have no upscaling applied.
*Also ignore the dropped frames stat, as that only occurs when I'm changing the up-scaling method.

Just look at how much better Cotton looks when the Switch is set to output 720p when compared to 1080p. The internal upscaling the Switch is doing before output is not very good and its likely your TVs inbuilt up-scaler will do better.

Switch Cotton Reboot
--720p output docked-- (*I've left the rendering overlay stats on)
Switch Cotton - No upscaling https://i.imgur.com/JGVPTKo.jpg
Switch Cotton - 720p docked to 1440p Bilinear https://i.imgur.com/mjFm6hK.jpg
Switch Cotton - 720p docked to 1440p NGU Sharp https://i.imgur.com/alQhHYr.jpg
Switch Cotton - 720p docked to 1440p NGU Anti-Alias https://i.imgur.com/1wieYrJ.jpg

--1080p output docked-- (*I've left the rendering overlay stats on)
Switch Cotton - No upscaling https://i.imgur.com/l99xZBC.jpg
Switch Cotton - 1080p docked to 1440p Bilinear https://i.imgur.com/a4pk6FU.jpg
Switch Cotton - 1080p docked to 1440p NGU Sharp https://i.imgur.com/JknQEFB.jpg
Switch Cotton - 1080p docked to 1440p NGU Anti-Alias https://i.imgur.com/1nB1P9X.jpg

---

Switch HUD
--720p output docked-- (*I've left the rendering overlay stats on)
Switch HUD - No upscaling https://i.imgur.com/8VDSF5D.jpg
Switch HUD - 720p docked to 1440p Bilinear https://i.imgur.com/JP92Kiy.jpg
Switch HUD - 720p docked to 1440p NGU Sharp https://i.imgur.com/yNXINqZ.jpg
Switch HUD - 720p docked to 1440p NGU Anti-Alias https://i.imgur.com/ORr9PiG.jpg

--1080p output docked-- (*I've left the rendering overlay stats on)
Switch HUD - No upscaling https://i.imgur.com/0NEReKR.jpg
Switch HUD - 1080p docked to 1440p Bilinear https://i.imgur.com/XLlzfOV.jpg
Switch HUD - 1080p docked to 1440p NGU Sharp https://i.imgur.com/O3R2udA.jpg
Switch HUD - 1080p docked to 1440p NGU Anti-Alias https://i.imgur.com/FRN7HYM.jpg

[lovecraft]

Famitsu gave a 29/40 to Cotton Rock'N Roll

[jehu]

Famitsu gave a 29/40 to Cotton Rock'N Roll

Cotton Reboot got a 30/40 from them. I don't really know how meaningful this is. Did they point to any specific problems, or was it like a "it's short" "not enough replay value" "good for fans of the genre, but everyone else will find little to be excited about"-tier review?

[EmperorIng]

I might have missed it somewhere, but does anyone know if the new Cotton game will have English translations on the multi-region copy? I'd prefer not to wait for any type of SLG shipping. I think it's about time I pre-ordered...

[Jonpachi]

I might have missed it somewhere, but does anyone know if the new Cotton game will have English translations on the multi-region copy? I'd prefer not to wait for any type of SLG shipping. I think it's about time I pre-ordered...

Yep!

https://www.play-asia.com/cotton-rock-n ... /13/70enyb

[BrianC]

Cotton Reboot on Steam requires some fairly QOL improvements... No option to boot to FULLSCREEN other than ALT+ENTER and no EXIT other than ALT+F4. PIA for those that plan to integrate into their arcade setups.

Not to mention that it actually costs slightly more than the console versions and has a max resolution of 720p.

Isn't Cotton Reboot still 720p on console?

At least on the Switch it feels that way, same for the Switch UI always at 720p, even if the output is set to 1080p.

I think what's happening is it gets upscaled twice. Either the Game or Switch is upscaling 720p to 1080p internally before outputting to the TV/Monitor which then gets upscaled again to its native resolution. As I notice if you set the Switch to 720p it looks better then 1080p in several games, as it limits the upscaling to one time. To my eyes it looks like the Switch is using either Bilinear or Bicubic 720p -> 1080p.

I think the sprites in the Reboot are drawn 1:1 pixel when set to 720p and require scaling if set to any other output resolution.

I can grab some screenshots(Switch) using a capture card, before and after upscaling has occurred if your interested in seeing the difference. 1080p docked output is noticeably more blurry/soft vs 720p output from the Switch.

--- Edit: (adding screenshots)
Note that my monitor is 1440p so upscaled images are how they are seen on my screen after upscaling. Excluding the native 720p/1080p screenshots as they have no upscaling applied.
*Also ignore the dropped frames stat, as that only occurs when I'm changing the up-scaling method.

Just look at how much better Cotton looks when the Switch is set to output 720p when compared to 1080p. The internal upscaling the Switch is doing before output is not very good and its likely your TVs inbuilt up-scaler will do better.

Switch Cotton Reboot
--720p output docked-- (*I've left the rendering overlay stats on)
Switch Cotton - No upscaling https://i.imgur.com/JGVPTKo.jpg
Switch Cotton - 720p docked to 1440p Bilinear https://i.imgur.com/mjFm6hK.jpg
Switch Cotton - 720p docked to 1440p NGU Sharp https://i.imgur.com/alQhHYr.jpg
Switch Cotton - 720p docked to 1440p NGU Anti-Alias https://i.imgur.com/1wieYrJ.jpg

--1080p output docked-- (*I've left the rendering overlay stats on)
Switch Cotton - No upscaling https://i.imgur.com/l99xZBC.jpg
Switch Cotton - 1080p docked to 1440p Bilinear https://i.imgur.com/a4pk6FU.jpg
Switch Cotton - 1080p docked to 1440p NGU Sharp https://i.imgur.com/JknQEFB.jpg
Switch Cotton - 1080p docked to 1440p NGU Anti-Alias https://i.imgur.com/1nB1P9X.jpg

---

Switch HUD
--720p output docked-- (*I've left the rendering overlay stats on)
Switch HUD - No upscaling https://i.imgur.com/8VDSF5D.jpg
Switch HUD - 720p docked to 1440p Bilinear https://i.imgur.com/JP92Kiy.jpg
Switch HUD - 720p docked to 1440p NGU Sharp https://i.imgur.com/yNXINqZ.jpg
Switch HUD - 720p docked to 1440p NGU Anti-Alias https://i.imgur.com/ORr9PiG.jpg

--1080p output docked-- (*I've left the rendering overlay stats on)
Switch HUD - No upscaling https://i.imgur.com/0NEReKR.jpg
Switch HUD - 1080p docked to 1440p Bilinear https://i.imgur.com/XLlzfOV.jpg
Switch HUD - 1080p docked to 1440p NGU Sharp https://i.imgur.com/O3R2udA.jpg
Switch HUD - 1080p docked to 1440p NGU Anti-Alias https://i.imgur.com/FRN7HYM.jpg

Thanks for the info. The higher price is still perplexing, though.

[harborline765]

Cotton Rock 'n Roll is now out in Japan - at least on the Japanese Nintendo eShop. My boxed copy with Cotton nendoroid isn't due until later this month. Anyone grab this one digitally - would love to hear impressions, since I'm not entirely sold on the seeming abundance of crossover stuff.

[EmperorIng]

I might have missed it somewhere, but does anyone know if the new Cotton game will have English translations on the multi-region copy? I'd prefer not to wait for any type of SLG shipping. I think it's about time I pre-ordered...

Yep!

https://www.play-asia.com/cotton-rock-n ... /13/70enyb

Thanks! I'm still a little hesitant since they list the Cotton Saturn tributes as having English too, but for the menus and not the cutscenes

Someone will have to take the plunge perhaps?

I'll be putting up a score thread pretty soon regardless of how many more days it'll take for me to get it. I mean, I'll be playing this in less than 4 weeks for sure.

[harborline765]

I might have missed it somewhere, but does anyone know if the new Cotton game will have English translations on the multi-region copy? I'd prefer not to wait for any type of SLG shipping. I think it's about time I pre-ordered...

Yep!

https://www.play-asia.com/cotton-rock-n ... /13/70enyb

Thanks! I'm still a little hesitant since they list the Cotton Saturn tributes as having English too, but for the menus and not the cutscenes

Someone will have to take the plunge perhaps?

I'll be putting up a score thread pretty soon regardless of how many more days it'll take for me to get it. I mean, I'll be playing this in less than 4 weeks for sure.

If it's anything like the Saturn Tribute games on Switch they'll be universal SKUs - one version of the game for the entire world. I just checked the Japanese eShop and it says I purchased Cotton 2, even though I bought it from the European eShop.

[jehu]

Downloaded Cotton Rock n' Roll on the Switch - here's some first impressions:

If you like Cotton, I can't imagine you won't like this game. I'm not a huge fan of the series, but think this game plays a lot snappier than, say, Cotton Reboot. It's flashy without overdoing it, the magic system works well, good visual rewards, interesting stage design. It has all the iffy parts of Cotton, too. If you're not into the cute 'em up vibe or the constant 'Tea Time' interruptions, you'll not like it here either. The difficulty is about right - with a 'Normal,' 'Hard,' and 'Extra' mode. Only played through once with Cotton, but I'm sure I'll contribute more as I get more invested in the different characters and aim for the clean 1CC.

On the Switch port specifically: the game controls responsively (low input lag, I'd guess), looks good on the screen. The one issue I found kind of distracting were the hitches in the frame rate. When the stages get crowded with effects, there is a little bit of stuttering. It's not that bad, but certainly noticeable. If you're concerned about performance, I'd go for the PS4 version - but you know who you are and were probably going to do that anyway. Edit: For clarification, I'm playing in handheld mode. I don't have a dock where I am, so I unfortunately can't test if the frame hitches persist like that.

Overall, I'm really happy with it - though I wouldn't say I'm elated like I was with the recent Deathsmiles port to Switch. The gameplay in particular exceeded my expectations - the 'snappiness' of the gameplay and the magic system is something you'll feel right away.

Edit 2: The other characters are a good time - the Psyvariar ship especially. Looks like it'll allow for some intricate score play. The 'Story Mode' only has a story for Cotton, which is slightly disappointing though not unexpected. The 'Hard' difficulty mode looks significantly different from 'Normal' - you get to see boss forms and bullet patterns you probably skipped through on the easier difficulty. 'Extra' mode uses the 'every enemy releases suicide bullets' device, and it puts up a good fight.

I'll take any questions about the Switch port - and looking forward to hearing what the rest of you think.

[harborline765]

Thanks for the impressions, I'm glad it responds well - though I guess it was a given since it seems to be running off the same engine as Umihara Kawase Fresh which was a very responsive game.

Glad it has interesting stage design.

[ATTRACTS]

PS4 version running nicely, full English options, minimal lag, I’m not seeing any stutter or frame drops 2 stages in (playing on PS5). The inclusion of all the different characters really opens up the gameplay as each feels completely different. Nothing mind blowing here but it feels like a sweet holiday release. Agreed on the comment above, level design is nice and varied.

One thing, I do miss the scoring mechanics of Cotton Reboot (shooting through the gems to up your power/trigger crazy multipliers). This game basically sees you canceling bullets using your magic for points/bells. Still satisfying but I gotta get used to it.

Good shit!

[EmperorIng]

can anyone take a screen shot of the leaderboards to see what they track/how they organize scores?

[jehu]

can anyone take a screen shot of the leaderboards to see what they track/how they organize scores?

I can't post a screenshot ATM, but it tracks score by character and notes the 'stage route' used to get the score. Score doesn't persist through continues like it strangely did with Reboot.

[EmperorIng]

Cotton Rock n' Roll now has a score thread. Come on guys!

My copy is en route. I ordered from PlayAsia with express shipping. A little pricey but I think it will be worth it to not wait for months as it travels the high seas.

[professor ganson]

I ordered from PlayAsia with express shipping. A little pricey but I think it will be worth it to not wait for months as it travels the high seas.

Same. It looks super fun.

[lovecraft]

Is it good on Switch ? How does it run docked, no annoying slowdown ?

[jehu]

Is it good on Switch ? How does it run docked, no annoying slowdown ?

I’ve had some time to spend with it since, and it really is good on Switch. 3ish frames of input lag. And I spoke with one of my mates who picked it up, and he’s not even noticing the hiccups. They’re the epitome of a subtle issue, I just felt obligated to mention it so my first impressions wouldn’t be uncritically rosy.

[Steven]

Is it good on Switch ? How does it run docked, no annoying slowdown ?

I noticed slowdown in handheld mode. Docked seems fine.

[EmperorIng]

The shmup wiki's Hall of Records has all of the world record tier scores listed for Cotton Rock n' Roll on arcade (taken from JHA).

This will give some of you fine gents and gentettes something to shoot for (uh, literally?). Luckily according to maximo and others, each character has their own leaderboard so it's ok to use Umihara despite her being the 'lowest scoring' character of the batch.

Spoiler

[professor ganson]

Really love the tutorial in Cotton Reboot! I wish every shooter came with such a tidy explanation of the game mechanics.

[soupbones]

PS4 version running nicely, full English options, minimal lag, I’m not seeing any stutter or frame drops 2 stages in (playing on PS5). The inclusion of all the different characters really opens up the gameplay as each feels completely different. Nothing mind blowing here but it feels like a sweet holiday release. Agreed on the comment above, level design is nice and varied.

One thing, I do miss the scoring mechanics of Cotton Reboot (shooting through the gems to up your power/trigger crazy multipliers). This game basically sees you canceling bullets using your magic for points/bells. Still satisfying but I gotta get used to it.

Good shit!

Is Rock N’ Roll available on the Japanese PS store? I can’t find it anywhere.

[Jeneki]

Is Rock N’ Roll available on the Japanese PS store? I can’t find it anywhere.

Doesn't look like it. Setting the sort to Last 30 Days doesn't show it on the Japanese store yet.

[EmperorIng]

It might be physical only for right now, at least on ps4. I tried finding a link on psn but could not do so. I don't know if it's available for play on eshop, but the OP has a link to it on the nintendo page.

[Ms. Tea]

The PS4 download version was temporarily delisted due to technical issues; it's going back up later. https://twitter.com/SUCCESS_Corp/status ... 8072202240

[EmperorIng]

Two weeks to fix the issue? Sony bronies cucked again.

Please, Sony, my bros can't just keep on replaying Bloodborne.....

[Jeneki]

Rock 'n' Roll disc received.

... After a bit of play, I'm glad there's a volume slider for the voices.

[EmperorIng]

So this game is excellent. Where are you people!?

Awesome scoring, love that you can choose your own route, incredible character variety... It's like everything I want in a shmup. And it's not some jank broken doujin game, either. A miracle!

The score thread is up and running, awaiting your valiant attempts. Non-clears welcome!