Cotton Reboot, COTTON ROCK N' ROLL 2 ANNOUNCED!

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BIG
9
9%
COT
16
16%
TON
15
15%
PAN
30
30%
TSU
31
31%
 
Total votes: 101

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To Far Away Times
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by To Far Away Times »

EmperorIng wrote: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! :lol:
Definitely. The number of characters and the way they change up the gameplay is really cool. Definitely worth playing with multiple characters to see just how different the game can be. The game makes great use of the 3D backgrounds too. I think once this game has a wider release we'll see more people talking about it. I'm hoping it can have an Eschatos style climb in relevance around here.
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by BrianC »

To Far Away Times wrote:
EmperorIng wrote: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! :lol:
Definitely. The number of characters and the way they change up the gameplay is really cool. Definitely worth playing with multiple characters to see just how different the game can be. The game makes great use of the 3D backgrounds too. I think once this game has a wider release we'll see more people talking about it. I'm hoping it can have an Eschatos style climb in relevance around here.
I can't wait to play it. The PS4 version just arrived a few minutes ago.
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Jonpachi
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by Jonpachi »

I really love this game, but I bought the Switch version and now I'm regretting it. There are a few spots that REALLY chug, and not in a fun Cave-style-slowdown way. It's very noticeable at high rank, and especially in the last two stages. Can anyone with the PS4 version confirm whether or not you're seeing this? I'm about to double-dip on that version if it's not so chuggy.
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BrianC
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by BrianC »

Jonpachi wrote:I really love this game, but I bought the Switch version and now I'm regretting it. There are a few spots that REALLY chug, and not in a fun Cave-style-slowdown way. It's very noticeable at high rank, and especially in the last two stages. Can anyone with the PS4 version confirm whether or not you're seeing this? I'm about to double-dip on that version if it's not so chuggy.
I haven't noticed any chugs on PS4, but I haven't played past stage 3 and I have been playing mostly on normal (I did dabble with extra to see what it was like).
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by silvergunner »

Jonpachi wrote:I really love this game, but I bought the Switch version and now I'm regretting it. There are a few spots that REALLY chug, and not in a fun Cave-style-slowdown way. It's very noticeable at high rank, and especially in the last two stages. Can anyone with the PS4 version confirm whether or not you're seeing this? I'm about to double-dip on that version if it's not so chuggy.
I will get my switch copy soon and hopefully they will patch this issue !
otherwise I buy a second copy for PS4 when it come for western release in end of march.
In gameplay vids it looks incredibly fun to play,I`m very excited for :D
Nnnn
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by Nnnn »

Jonpachi wrote:I really love this game, but I bought the Switch version and now I'm regretting it. There are a few spots that REALLY chug, and not in a fun Cave-style-slowdown way. It's very noticeable at high rank, and especially in the last two stages. Can anyone with the PS4 version confirm whether or not you're seeing this? I'm about to double-dip on that version if it's not so chuggy.
It should run considerably better in docked mode, if you haven't tried that yet. The PS4 version should be a consistent 60fps all the way through though, and is also in 1080p if that makes a difference.
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by Loom1es »

Jonpachi wrote:I really love this game, but I bought the Switch version and now I'm regretting it. There are a few spots that REALLY chug, and not in a fun Cave-style-slowdown way. It's very noticeable at high rank, and especially in the last two stages. Can anyone with the PS4 version confirm whether or not you're seeing this? I'm about to double-dip on that version if it's not so chuggy.
I have played this game quite a bit over the past couple of weeks and its fantastic. I have seen no slowdown/performance issues on the PS4, i have played through 5 levels on normal/hard settings and it gets hectic on the hardest difficulty which i get through 3 levels, i would say its as solid a port as anyone could wish for.
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by harborline765 »

The Switch version definitely drops frames in handheld mode when things get really busy. Usually it's fine because it happens when you're rinsing the screen with magic. Docked is much better but I do remember one or two small instances of dropped frames.

I played a lot of this over the weekend and I really enjoy chasing high scores and how you have to always adapt based on what magic you're carrying, you can never take your situation for granted, which makes replays a lot more exciting.

It does feel a bit like a cover act, though, which makes sense considering the credits are almost entirely Studio Saizensen staff. There are a couple of things which stick out as oversights - firstly the visibility of enemy projectiles is really quite poor in contrast with the dozens of dropped combo items you'll regularly be seeing on screen at higher rank. The same goes for certain stage obstacles like the flames in lost ruins, again, I've flown into them several times when my eyes have been attracted to other things. The pacing of the game is very fast and I have to say, the vast majority of times where I do die it's been down to cheap deaths, be it enemies being shoved into cotton, not seeing projectiles while collecting combo items, or the Lost Ruins stage where a laser block killed me from off-screen.

I think the designers realised this and that's why the game is very generous with extends, because you will probably die a few times for the inadequacies above. Once I started to stop caring about dying I enjoyed this game a lot more.
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by Ms. Tea »

EmperorIng wrote:So this game is excellent. Where are you people!?
I'm holding out for the Steam release since the Switch performance doesn't sound great, but - everything I'm hearing sounds amazing, and I'm really looking forward to getting to try.
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by EmperorIng »

Made it to the final boss last night. I have credit fed through already but this was my closest attempt to a 1cc.

Image

The game is not exceptionally hard, but it is addicting. I lost so many lives in this run, but they kept coming. I think harborline is right, just take some deaths in stride and keep raking in the bells. The hardest part is definitely figuring out some optimal scoring routes, but since it feels so good to flood the screen with bells it doesn't feel like too much of a chore to do so!

The final boss will catch people off guard, it has some pretty tough attacks (and very, very tanky destructible missiles that not even your magic will do well against).

It's great to mix and match and choose up your character, and your stage route. I am currently tending to pick stages with harder bosses first (like F - the Airship, or C, the fucking snail), before the rank kicks in late game when these bosses become difficult to kill before time-out (let alone survive). Character variety is excellent. Vein, or Fine/Fain) is an unexpected pleasure, she tears up everything on screen and is constantly flooding the screen in score bells. Still it is harder than I thought to keep that timer going. Appli is a lot of fun to play, throwing enemies into one another. Luffee is so-so, I don't know if there is anything special about her. I don't like that her laser charge shot really slows you down for how short its duration is (for a lvl1 charge at least). I am still not sold on Kawase, she is very difficult to control at the moment, but maybe I will figure things out. She seems like a lesser Appli with how her lure works (and it ends up killing me more often than not).
It does feel a bit like a cover act
I dunno if I agree, even if there are some clear oversights in the design. Unlike Cotton Reboot, this feels entirely fresh with limited "I clapped! I clapped when I saw it!" appeal. All new stages, many new enemies, all the bosses are new sans a throwback duel with Wool (discounting the homage stages, which you unlock and are specifically callbacks), Tea Time now has more than one Secret Bonus so it isn't always the same thing yet again, and the on-rails bonus stages are just short enough to give you a nice change of pace. To say nothing of branching paths. It might be the best arcade Cotton game, which isn't the highest bar to clear (I haven't played enough of Boomerang yet to be fair) and is arguably jostling towards the top of the best-of in the series. Is anyone going to pick the flaccid Cotton 100% over this? Of course not.

This is probably going to be shmup release of 2020 (going into 2021, unless something new and big comes out). We should be so lucky to get good arcade releases in these latter days. Think of all the shitty ports and whatnot we have that still come out, and this game has the sense to have split leaderboards... AND a training mode with a rank slider! 99% of shooter devs just don't care enough for things as basic as that.

As for performance, the part of the space stage after the mothership midboss does slowdown quite a bit, when the screen is non-stop cluttered with enemies, bullets, and bells. Even docked, on the soytendo switch. There just is too much onscreen, lol. That being said I haven't noticed anything egregious, docked or handheld, outside of that.
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To Far Away Times
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by To Far Away Times »

Congrats. Another run or two should do it.

I think its the best Cotton game hands down. Put it side by side with Reboot (which I'd think would be the concensus pick) and I think Rock 'N Roll is much more impressive.

Psyvariar rips right through the final section. You get invincible level ups non stop and your score goes through the roof on that tanky missle attack. But Psyvariar struggles on some things that are trivial for Cotton in the earlier parts of the game. And both the snail and twin snakes are much, much harder with Psyvariar.

I really like the mix of unlimited score extends with a low score threshold for each extend. It really encourages score based play, since scoring leads to better survival. Random dumb deaths don't feel as bad since there's some leniency. Scoring is so visceral and fun. It feels much better than just making a number go up.
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by Jonpachi »

That bonus Psyvariar stage (Delta V) is SO GOOD! I dig this game, but I'd be FINE if it was just a new Psyvariar game and fully built around just that style.
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by BrianC »

EmperorIng wrote:flaccid Cotton 100%
I highly recommend not starting with the default in that game. The default difficulty felt like it was missing something. Then I tried the harder modes that not only add more enemies, but give mid-bosses/bosses extra attacks, as well. The default feels like ez-modo.
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by EmperorIng »

^well noted, I'll have to give hard mode a shot but I doubt it will be better than Rock n' Roll. :wink:

I finally managed to 1cc with Cotton! The final boss' missiles are something you are going to want to bomb, they give a ridiculous amount of score (I got 8 million during one such bomb towards the end). I had to do the final stretch of the fight on one life so it was really down to the wire. It's going to take a while to figure out how to best route and get as many lives and bombs into that moment as possible.

I am looking forward to learning the other characters, especially Appli who seems to have all of Cotton's strengths without the main weakness of relying on random magic drops to secure x99 bells. Though I guess I'll see how well she can milk the final boss too.
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by JBC »

Anticipating the US release of this. Hope it's not too much longer. Any reason for the name change? Rock n' Roll sounds cooler.

The clean, colorful graphics are really nice and it looks like a Dreamcast game in 16:9. Will def purch
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by SPM »

^ registered trademark
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by Herr Schatten »

EmperorIng wrote:So this game is excellent. Where are you people!?
I'm on my way. My Switch copy arrived just today. Can't wait to give it a spin. See you in the high score thread.
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by silvergunner »

Have a ton of fun to play this game,what a great shmup :D I like how different the characters are in terms of gameplay.
On Scoreboard I see two more extra characters,how to unlock them?
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by EmperorIng »

silvergunner wrote:Have a ton of fun to play this game,what a great shmup :D I like how different the characters are in terms of gameplay.
On Scoreboard I see two more extra characters,how to unlock them?
Check out my score thread!

One of them was a DLC pre-order bonus, which really sucks. But apparently that char was just a reskin of Cotton anyhow. You're right, I do love how diverse the cast is, and how some of them turn the game into something entirely different!

Last night I got a 1cc with Appli myself, and I am pretty pleased I pulled it off despite dying a billion times. Her throw attack is so ridiculous for scoring. The chain explosion effect it gives off can leave the screen showered in bells for 30 seconds. The lack of bombs is a worthy tradeoff when her throw is so good.

I incorporated the Cotton 1 tribute stage, I, into this route. The boss sucks, no bones about it. Very hard to kill as it spends much of the fight hiding in the upper left corner (!?). Also very hard to dodge. A dangerous combination.

Next time I do this, if I use stage I (a very high-scoring stage), I will ditch F entirely as it is pretty sparse and has the most annoying boss in the game, those two damn snakes.

I recorded a short snippet. Apparently the final large missile is worth 10 million points (with a potential x99????). If I can get this missile milking down my score will be in the stratosphere.
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Re: Cotton Reboot and COTTON ROCK N' ROLL! (2021, PS4/NSW/PC

Post by Jonpachi »

Have to admit I kinda called bullshit on this running better in Docked vs Handheld, but, ok, I was wrong. I've been playing almost exclusively in handheld since launch, but tonight I switched over to the dock on my gaming monitor and it was like a whole new game. I really love playing this on the OLED Switch as it just POPS on that screen, but I guess I'm gonna wait for a patch before I waste any more time playing it with such poor late-game performance.
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Re: Cotton Reboot (2021, PS4/NSW), and now, COTTON ROCK N' R

Post by harborline765 »

EmperorIng wrote:I dunno if I agree, even if there are some clear oversights in the design. Unlike Cotton Reboot, this feels entirely fresh with limited "I clapped! I clapped when I saw it!" appeal. All new stages, many new enemies, all the bosses are new sans a throwback duel with Wool (discounting the homage stages, which you unlock and are specifically callbacks), Tea Time now has more than one Secret Bonus so it isn't always the same thing yet again, and the on-rails bonus stages are just short enough to give you a nice change of pace. To say nothing of branching paths. It might be the best arcade Cotton game, which isn't the highest bar to clear (I haven't played enough of Boomerang yet to be fair) and is arguably jostling towards the top of the best-of in the series. Is anyone going to pick the flaccid Cotton 100% over this? Of course not..
Cover act was the wrong term indeed since it's not exactly a remake - I just meant to point out that some things are just a bit 'off' and definitely wouldn't have happened if Success' internal developers back in the day were at the helm.

I'm not sure I agree that it's the best arcade Cotton game - the STV titles are just so unique and enthralling today while having robust scoring mechanics with the throwing and juggling of enemies.

You need to try Cotton 100% again, btw. It's not flaccid at all, only the default difficulty is. I had the Superlite 1500 rerelease on PlayStation and dropped the game quickly due to how dull the first two or three stages were, but after revisiting it on the latest rereleases and messing around with the difficulty setting it evolves into a completely different game. It's brutally difficult on the hardest setting - loads more enemies forcing you to be tactical with your magic, and harder enemies appear sooner, and deploy their most cunning tactics from the very beginning.
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Re: Cotton Reboot and COTTON ROCK N' ROLL! (2021, PS4/NSW/PC

Post by BulletMagnet »

Rock n Roll's Western release delayed to spring.
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Re: Cotton Reboot and COTTON ROCK N' ROLL! (2021, PS4/NSW/PC

Post by Ms. Tea »

That's weird, doesn't the Japanese version already have a complete localization? Is this just because of physical editions?
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Re: Cotton Reboot and COTTON ROCK N' ROLL! (2021, PS4/NSW/PC

Post by BrianC »

Ms. Tea wrote:That's weird, doesn't the Japanese version already have a complete localization? Is this just because of physical editions?
Probably. Inin/Strictly Limited did it to Ninjawarriors Once Again/Ninja Saviors.
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Re: Cotton Reboot and COTTON ROCK N' ROLL! (2021, PS4/NSW/PC

Post by EmperorIng »

Good thing any sane person can just import and start playing this great game RIGHT AWAY instead of waiting months for a long-delayed sick-grab.
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Re: Cotton Reboot and COTTON ROCK N' ROLL! (2021, PS4/NSW/PC

Post by Jonpachi »

EmperorIng wrote:Good thing any sane person can just import and start playing this great game RIGHT AWAY instead of waiting months for a long-delayed sick-grab.
THIS. I do not understand the support for these LR-style companies over supporting the Japanese devs directly with an import purchase.
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Re: Cotton Reboot and COTTON ROCK N' ROLL! (2021, PS4/NSW/PC

Post by lovecraft »

EmperorIng wrote:Good thing any sane person can just import and start playing this great game RIGHT AWAY instead of waiting months for a long-delayed sick-grab.
On the other hand, importing the japanese edition means paying ~76 EUROS total if you buy it from Playasia for example (after you've added economy shipping and import tax)... It's a great game for sure, but is it worth the cost to pay such a bill for a Nintendo Switch game ? For 45~46 EUROS shipped total, you may have the SLG edition with a color booklet manual included and a reversible cover... Personally, I can wait a few extra months, no big deal.
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Re: Cotton Reboot and COTTON ROCK N' ROLL! (2021, PS4/NSW/PC

Post by BrianC »

EmperorIng wrote:Good thing any sane person can just import and start playing this great game RIGHT AWAY instead of waiting months for a long-delayed sick-grab.
I did this too. PS4 version. Good stuff.
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Re: Cotton Reboot and COTTON ROCK N' ROLL! (2021, PS4/NSW/PC

Post by Ms. Tea »

Why do people still buy Japanese games from Play-Asia? You can regularly get retail Japanese games from Amazon.co.jp or CD Japan for a lot cheaper, at the retail discounts people get them at in Japan. Play-Asia are charging like $20 US more for the same game.
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Re: Cotton Reboot and COTTON ROCK N' ROLL! (2021, PS4/NSW/PC

Post by m.sniffles.esq »

I usually just buy jp eshop points from play asia.

Which in the case of Cotton Rock n' Roll, ends up being quite a bit (since you need a 5000 and a 1000). Which is why I'm waiting, as I'm sure the US version will be less than $62

(Amazon.co.jp has it for the low, low price of $130 + $55 shipping...)
Last edited by m.sniffles.esq on Fri Jan 21, 2022 10:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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