To Far Away Times wrote:Artwork, music, and presentation matter. A lot. More than we usually give it credit for.
Oh yes, and I think that's partly why the Treasure shmups have fared so well within the mainstream (well, specifically Ikaruga) even though I doubt that many people actually play them proper (as in play for score) besides a hardcore crowd. They're really Treasure games first and foremost and shmups second. But nonetheless they have their specific identity (just like Cave games do, etc.) and go beyond that by creating a ambience within their games that attracts a lot of people, albeit superficially. Ikaruga has an interesting world, it's barren and abides by design by subtraction principles, much like games such as ICO and Shadow of the Colossus do. There is barely any story explicitly told, but much of it is kind of left to our interpretation. Ironically Radiant Silvergun is pretty much the opposite, to the point of being a little too dramatic sometimes. Maximalist vs minimalist. Makes me wonder what Iuchi has planned in that regard for Ubusana (if that ever comes..).
On that note: I haven't played many Cave games, but I'm dying to play Daioujou if that hopefully ever gets ported proper. It looks very appealing, but aesthetically swell as the gameplay. It just looks...like the best cave game. Very smooth. The PS2 cover had me intrigued ever since I saw it, I guess I'm just sensitive for that kind of thing