DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

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hamfighterx
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by hamfighterx »

Available to order now at SLG, and it’s 15% off for the first 24 hours (ends Midnight eastern). Standard and overpriced limited editions available.
https://www.strictlylimitedgames.com/co ... ns/drainus
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by BulletMagnet »

m.sniffles.esq wrote:Edit: sorry
Like heck you are. :P
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Aceskies
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by Aceskies »

I ordered this and Rayz on strictly.
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by dmk1198 »

Enjoying this on switch

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DenimDemon
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by DenimDemon »

Was taken by surprise on how good this game looks.
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kid aphex
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by kid aphex »

Unfortunately, since I don’t have a PC I’ve had to wait until the Switch version released to give this one a go…
I’ve also tried to stay away from media re: the game because I wanted to have a novel experience while playing it.

Dude. This game is great.
Most impressive: The graphics. Unreal.
This game deserves way more hype, but I’m afraid since it’s a ‘console style’ shmup, it’s never gonna get its due.

Bonus: There’s a lot of Gradius love in the game… some subtle, some overt… but all of it awesome.
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

The Switch port feels amazing, on par with the PC release. The game itself is fantastic, the shop system that lets you choose weapons and what order to get things is neat, the speedup system you can adjust on the fly is cool (though the defaults are fine, and it's safer to adjust them in the shop), and the absorb system works really well. At first it feels like it's very forgiving because of the short activation delay compared, but it's actually well balanced by the shots you unleash being relatively weaker compared to something like Giga Wing, and how there's enough going on that it remains plenty hard on the one-hit kill modes. Playing the easier extended/non-Ridiculous difficulty story modes is still fun, but if you're used to arcade 1cc difficulty it'll feel far too forgiving in terms of the number of hits you can take. Play it as though you have a single life and restart if you die, and that helps retain a good degree of challenge. Or just play the story on Ridiculous difficulty or arcade on One Hit Death which are both good!

My only major complaint is I wish the absorb meter made a noise or changed shape/colour on a full charge so there's no mistaking a nearly full charge for an actually full charge. The invulnerability you get for releasing a full charge is essential after all.

Weapons are pretty interesting, with a lot to play around with. The second loop adds some more powerful options to upgrade too, so variety kind of closes off a bit in loop 2, but playing the one loop arcade game does make all your choices more meaningful in terms of what you upgrade and when.

also, tl;dr weapon review:


Shots

Double Shot: Pretty basic and weak, no reason to use it aside from having to start with it. I wouldn't rush to jailbreak it to free up the first slot though, I generally leave that until I've gotten a Bit slot fully upgraded.

3-Way Shot: It has spread, and is useful for clearing smaller enemies but is a bit lacking in damage, and damage output becomes a critical thing later on compared to spread. If you stick with this late in the game, bosses will take a while, and you might need to resort to S-Bombs to speed things up.

5-Way Shot (1): It's a cheap upgrade and gives you more spread over the 3-Way shot. Only costs one Energy Tank, and it's potentially a wider coverage alternative to Wide Shot if you don't feel you need the extra damage for bosses and want something better for stages. Useful to pick up early on without feeling like you've wasted energy tanks, but you'll want to replace it with something stronger eventually.

Wide Shot (2): I like this, it's a good damage and spread compromise that works like the Ripple from Gradius. Damage is pretty good, and it looks cool, especially once you have Bits active. It's overshadowed by Twin Wide Shot which is the same but stronger, but is also three times the price.

Laser Beam (2): Good on bosses and large enemies. It's the strongest weapon obtainable in loop 1, and will generally tear enemies apart. The beams are quite thin though, so for best results use it with Rolling Bits to make it easier to hit small targets. It's a good pick for loop 1, but be aware of how thin the beam is which can make some enemies tricky to hit. I'm not crazy about the noise it makes when firing, though.

Reflective Laser (2): Gimmicky weapon. The beams are rather slow to fire, and generally won't help on bosses, but in indoor areas the lasers can deal an impressive amount of damage. It's probably better to go with a better direct attack weapon since you have plenty of missile options and your absorbed lasers as indirect attacks.

Twin Wide Shot (6): The best loop 1 main weapon, boasting both tremendous damage that's nearly as high as laser, with much more spread. The only issue with it is the fairly high cost, which means those energy tanks are wasted if you upgrade in loop 2 to Tornado Beam or Non-Stop.

Tornado Beam (12, loop 2/arcade only): I don't like how the vertical lines are drawn on the beams fired by the Bits, it's a bit distracting. Damage also doesn't match the cost, with Twin Wide Shot still being very strong for half the price and more spread. Non-stop is also WAY better as an endgame weapon as the damage remains effective, while providing the unique effect of firing while absorbing, which protects you well from small enemies trying to slam into you while hiding in clouds of bullets. It's fun to use with Rolling Bits though, and is very damaging in situations where there's very little to absorb (such as the stage 5 boss).

Non-stop (12, loop 2/arcade only): Has power comparable with Twin Wide Shot, but you can keep shooting even when you're absorbing shots. It's about as wide as Double Shot is, but by the time you get it you'll have all of your bits, so the width won't matter as much. I'm not sure if Tornado Beam has some optimal scoring incentives, but as far as I'm concerned Non-stop is the best main weapon in the game. It's strong, and its unique ability makes it very flexible.


Mines

Area-Blast Mine (1): It's strong, but the blast radius isn't as big as it is on Gradius V's spread bombs. And unlike Gradius V, you can't use them on bosses effectively by jamming your options into the boss, at least not easily. The explosions are also a bit distracting. Potentially very useful with some good planning, but for general ease of use you have better options for attacking enemies, honestly.

Homing Missile (2): Slow, but decent. A weak, but effective all around balanced option if you want something for flying enemies. If you get this, upgrade your Bits to maximum ASAP so you fire more missiles at a time which is very handy! I prefer Vertical Terrain Missile for loop 1.

Terrain Missile (2): Pretty handy, there's enough grounded enemies to justify its use, but I prefer to save up for the version that also fires a missile above.

Vertical Terrain Missile (4): I like these, they're mostly useless on bosses but handle stages well and the decision for what Mine to use in loop 1 mostly comes down to this or the Homing Missile for me. It works quite well in indoors areas even in loop 2, though the Homing Jet missiles are arguably even better as the damage and speed are significantly improved, and are useful against bosses.

Vertical Area-blast Mine (5, loop 2/arcade only): As strong as they look, the damage isn't as high as you'd expect them to be, and the opportunities to use them while also being in range to absorb shots from stuff like big laser beams are limited. I don't recommend them, especially for the cost, as you don't have nearly enough high damage targets directly above and below to merit using them. Potentially useful if using Formation or Trace Bits if you manage to jam them into an enemy though. The blasts are rather distracting though, so keep that in mind when navigating tight environments.

Homing Jet (5, loop 2/arcade only): Really darn good. Homing Missile, but greatly sped up after a short delay. Damage also seems to be improved, though it could be just due to how much faster they launch. Arguably the best option for loop 2 for its versatility.


Stabilizers

Rear Shot (2): The best stabilizer you can buy. There are several very dangerous sections in Stage 4 and Stage 5 where popcorn enemies can threaten to smash into you from behind, and this weapon makes life way easier. Its concentrated shots also deal pretty good damage on heftier targets like the one large mech you can get behind in stage 2.

Diagonal Rear Shot (2): The wide coverage sacrifices precision aim and damage. It's not awful, but Rear Shot is better.

Vertical Shot (2): Attacking directly above and below isn't that handy except in a couple specific spots, where it potentially becomes very useful indeed. However, these use cases are rare, and generally not critical.

Butterfly (6, loop 2/arcade only): A combination of the above three shots that moves as you do. Only shows up in loop 2. It's difficult to control and I prefer Rear Shot.

Rear Reflective Laser (6, loop 2/arcade only): Of all the Stabilizers you can use, this is the only one that can potentially shoot forward as the beams bounce around. The beams also deal a lot of damage if you manage to get close enough to a large enemy to hit with both, but the lasers are inaccurate against things like the Stage 3 boss's second phase and the popcorn rushes in Stage 4 and 5. Stick with Rear Shot for best results.


Bits

Formation Bit (2/3/4/5): You get a nice wide attack area at all times, but you compromise on damage by not having your attacks concentrated. There's also a bit of a delay in movement when they follow you I'm not crazy about. The lack of concentrated fire is a disadvantage in numerous indoor areas as well as against bosses with small hitboxes. I strongly recommend Rolling Bit over this.

Rolling Bit (2/3/4/5): A more concentrated shot type. Easier to handle than Trace bit, gives you a balance between spread and focused damage. I generally go with this.

Trace Bit (2/3/4/5): Theoretically allows you to do some Gradius-like stuff like jamming your Bits into enemies, but because there's nothing like Gradius V where you can lock them in place, it's kinda hard to use while being forced to dodge attacks like crazy. Potentially very powerful, but I prefer Rolling Bit which is easier to use and always gives a small degree of coverage above and below you as you move.


EX

Attack Power x1.2 (8): A pricy upgrade presumably priced so it's intended for late game use. It's handy, but for survival in situations where you need to Guard a lot or use S-Bomb a lot, the other two might be better? It might be the best one for scoring since score in the arcade mode revolves around quick kills.

Guard Power x1.2 (8): Slows how fast your Guard meter drains. You become rather tough to kill with this! Very useful when using the Non-stop weapon as you have lots of time to safely absorb energy while still firing away.

Guard Absorption x1.2 (8): Your S-Bomb meter charges faster. This is handy if you're in the habit of relying on your S-Bomb to wipe enemies and bosses rather than using your normal shots. I'm not sure which is more efficient for quick kills and scoring though between this and Attack Power x1.2.


Shields

Auto Guard (3): Can take a lot of punishment from normal attacks, but it won't work if your meter's run dry. It's quite useful and it's the best of the shields available in loop 1.

Omni-directional Physical Shield (3): If physical attacks tend to hit you more, then this one's pretty handy, even though it can't take as many hits as the above shield. Generally though, there's way more energy attacks to worry about, so you want a shield that protects you from those.

Front Shield (3): Steer clear of this one. It's positioned so far in front of you that it doesn't work nearly as well as the full body physical shield does, and it does nothing against energy attacks.

Perfect Guard (10, loop 2/arcade only): The best shield in the game. Stops both attack types, though it is costly to get. Note that it does run out slightly quicker than Auto Guard, being able to only stop 3 hits instead of 5, but this isn't generally an issue as you find lots of powerups to recharge with.


Super Bombs

IMPORTANT NOTE: When you fire one, you get a blue glow that shows how long you're invulnerable against enemy shots. You also get a collision barrier that lets you move through terrain, but it appears to only last half to 75% as long as your attack invulnerability does. Also note that holding down the bomb button does NOT fire a continuous bomb. You're actually firing multiple separate bombs one after the other. The reason this matters is if you're inside an enemy beam attack when a bomb ends, you will immediately die as it takes a second for your shield and guard to be available when bombing. Use caution when bombing around giant beam attacks, because it's an easy way to accidentally get killed. See this video as an example of what happens if your bomb ends while touching a beam attack.

Hyper Beam: Simple, but effective. Despite the blue glow, invulnerability only seems to last for a second or two, so you can't just hold down the S-Bomb button and remain invulnerable. Tapping it gets you a better idea of how long the invulnerability lasts, holding it down is mostly for the raw damage to finish off bosses. It's eventually outdamaged by your basic weaponry (Laser + two Bits will match or beat its damage output).

Ultra Beam (6): A stronger, wider version of the beam you start with. Very handy and probably the best general purpose Super Bomb. While it's quite strong, your normal shots (4 bits + Tornado Beam or Non-Stop) will eventually match its raw damage when you've upgraded, making it purely useful for defense and giving yourself breathing room to recharge your Guard meter.

Burst Shot (5): Very weak, and you can't fire your normal shots while it's active. However, it does have a slight piercing element to it, making it especially effective on some bosses that can block your shots like that the stage 3 boss's last pattern! However, you can just use your other beam based bombs and move into the boss briefly to damage it that way, with the Ultra Beam being way better overall. It's too weak to be worth the gimmicks it offers.

Vertical Strike (5): Fires a shot forward that, when it hits an enemy or terrain, explodes into a giant vertical beam. Pretty effective in some spots as an alternative to the horizontal beam weapons I think, even if the damage isn't as high as Ultra Beam's. It's effective on some bosses that stack themselves vertically, and it can be used to hit the stage 3 boss's last pattern, though you need to fire it at one of the inner legs to work. The downside is it doesn't do much actual bullet cancelling, which makes it less effective for survival situations, but it's otherwise fairly strong and has its uses for several nasty bosses, particularly the Stage 5 boss's circular form where it has a bunch of tiny laser turrets. Unfortunately Ultra Beam's ability to sweep the screen as you fire it makes it generally way better, and Hurricane Bombs outdamage both of those for bosses in Loop 2.

Emergency Power-up (5): Instead of an impressive weapon, you instead can trade your meter for power-ups as needed, which makes you very hard to kill, but isn't terribly good for actually finishing off a tough attack that's hitting you repeatedly. This is quite good if you're only getting hit occasionally, but I like having a powerful S-Bomb to finish off big enemies quickly. If you're playing for score you should aim not to get hit anyways. Arguably the strongest bomb in the game if you're playing for a 1cc due to how effective it is to turn S-Bombs into more shields, but the lack of any firepower when you use the bomb can make some sections tricky. Note that if you're at max power you can still use this bomb to get periods of invulnerability to move through walls and enemies.

Hurricane Bomb (12, loop 2/arcade only): Exceptionally strong on end-of-stage bosses... but because the explosion ALWAYS happens at the far right of the screen, there's a huge area in front of you it simply won't hit. This makes it powerful, but highly situational. It's mostly worthless during stages and is a very steep investment for what you get. I prefer the reasonably strong but still versatile Ultra Beam, or the even more versatile Vertical Strike. The hitbox also seems to have a hard time clearing bullets and smaller enemies at times. If you have points to spare when you reach the final boss I'd say grab this for the sheer damage, but otherwise it's not particularly helpful.


Other

Power-up Socket (2/2): Pretty useful for the easier story modes. More sockets means you can take more hits. Less useful in the one-hit modes unless you can afford stuff to actually put in these sockets.

Super Bomb Socket (3/4/5/6): I thing Guard Sockets are a higher priority, honestly, but this is useful to upgrade too when you have Energy to spare.

Guard Socket (3/4/5/6): Very handy! I don't rush to upgrade this immediately, but getting some earlier does help you gain more Energy.

Jailbreak (10): Pricy and not worth it until much later in the game. I buy it around the same time I invest in EX tools.
Last edited by BareKnuckleRoo on Sun May 21, 2023 12:07 pm, edited 4 times in total.
dmk1198
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by dmk1198 »

Any cheats for money etc? I'm struggling lol

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BareKnuckleRoo
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

Energy tanks come from two sources: the gems that spawn when enemies are killed, and by absorbing shots. Absorbing shots is handy, but honestly it feels like a good 70 to 80% of the game's resources comes from kills alone, so don't worry about playing super risky if you're having trouble aggressively using absorb.

Don't give up! Even though the shield system is generous, there's a lot going onscreen, and you're quite heavily depowered if you die, so it can be a tricky game even on the non one-hit-kill modes if you're not well versed in shmups. Making good use of your S-Bombs to avoid collisions is very handy too as you get a ton of those to use.
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by dmk1198 »

BareKnuckleRoo wrote:Energy tanks come from two sources: the gems that spawn when enemies are killed, and by absorbing shots. Absorbing shots is handy, but honestly it feels like a good 70 to 80% of the game's resources comes from kills alone, so don't worry about playing super risky if you're having trouble aggressively using absorb.

Don't give up! Even though the shield system is generous, there's a lot going onscreen, and you're quite heavily depowered if you die, so it can be a tricky game even on the non one-hit-kill modes if you're not well versed in shmups. Making good use of your S-Bombs to avoid collisions is very handy too as you get a ton of those to use.
Thnx man I'm not even sure how to use the bombs is that something I need to enable when I upgrade weapons etc?

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BareKnuckleRoo
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

Your ship starts equipped with a beam-type S-Bomb. The meter at the bottom right shows when you can use S-Bombs and it fills as you absorb bullets. Each filled square represents one charge. Just tap the S-Bomb button when you have stock filled up.
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by dmk1198 »

BareKnuckleRoo wrote:Your ship starts equipped with a beam-type S-Bomb. The meter at the bottom right shows when you can use S-Bombs and it fills as you absorb bullets. Each filled square represents one charge. Just tap the S-Bomb button when you have stock filled up.
Cheers pal

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TransatlanticFoe
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by TransatlanticFoe »

Dr. Anus has arrived! Either our ludicrous brexit/not-brexit customs changes aren't all that or Strictly Limited have done their Great British Bureaucrazy. This was like back in the EU glory days - arrived within a week of being posted!

Annnd I cannot stop slamming into stuff in this game, total lack of coordination. Great writeup above tho, it reminded me that there's an S-Bomb which I have managed to forget about entirely thus far. Just made it past a cool Fantasy Zone homage boss :D
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DenimDemon
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by DenimDemon »

So I just got this on my mail. What the hell? You can’t run the game without a mandatory update? Kinda makes the physical pointless?
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TransatlanticFoe
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by TransatlanticFoe »

Is this you?

https://twitter.com/stg_view/status/164 ... DqeXw&s=19

It works fine for me, connected to wifi and in flight mode. I've got auto updates disabled. It lets me launch without updating it (Start Software shows as an option).

However, if you're already downloaded the latest patch and deleted it, the Switch remembers this and forces you to update before continuing (presumably to stop compatibility issues with save files). Similarly if the eshop has a higher patch version and you've previously downloaded that, then it'll force you to update the physical version because it knows you've already used it.

Otherwise, it may just be the Switch telling you it needs to install the latest firmware - connect to wifi and manually check for updates. It did this to me with the Turrican collections - I thought it was trying to get me to update the game but it was actually a system update that was pending (I may not have been paying attention to the exact error message, what a terrible end user I am!).
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DenimDemon
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by DenimDemon »

TransatlanticFoe wrote:Is this you?

https://twitter.com/stg_view/status/164 ... DqeXw&s=19

It works fine for me, connected to wifi and in flight mode. I've got auto updates disabled. It lets me launch without updating it (Start Software shows as an option).

However, if you're already downloaded the latest patch and deleted it, the Switch remembers this and forces you to update before continuing (presumably to stop compatibility issues with save files). Similarly if the eshop has a higher patch version and you've previously downloaded that, then it'll force you to update the physical version because it knows you've already used it.

Otherwise, it may just be the Switch telling you it needs to install the latest firmware - connect to wifi and manually check for updates. It did this to me with the Turrican collections - I thought it was trying to get me to update the game but it was actually a system update that was pending (I may not have been paying attention to the exact error message, what a terrible end user I am!).
Hey! Yes thank you, I now understood the issue. It’s kinda of a bummer but not that of a trouble on the long course…yeah I had digital download installed before, thank you.
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by TransatlanticFoe »

Yeah the crucial thing is on a brand new Switch the physical cart works without an update. I don't know if a factory reset removes the Switch's internal patch listing. It's a bit funky but I can see why Nintendo did it.
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by DenimDemon »

Someone posted that, yes, factory reset works..
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by hamfighterx »

Received my Switch (standard edition) Strictly Limited Games physical copy on Saturday. Just noting that SLG did a pretty good job on this one:
- SLG orders opened in November
- Drainus released on eShop on February 2 in the US (IIRC, simultaneous WW release for Switch)
- Got my copy of the physical cart almost exactly 2 months after the eShop release. Reasonable time to wait for a physical edition
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

I'm still trying to no-miss the only 2 loop mode that features one hit kills, the Ridiculous difficulty in Story Mode. It's tricky, the main parts that are causing trouble are the spots where small enemies rush you nonstop, especially the part in Stage 5 where a ship's shooting at you from the background. You have to use your shield or super bomb to clear their bullets because all the popcorn enemies fire revenge bullets, and if you shield too long an enemy will ram you. It's actually less of a problem in the loop when the Non-Stop weapon becomes available, which lets you shoot even when shielding, minimizing popcorn ramming deaths.

Since my gaming PC is still on Windows 7, I was rather worried I'd lose access to Drainus when Steam drops support for Win 7 (as it will presumably do so without offering a way to run the games without their client). However, it looks like the PC ver works fine as a standalone without Steam's client if you use SteamEmulator's dll files.
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by TransatlanticFoe »

It's a funny one, I 1CC'd the standard arcade mode at the first attempt having gotten through story mode - in spite of feeling like the power up system makes recovery from death unduly harsh. The stage 3 boss in particular seems to require a very rigid set of upgrades to tackle - in my arcade 1CC it timed out, I just couldn't do enough damage to the damn thing. Even opening up the legs to charge the absorption weapon was too finnicky, and impossible with the post-death default power level. I don't mind the shop system to have a bit of "I need this weapon at this point" memorisation to it - but if you lose said weapon on death, it makes it frustrating anyway.

That's what feels like the game's weakness is - it's balanced around a flexible power up system... until the spots where it isn't, or you lose a life. I kind of feel it should just force you to take a certain weapon, or retain one sub-weapon on respawn. I get it though, it's hard to balance a game - lest you end up with something like Darius 2 where you're borderline unstoppable after powering up a bit but then die once and it's chain death until game over because you're far too weak on respawn.
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

TransatlanticFoe wrote:It's a funny one, I 1CC'd the standard arcade mode at the first attempt having gotten through story mode - in spite of feeling like the power up system makes recovery from death unduly harsh.
The harsh penalty for dying makes up for how easy it is to avoid dying, I think. It feels like you've really worked up to powering up your ship. If you're struggling with powering up after a death, there is the one S-Bomb you can use that gives you an upgrade level for each bomb you use, too, so there's a built-in way to mitigate the penalty.

The stage 3 boss in particular seems to require a very rigid set of upgrades to tackle - in my arcade 1CC it timed out, I just couldn't do enough damage to the damn thing.
Yeah, the first time I ever played Drainus the Stage 3 boss's last phase crushed me. Then I discovered that it's actually one of the easiest boss phases in the game when you know what you're doing and you can kill it with your base loadout (no upgrades) before it launches any attacks.

The trick is to go into it with 4 fully stocked S-Bombs (5 or more is better, and if you've upgraded to the Ultra Beam it's even easier). Your S-Bomb provides a short period of invulnerability against wall collision damage, but it lasts about half as long as your ship flashes blue. Hide just to the left of the boss, and as soon as its legs stretch, fire an S-Bomb and move into the boss just far enough to hit it with the beam, then move back out before your collision invulnerability wears off. With 4 S-Bombs and the Hyper Beam, you'll have barely enough to kill it, or at least leave it nearly dead. If you have the Ultra Beam (the best offensive bomb imo) or S-Bomb capacity upgrades, just make sure you go into the third phase with as many S-Bombs available and it's a piece of cake.

The S3 boss is now about getting past the first and second phases. As long as I remembered to keep S-Bombs stocked once I hit the third phase, the battle's already won.

That's what feels like the game's weakness is - it's balanced around a flexible power up system... until the spots where it isn't, or you lose a life. I kind of feel it should just force you to take a certain weapon, or retain one sub-weapon on respawn.
No, I hate that idea. Deaths are punishing, yeah, but consider that the game has a TON of extra lives, and powerups are pretty plentiful (you have an S-Bomb that can give them meaning just absorbing shots can power you up). The whole point of the game is freedom and flexibility. Really, the stuff that I'm running into that's killing me is just a matter of executing better and using S-Bombs to clear the screen more aggressively, but I can't think of any part of the levels that I'd say are bad design. My only gameplay related complaint is the fact that the charge meter doesn't visibly make a noise or change colour or size when it hits full charge, meaning you can more easily accidentally release a charge before you've gotten the full charge and its invulnerability.
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

I discovered... something weird. I had 4 shield charges to block energy attacks, S-Bombed my way through this thing's leg, the S-Bomb ended when I was touching its laser beam, and somehow the laser beam killed me as if when the S-Bomb ends there's a slight delay before your shield is active again.

https://imgur.com/DUbyfZn

Apparently it's dangerous to use S-Bombs when you end the S-Bomb inside of a continuous beam? Is that intentional? I guess you can't immediately guard OR shield as the S-Bomb ends...

edit: I think I've got enough experience that I'll soon be able to write up a proper strategy guide. I've no-missed several difficulties (namely the 2-loop Arcade one and the story ones aside from Ridiculous). The difficulties are... kinda weird. Generally speaking, all the ones where a hit depowers you are quite easy to avoid dying in since your powerups protect you even from collision damage. However, the hardest difficulty mode to no miss (beat without dying) is actually the Story Mode on Ridiculous.

I just noticed that enemies in Arcade Hard mode have reduced health, approximately 10 to 20% less health than in Ridiculous mode. Arcade Hard uses a mix of loop 1 and loop 2 patterns from Ridiculous (the stage 2 boss's last form uses loop 2 patterns with all red bullets), but has drastically reduced enemy health. You can see this most clearly with the large enemies just inside the base in Stage 3, and the large enemies in Stage 4 that are dropped right before you reach the thrusters. Rear Shot takes a while to kill them in Story Ridiculous, but Arcade Hard drops them long before they get close to you. And that's only counting loop 1. Loop 2 seems to make enemies, particularly bosses, even tankier.

I'm not sure how enemy health works in Arcade Extended. I no missed it easily; it's long, but you can take so many hits that it's really forgiving if you're used to arcade difficulty shmups. Still, makes a good endurance 1cc run for a more beginner player to shmups! For serious play, Arcade Hard is the "quick" mode, and Story Ridiculous is the extended, harder mode.
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BareKnuckleRoo
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

NoMiss clear of Drainus's Ridiculous mode, the hardest mode in the game to beat deathless (its second loop is harder than Arcade Hard as enemies have health boosts and there's some nasty patterns not in Arcade Hard).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulnmvth0U6Q

I worked on this for a solid three weeks with many runs encountering dumb mistakes like crashing into the ground in stage 1 at the start of the second loop... This run isn't perfect either, I mess up the start of stage 3 by running out of bombs and having to make some crazy luck dodges, and I forget to equip the Ultra Beam I bought at the boss. I also totally forget about the very last Recorder in the game, was too focused on trying to not die!

Non-Stop is supremely useful as a top tier weapon for many enemies where being able to shoot while shielding is useful, particularly against the production model Drainus ships at the end of stage 5.

I've also got a run of Normal difficulty with all the story related stuff available now. I was struggling to find a full playthrough that showcases all the story scenes in one video including the opening tutorial (which has important story elements in it) as well as all the recorders, so I figured I'd just make one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIYAe2wsTdk
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BurlyHeart
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by BurlyHeart »

I actually really enjoyed the story of Drainus. Thought it was very well done with minimal disruption to the flow of the game. I loved the ending sequence -
Spoiler
flying into a sideways London
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DEL
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by DEL »

Hmm....I reckon I'll give this one a miss. Looks a bit messy with the draining and the difficulty issues are off-putting. Attractive looking doe....
Edit: NEVER AWAKE looks good though!
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Jonpachi
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by Jonpachi »

DEL wrote:Hmm....I reckon I'll give this one a miss. Looks a bit messy with the draining and the difficulty issues are off-putting. Attractive looking doe....
Edit: NEVER AWAKE looks good though!

“Looks” is right. Never Awake is trash. There aren’t even levels. You just survive repeating waves in looping scenes. Even bosses. It’s so disappointing.
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FunktionJCB
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Re: DRAINUS (Team Ladybug, Steam) - Out now

Post by FunktionJCB »

Jonpachi wrote:“Looks” is right. Never Awake is trash.
Quite the reductive view on the game. :shock:

Maybe not your cup of tea, but I quite enjoyed it, and to reduce it to "trash" is quite something.
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