ST - Hitogata Happa

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Goshi
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ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by Goshi »

Since the old one is a big mess and very incomplete I decided to go about and recreate this. You can find the old one here:
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=8597

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Hitogata Happa

Gameplay Basics

Controls (Default)

PC Version
Z - Shoot/Confirm
X - Mana Ability/Cancel
C - Change next character

PSN Version
Soon.

Basic Movement
Its like a normal vertical shmup really. Move around with the arrow keys or D-Pad. Holding the fire button slows you down whilst tapping it allows you to retain you full speed whilst firing. When you die or use a bomb you will change characters, to change which character replaces your dead one simply use the character change button.

Zone of Control (ZOC)
ImageImage
The Zone of Control (ZOC as its called in the manual) is the circle around enemies like the one in the above screenshot. When you fly into it you'll activate it and bullets that enter it will slow down. This is an important technique when acquiring gems, because when an enemy dies, bullets in the ZOC will change into gems.

Bomb and Flow
On the top of the screen you may notice this little gauge marked as "Flow":
Image

When its filled up you'll be able to use a Bomb. To do this simply wait a while as it fills up on its own. Friction (Caused by putting the hitbox close to a bullet) will also help build it up. Leaf and Sphere 13's mana ability will also speed up the filling process too. Once you have full flow (The words "Assault OK!" will appear above the character when it's full) simply ram into an enemy. It must be an enemy, if its a bullet it won't work. Once you do so your doll will yell something and explode into a magic circle. This technique is very important and it is compulsory to use it against the boss in Mission 0 if you're not using Platina or Lovers. Some statistics:

Highest Flow Charge Time (1 being the highest) -
1. Fool
2. Leaf, Sphere 13, Clover, Dimbula, Sikkim
3. Assam, Earl
4. Lovers, Fourtuner
5. Rooty, Peco, Platina

Suicide Bomb Power (1 being the highest) -
1. Leaf, Sphere 13
2. Platina
3. Assam
4. Rooty, Dimbula
5. Sikkim, Earl
6. Clover, Peco, Lovers, Fourtuner
7. Fool

Getting Dolls
At the end of every stage you can use the gems accumulated to buy dolls from Kreutzer. Each time you purchase a doll it's price goes up (Except for Earl and Fool), so pick carefully. Bear in mind you can only hold a maximum of 12 dolls of each type at a time. Also you can only buy a total 112 dolls. If you managed to reach that amount something special might happen...

Boss Timer
Rather then run away, when the boss timer is at 0 the boss will throw in an extra attack along with whatever it's doing. Die when the boss is in this state and you get a Game Over. There's nothing special when you kill a boss in this state except bragging rights. To increase the amount of time needed to defeat a boss just simply destroy any parts of the boss.

(※ PSN Version: You can get a trophy if you manage to beat the boss when you run out of time. Good luck!)

Mana
Each character has a mana ability that can help you out in several ways. To gain mana simply collect gems. Some characters can build up mana in other ways too.

The True Last Boss
To fight the game's true last boss you need to have gotten a total of 112 dolls. This means you can't continue and you'll need a lot of gems. In Solo Voyage and Destiny 13, the TLB will always appear but only on Nobilmente difficulty or higher.

The Sphere 13 Factor
The conditions for her appearance are as follows:
1) Have Leaf as your Active and your Next doll. If you die there's a 1/64 chance that the next Leaf you send out will be Sphere 13 (※ PSN Version: You can get a trophy through this method)
2) Kill off 112 dolls. Sphere 13 will always appear as your 113th doll.

Playable Characters

Note: Abilities are in their Japanese names since I haven't played Rockin' Android's version in ages. I'll post them up soon. With the exception of the secret dolls, images are from the manual. The secret dolls are from the official website.

Leaf
Base Cost - 120 (60 in Euridice)

Shot - Leaf Cutter
Image
Shoots a straight stream of bullets. Simple to use but firepower is very lacking

Mana - Soma Twilight
Image
Slows down time until you run out of mana or press the mana button again. Also while active, it boosts the speed of the Flow gauge filling up.

Her firepower is mediocre but when it comes to exploding on bosses, her firepower is unmatched.

The best way to use Leaf is simply to build up Flow and ram into stuff. Since Leaf's basic firepower is low and all. Naturally this makes Leaf best for taking down bosses as opposed to normal enemies. Its also a good idea to keep Leaf as both Active and Next in hopes for Sphere 13 to show up.

Clover
Base Cost - 500 (250 in Euridice)

Shot - Lucky Ray
Image
Shoots a thin laser forward. Has decent firepower.

Mana - Rizing Sword
Image
Shoots a powerful fiery laser forward granting temporary invincibility. Wears off after you run out of mana. Also drains the flow guage when used.

Clover is excellent for taking down bosses. Only use Rizing Sword when your in a pinch as opposed to your main source of offense. The only exception to this is Atlantis when he's making all those Sun things. That's when you can have a lot of fun with Clover.

(※ Ver1.10, PSN Version: Suicide bomb range is smaller, its now about 65% of the size of Leaf's one)

Rooty
Base Cost - 400 (200 in Euridice)

Shot - Drill Cannon
Image
Fires drills in fixed angles forwards and behind. Pressing the mana button adjusts them.

(※ Ver1.10, PSN Version: The option behind is moved to the front. Rooty now shoots in fixed angles diagonally forward)

Mana - Blazing Spinner
Image
Tapping the directional keys will cause Rooty to spin granting temporary invincibility.

Rooty is made to be defensive on normal stages. To use her mana ability simply tap left and right. Since she can attack at different angles and make herself invincible for a short time she's more useful against normal stages. She is hard to use though so be careful. Rooty isn't good against bosses so keep her away from them.

(※ Ver1.10, PSN Version: Bomb is now 75% of the size of Leaf's one.)

Assam
Base Cost - 440 (220 in Euridice)

Shot - Magical Missile
Image
Fire a group of guided missiles

Mana - Unlimited Storm
Image
Fires even more guided missiles

Assam is THE doll for taking down normal stages. Since his missiles have high accuracy and good attack power. He also not bad for taking down some bosses like Laputa. Holding down the mana key makes him fire even more missiles. Its better to use it in small bursts rather than waste it all at once.

(※ Ver1.10, PSN Version: Bomb size increased to the same size as Leaf's one)

Earl
Base Cost - 880 (440 in Euridice)

Shot - Rallyman's Beam
Image
Fires a guided laser. Very similar to the purple laser weapon from Raiden II

Mana - Dath Whisper
Image
Same as Leaf's ability only it allows Earl's shots to become piercing instead of increasing the speed of the Flow gauge.

If you like Raiden II you would feel right at home with Earl. It should be noted that Earl is unique in that every time you purchase one, her price drops instead of rises. Useful for when you're trying to fight Kreutzer.

(※ Ver1.10, PSN Version: Earl's FLOW gauge fills up faster)

Sikkim
Base Cost - 480 (240 in Euridice)

Shot - Panzer Knuckles
Image
Fires a fist that moves a fixed distance before returning to the player. Above average firepower.

Mana Ability - Missile Smash
Image
Fires a flaming first forwards that explodes into enemy bullets(!!)

Kinda useless... outclassed by Peco as a melee character. Good for gem harvesting I suppose but I would really avoid using him.

Dimbula
Base Cost - 480 (240 in Euridice)

Shot - Spread Shot/Buddha Charge
ImageImage
Tapping the fire button creates a spread of bullets that move in seemingly random angles. Has pretty good firepower.

Holding the fire button and releasing creates a powerful blue fireball instead which can pierce through enemies. Also has pretty good firepower.

Mana - Sawada Sacrifice 2005
Image
Self-destruct.

He can also swap which side of the screen he's on by flying off screen (Only to the left or right though). which makes up for his useless mana ability.

He's okay for taking down bosses. But he's otherwise useless. The ability to change which side of the screen he's on can be useful though.

(※ Ver1.10, PSN Version: Dimbula's FLOW gauge fills up faster, bomb size is now 95% of Leaf's one)

Peco
Base Cost - 640 (320 in Euridice)

Shot - Blazing Edge
Image
Slash an enemy with a close range sword.

Mana - Zaion Slayer
Image
Freezes time for a short while, after wards Peco will begin slashing whatever is front her like crazy. She is invincible while doing this.

Peco is useful for a good amount of situations. She's good for taking down enemies with a good amount hits to take down. And she's excellent against some bosses. She is hard to use though so only use her once you master her abilities.

(※ Ver1.10, PSN Version: Bomb is now 65% of the size of Leaf's one.)

Platina
Base Cost - 3600 (1800 in Euridice)

Shot - Lotus Vale
Image
Fires bullets in a flower formation all around her.

Mana - Black Blossom
Image
Shoot a small rose a short distance ahead which eventually explodes into several bullets.

(※ Ver1.10, PSN Version: Larger mana cost AND you can only have one rose on-screen at a time)

The overpowered doll based off Lotus from Gundeadligne is the best doll in the game.

To take down bosses with her, fire a Rose Bomb so its above the boss. This does a lot of damage. Her own special ZOC is more harmful then helpful but it can help stock up on those gems. She can regain mana quickly by simply not shooting anything at all.

Lovers
Base Cost - 3600 (1800 in Euridice)

Shot - Star Fire/Star Beam
ImageImage
Tapping the fire button creates a five-way spread shot. Holding it down creates a powerful beam with absurdly high firepower.

(※ Ver1.10: Star Beam isn't as LOUD >_>)

Mana - Dath Wind
Image
Exactly the same as Earl's right down to improving her normal shots.

Played as Elixirel in Gundeadligne? She's basically the same.

Use her to take down bosses. Her beam shot pretty much slaughters everything. You won't need Peco anymore with her. Except on the final battle maybe. Though like the other secret dolls, she costs a fair bit...

Fourtuner
Base Cost - 2800 (1400 in Euridice)

Shot - Dual Shot
Image
Fire a very narrow straight shot forward. High firepower. The discarded bullet shells can also damage enemies.

Mana - Fortune Wheel
Image
Shoots a wheel that slows down time whilst its hitting an enemy. It can also change bullets into gems.

Played as Eryth in basically every other Gundemonium game? She's basically the same.

She's not very useful when compared to Lovers. But her Wheel thing can be very useful. She's also suited for boss battles but otherwise she's just a novelty.

(※ Ver1.10, PSN Version: Bomb is now 65% of the size of Leaf's one.)

Fool
Base Cost - 400 (200 in Euridice)

Shot - Rachel's Hammer
Image
Fires a slow moving shot. Decent firepower.

Mana - Jump
Image
... Jump. You're invincible while jumping.

She's popular since she has the fastest Flow charge time of all dolls. To compensate, she has the weakest Suicide Bomb firepower. But the Flow and Jumping make up for it. Her movement is very slippery though and hard to get used to.

Constant bombing. That's all she's useful for. But she doesn't do a lot of damage when doing so so use Leaf instead. She's good for building up the Bomb bonus though. She can take multiple hits but she can easily get cheesed once she's hit, putting that ability to waste. It should be noted that Fool's cost remains the same no matter how many you buy. Useful if you want to fight Kreutzer.

(※ Ver1.10, PSN Version: Bomb size is now extremely small. She now rides a pumpkin making it easier to detect where she's going to land after jumping)

Sphere 13
Shot - Sunlight
Image
Fires a powerful straight shot. Has wider range and firepower than Leaf's.

Mana - Obawarudo
Image
Freezes time. While time is frozen you are invincible. Wears off once you run out of mana or press the mana button again.

A hidden doll. She's basically what Leaf would be if she went super saiyan, transformed, class changed or whatever. The conditions for her appearance are as follows:
1) Have Leaf as your Active and your Next doll. If you die there's a 1/64 chance that the next Leaf you send out will be Sphere 13
2) Kill off 112 dolls. Sphere 13 will always appear as your 113th doll.

In Destiny 13 however she can be used just like any other regular doll.

(※ Ver1.10, PSN Version: Bomb is now 120% of the size of Leaf's one.)

Secrets
Secret dolls - These are Platina, Lovers, Fourtuner and Fool. To get them just beat the game once in a different mode from when you unlocked the last one.
Solo Voyage - Unlock Platina
Destiny 13 - Get all dolls (Including Sphere 13) and beat the game again.

PSN Trophies/Steam Achievements
1 in 64's Not Bad (Bronze) - Get Sphere 13 to appear
Destructive (Silver) - Destroy every boss' part in one playthrough
Doll Collector (Bronze) - Have 1 of every type of doll (Including the secret dolls) in reserve
Endless Possibilities (Silver) - Complete Solo Voyage with every doll
Even If The World Ends... (Bronze) - Complete the game on Doomsday
Genoremasody's End (Bronze) - Complete the game on Nobilmente
I Can Do It! (Bronze) - Complete the game on Euridice
Loner (Bronze) - Complete Solo Voyage with any doll
No Cheap Tricks (Bronze) - Finish the game without using a single suicide bomb
No, YOUR Time's Up! (Bronze) - Defeat a boss during a time over
Not An Unlucky Number (Gold) - Complete Destiny 13
Phantastique Tea Party (Silver) - Defeat the true last boss
The Rose Cross (Bronze) - Complete the game on Allemande

Related Links
http://murasame-wiki.info/ - Murasame Wiki (Japanese)
http://www.murasame.com/ - Platine Dispositif Webiste (Japanese)
http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin ... 33627.html - GameFAQs... you know. I should probably update that FAQ I posted... >_>
http://www.gundemonium.com/ - Rockin' Android's Gundemonium Collection Website

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Feel free to add any extra info
Last edited by Goshi on Tue Feb 14, 2012 1:12 am, edited 17 times in total.
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Erinu
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Post by Erinu »

Very useful.
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msm
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by msm »

thanks for this, just got the game on psn and couldn't work out how to kill the first boss, it was driving me a bit mad!
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Goshi
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by Goshi »

msm wrote:thanks for this, just got the game on psn and couldn't work out how to kill the first boss, it was driving me a bit mad!
No! Why did you bump this!? Now I have to *GASP* update it! NOOOOOOOOO
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Goshi
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Location: Hihoukan

Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by Goshi »

This post was made at the cost of destroying my perfect post-count number. How distressing.

I'm slowly gathering PSN details and adding them in. I'll do the same with the rest of the other Gundemonium games too at some point. Oh, I realised I neglected to add a scoring explanation too. I suppose I should add it at some stage for the sake of completeness.
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DietSoap
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by DietSoap »

Just got the PSN version, HARD AS BALLS, but then again I suck in general.

Either way this is extremely helpful.
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Kaiser
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by Kaiser »

Uh I got a question, how do you take down the end boss in stage 4 (the one with lights, Shangri I think)? I'm stuck there currently. I'm asking more about HOW to take it down, rather what is the way to do it
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Elixir
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by Elixir »

Kaiser wrote:Uh I got a question, how do you take down the end boss in stage 4 (the one with lights, Shangri I think)? I'm stuck there currently. I'm asking more about HOW to take it down, rather what is the way to do it
Destroy all of the floaty lights, then destroy all of the parts of the boss outside of the circle (iirc, there's 4?) then once it breaks, crash into the boss.
I haven't actively browsed/used this forum in many years and it's no longer an accurate representation of me.

I have retired from genre-specific content creation after 13 years, but I'll always love this little genre in my own personal way.
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Kaiser
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by Kaiser »

Elixir wrote:
Kaiser wrote:Uh I got a question, how do you take down the end boss in stage 4 (the one with lights, Shangri I think)? I'm stuck there currently. I'm asking more about HOW to take it down, rather what is the way to do it
Destroy all of the floaty lights, then destroy all of the parts of the boss outside of the circle (iirc, there's 4?) then once it breaks, crash into the boss.
Another question to you Elixir then, what is the best way to fight true last boss? Since apparently it is VERY EASY to time out on her in PSN version (the one i'm playing). Also how the heck can you beat a game without suicide bombing?
Zenodyne R - My 2nd Steam Shmup
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Goshi
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by Goshi »

Kaiser wrote:
Elixir wrote:
Kaiser wrote:Uh I got a question, how do you take down the end boss in stage 4 (the one with lights, Shangri I think)? I'm stuck there currently. I'm asking more about HOW to take it down, rather what is the way to do it
Destroy all of the floaty lights, then destroy all of the parts of the boss outside of the circle (iirc, there's 4?) then once it breaks, crash into the boss.
Another question to you Elixir then, what is the best way to fight true last boss? Since apparently it is VERY EASY to time out on her in PSN version (the one i'm playing). Also how the heck can you beat a game without suicide bombing?
To beat the game without suicide bombing you can just use either Elixirel or Platina through Solo Voyage on Euridice (So you can avoid the TLB). I'm not sure if this will earn you the PSN trohpy though. Otherwise you'll just need to be good at avoiding the 1st boss' time over bullet rush. There's enough time to destroy the first arm until you get a time over.

As for defeating the TLB you need to destroy her dolls first. Each doll destroyed gives you a time extend as well. On her second form its a survival run (Though you can still damage her) until she starts using the attack the causes dolls to fall from the top of the screen. This when you can freely do damage until her last phase. Her last phase can only be killed through suicide bombing.
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chronicdog
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by chronicdog »

Just picked this up on Steam and I have to say its really fantastic. Only made it through the 3rd boss so far and needed to take a break, but the overall design is unique, and it feels like the "normal" difficulty curve is in a pretty sweet spot - the bullet patterns arent too insane but the game requires strategy and planning. Overall I highly recommend it. Havent tried the other 2 games in the collection but this is one alone is worth the $10.
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burgerkingdiamond
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by burgerkingdiamond »

chronicdog wrote:Just picked this up on Steam and I have to say its really fantastic. Only made it through the 3rd boss so far and needed to take a break, but the overall design is unique, and it feels like the "normal" difficulty curve is in a pretty sweet spot - the bullet patterns arent too insane but the game requires strategy and planning. Overall I highly recommend it. Havent tried the other 2 games in the collection but this is one alone is worth the $10.
Good for you man. This game is the shit. Personally I've only played the two sidescrollers for a few minutes each. They don't do anything for me, but I've spent hours playing HH.
Let's Ass Kick Together!
1CCs : Donpachi (PCB - 1st loop) Dodonpachi (PCB - 1st loop) Battle Bakraid (PCB) Armed Police Batrider (PCB) Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 (360 - Original) Mushihimesama Futari BL (PCB - Original)
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burgerkingdiamond
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by burgerkingdiamond »

I don't get how to use Rooty's mana attack.
Let's Ass Kick Together!
1CCs : Donpachi (PCB - 1st loop) Dodonpachi (PCB - 1st loop) Battle Bakraid (PCB) Armed Police Batrider (PCB) Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 (360 - Original) Mushihimesama Futari BL (PCB - Original)
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RNGmaster
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by RNGmaster »

AFAIK you wobble left and right like Psyvariar. It is really hard to do without a stick.
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burgerkingdiamond
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by burgerkingdiamond »

RNGmaster wrote:AFAIK you wobble left and right like Psyvariar. It is really hard to do without a stick.
ahh. Ok. That's what I thought it was but I couldn't get it to work. I'm using a pad, so I guess that explains it.
Let's Ass Kick Together!
1CCs : Donpachi (PCB - 1st loop) Dodonpachi (PCB - 1st loop) Battle Bakraid (PCB) Armed Police Batrider (PCB) Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 (360 - Original) Mushihimesama Futari BL (PCB - Original)
Meseki
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Re: ST - Hitogata Happa

Post by Meseki »

I just realized this guide is missing something extremely important for scoring: the value of gems.

As far as I can tell, the value of each gem seems to be affected as such:
-Picking up a (square?) gem: +10
-Letting a gem fall off the screen: -20 or -30?
-Dying without bombing: x0.5? (might apply on respawn as opposed to on death)
-Start of a stage: reset to zero

If this is correct, it means missing gems can be really bad for your score; possibly worse than not killing the enemy in some cases. This also gives more reason to try to bomb if you know you're going to die, as it doesn't decrease the gem value. Sometimes though, bombing doesn't seem to increase the gem value as much as it should, though I'm not sure what causes it (Some medium/large enemies? Triangular gems? Using certain characters [like Clover]?)
Also, it seems that killing enemies in ZOC range (or enemies with ZOC active) may increase the value quicker, even if there aren't bullets being turned into gems (or maybe it's a placebo effect on me from the early parts of Stage 1).

EDIT (10/04): It seems that the gem value maxes at 10,000.
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