iplaymyshmups wrote:
I've been playing Donpachi and it's sequels for nearly 2 decades now. Never got to the true final bosses in any of those games. I wonder how some of you folks even do it?
Part of it is simple tenacity - you keep playing and playing and eventually you'll feel something "click" for you and get noticeably better. But even good players have days where they feel like they're playing badly.
As far as getting to the true final boss, there are some games out there that are sufficiently difficult that even seeing the true final boss (such as Hibachi in DFK's Ura loop or DOOM in Ketsui's Ura loop) is simply not going to realistically happen for the majority of players. They're designed that only seriously hardcore players with the right combination of intense practice and raw talent will ever see those ultra secret bosses. It's just the nature of the game. You might never make it to a Hibachi battle. And that's OK.
Don't feel pressured like you're not able to enjoy the games just because you're not able to encounter the ridiculously hard super secret bosses. In most games a 1CC of the first loop is a realistically achievable goal for the average player whereas a 2-loop clear is a far, far steeper hill to climb.
Honestly, though, just keep playing the games and putting the hours in, and the more you play, the more dodging will become instinctive and natural and eventually you put that together with familiarity with the game's patterns and you'll see progress.