Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO Int.

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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by xxx1993 »

I don't know... Dariusburst CS was pretty big anyway.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Tokyo-J »

Not the best price we have seen but $24.99 at Gamefly

https://www.gamefly.com/game/raiden-v-d ... ut/5014345
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Tokyo-J »

Raiden V: Directors Cut Limited Edition (PS4) $8.39 via GameStop w/ Code: CAG16 . https://www.gamestop.com/ps4/games/raid ... JwkOwmZLEg
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xxx1993

Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by xxx1993 »

Now it's on Switch... But is the Switch version the same as the PS4 one?
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by bigbadboaz »

Thanks for the post, Tokyo. Was the listing always for a pre-owned or have the new copies just sold out?
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by To Far Away Times »

Been playing this on switch and got the cheesey 6-C ending. Now it's time to work on the harder ones.

For anyone on the fence, I think its worth it. The game reminds me a bit of DariusBurst, not so much in how it plays, but in how it's a smart reimagining of an old franchise that brings in some new ideas while keeping the spirit of the old games.

The game does swing a bit casual but that's not neccessarily a bad thing.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Tokyo-J »

bigbadboaz wrote:Thanks for the post, Tokyo. Was the listing always for a pre-owned or have the new copies just sold out?
New ones are sold out.
A Hardcore gamers reaction to the Lack of Kinect games. Apparently i could of played Dodonpachi with it if i beat a entirely in Japanese Visional Novel piece of shit game called Instant Brain
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Tokyo-J »

xxx1993 wrote:Now it's on Switch... But is the Switch version the same as the PS4 one?
Yes they are the same.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by evil_ash_xero »

I wish to god you could just turn the sides black or have some kind of wallpaper. Those goofball looking characters really irritate me.
xxx1993

Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by xxx1993 »

Then it's not worth getting. I'm okay with the PS4 version.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Austin »

Figured I'd chime in on this thread again. I was pretty harsh on the original V when it came out, but picked the Drector's Cut earlier this year and put some time into it. After someone explained some of the mechanics I didn't understand and I put more time into it with that knowledge, the game started to grow on me. I've been back to plugging away at it these last two weeks in particular and finally nailed my first TLB normal mode 1CC.

When it comes to gameplay, there's definitely a different kind of ebb and flow to this compared to the prior Raiden games, but it starts to feel pretty good when you get familiar with enemy layouts, the general progression of each stage and start to focus on killing stuff fast. The music really helps with this flow and you'll start knowing what section you're coming up to just based on where the tune is going. And man... that music. Top notch stuff. Without it I'm not sure if I would have began to appreciate the game the way I did. It's almost too good all things considered. Really great stuff.

Being required to upgrade all weapons to Level 10 in order to fight the true final boss made the grind interesting to me. It forced me to try out different weapons, actually get used to how they operate and figure out when best to use them. I spent a lot of playthroughs just focusing on getting each respective weapon up to Level 10 to see how they behaved compared to other weapons. Obviously some weapons are overpowered (making others redundant), but the experimentation was a part of the fun in learning the game. Same with the different ship types.

I'm going to fire up the original Raiden V soon to make comparisons now that I'm pretty familiar with the Director's Cut, but the later definitely has some nice improvements as far as I can tell. Those bonus stages are absolutely huge for survival. On my last run I had something like seven or eight fairies stored up due to playing well. There's no way I would have had that without those bonus stages (nor would I probably have survived otherwise, ha).

I think the issue with this game isn't necessarily the game itself, but that a lot of people (like myself) jump into it treating it like any other Raiden game. For a series that's been around as long as it has in a specific kind of form, this really shouldn't be unexpected, nor should players be ashamed for that. That said, turn the voices and text overlays off, understand the mechanics, give it time and I think it can grow on some players that didn't initially like it.

I will say, having the story and voices on by default probably made for a bad first impression to a lot of people, but it is what it is, at least you can disable them. One thing I do wish was implemented was disabling the bloom effect. It actually physically strains my eyes with all the fast background movement and can make bullets difficult to see at times. I've gotten used to it but it still remains my biggest pet peeve with the game.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Kiken »

Austin wrote:Figured I'd chime in on this thread again. I was pretty harsh on the original V when it came out, but picked the Drector's Cut earlier this year and put some time into it. After someone explained some of the mechanics I didn't understand and I put more time into it with that knowledge, the game started to grow on me. I've been back to plugging away at it these last two weeks in particular and finally nailed my first TLB normal mode 1CC.

When it comes to gameplay, there's definitely a different kind of ebb and flow to this compared to the prior Raiden games, but it starts to feel pretty good when you get familiar with enemy layouts, the general progression of each stage and start to focus on killing stuff fast. The music really helps with this flow and you'll start knowing what section you're coming up to just based on where the tune is going. And man... that music. Top notch stuff. Without it I'm not sure if I would have began to appreciate the game the way I did. It's almost too good all things considered. Really great stuff.

Being required to upgrade all weapons to Level 10 in order to fight the true final boss made the grind interesting to me. It forced me to try out different weapons, actually get used to how they operate and figure out when best to use them. I spent a lot of playthroughs just focusing on getting each respective weapon up to Level 10 to see how they behaved compared to other weapons. Obviously some weapons are overpowered (making others redundant), but the experimentation was a part of the fun in learning the game. Same with the different ship types.

I'm going to fire up the original Raiden V soon to make comparisons now that I'm pretty familiar with the Director's Cut, but the later definitely has some nice improvements as far as I can tell. Those bonus stages are absolutely huge for survival. On my last run I had something like seven or eight fairies stored up due to playing well. There's no way I would have had that without those bonus stages (nor would I probably have survived otherwise, ha).

I think the issue with this game isn't necessarily the game itself, but that a lot of people (like myself) jump into it treating it like any other Raiden game. For a series that's been around as long as it has in a specific kind of form, this really shouldn't be unexpected, nor should players be ashamed for that. That said, turn the voices and text overlays off, understand the mechanics, give it time and I think it can grow on some players that didn't initially like it.

I will say, having the story and voices on by default probably made for a bad first impression to a lot of people, but it is what it is, at least you can disable them. One thing I do wish was implemented was disabling the bloom effect. It actually physically strains my eyes with all the fast background movement and can make bullets difficult to see at times. I've gotten used to it but it still remains my biggest pet peeve with the game.
Got up to the stage 8 boss last night, so I'm thinking I should be able to get an all clear soon. The game definitely feels more Compile-ish with the revised fairy/health-bar system and the overall length.

I find that bullet visibility is just an overall issue in this game... there's the excessive bloom in certain areas that you mentioned, then there are portions where the camera zooms way out, and finally some backgrounds just have poor colour choices in general (resulting in poor contrast). I could also do with fewer enemies appearing from behind without warning (on certain levels they just have a tendency to blend in with the background).

I've been using the sway red shot, the default blue laser and the multi-homing purple laser.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Jonpachi »

I was considering picking up the Switch port to finally put some more use into the FlipGrip, but given the contrast and bloom issues mentioned, do you guys think it's really playable in handheld mode?
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Kiken »

Jonpachi wrote:I was considering picking up the Switch port to finally put some more use into the FlipGrip, but given the contrast and bloom issues mentioned, do you guys think it's really playable in handheld mode?
The FlipGrip isn’t going to do you any good with this game as the playfield is square... much like Kamui. I would not want to play this game on anything smaller than a 26 inch screen (especially given the areas where the camera zooms out).
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Jonpachi »

Kiken wrote:
Jonpachi wrote:I was considering picking up the Switch port to finally put some more use into the FlipGrip, but given the contrast and bloom issues mentioned, do you guys think it's really playable in handheld mode?
The FlipGrip isn’t going to do you any good with this game as the playfield is square... much like Kamui. I would not want to play this game on anything smaller than a 26 inch screen (especially given the areas where the camera zooms out).
Ah dang. Well, I still went and bought it at lunch. ;)

I guess it'll be an "at home" shmup like most of 'em.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Austin »

Kiken wrote:Got up to the stage 8 boss last night, so I'm thinking I should be able to get an all clear soon. The game definitely feels more Compile-ish with the revised fairy/health-bar system and the overall length.

I find that bullet visibility is just an overall issue in this game... there's the excessive bloom in certain areas that you mentioned, then there are portions where the camera zooms way out, and finally some backgrounds just have poor colour choices in general (resulting in poor contrast). I could also do with fewer enemies appearing from behind without warning (on certain levels they just have a tendency to blend in with the background).

I've been using the sway red shot, the default blue laser and the multi-homing purple laser.
Oh yeah, definitely, there are plenty of poor color choices too. I've gotten used to them for the most part, but it does make you wonder what the devs were thinking. Someone mentioned to me, "Maybe it was to raise the difficulty," but if that's the case then I think it was a poor way of going about it. What I find interesting is that some color combinations were actually better in the original Raiden V. Not a lot, but some--like on Stage 5 there are a couple of enemy patterns that fire thick, yellow bullets on a blue background. Perfect. In the Director's Cut, they were changed to blue bullets on a blue background. Why? It was already fine. There were some other odd changes as well, like not dividing the cheer bar into three distinct parts in the DC version, whereas it is in the original. I went so long without realizing I could use a shorter cheer if the need arose.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by FRO »

Austin wrote:Figured I'd chime in on this thread again. I was pretty harsh on the original V when it came out, but picked the Drector's Cut earlier this year and put some time into it. After someone explained some of the mechanics I didn't understand and I put more time into it with that knowledge, the game started to grow on me. I've been back to plugging away at it these last two weeks in particular and finally nailed my first TLB normal mode 1CC.

When it comes to gameplay, there's definitely a different kind of ebb and flow to this compared to the prior Raiden games, but it starts to feel pretty good when you get familiar with enemy layouts, the general progression of each stage and start to focus on killing stuff fast. The music really helps with this flow and you'll start knowing what section you're coming up to just based on where the tune is going. And man... that music. Top notch stuff. Without it I'm not sure if I would have began to appreciate the game the way I did. It's almost too good all things considered. Really great stuff.

Being required to upgrade all weapons to Level 10 in order to fight the true final boss made the grind interesting to me. It forced me to try out different weapons, actually get used to how they operate and figure out when best to use them. I spent a lot of playthroughs just focusing on getting each respective weapon up to Level 10 to see how they behaved compared to other weapons. Obviously some weapons are overpowered (making others redundant), but the experimentation was a part of the fun in learning the game. Same with the different ship types.

I'm going to fire up the original Raiden V soon to make comparisons now that I'm pretty familiar with the Director's Cut, but the later definitely has some nice improvements as far as I can tell. Those bonus stages are absolutely huge for survival. On my last run I had something like seven or eight fairies stored up due to playing well. There's no way I would have had that without those bonus stages (nor would I probably have survived otherwise, ha).

I think the issue with this game isn't necessarily the game itself, but that a lot of people (like myself) jump into it treating it like any other Raiden game. For a series that's been around as long as it has in a specific kind of form, this really shouldn't be unexpected, nor should players be ashamed for that. That said, turn the voices and text overlays off, understand the mechanics, give it time and I think it can grow on some players that didn't initially like it.

I will say, having the story and voices on by default probably made for a bad first impression to a lot of people, but it is what it is, at least you can disable them. One thing I do wish was implemented was disabling the bloom effect. It actually physically strains my eyes with all the fast background movement and can make bullets difficult to see at times. I've gotten used to it but it still remains my biggest pet peeve with the game.
This is pretty much where I'm at, minus the 1CC - I'm still quite some distance from that goal! :lol:

But I would agree that you can't really think of it in the same way as you would the other main line Raiden titles. It feels more like a gaiden, in some ways, but I appreciate that they kept the basic formula, while adding to it. Going back to Raiden IV after playing V, I miss all the weapon choices, and I like all the cool combinations you can do with the 3 different choices for each weapon type. The Cheer system is a bit goofy, but I found it was easy to keep a finger on the trigger to just instantly tap whenever I heard the "ding" looking for cheers, and it didn't otherwise obstruct my ability to play and concentrate, with the added benefit of potentially being able to fill and use the Cheer gauge once, or even twice per level, when there were a lot of other people playing the game. It's nice having additional "get out of jail" options with the Cheer attacks, versus just a a standard bomb, and there's a bit of a risk/reward aspect to it as well, since the attacks aren't always the same from one playthrough or situation to the next. I really like the soundtrack, and while some of the graphical issues previously mentioned are definitely warranted complaints, and the VO/text is a downside (that can, thankfully, be turned off), I think the game does well to move the series beyond it's rather basic foundations. I double-dipped for the Switch version, and don't regret that whatsoever.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Jonpachi »

You guys weren't kidding about the color/contrast issues! As a game designer, it pains me to see these awful choices affecting gameplay. I'd fire my art director and jump into the PSDs myself if this was my game! Even playing on a 55" UHD set, it's a mess in places (orange/red bullets on an orange/red background). I feel like I'll adjust and just come to memorize certain trouble spots, but I'd have to ding 1 to 1.5 points off my score if I was writing a review.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Kiken »

Finally nailed my first SCC. Despite some really sloppy play, I managed to get up to the end with about 3 fairies remaining in stock and just turned the stage 8 boss and TLB into a war of attrition. Turns out that you can interrupt the Cheer Attack by taking a hit during its use (which will prevent the meter from fully depleting). All I can say about the TLB is.... SOOOOO MUCH PINK!

In regards to the Cheer System... in Splatoon, whenever a teammate Booyahs, it's considered good manners to Booyah back... in similar fashion, I feel you should always cheer on your fellow pilots (even if some of the "cheevos" are rather mundane).
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Flashman »

Austin wrote:Figured I'd chime in on this thread again. I was pretty harsh on the original V when it came out, but picked the Drector's Cut earlier this year and put some time into it. After someone explained some of the mechanics I didn't understand and I put more time into it with that knowledge, the game started to grow on me. I've been back to plugging away at it these last two weeks in particular and finally nailed my first TLB normal mode 1CC.

When it comes to gameplay, there's definitely a different kind of ebb and flow to this compared to the prior Raiden games, but it starts to feel pretty good when you get familiar with enemy layouts, the general progression of each stage and start to focus on killing stuff fast. The music really helps with this flow and you'll start knowing what section you're coming up to just based on where the tune is going. And man... that music. Top notch stuff. Without it I'm not sure if I would have began to appreciate the game the way I did. It's almost too good all things considered. Really great stuff.

Being required to upgrade all weapons to Level 10 in order to fight the true final boss made the grind interesting to me. It forced me to try out different weapons, actually get used to how they operate and figure out when best to use them. I spent a lot of playthroughs just focusing on getting each respective weapon up to Level 10 to see how they behaved compared to other weapons. Obviously some weapons are overpowered (making others redundant), but the experimentation was a part of the fun in learning the game. Same with the different ship types.

I'm going to fire up the original Raiden V soon to make comparisons now that I'm pretty familiar with the Director's Cut, but the later definitely has some nice improvements as far as I can tell. Those bonus stages are absolutely huge for survival. On my last run I had something like seven or eight fairies stored up due to playing well. There's no way I would have had that without those bonus stages (nor would I probably have survived otherwise, ha).

I think the issue with this game isn't necessarily the game itself, but that a lot of people (like myself) jump into it treating it like any other Raiden game. For a series that's been around as long as it has in a specific kind of form, this really shouldn't be unexpected, nor should players be ashamed for that. That said, turn the voices and text overlays off, understand the mechanics, give it time and I think it can grow on some players that didn't initially like it.

I will say, having the story and voices on by default probably made for a bad first impression to a lot of people, but it is what it is, at least you can disable them. One thing I do wish was implemented was disabling the bloom effect. It actually physically strains my eyes with all the fast background movement and can make bullets difficult to see at times. I've gotten used to it but it still remains my biggest pet peeve with the game.
Great stream of the game on Saturday Austin, you certainly put me in the mood to play it (DukeFlukeEm on twitch) :D Anyone who didn't see it live, check Austin's archive on YouTube.

I put some time into it yesterday, after just picking it up last week - its a lot tougher than you made it look! not played enough to voice an opinion one way or the other yet, the mechanics are not something you can master in a day, I get the feeling it's all I'll be playing for the next few weeks.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Austin »

Flashman wrote:I put some time into it yesterday, after just picking it up last week - its a lot tougher than you made it look! not played enough to voice an opinion one way or the other yet, the mechanics are not something you can master in a day, I get the feeling it's all I'll be playing for the next few weeks.
Funny enough, after putting a lot of time into it, I honestly don't think it's as hard as a lot of shooters I've played. The thing with this game is that it's LONG (90 minutes, approximately), so the stuff that is there takes longer to learn than the average game. Once I got the flow down it honestly wasn't as challenging as I initially thought it was. I mean, my first Director's Cut TFB 1CC led to an easy non-TFB 1CC on the original Raiden V immediately after, then another TFB Director's Cut 1CC the next day. Like with any stg, practice goes a loooong way to playing well consistently. Having a *plan* with this game also helps tremendously.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by RawlingGunnar »

I'm not sure how Moss and UFO made the switch version even less appealing than the PS4 version, but they managed it. Bad bouts of slowdown, simplified ship models and background elements, awful awful AWFUL sound balance... and what's the deal with needing Nintendo Online for realtime online/cheer functionality? That's kinda really dumb. I could do everything that's gated off on Switch in the PS4 version with no PSPlus needed. But I also wonder who's really to blame? Is it Moss? UFO? Or Nintendo?
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Austin »

If that's the case regarding slowdown, then that's disappointing to say the least.

The other versions didn't have the best sound balance and I generally had to make tweaks in the options menu, though I do wonder how much worse it is in the Switch version.

Regarding the cheer functionality, you can't do it in the Xbox One original either without an Xbox Live Gold subscription, so it sounds like Nintendo treats their online service functionality similarly. Given Sony has a paid online service, I was surprised when I fired up the PS4 version the other day that I could use the cheer system without having a PS+ account.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by GFoyle »

RawlingGunnar wrote:I'm not sure how Moss and UFO made the switch version even less appealing than the PS4 version, but they managed it. Bad bouts of slowdown, simplified ship models and background elements, awful awful AWFUL sound balance... and what's the deal with needing Nintendo Online for realtime online/cheer functionality? That's kinda really dumb. I could do everything that's gated off on Switch in the PS4 version with no PSPlus needed. But I also wonder who's really to blame? Is it Moss? UFO? Or Nintendo?
Strange that there is such slowdown. I haven't tried Raiden V on Switch, but I have Caladrius on both systems and the I didn't notice any problematic slowdown happening in that one at least. When played docked, the resolution, image seems a bit blurry and darker compared to PS4, but that is pretty much the most significant difference I noticed (and it's fine on handheld, doesn't look blurry at all). The graphics might have been simplified, but I didn't pay attention to that and it looked good enough for me, it's the gameplay what counts much more.

As for Nintendo Online requirement, I think their policy is that it's mandatory for online functionalities besides online leaderboards unless the game is free (if I remember correctly). So I think it's Nintendo what is to blame for that part. It's not like that system is mandatory anyway, more like distraction with the cheer notices happening all the time. I was play the game just yesterday on PS4 and suddenly the game halted because my internet connection cut for a minute, which cause the game to pause, which was much more annoying. I think I'm going to disable the cheer functionality as a result on PS4 as well.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by RawlingGunnar »

GFoyle wrote:Strange that there is such slowdown. I haven't tried Raiden V on Switch, but I have Caladrius on both systems and the I didn't notice any problematic slowdown happening in that one at least. When played docked, the resolution, image seems a bit blurry and darker compared to PS4, but that is pretty much the most significant difference I noticed (and it's fine on handheld, doesn't look blurry at all). The graphics might have been simplified, but I didn't pay attention to that and it looked good enough for me, it's the gameplay what counts much more.
I think Caldrius Blaze is running at 720p docked, it is definitely blurry compared to PS4 for sure. It also has really wonky sound balance.
GFoyle wrote:As for Nintendo Online requirement, I think their policy is that it's mandatory for online functionalities besides online leaderboards unless the game is free (if I remember correctly). So I think it's Nintendo what is to blame for that part. It's not like that system is mandatory anyway, more like distraction with the cheer notices happening all the time. I was play the game just yesterday on PS4 and suddenly the game halted because my internet connection cut for a minute, which cause the game to pause, which was much more annoying. I think I'm going to disable the cheer functionality as a result on PS4 as well.
The cheer system is take it or leave it regardless but what IS an issue is the lack of realtime score graphing which is simply for leaderboard tracking. It's also disabled with everything else.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by BrianC »

I heard Caladrius lacks Stereo on the Switch. On the fence on getting Raiden V, but I'll probably get it on PS4 if I get it. I like Caladrius Blaze on PS4, but I'm not a fan of the racy cut ins (which can be turned off, though there are achievements that can only be earned with them on). AFAIK, the only new censorship is that Lilith now has panties and otherwise she looks closer to how she looked on the original outside of AC mode. I'm surprised the game got a T rating. I heard Switch version retains some of the racier scenes, as well.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by MachineAres 1CC »

RawlingGunnar wrote:I'm not sure how Moss and UFO made the switch version even less appealing than the PS4 version, but they managed it. Bad bouts of slowdown, simplified ship models and background elements, awful awful AWFUL sound balance... and what's the deal with needing Nintendo Online for realtime online/cheer functionality? That's kinda really dumb. I could do everything that's gated off on Switch in the PS4 version with no PSPlus needed. But I also wonder who's really to blame? Is it Moss? UFO? Or Nintendo?
Jesus, this sounds awful, but is unfortunately the case with so many Switch ports nowadays. I don't know if devs are just lazy and trying to rush their shit out on the console while the hype is still there, but some games have just been unplayable and there's been mass kickback towards devs for this stuff. One of the most notable lately was Bloodstained, which everyone I know who bought the Switch version sold it within a day or two because it was so bad.

Maybe Nintendo's hardware architecture isn't as easy to work with as Nintendo fanboys and mobile game devs seem to think it is, but I have a feeling the rushing to meet the console hype thing is very real too. Part of me is glad there's almost no actually exclusive shmups on Switch that are worth a damn, cause mine is basically a paperweight 51 weeks out of the year, and it saves me from having to drag it out to play anything.

Also, I just finished getting all the trophies in the PS4 version of Raiden V after playing the Xbox release when it came out a few years ago, and I have to say the Director's Cut is a damn mess. Those extra medal collection stages they added are just dumb and add even more running time (about 10-12 minutes) to the game that's not necessary in an already-long game. I honestly prefer the original XB1 release to this one, the flow of the game feels much better. Those new stages were the only thing that changed, as far as I can tell, they just needed an excuse to call it a different "edition" I guess.
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Austin
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Austin »

Those bonus stages in particular are some of the most enjoyable parts of the Director's Cut for me. They do add to the length of the game but also allow for a reprieve from the grind, since you can't die and the rewards are huge: Three fairies, three bombs and a large chunk of health back per bonus stage if played well; At least six extra weapon power-ups between the two bonus rounds, making the Level 10 requirement for the TFB a lot more manageable. As far as the rest of the game is concerned, the last couple of areas in the DC version are significantly more intense, which I'd say is a plus. Other areas seem to be better balanced as well, with less snipers coming from behind (the second half of stage 5 is a good example) among other minor tweaks. Some areas with some glitchy behavior in the original have been fixed as well (like on stage 1 where tanks out of sight halfway under a bridge used to be able to shoot right through them. Nothing like getting sniped by an enemy that's not even visible on the screen!).
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Jonpachi
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by Jonpachi »

I've been putting some time in with this game on the Switch, and I've reached a point where the visuals have become my greatest foe. There's a section of stage 5 where you're over an ocean, and just for fun the majority of bullets are light blue little pellets that just disappear into the background. In handheld mode, it's so blurry that it feels like I'm playing on a CRT with an old red/white/yellow AV cable, and I'd say some 60% of my deaths are from "wtf hit me?" moments. I don't find the overall performance to be an issue at least. There are some hiccups when parts of bosses explode, etc, but it's not something that really seems to hurt movement in key moments. I haven't played it much in docked mode yet, so perhaps it holds up a bit better on a proper tv, but for $40 it's a bit of a let-down.

I'd also +1 in hating the mission stages. I wish I could just turn them off, as it's already a lengthy play-through. I mostly play on my commute, and I've had some 30 minute train rides where I have to pause and put the game into sleep mode as I'm still not through a single run. Having to slog through the missions just makes me not want to play another run.
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Re: Raiden V: Director's Cut for PS4 to be released by UFO I

Post by GFoyle »

The visibility of some of the bullets is one of the issues in the game on all consoles, so having it on small screen on Switch is not really the something which would be caused by bad porting. Of course the problem becomes worse if you need to use worse resolution too when playing docked.

Some of those things mentioned as critique for the port sound like relatively minor things and not like it's really badly made port. Same thing for the Caladrius, I couldn't personally care less if the sound is in mono and not in stereo if that is really the case with that port.

From the two MOSS releases, I personally prefer Caladrius. I feel it's more varied, not that overly long, doesn't have the same visibility problems, doesn't have the stupid story text on the game area all the time and so on. It's also enjoyable on portable mode for more casual playing.
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