Espgaluda II -official-

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Mon May 22, 2006 2:00 am

Yes, they will. Just email and ask, as it won't be in the catalogue. They will special order only.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri May 26, 2006 10:16 am

SOLD OUT!!!!

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Fri May 26, 2006 10:18 am

GaijinPunch wrote:SOLD OUT!!!!

wft?? did you snag one?

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri May 26, 2006 10:26 am

In a very round-about way, yes.

I emailed Cave to ask if they'd repress it, but said there are no plans at the moment.

Post by **Dave_K.** » Fri May 26, 2006 5:49 pm

Huh? Sold out in 5 days? Did they press 500 copies only or something? Was this a limited release? As usual, sounds like Cave marketing hype, and not something they actually planned to make money on.

Well if Cave does the port, lets hope they include the superplay.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri May 26, 2006 8:37 pm

They sold out in about 2 days, actually. I just didn't see it until last night. In all honesty, I think the motive behind all of their goods they're selling (Ibara figures and LE Soundtracks, etc.) is not to make money in the least, but increase their number of Gesen Yokocho subscribers. I assume they can make about $20 per CD/DVD or whatever (don't know on the figures) but it's presumably more profitable to have a few hundred new subscribers. Roughly 300 yen a month works out to 3600 yen a year per subscriber.

MrMonkeyMan · Post by **MrMonkeyMan** » Fri May 26, 2006 10:06 pm

I snagged one too. These superplays better make this game look really good because I'm still unsure about this whole Zesshikai thing.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri May 26, 2006 10:32 pm

Word is on 2ch that the quality of the DVDs isn't that good... at least not for a product. A few people said 3500 for DVDs + 3500 for the book is a good purchase. We'll see. Mine was shipped today.

I put up a video of stage 1 if you need it to hold you. Zesshikai is a good thing. If you think about it, there's really no multiplier manipulation in the first ESPGaluda. The idea is to keep your gold as high as possible. Now, it's actively depleted, so makes for more creative play.

You considering lifting the PCB? I would've assumed a port would've been announced by now.

MrMonkeyMan · Post by **MrMonkeyMan** » Fri May 26, 2006 10:45 pm

The thought of picking up the PCB has crossed my mind. I'd still rather pick up a port on the cheap in the summer if it ever does get announced.

The thing about the Zesshikai is it pretty much makes the normal Kakusei mode almost useless. You use Kakusei for a few quick bursts to collect gold, then it seems you usually just hoard gems for one long Zesshikai chain. Maybe it's more fun to play than to watch.

I do like that you get more gems the closer to the enemies you are.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri May 26, 2006 11:03 pm

Really depends on where you are in the game. Indeed, normal kakusei isn't really used for scoring, although it can make a few million difference in a few places. There are several parts in the game (start of stage 4 & 6 come to mind) where you use zesshikai-over mode to hoard gold, not normal kakusei.

The board is getting relatively affordable, but the yen just got pretty strong. Even down to 110 to the dollar. Buying from HK might be the way to go.

Valgar · Post by **Valgar** » Fri May 26, 2006 11:48 pm

MrMonkeyMan wrote:The thought of picking up the PCB has crossed my mind. I'd still rather pick up a port on the cheap in the summer if it ever does get announced.

The thing about the Zesshikai is it pretty much makes the normal Kakusei mode almost useless. You use Kakusei for a few quick bursts to collect gold, then it seems you usually just hoard gems for one long Zesshikai chain. Maybe it's more fun to play than to watch.

I do like that you get more gems the closer to the enemies you are.

See, this was my concern way way way back when the game was first being played.

I'm also suprised no port has been announced or anything like that.

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Sat May 27, 2006 12:27 am

I'd bet Arika is doing this port, and they'll include the superplay DVD in the PS2 port, just like the first ESPGaluda port. This is probably why there was such a small print run of the DVD now. If Arika is doing the port then this is what is causing the delay (they take more time than Cave's rushed ports), and we might not see it until the end of the year. Anyway, time will tell and yes this is just speculation on my part.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sat May 27, 2006 12:51 am

See, this was my concern way way way back when the game was first being played.

Really just depends on how you play it. I've seen people go into a stage with loads of gold and almost no gems. Get a few gems, moderate zesshikai->rinse & repeat.

I'm very curious to see the Asagi plays. I never mentioned it in the strategy thread, but her gem consumption is 1.5x that of the other two characters.

MrMonkeyMan · Post by **MrMonkeyMan** » Sat May 27, 2006 1:12 am

Well, I'm hoping I'm wrong and I'll see lots of things I just never expected on the DVD. I figured the Over mode was completely useless this time around (other than filling it up on the first stage), but using the Zesshikai over mode for gold on the later levels sounds interesting.

Post by **Icarus** » Sat May 27, 2006 1:13 am

GaijinPunch wrote:I'm very curious to see the Asagi plays. I never mentioned it in the strategy thread, but her gem consumption is 1.5x that of the other two characters.

I'd imagine her power in both vanilla and Zesshikai Kakusei would be increased to compensate for the increased gem consumption?

If not, then I'd reckon that's a very odd handicap for dedicated Asagi players.

MrMonkeyMan · Post by **MrMonkeyMan** » Sat May 27, 2006 1:19 am

Well, her lock on shot in Kakusei mode, from what I've seen, is the most powerful attack in the game by far.

Post by **Icarus** » Sat May 27, 2006 1:55 am

MrMonkeyMan wrote:Well, her lock on shot in Kakusei mode, from what I've seen, is the most powerful attack in the game by far.

Well, that makes some sense. I would imagine that Asagi strategies are a lot more focused on short, controlled, hard hitting chain bursts with more large enemies in each segment, and a lot of gem hoarding, moreso than Ageha and Tateha's typical strategies.

Ageha and Tateha rely on similar stage movements, just like the first game, which would sort of explain why the current records for Ageha and Tateha are very close together, while Asagi's current top record is somewhere else.

chtimi-CLA · Post by **chtimi-CLA** » Sat May 27, 2006 10:10 am

twe wrote:I'd bet Arika is doing this port, and they'll include the superplay DVD in the PS2 port, just like the first ESPGaluda port. This is probably why there was such a small print run of the DVD now. If Arika is doing the port then this is what is causing the delay (they take more time than Cave's rushed ports), and we might not see it until the end of the year. Anyway, time will tell and yes this is just speculation on my part.

that's what i'm hoping too, arika and cave have done this superplay and they were together at that arcade show recently.
arika or bust, if it's taito i'll wait a bit and get the pcb.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sat May 27, 2006 10:31 am

but using the Zesshikai over mode for gold on the later levels sounds interesting.

I use zesshikai over mode on the last 2 forms of the 3rd boss. Start of stage 4, and start of stage 6. I saw a pretty high level Tateha play (some random guy), and he used it (successfully) 3 times on stage 6 alone.

Asagi is a bizarre character. In normal mode, she's the weakest character. Even her laser sucks. In kakusei, she's the strongest (her laser being a "demon" weapon, as they say). She cuts through the last pattern of the last boss in like 5 seconds. It's unreal. Her shot is also powered up in kakusei mode, which as you know can mean fewer points unless you're gentle.

As far as Tateha and Ageha, there are more differences in them this time around. Ageha's laser in normal mode is noticeably weaker than Agehas. This mainly has effect on scroing on bosses. Look at the Stage 2 promo vid at Cave's site. See how he does zesshikai 3 times on the 2nd boss, w/ no barrier, and no waiting? Can't do that w/ Tateha. Normal Seseri as well, now that I think about it. Tateha would no doubt have to survive an extra wave on the 2nd form.

On the flip side though, Tateha's spread shot comes in VERY handy on a few parts on stage 4, and pretty much all of stage 5 and 6. So much shit flying form all corners.

I'm sure the DVDs will have a lot of goodies, MMM. When I saw TAC play, he did some pretty crazy kung-fu, which I'm assuming he stuck w/. His stage 2 pattern was different than anything I had seen, and he actually zesshikai'ed the 3rd stage mid-boss (also never seen that). Also did some wacky shit on the last boss. If you time it perfectly, there's a safe spot on one of the really hard patterns, but you gotta go back and forth like 5 times. I guess I'll find out when the DVD arrives.

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Tue May 30, 2006 9:21 am

I asked Arika whether or not they are doing a ESPGaluda 2 port for the PS2, and they replied back today saying "currently, our firm is not doing it". Of course all correspondence was in Japanese. Here is the exact reply in Japanese, for those interested:

メールにて頂いた件なのですが、
エスプガルーダ2の移植につきましては、現在弊社では行っておりません。

So it looks like an Arika port is not to be (though the 'currently' part is interesting...).

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Tue May 30, 2006 6:55 pm

Yeah, most companies are full of shit though. Of course they'd tell you that.

Fingers crossed. I can't handle another butchered port.

Dandy J · Post by **Dandy J** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:34 pm

MAYBE THEYRE ALREADY DONE WITH IT~

...

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:39 pm

GaijinPunch wrote: I can't handle another butchered port.

Well, you'll still have the PCB to play, regardless of the port.

SAM · Post by **SAM** » Wed May 31, 2006 7:02 am

twe wrote:
GaijinPunch wrote: I can't handle another butchered port.
Well, you'll still have the PCB to play, regardless of the port.

Yes, you are one of the few who own the actual PCB.

After I rise enough money to buy those wooden block games, I would start rising money for a Mushihime Sama & Ketsui PCB...

For ESPgaluda 2, it might just got a console port and the 2nd hand price of its PCB might lowers.... In other word, It is not the time yet, I still have to wit a bit. That means I won't able to play the game at home within 2 year...

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Wed May 31, 2006 8:51 am

SAM wrote:
twe wrote:
GaijinPunch wrote: I can't handle another butchered port.
Well, you'll still have the PCB to play, regardless of the port.
After I rise enough money to buy those wooden block games, I would start rising money for a Mushihime Sama & Ketsui PCB...

For ESPgaluda 2, it might just got a console port and the 2nd hand price of its PCB might lowers.... In other word, It is not the time yet, I still have to wit a bit. That means I won't able to play the game at home within 2 year...

fyi mushimesama PCBs are more expensive than ESPgaluda 2 PCBs...

eckart · Post by **eckart** » Wed May 31, 2006 9:43 am

I paid 780 dollar for a mushihme sama pcb from excellent last week. - It was claimed as pcb only, but was send in a cave box. It was a nice surprise.

Anyway, it is my second ms pcb ( the other one is gone ) and this one also didn`t safe the highscores correct. If I made a hs in maniac, it safes under ultra.- But I didn`t realy bother about it. - love this game.

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Wed May 31, 2006 10:03 am

eckart wrote:If I made a hs in maniac, it safes under ultra.

Strange. The Mushi board at the Casino arcade in London does the exact same thing. Seems to be a common issue with Mushi boards.

eckart · Post by **eckart** » Wed May 31, 2006 10:43 am

Ah, - glad that I am not the only one with this problem.

If I leave the default settings ( turn continiue to off ) than the board safe nothing. Not even display the todays scores after playing.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed May 31, 2006 11:44 am

Yes, I do own the PCB, and have played the shit out of it. I still will buy a port either way, but will of course bitch if it's a bad one.

I did lift the Mushi PCB for 105,000 yen. The seller ordered me something else I needed, so it worked out. It doesn't have the POP, but it has a mint box, and instruction card, sticker and manual. I figured it was worth the extra $100 or so... I just have to lie to myself about the dollar yen a little. When I put the money in yen a few months ago, it was a lot better.

As for the DVD:
GET!!!!

I've only watched the Ageha replay, but all I can say is that I've got a lot of work to do. Here's some details.

1: It's a 2-miss play. The one on stage 3rd boss wasn't a suicide, but something tells me suicide is somewhere in in his gameplan (for reasons I'll state below)

2: He exploits the gems bug (read the strategy thread for details)

3: Stage 1 is about 50 million points

4: Uses barrier a LOT to get right on top of mid-bosses and bosses to milk them for gems.

Very impressive play.

The book:
-Only a few new pictures. General stuff you'd find on the website, plus all the text found there (and Arcadia). One page is dedicated to the postcards that were featured in the Arcadia drawing (all 3 are Asagi in a kimono).

-Maps of all stages, plus stats (score, gold, gems) of enemies.

-Comments by both players

-A little snapshot of the whiteboard they were using during the 1-month of filming

-Some secrets such as the gems bug, a bug (feature?) on only losing 50% of your guard barrier in zesshikai mode. Also states that the gems/gold fountain on stage 2 is completely random, which is just not the case. If that were so, it wouldn't be one thing 80% of the time, now would it?

-There's some outtakes and stuff I've not touched yet.

Overall, I'm very pleased with my purchase.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed May 31, 2006 7:22 pm

Watched the other two plays.

Tateha is a very impressive 1-miss run, and is the only run that features Shin Seseri. He suicides at the very end of her last form to regain gems and barrier for the last pattern, and of course, stage 6.

-Also exploits the tutorial gems bug
-Appears to have one minor goofup on the stage 4 boss to gain some gold.
-Highest scoring of the 3.

The Asagi run is the smallest scoring, but has the most diverse play. As her gem consumption is 1.5x that of the other two characters, the zesshi kakusei scoring opportunities are broken up, or in all around different places.

-Does not exploit the tutorial bug
-1-miss (suicide on stage 4)
-Cuts through the last bosses like butter