Risk System (Steam)

[xxx1993]

Thanks.

[Austin]

Figured I'd bump this instead of starting a new thread. This game was just released on PS4 a few days ago. I received a copy of it last night and took some time to finish it at least once. Just some random thoughts for folks that haven't tried it:

- The inertia is questionable but you get used to it. I still think it was a bad idea (inertia usually is), but you never have bullet patterns dense enough for it to really be an issue.
- The game relies heavily on bullet scraping. Scraping builds your bomb meter. The distance to enable scraping is quite generous.
- I saw an older post stating bosses take forever to kill. If you're shooting normally, then yes. However, when you roll, scrape and shoot at the same time, your attack intensifies ten-fold. The bosses are designed around this, along with scraping to build your bomb, then actually using your bomb regularly.
- Bosses are extremely memorization heavy. There's not much flexibility on how you tackle the later ones in particular. Some are slightly puzzle oriented as well, requiring you to charge your bomb and use it at specific times to get past impenetrable walls of lasers and bullets.
- Player has infinite continues and there's a checkpoint at every boss, so on a first run you can just repeat the boss fights over and over until you have learned the patterns.
- The stages themselves weren't too bad (there were a lot of health drops) once I got the hang of the scraping and bomb mechanics. The level design itself isn't all that interesting and it tends to repeat the same kinds of mechanics over and over again (like enemies in the background doing a specific kind of lock-on attack). It's still fun but don't expect wildly unique enemy combinations and placement.
- Visuals aren't going to blow anyone away, but it's still a solid, retro style aesthetic overall (I'd go with late 16-bit, early 32-bit era). Production values on things like character portrait animations and voice acting is solid.
- This is just pure conjecture as I only did one playthrough (and died a ton on most of the bosses), but when I go to "continue" my game from the title screen, despite a completed run it shows stages 5 and 6 as blank. With that I'm thinking there are multiple routes/endings based on performance (my ending also seemed "bad", so I'm guessing there are "good" endings). Also, your score gets wiped out when you continue, so if you're looking to score big, it's basically a 1CC or bust.
- Screen shake and story options can be disabled.

Overall I enjoyed the game in the end and will certainly come back to it. It seems like a solid little package for the price. It especially invoked 16-bit vibes, with its heavy boss memorization ("learn or fail" kind of gameplay), story elements and ending/credits execution.

That said, the inertia put me off at first and a couple of other, possibly PS4-specific issues made me salty when I booted it up. First off, the sound is ridiculously low. I had to crank my headphones all the way up and it was still quiet. I verified the options menu sound options were maxed, as well as anything I could tweak in the PS4 system settings. I power cycled the console, reloaded the game and the issue was still there, so it's a game-specific problem. Second, the game seems to be designed for the PS4 Dual Shock and nothing else. There are zero controller configuration options, which was especially problematic because I was using my arcade stick. Square and X are for rolling up and down, Circle is for bomb and R1 is for fire. Needless to say, playing with the stick wasn't all that comfortable. There's little excuse to not have controller options in this day and age, especially for a game of this type.

If anyone can chime in regarding these issues and other versions of the game (Steam, Switch, Xbox One), I'd like to hear what's up with those ports.

[xxx1993]

I'm reluctant to get this because it's really hard to reach the true final boss and ending... And considering how much I struggled with Psyvariar 1 and 2...

[DenimDemon]

Well I got this last week and have been obsessively playing it. Finally did beat last night and now I’m aiming to TLB since I think I can do it. You unlock a caravan mode after beating the game and was really enjoying it as well.
I don’t know what people here think about it but it’s easily one of the best “new” stg I’ve played in a while. Yeah the ship feels heavy but you do get used to it after a while…What I felt was a bit more complicated to my brain was to get used to pressing the pad buttons to roll to desired direction. But again after some time I got used to it. There a few small things that I would like them to try on a possible second game or even update but I guess I’ll post about that some other day.
There’s a certain Treasure vibe to this game. A certain punch. I’m really surprised and would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to try something different.

Btw I’m playing on Switch. Just noticed I’m on 6th on the first boss time record…Doesn’t seem to be that many people playing it. Again, great game.

[ExitPlanetDust]

This is getting a physical release for Switch and PS4 by VGNY. It doesn’t seem to have much of a fandom, but this might make some happy.

There are a couple of really fantastic clears on YouTube now. One from someone who was pretty dedicated to the game when it released on Switch, and another from a different player who has mastered the ship’s movement to the point of being almost playful in their clear.

[soupbones]

Ooooh - count me as one of those weirdos that actually loved this game.

Might have to grab this on PS4 - a shame it's not a proper PS5 disc though. Ps4 is like, so last gen.

[ExitPlanetDust]

It seems like we’re lucky to get a PS4 version at all as these limited release publishers are chasing that collectible Switch money. The Switch version is an open or regular release while the PS4 version will be limited to 1500 discs.

[ExitPlanetDust]

I was able to resolve an issue with my PayPal and free up some money that had been trapped in the account for a couple of years so I ordered the base PS4 version. Hopefully it clicks with me and it ships in the earlier part of Q3.

[ExitPlanetDust]

This is a pitifully low 97 cents on the U.S. PSN store right now. At that price, why not. I’ll double dip so I don’t have to wait another month and a half for the disc.

After several playthroughs of the first stage to experiment with the controls I struggle to call this a SHMUP. It’s more of a 2D aerial tricks game with gunplay. I know the inertia has been discussed to death, but I don’t think it’s that bad. She’s a heavy ship and the gameplay is built around that. The barrel roll is instant and you can counter steer it to thread the needle. I kind of dig it. But yeah, anyone looking for a traditional SHMUP experience should probably avoid this game unless they’re looking for something really unconventional.

It’s weird. Like someone making run n’ gun with Prince of Persia movement?

[ExitPlanetDust]

Posting into the void here. I’ve been playing the hell out of this since I bought it on sale. I still can’t quite keep it together for the 1cc however. Twin sis can kiss my ass. She has a pattern that trips me up, but I think I’ve found an easy strategy and I’m hoping I can apply it and wrap things up tonight. The TLB equally has one attack in its lineup that is very hard to counter. Other than those two sticking points and a wave of enemies in mission 4 that gives me trouble, I feel like the game is incredibly forgiving. After some light memorization it’s easy to recover lost health if the player can manage to kill a few enemies after a hit.

Edit: 1cc is done. I’m 3rd on the boards, though it wasn’t hard as no one has played this game, lol.

There are some really cool speed kills for a few bosses once you get the hang of counter rolls. Manual shot is the way to go, imo. Just enable it in the options menu and force yourself to learn. It allows you to hold your fire and set up bigger scoring opportunities, or even kill waves of enemies faster baiting enemy shots for power. There are also some fun safe spots and exploitable waves that make some stages very easy. I found a way to cruise through the first 1/3 of the last mission. It works so well that the game starts dropping inputs from all of the explosions. That’s another thing; dear Jesus the strobing in this game is insane. I’m not really sensitive to that sort of thing, but I wake up with headaches the morning after a serious session.

There’s a certain Treasure vibe to this game. A certain punch. I’m really surprised and would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to try something different.

Agreed. This game totally has a 32-bit experimental shmup feel. Like a developer who normally doesn’t make shmups randomly making one for the PS1.

Btw I’m playing on Switch. Just noticed I’m on 6th on the first boss time record…Doesn’t seem to be that many people playing it. Again, great game.

I know your post is years old at this point, but yeah this game is dead, was dead, never seemed to have a chance. I’m glad VGNY picked it up for a disc and cart print so it has some kind of legacy. In this era of refined genre tastes and little outside interest from those not dedicated to the genre, this game really has no audience. Maybe it would have if it were released during the 32-bit era.

[ExitPlanetDust]

Disc is here!

Spoiler

[DenimDemon]

Disc is here!

Spoiler

You're bump just made me want to play a few runs.
Yeah this game is fantastic once you get the flow going.

[ExitPlanetDust]

Your bump just made me want to play a few runs.
Yeah this game is fantastic once you get the flow going.

I’ve been meaning to make a few runs myself. I think I’m 1st on the in-game PS boards now, but it’s a segmented score from when I was testing speed kill strats on the TLB. I wanted to get a full legit run to bump the phony top spot.

Definitely head over to the hi score thread. It’s depressingly quiet over there.