PoFV Yuuka was my first Lunatic 1CC. Weird game, probably the weirdest behind TH01, and one I've got conflicting feelings on. Never played it multiplayer, but I have a hard time believing it's any competition to Twinkle Star Sprites. Pretty much everything in that game is set up to enhance versus play, while pretty much nothing in PoFV seems to be.
Played solo, PoFV's mechanically unbalanced, has intrusive bugs (plus the infamous Ass Fairies you've encountered), and certainly isn't as dynamically complex as PoDD. But there's a rare animal thrill in the fight for score through momentary chaos. The final boss typifies it best: true hell on earth,
real danmaku shit, and the only path is defiance till death.
Don't know how helpful they'll be, but here are some tips anyway:
- Most characters' level 1s can be used in tandem with normal shot, thus improving coverage. Try charging a level 1 or 2 in the gap between starting each combo such that the chain doesn't drop. Spamming level 2s constantly is fundamental to scoreplay as it keeps a lot of garbage in rotation (this of course makes the game harder).
- Try to get used to not using the focus button except for scoping spirits, in order to not despawn fairy waves. Youmu and Marisa theoretically never need to focus due to how their level 1s work.
- Most bullets are aimed at you; use the whole width of the screen to misdirect, and fight for vertical space so you can back up as needed. Being higher up will make your level 2/3/4 cancels more efficient too.
- Free boss spells appear
only at 100k, 300k and 500k spell points. Keeping track of the opponent's spell points, and/or intentionally dropping your chain to get a summon to counter an enemy boss are good survival tactics.
- If you have a charge held and get hit, avoid releasing it until you regain control or the game won't award you any commiseration meter (the "deathcharge" bug).
- Sakuya's EX attacks visibly travel from her screen. Keeping a peripheral eye open for them can help you stay away (you don't want to get close, the hitbox on them is horrible). No such courtesy exists for Marisa's lasers where often the optimal play is to eat shit. Edit: Actually it's only Marisa's boss lasers but they're all stupid anyway
- The AI's survival timer drops drastically if you lose, as does the rank. If you can afford to die a lot on a later stage, victory is almost inevitable. There are plenty of score extends, but getting them is nontrivial.
I like some of this game's endings so I'd be happy to see you comfortable clearing it, but I'd be even more happy if you achieved
BONUS!.
To Far Away Times wrote:The AI in PoFV is total bullshit. Zun couldn't program your AI opponent to actually dodge stuff, so he did some funky stuff with turning off hit boxes in order for them to put up enough of a fight.
It doesn't cheat, it's just inhumanly good at dodging. You'd be surprised at how many "impossible" things can be done with robot control.