Shikigami no Shiro 2 Question...

[D_Davis]

I am not trying to start a flame war, or question anyone's opinion here, but I have to ask - why is Shikigami no Shiro 2 so popular on this board? I ordered an import copy on the DC and have had it since its release, but I have only played it a few times. I just get really, really bored with it - to me it feels so mediocre. What am I missing? Does it just get damn awesome after the 3rd or 4th level? Is there some super-duper awesome strategy I do not know about?

Again, not trying to create a riff here, just curious because I hear nothing but praise for this game from different people on different boards and I just don't see it.

[Frederik]

Um, well. I don`t know if you missed out on the tension system - if you did, I`ll explain it to you quickly. When you get near enemies bullets, you might notice your aura is going to change it`s colour, and when you`re the nearest it is red. Now, if you kill enemies with your secondary weapon, coins will be released that you automatically suck in. The closer you are to a bullet at that time, the higher your coin value will be.

So basically, if you want your score not so suck, you will want to constantly have your secondary weapon activated while grazing bullets as much as possible, and as close as possible. It`s a risk/reward system. Without it the game is pretty much pointless, if you play for survival only. Oh, and you`ll get the first extend pretty soon if you do it right.

If you knew this all and still think it sucks, well, then here`s my pro tip: You might not like it

Besides, the game has a certain slowish feel to it. Later on the patterns get really dense, but don`t worry, if you want to score high, you`ll pretty busy NOT running into bullet, but barely missing them. For beginners this...young boy with the backpack is recommendable, since you can focus on grazing while his secondary weapon (the ghost) kills enemies automatically for you.

[D_Davis]

Okay I see - so it's more a points based game. I usually like to play for survival - the only game I really play for points is DDP.

I just thought the game was kind of bland, like PSYVIAR(sp?) 2 as well. Hmm, I just thought I must have been missing something huge because most shmuppers really seem to like it.

Thanks for the explanation though, I appreciate it!

[professor ganson]

Here's the thing: the first few levels are not of much interest survival-wise, but are quite interesting score-wise. Later levels are great in both respects.

I consider myself a relative newbie with respect to shmups, yet I feel confident in saying that SnS II is one of the best shmups ever-- clearly top 25, for me top 10.

[sffan]

I used to enjoy this game a lot, but I never could get past that block-boss so I gave up on it. I like Shiki 1 better.

[Herr Schatten]

I used to enjoy this game a lot, but I never could get past that block-boss so I gave up on it. I like Shiki 1 better.

The stage 3 midboss? Try playing with Niigi.

[nZero]

That's funny. The block boss was my favorite part. Everything else felt really mediocre, all told it's probably my least favorite shmup for the DC. Yes, I'm aware of how the tension system and the coins and everything work.

[howmuchkeefe]

Hmm... too many freaks and weird castles. I hate activities.

[D_Davis]

That's funny. The block boss was my favorite part. Everything else felt really mediocre, all told it's probably my least favorite shmup for the DC. Yes, I'm aware of how the tension system and the coins and everything work.

For me the block boss is the highlight, but it feels really out of place in context with the rest of the game. Kind of the like that last couple sequences in SILPHEED (sp?), the ones you can tell that someone from TREASURE must have worked on. The game is totally bland but then suddenly out of nowhere there are a few little touches that are great.

I've been shmupping for ages, and I just don't get the draw of the game.

This is the really cool thing about shmups in general. To most people they all look like the same game, but dedicated fans all have favorites that differ vastly from person to person.

[BulletMagnet]

I just thought the game was kind of bland, like PSYVIAR(sp?) 2 as well.

Psyvariar uses a somewhat similar system to Shiki, actually, in case you weren't aware of it...in Psy, the idea is again to get very close to bullets without letting them hit you, but instead of multiplying point values it (along with shooting enemies) instead fills up a "graze meter" at the top of the screen: once the gauge is completely full you'll "level up" and be given a few moments of invincibility, which you can use to charge through masses of bullets for even more points, and perhaps even fill the gauge again. There are other mechanics too ("rolling" for one), check the Strategy forum, there's a FAQ for it someplace in there: like Shiki, it's meant to be played for score rather than purely survival (in fact, you need to "level up" a certain amount of times just to reach the last level).

For the record, Shiki II is one of my favorites.

[gavin19]

I've probably played Shiki 2 more than any other shmup I own. I guess if you like to play for survival then the Extreme game would be the obvious choice. You could try playing with Kuga using only his Shiki attack, concentrating on dodging bullets instead. There's a lot of variety in the characters and their respective Shiki attacks that it seems a lot deeper than other similar shmups eg. Psyvariar. The 'block' boss does annoy me tho and I always lose a couple lives. I never understood what you were supposed to do with it

[Damocles]

I love Shiki 2 to death, but damn...only after beating Shiki 1 did I realize how much of a let-down the final boss of 2 is. C'mon...even Kuga's relative and World Order combined don't come close to the spider-demon-monstrosity of 1.

[Ghegs]

The 'block' boss does annoy me tho and I always lose a couple lives. I never understood what you were supposed to do with it

The block boss is easy once you know the secret - it's a puzzle game. The red blocks can only be destroyed by your Shiki attack, and the gray blocks can only be destroyed by your normal attack. The golden blocks are indestructable, but they disappear when you get four of them on one row.

There's even a "map" on how the boss is built (and a java minigame as well, if memory serves) out there so you can figure out the quickest approach easily.

Of course I lack the links at the moment, maybe somebody else has them handy.

[professor ganson]

The block-boss level took quite a lot of effort for me, but it was well worth the effort. I use Kim2 and there are one or two spots where I usually need a bomb. I usually hate tight corridors-- too claustrophobic-- but I got addicted to that part of the game.

[Frederik]

How is that guy with the two humongous swords called? I forgot. But damn, THIS guy is fun. Those swords look like wings and either flapping up and down to WIPE away enemies or sticking them right into the face of some stupid boss is huge fun. Like the Radiant Silvergun sword, only better.

We need more melee weapons in shmups. And indeed; Shiki plays much different depending on which charakter you play. If you choose this girl with the cat you even can collect and reflect bullets like GigaWing. Too bad I sold my PS2, but the european port was not that good anyways. They changed the excellent J-Pop music to pumpin 50cent-style downbeat. It sucks. Hard.

[professor ganson]

How is that guy with the two humongous swords called? I forgot. But damn, THIS guy is fun.

That's Kim, and yeah, very fun. This thread caused me to fire up the GC for the first time in a long time. It was fun, but I was very much out of practice and sucking pretty hard.

[Generiname]

I like Shikigami 2 because of its' slower pace, the variety in characters and the terribly translated story line in the US version ("Bro fights are cool" then later on "I'm anti Bro fights"). It's also nice the way you get intimate with the bullets (same reason I really enjoy the psyvariar games) and it's considerate the way your hitbox starts shining when you get close.

It's funny Radiant Silvergun was bought up, I was watching a replay of stage 6 from RS and noticed SNS2 borrowed the icicle style bullets from RS for world order (well they're sort of similar...) and the first SNS had that bit at the end where you just have to time the boss out too.

So yeah the shikigami games are a bit derivative but I think they're great, I find them (especially the 2nd one) very relaxing. I haven't played much since I unlocked those extra options, might have to give it a spin later on.

[BBH]

Hmm... too many freaks and weird castles. I hate activities.

you have two choices:

A. Caught then beaten
B. Beaten then caught