Even on this site people say Batsugun isn't a bullet hell game. I don't see why it isn't. It sure plays exactly like every one I've played but without the annoying scoring systems. Perhaps a needlessly complex scoring system that only a handful of people understand is one of the requirements for being a bullet hell game according to some people. I don't know.Squire Grooktook wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2025 9:43 amI would still suggest that "platformer" isn't the right genre moniker for it, since the main focus of the game is exploration, discovery, finding your way through a maze, etc. Sure platforming is there and it's fun but it's definitely an adventure game with platforming and not a platform game with some adventure. I know a lot of genre terms are batty but if you were to call it a platformer in mixed company people would likely come away with a very different impression of what the game actually is, what progression and structure looks like, etc.Steven wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2025 9:24 amLike I said before, it's definitely a platformer. The gameplay primarily focuses on traversing a maze-like obstacle course that is very much like what you'd find in any other platformer, minus instant death pits, using the exact same techniques that you'd use in any other platformer. It's different from most other platformers, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a platformer. Consider it to be an open world platformer if you must, because that's possibly exactly what it is. People like open world games, right? I sure as hell don't in most cases.Squire Grooktook wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2025 5:46 am
A game having platforming in it doesn't make it a platformer imo, just like having a projectile attack in a beat em up doesn't make it a shooter.
If you actually ask IKD to define what 弾幕 actually is I've heard he'll tell you that there is no definition for it because it doesn't exist because shooting games are shooting games. Some are in his style, and that would be what most people would probably call bullet hell or whatever, and others are not, but they're all just shooting games. At least, this is what I've heard he'll say.
About half of the reason that I don't like most bullet hell games is because of the scoring systems. I see them as needlessly complex and obtuse for no reason, and annoying to interact with, which is why I don't like them. Unfortunately, a lot of them are built around interacting with those scoring systems and you're punished in various ways, like missing the entire second half of the game, if you don't.Squire Grooktook wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2025 9:43 amI think shmups are generally a little better about this because the act of shooting and dodging bullets is fundamentally appealing, which is why cramming a deep scoring system for replay value generally works decently. But it can be an issue in some games. Dangun Feveron is one of my favorite shmups ever, but it took me what felt like an eternity before it "clicked" with me.Steven wrote: ↑Sat Jan 04, 2025 9:24 am A LOT of arcade games struggle with this. Pretty much the entirety of bullet hell struggles from this aside from like... I don't know, Mushihimesame Original? I don't know anything about that game and have barely played it, but it seems straightforward enough.
Dangun Feveron, however, is one of the exceptions, as it has an excellent scoring system that is extremely easy to understand and yet provides a lot of depth and scoring opportunity. It's way too difficult for me, but I've lately been thinking it's because I try to play it at the highest speed setting and crash into everything. I should probably turn the speed down a little.