|][-@I7 in vitro #デッド・インヴィトロ #Dead in vitro (Steam)

[Faith]

This game needs more exposure!!!~

Really! Worst name ever for any kind of search for anyone to find >.<!~

|][-@I7 in vitro #デッド・インヴィトロ #Dead in vitro (Steam)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2403370/I7_in_vitro/

Released: 13 June, 2023

Best definition of hidden gem! Discovered it some months ago... but only just started to play it and really so happy! There has not been an STG to put such a big smile on my face in very long time. Very strong Cave influence but with graphics that feel super similar to Outside (Cosmo Dreamer, Like Dreamer)! Your character and options behave similar to Ketsui, also have similar Ketsui Chip System! Music, graphics, sound effects... everything crazy, crazy good, and very polished. Movement feels 100%. Super smooth, super precise!~

Even things like how bosses spawn... 100% inspired by second loop spawn animation from DDP Daifukkatsu!~

Also... the rank in this game (in Original mode) is completely, completely crazy. In Original you start at Rank 2 (from 2 to 5). Only way to de-rank is to die. Only way to rank-up is to chain-bomba. It is super interesting mechanic! This game the bomba is more like 2-in-1 (bomba and short hyper combined). When you bomba, rank go up by 1 temporarily. But... if you bomba again (after iframe end, but before hyper end) the rank increase is permanent (until death (go down) or repeat the process (go up)). But with each step up... the game become super obviously a lot more aggressive. Like each rank up is a super big deal! I am not sure yet how possible to clear this game at Rank 4 (it is possible, at start of game, instead of playing Original difficulty (where rank is dynamic) to select fixed rank instead). Also, if killing shot of last boss is done at Rank 5, then will trigger TLB. TLB fight is ultra crazy and fixed at Rank 5 (not possible to de-rank on death during TLB).

Despite some very crazy patterns and moments in this game... I feel this game is a true 100% masterclass on how to do ultra excellent bullet and pattern and "everything overlapping with each other" visibility. It is crazy, crazy good. Anyone who knows me... knows I get tingly feelings from crazy chaos and Crimzon Clover style ultra visual stimuli and overload lol @_@"... This game... does that crazy well (with all the chips and scoring info overloading screen area). But... like Crimzon Clover... visual clarity is really completely crazy good!~

Never had any problems reading any patterns, and in fact... enjoy so many of them so much. Even despite character sprite being quite supersized lol... because of the colors and how it fit along with hitbox... everything is just so... so clear... and so... so readable. This game... just makes me so happy. Just want to spread it more!~

I guess this will also be my mini-review for this game here haha. Just want to help spread word of it @_@!!~

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Congrats on your mini shmups review, Faith! It's nice and a breath of fresh air to read one from another fellow esteemed and talented shmupper. Wow, I've never heard of this awesome doujin danmaku title before and the initial entry pricepoint is quite easy on the wallet (or purse for that matter, ha-ha) -- a mere one hundred and ninety-nine pennies (or one penny short of two dollars) to be exact.

Is there a tate option for "Dead in vitro" as well? It'd surely greatly benefit from it indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

Thanks for the review, game looks pretty ugly though...

[tzm_rade]

The screenshots do a good job of covering up the enemies which look straight up bad unfortunately...

[CStarFlare]

I remember following the prerelease with interest, buying it, and not giving it much time. Seems like a neat Ketsui-ish game.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Upon buying "Dead in vitro" off of the Steam Store portal, it is indeed, Steam Deck compatible. Most indie doujin stg games are "Gamepad" compatible from the "get-go," but some outlier doujin stg titles aren't in some cases -- at least with the Steam Deck, it's "user-customizable friendly" so that said doujin stg title will be playable in the end.

However upon initial bootup on the LCD-based Steam Deck, it's been configured for the default WASD keyboard + mouse setup (which isn't useful as it is on the Steam Deck). Had to go to the controller configuration layout and choose the more traditional "Gamepad Layout," then playing "Dead in vitro" with the Left analog stick + the usual buttons made it more usable and accessible. It would've saved me a few minutes of having to choose the correct controller layout configuration upon initial bootup but it is what it is.

As it is, "Dead in vitro" does run at the "arcade-spec" silky-smooth 60fps framerate on the Steam Deck (which is a plus in my book and is all that matters in the end).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Faith]

The screenshots do a good job of covering up the enemies which look straight up bad unfortunately...

X_X!"... honestly, I love the enemy drawing so much! A bit simple, yes... but many are so cute and adroable @_@"...

Congrats on your mini shmups review, Faith! It's nice and a breath of fresh air to read one from another fellow esteemed and talented shmupper.

Thank you so much for your kind words >.<!!!~ I see you bought the game already! But yes, this game have like... no options hahaha. Would be nice to at least adjust audio a bit, sometimes find sound effect a bit loud compared to music. But still can manage it! Anyway, usually once playing in game... will forget most of the little problems with it!!~