Trizeal (DC) is here! Impressions...

[MadSteelDarkness]

Well, add me to the list of people digging this game. Just got mine this morning and I'm liking it quite a bit. Great gameplay, a simple but deep scoring system, and wonderful, old-school style music. Two thumbs up. If you don't like old school (true-school!) shmups, then this may not be the game for ya, though.

Oh, and the dragons... The first time I saw those on my second play-through, their bullet patterns scared the piss out of me. Thanks for the tip on that, rtw! I think you summon them by just wacking all of those purple ships that would otherwise come before the first level boss.

[5parrowhawk]

Sorry if this is a taboo question, but:

How well (if at all) does Trizeal work with DC emulators on a PC? Has anyone tried? I'm frankly very intrigued and tempted to get the game, but don't have a DC - I travel quite a bit, so I can only afford to carry my laptop and trusty PS2.

[rtw]

Sorry if this is a taboo question, but:

How well (if at all) does Trizeal work with DC emulators on a PC? Has anyone tried? I'm frankly very intrigued and tempted to get the game, but don't have a DC - I travel quite a bit, so I can only afford to carry my laptop and trusty PS2.

If you want to play it on a PC, try the Windows mini game I linked to a few posts earlier. It will show you how the game works and you can practice lifting

rtw

[icepick]

Here's why I'm still on the fence about this game, maybe one of you can convince me...

Oh, buy it. You know that you want to! You can feel it in your gut that the game is good and fun; you've picked up on it from how many people are enjoying it.

I will say that the game is harder than it looks, and more fun to play than it is to watch. Plus, of course, the game will automatically makes things more challenging if you're playing well--which, as far as I've seen, is manifested in additional enemies (causing extended level play time, I think), more-challenging boss attacks, and tickling you while you're playing.

Just kidding with that last part.

(You've got me wondering about playing the game on "hard" or "very hard," though, so, maybe I'll give that a spin and let you know how much... faster I die.)

I'm also not so sure that seeing this "fabled stage four" will change anything for you. You said it yourself that you don't want the game to start to become fun only after getting already halfway through, and I would feel the same way. No one can tell you how much fun something will be for you, but I'll say it anyway. It's fun! On stage 1, on stage 2, and I haven't seen much of stage 3, yet. (Cough!)

It doesn't have huge, pretty, flower-shaped bullet patterns. This gives the game a very deceptive appearance, since you can't really... see how challenging, how fun, how enjoyable the game is. People like to see clear patterns laid out; I'm one of them! When you see a giant, perfect pattern covering the whole screen, you can better imagine how you would be if you were playing it. However, the immersive and challenging gameplay of Trizeal is very fun and addicting, and a large amount of that attraction is due to the somewhat spontaneous way that the game is played. Sort of. I've been finding it extremely difficult to explain, and of course, I don't want to provide the wrong impression.

In fact, I was thinking that it'd be neat if you bought it, because then, I could hear how you might describe it.

It sucks!

That's not what I meant!



Anyway, the game is released, and it's here. If you're busy playing other masterpieces, no worries! You can always pick Trizeal up later, unless of course you want to show us all how easy the game actually is, and score all three T-shirts in the Internet ranking competition. And then wear all of them at the same time. To gloat.

So.



Back to game discussion.

The boss explosions are awesome to look at.

Oh! I meant to mention this as well; After defeating the stage 1 boss, I was like, "Wow." They look really cool (almost surprisingly), and I figure that they spent a significant while, crafting the effect.

Once you pass stage 3, the game hates you, especially the bosses. That's a good thing.

Eep. Sounds like I'm really going to get my rear handed to me, once I finally pass stage 3.

(I've been wanting to play the game every day since receiving it, but have been busy with other nonrecreational activities. I'll hopefully be jumping back into the fray tonight.)

The only real gripe I have about the game is that anything those ground-based machines throw at you is instantly on your altitude instead of reaching your altitude a split-second later after you see the projectile fire from the target.

Ha. I've been stupidly moving over to the tanks in that one segment in level 2 (a la Lifting), for some reason assuming that the tanks are polite enough not to shoot me at point-blank range.

Maybe it's because I've started playing Giga Wing recently, and I'm used to reflecting bullets, or something?

(I like your member name and avatar, by the way!)

If you want to play it on a PC, try the Windows mini game I linked to a few posts earlier. It will show you how the game works and you can practice lifting

I agree that it would be good to try, though I feel that it's of course not completely indicative of how nice the game is, in... person.

Not sure of what else you could do, though.

[zyloj]

How well (if at all) does Trizeal work with DC emulators on a PC?

Chankast is still very far from a good emulation to consider it as a playing option. It's in Alpha stages. You could get a cheap second hand dreamcast better.

[jp]

[quote="icepick"]

It doesn't have huge, pretty, flower-shaped bullet patterns. This gives the game a very deceptive appearance, since you can't really... see how challenging, how fun, how enjoyable the game is. People like to see clear patterns laid out; I'm one of them! When you see a giant, perfect pattern covering the whole screen, you can better imagine how you would be if you were playing it. However, the immersive and challenging gameplay of Trizeal is very fun and addicting, and a large amount of that attraction is due to the somewhat spontaneous way that the game is played. Sort of. I've been finding it extremely difficult to explain, and of course, I don't want to provide the wrong impression.

In fact, I was thinking that it'd be neat if you bought it, because then, I could hear how you might describe it.


You just described how I feel about Border Down, thank God this game will be in my hands TOMORROW!!!!!!!!

[silvery wings]

Oh, yeah. That's right. So, while we're here can anyone think of any other shmups (new or old) that employ this type of weapon system? Or, perhaps anything similar?

I played this at a friends house last night, after 5 minutes of play all I could think of was Crisis Force, of course minus the different bombs for different transformations. I love Crisis Force, I'm definately buying this soon.

[CMoon]

Mine showed up today as well. I haven't got past level two yet (wow, I suck!), but can say this is great stuff. The comparisons to Layer section aren't too far off with a hint of Raiden thrown in the mix. I'd put this one above all the DC releases since (but not including) Border Down. This would be a solid shooter on any console, but since it is on the DC, its value is nearly guarenteed to multiplly. Get it now if you want to be able to play it without shelling out TONS of money.

[nZero]

Finally got it

Spent a couple of hours on it, can one credit my way into Level 3 now. Nothing too impressive score-wise yet. I actually played Lifting for about a half hour after unlocking it... damn addictive.

Gameplay... I'll see your Layer Section and Raiden comparisons, and raise you a Daioh and a Sonic Wings. That little GD-ROM is oozing mid-90's style pre-manic/transitional gameplay. Much more challenging than it appears in the videos, as well. The game very much reacts to your playing, and not with some cheeseball rank system either. I can see I'm going to be spending some time on this one.

Graphically, mixed bag. Low polycount and lack of antialiasing makes foreground objects make the game look kind of like a cheap PS1->DC port. Backgrounds and effects are fairly engaging, though. By and large, things move well, and as expected. YOKO modes are ugly as sin, with near-unreadable text and visible mipmap boundaries. Play in TATE.

Music and sound. It's there, it's largely unobtrusive. This is not an energetic Akira Sato soundtrack or a Zuntata masterpiece. It fits well with the game, though, which is all it really needs to manage. Sound effects fit, and seem to be well balanced.

There was definitely love and care put into this package, and we were rewarded for our faith.

Also, does anyone else think that the beginning of Level 3 is a bit of an homage to the opening of Soldier Blade's 6th level? With the squadron flying in to attack?

[llabnip]

There was definitely love and care put into this package, and we were rewarded for our faith.

Agreed. I've been on vacation the past week but managed to bring Trizeal and get in some additional play time. I really continue to enjoy it - it's defintley a step backwards which in my opinion is a huge step forwards. Even the score is back down to a "readable" number of digits

Also, does anyone else think that the beginning of Level 3 is a bit of an homage to the opening of Soldier Blade's 6th level? With the squadron flying in to attack?

I thought of exactly the same thing! I'm guessing it's just coincidence. I love seeing those "friendly" ships show up and battle in the background.

[GaijinPunch]

Sega did a little blurb on the shacho of Triangle Service. Apparently, this guy is a very hands on manager: Production, planning, programming, audio, manuals, website manager, cleaning, washing, and serving tea.

Source:
http://sega.jp/community/bbzb/101/scoop.html

[Ganelon]

Damn, so what do his employees do?

[Thunder Force]

Here are some Trizeal ship icons/avatars/whatevers I snagged from the official site and made transparent, if anyone wants them

[GaijinPunch]

Damn, so what do his employees do?

What most Japanese people do in the work place. Sit around half the morning, start work around noon, finish at 10 PM.

[theevilfunkster]

mine arrived yesterday. i think its absolutly fucking fantastic! but that freakin asteroid level destroys me every time. do i just suck or does anyone else have trouble with this?

[Herr Schatten]

I enjoy it more and more the longer I play it. Yesterday I broke 400k in the first level for the first time.

Now I'm playing well enough that I can feel the rank kicking in. I haven't reached stage 4 since then, as the bosses start to pull some really nasty attacks. Still, rank doesn't feel unfair or unnecessary in any way, it just keeps the early stages interesting. Exactly the way I like it.

Has anybody an idea on how to manipulate rank in Trizeal? It seems that it's tied either to score or on how powered up your weapons are.

[Skyline]

Heh. My Dreamcast WAS dying.

Opened 'er up and disconnected/reconnected the CD lens, cleaned it up a bit, and it was good to go.

So yeah...I went and ordered another copy from Lik-Sang, while waiting on Play-Asia to get back to me about replacing the defective copy of Trizeal they sent me. Finally got to play this, and took my spot as #30 on the Internet Ranking after a good 2 hours of play. And to be honest, I have no regrets about buying this game twice. It's REALLY good.

The 2P ship is a bit faster than the 1P ship, and it's laser is a bit less spread out...sure as hell helped me with chaining the dragons on Stage 1, and I'm close to discovering a discernable pattern of attack for those guys. On numerous occasions, their bullet streams would sort of form a path below the dragon I'd just killed, giving me free access to the medals. Ended up with a little under 500,000 after end-of-stage bonuses.

All that practice on the Windows version of Lifting sorta payed off, as I had rather good control of the red orb. That is until I started chasing after it and slammed RIGHT INTO THE BOSS. :B

Oh yeah, and I haven't reached Stage 4 yet. I attribute this to making rather dumb positioning decisions on Stage 3, due to unfamiliarity.

The port as a whole is just amazing, after the rather vanilla Chaos Field. Everything moves real quick, and although bullets don't litter 75% of the screen, it's still very hectic. Especially if you're going for those medals. Watching Kiken's video for example might give you the impression that the bullets are easy to dodge, you'll still get picked off if you let your guard down, and you'll know exactly what hit you.

This game will get a hell of a lot of playtime, as I'm going to leave the best mark I can on that Internet Ranking. Getting #1 might be impossible, but I'd be satisfied with placing in the Top 10.

I'm sure as hell gonna send Triangle Service an e-mail of thanks, although it'll probably not get read.

EDIT: And yes, the player in attract mode is just as retarded as in XIISTAG's attract mode. XD

[CMoon]

Haven't seen anyone point out that if you completely power up the weapons you have essentially the same screen covering weaponry we all know and love in Batsugun, especially when you have the vulcan as your primary weapon type.

I know Kiken's plays never had any of the other weapons powered up, just the beam (for high scoring potential, I know...), but how are other people approaching the weapon system? I keep trying to power them all up, but maybe this isn't the best approach?

[Thunder Force]

Has anybody an idea on how to manipulate rank in Trizeal? It seems that it's tied either to score or on how powered up your weapons are.

According to Rydeen's site, if I understand it right, rank does increase as your weapons power up. Don't know what the other factors (if any) are (yet).

[CMoon]

Has anybody an idea on how to manipulate rank in Trizeal? It seems that it's tied either to score or on how powered up your weapons are.

According to Rydeen's site, if I understand it right, rank does increase as your weapons power up. Don't know what the other factors (if any) are (yet).

Ha! Maybe I ought to just stick to one weapon then!

[5parrowhawk]

How well (if at all) does Trizeal work with DC emulators on a PC?

Chankast is still very far from a good emulation to consider it as a playing option. It's in Alpha stages. You could get a cheap second hand dreamcast better.

Oh, well. Thanks for the info. I'd guessed as much, but needed confirmation.

[postman]

I must thank Triangle Service for two mechanical features that they used that I just love:

1. Being able to restart a score attack level without reloading the whole thing. This is great when you screw up and want a quick go again at it (although the normal game won't let you do this)

2. Keeping the code saved so you can view it again if you copied it down wrong. This is great, however I guess someone could boot up your DC and steal the code......

However, please be advised that if you play the normal game score attack, and die, and decide to continue to play, IT WILL NOT SAVE YOUR CODE. I just had a great run, and decided to finish the game for some practice, and my old score was still in there, so you need to close out the game to get a code. I wish I knew this before.....

Also, there are so many other shmup influences in this game, it's like a homage to all shmups in general. Soldier Blade has been named, but also there's Ikaruga in level 5 and the last boss design, Gradius 5 in the rock section of level 4 (random rocks that just keep coming), Raiden (whole game and boss 2), R-Type (battleship entire level 2), Raystorm (general style), and probably even more...........

[oxtsu]

Has anybody an idea on how to manipulate rank in Trizeal? It seems that it's tied either to score or on how powered up your weapons are.

According to Rydeen's site, if I understand it right, rank does increase as your weapons power up. Don't know what the other factors (if any) are (yet).

Ha! Maybe I ought to just stick to one weapon then!

From Rhydeen primarily...

Rank is either on or off (only 2 variation) and it comes after collecting 8 power-up icons (though if the weapon is already maxed, collecting another will not count towards this). Using the combo-weapon technique doesn't have any bearing in this case. For example, a low-rank strategy would be weapon power like this --'Vulcan-level 5, Laser- 4, Missile - 1 (this is 7 power-up icon). However, it's not so advantageous to have the low-rank, most notably since it will also lessen the slowdown which is making dodging more difficult later on.

Also, when dying in the stage the boss defense power weakens, though it's not certain this point.

[teetu]

i also wanted to add myself to the list of people recommending this game, in case there are still some people hesitating

[CMoon]

Rank is either on or off (only 2 variation) and it comes after collecting 8 power-up icons (though if the weapon is already maxed, collecting another will not count towards this). Using the combo-weapon technique doesn't have any bearing in this case. For example, a low-rank strategy would be weapon power like this --'Vulcan-level 5, Laser- 4, Missile - 1 (this is 7 power-up icon). However, it's not so advantageous to have the low-rank, most notably since it will also lessen the slowdown which is making dodging more difficult later on.

Also, when dying in the stage the boss defense power weakens, though it's not certain this point.

Thanks for clarifying that. I've been only going with the vulcan lately just to keep the score rolling in--but you're right about slowdown; might help considerably in survival anyway.

[benstylus]

my copy finally arrived in the mail yesterday so I tried it out.

The first level was really disappointing, but after that the game really picks up.

I also like the extras that came with it - the music CD is cool, and the bandana is yet another piece of video game related clothing I can wear.

The graphics are definitely below what you'd expect from a Dreamcast shooter, but the gameplay is there, which is all that really matters anyway.

Definitely worth having as a shooter fan, IMO.

[adam76]

My copy came today and after rushing home from work and slamming it on, i gotta say that i love it!
As alot of people have already mentioned in the thread, it feels real old-school, sort of raiden-ish to me. It starts out kind of slow and deceptively lures you into thinking that its easier than it really is, but the difficulty picks up as early as the midway point of the second level and bloody hell does it get harder afeter that! It feels a bit like truxton in the way that your ship seems alot slower than the bullets being fired at you making every enemy shot fired feel potentially more life-threatening( I know this sounds dumb but it makes sense to me!).

how are other people approaching the weapon system? I keep trying to power them all up, but maybe this isn't the best approach?

I tried the laser for a bit but it feels abit narrow and i found that i was having to dodge too many bullets as it was'nt clearing the screen quickly enough. I've found for me, that the combo of vulcan and missile works best. I can damage the most high-prority target with the vulcan while the missile picks off the 'stragglers' whose stray bullets were causing me the most grief.
My only gripe so far is the return of enemies coming up from the bottom of the screen taking a cheap life off you-i started stage 4 with 2 lives in stock but lost 'em both in the asteroid storm to this same trick. First life, i couldn't even bloody see what hit me!
That said, im loving this game at the mo. Anyone who has'nt already brought it(and judging from the posts in this thread they're in the minority!), i urge to go get it now. Top game and a helluva lot of fun!

[jp]

I just got it. Spent the past 2 hours playing it. I got to the end of level 4, where I got shot from behind by something I thought was in the background.



So far, I'm liking it a lot. Definitely a throw back to ole school style of shmups, and its pretty much what I've been missing for awhile now. The weapon system is definitely spiffy, and brings back flashbacks of Batsugun. And the music is damn solid, especially level 3.

What I like:
1. Weapon system is very nice and creative.
2. A lot of "surprises". I.e. the dragons at the end of Stage 1 if you kill all the purple ships. Granted, those dragons will whip that ass...
3. The music is superb.
4. The levels are very nice.
5. The overall gameplay is a throw back to 90s style shmups, yes, finally! Fun games again!

Only few things I'm not too fond of in Trizeal actually.
1. Graphics: Yeah, it looks fugly. Still fun.
2. Enemy design: Just as bad as Border Down. If not worse.
3. Amateurish Bullets: I hate the bullets in the game. Everything just looks so washed out and the bullets are nigh on impossible to see at times. Very annoying.
4. Is it just me, or is the ship way too f'ing slow?


Other than that though, I think the game is great. The gameplay is spot on and overall I feel it was worth the $65 price tag. Good job Triangle Service, thanks for bringing a great game to a great console. Shooting love indeed.


BTW, how do you play as the XII Stag ship?

[CMoon]

I don't particularly like how the vulcan is the same color as the bullets coming at you. Laser and homing missles may really be the way to go.

[MadSteelDarkness]

I don't particularly like how the vulcan is the same color as the bullets coming at you. Laser and homing missles may really be the way to go.

True, but there's a certain satisfaction that comes from having all of your weapons powered up, and then going with the vulcan as your primary weapon. Ya know...that Batsugun-like sense of empowerment.

Mmmm...cathartic.