I'm not sure where Aquas is at the moment, so I'll make the thread. Hold your comments for now about the tournament overall - there will be a separate thread for that.
I like Progear, it's kind of difficult but manageable. Definitely something I'll be revisiting soon (200M+).
STGT08 Week 5: Thoughts
I think there's a lot of hatred for Progear, which is a shame because it's a very fun game to play in my opinion. Yes, there is a high emphasis on playing absolutely perfectly which doesn't exactly make it accessible, but it's really satisfying to cancel fields of bullets into gems and it almost becomes a puzzle game in places trying to figure out how to work through a given area getting as many points as possible.
I'm just glad I can finally get a decent position on the scoreboard for once.
I'm just glad I can finally get a decent position on the scoreboard for once.
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spineshark
- Posts: 274
- Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 6:28 am
I hated this game when I first picked up because I was just checking out shit that Cave did. After a while I thought it was okay, then I played it a lot and started to warm up to it. (The best part is still choosing 2P costumes, Rivet is obviously the basis for Ema Skye's character design. Also funny is that Rivet says her name wrong on the selection screen.)
In the end I picked up some OK skills in this game and had the best run I will ever have, with just a couple of bombs and one death. It's actually a pretty heavy memorizer in my opinion, even though it's not impossible to survive (on first loop) on the fly and boss attacks are random, since knowing where not to move and being familiar with all of the attacks is basically the most important part of survival.
What really made me hate this game, aside from the music, is the stupidity of second loop. I guess they obviously didn't want people credit-feeding through it but it's just annoying and makes me feel like playing the game any more is not worth my time. (Overall, I would have to say that after beating a difficult shmup, the last thing I would want to play is the same thing again but more annoying, in any case)
It's obvious that I did better this week than any of the others, but that's because I put a lot of time into this game and I would've done a hell of a lot better if I'd done half as much for any of the other weeks. I dislike this game less than nomltest and DF time attack, but it's still really obnoxious.
In the end I picked up some OK skills in this game and had the best run I will ever have, with just a couple of bombs and one death. It's actually a pretty heavy memorizer in my opinion, even though it's not impossible to survive (on first loop) on the fly and boss attacks are random, since knowing where not to move and being familiar with all of the attacks is basically the most important part of survival.
What really made me hate this game, aside from the music, is the stupidity of second loop. I guess they obviously didn't want people credit-feeding through it but it's just annoying and makes me feel like playing the game any more is not worth my time. (Overall, I would have to say that after beating a difficult shmup, the last thing I would want to play is the same thing again but more annoying, in any case)
It's obvious that I did better this week than any of the others, but that's because I put a lot of time into this game and I would've done a hell of a lot better if I'd done half as much for any of the other weeks. I dislike this game less than nomltest and DF time attack, but it's still really obnoxious.
This game should just have a fucking bullseye on your plane, it would be more honest that way.
Okay, actual thoughts:
The game is fun to play, but playing for score isn't much fun at all because it's so stringent. Yeah the bullet canceling can be fun, but pulling off crap like gem streaming (I've done it before) requires a lot of precision and it's really irritating. I'm pretty glad I didn't spend too much time with this game until the weekend because I probably would have broken a controller if I played this game any longer.
Oh yeah, why does every single pattern have to be aimed in your face?
Okay, actual thoughts:
The game is fun to play, but playing for score isn't much fun at all because it's so stringent. Yeah the bullet canceling can be fun, but pulling off crap like gem streaming (I've done it before) requires a lot of precision and it's really irritating. I'm pretty glad I didn't spend too much time with this game until the weekend because I probably would have broken a controller if I played this game any longer.
Oh yeah, why does every single pattern have to be aimed in your face?
ahahaha that's brilliant, wish I thought of it firstbkk wrote:
This was my least favorite week, even more so than DF timeattack (but that's only due to differences in length I guess). Basically I disagree with just about every design decision in this game, including the ones that don't matter like aesthetics. Progear is the poor man's Giga Wing, except in GW you actually have to move into bullets to cancel them and then you also actually have to move to pick up medals.
I did not enjoy it much. I only gave it about 15 or so credits, but I just didn't feel like memorizing placement positions... I may have been able to garner a half-ish score if I actually tried, but instead was playing Mother 3 most of the week. And then it had the survival walls like Cave is good for and those also upsetted me.
I had intended to submit, and I should've to rounded off my score and had a full participation week, but just let it slip. I got about 2.3 mil.
I had intended to submit, and I should've to rounded off my score and had a full participation week, but just let it slip. I got about 2.3 mil.
STG Weekly!, 1cc's, twitch, XBL: DJ Aquazition
The in-game papers prove that being the paperboy is actually a position of the greatest importance,
ranking alongside top elected officials for notoriety. -Ed Oscuro
The in-game papers prove that being the paperboy is actually a position of the greatest importance,
ranking alongside top elected officials for notoriety. -Ed Oscuro
The game is fun to play, but annoying to play for score. Sure, you get "extra lives" and "bombs", but you can't score well if you use any of that crap. Eventually, I get so reluctant to bomb that I constantly die with 3 bombs remaining. Based on difficulty alone, I believe I could have reached boss 5 on one credit if I wasn't too busy trying to get all the gems and never bombing.
Dangun Feveron time attack was my favorite week in this contest. RayForce was my least favorite, both due to the game and due to Thunder Dragon 2 not winning.
Dangun Feveron time attack was my favorite week in this contest. RayForce was my least favorite, both due to the game and due to Thunder Dragon 2 not winning.
I wasn't in the SGT but my love for Progear is something of a bell curve.
At first it was a really annoying game, areas like the stage 3 train and stage 4 ending seemed impossible to get through, and stage 5 started with the Bullshit Planes and only got worse. But the art style, music and general feeling to the game was really cool. I've likened it to Laputa with less plot and more explosions. I can see a lot of people are at this point.
Then I hit the apex of the Fun Curve and found it to be a really enjoyable game. I got the hang of the bullet cancellation, nailed hitting a higher rank on stage 1 by the end of the stage for the uber harvest, I started being able to experiment on Stage 2 and actually looked forward to the train on Stage 3 for all the bullet cancelling fun. Milking these things was really cool. I never really got on with Stage 5's Bullshit Planes but the rest of the stage after the first climb was really enjoyable.
But then my enjoyment rapidly declined as I started trying to play for score. If I can do all these gem streaming tricks I'd have something respectable, right? But I found myself hitting load for the intro save state all the time. Don't do a perfect path on stage 1 or have a bit of bad luck and you'll have a low rank stream at the end or miss it, have a bit of bad luck on the stage 2 train and you're dead., in fact miss most of these spots and you're dead. Die or bomb once at any point and your score isn't worth anything. Ehh. No thanks.
At first it was a really annoying game, areas like the stage 3 train and stage 4 ending seemed impossible to get through, and stage 5 started with the Bullshit Planes and only got worse. But the art style, music and general feeling to the game was really cool. I've likened it to Laputa with less plot and more explosions. I can see a lot of people are at this point.
Then I hit the apex of the Fun Curve and found it to be a really enjoyable game. I got the hang of the bullet cancellation, nailed hitting a higher rank on stage 1 by the end of the stage for the uber harvest, I started being able to experiment on Stage 2 and actually looked forward to the train on Stage 3 for all the bullet cancelling fun. Milking these things was really cool. I never really got on with Stage 5's Bullshit Planes but the rest of the stage after the first climb was really enjoyable.
But then my enjoyment rapidly declined as I started trying to play for score. If I can do all these gem streaming tricks I'd have something respectable, right? But I found myself hitting load for the intro save state all the time. Don't do a perfect path on stage 1 or have a bit of bad luck and you'll have a low rank stream at the end or miss it, have a bit of bad luck on the stage 2 train and you're dead., in fact miss most of these spots and you're dead. Die or bomb once at any point and your score isn't worth anything. Ehh. No thanks.
I'm happy Progear was picked, as it was the only game our team could put up a fight. If Garegga or RFJ was chosen, things would get really bad for us.
Now, I really like this game, and played it for months before STGT, but only during this week I found out that the main focus of scoring is the no miss/no bomb bonus. Also found out about the level restart on the 2nd loop.
Those two factors alone killed the game for me. It's a shame, because it's a very good game, and I was planning to spend a lot of time on it. Ain't happening anymore.
Now, I really like this game, and played it for months before STGT, but only during this week I found out that the main focus of scoring is the no miss/no bomb bonus. Also found out about the level restart on the 2nd loop.
Those two factors alone killed the game for me. It's a shame, because it's a very good game, and I was planning to spend a lot of time on it. Ain't happening anymore.
I thought that the last week would end in a bang for me, for all of us really, but I guess I really really really blow at Cave games, for score and survival. I remember that AEX Guwange tourney that ran for 2 months, and I put in 100+ hours (according to MAME). I made less than 10 mil, and only made it to the stage 5 boss a few times.
On Progear, I died many times on the first level attempting to score points, then I gave up on that and died on the boss. I think that on top of sucking hardcore, I'm just slightly wierded out with manic patterns in a hori...
On Progear, I died many times on the first level attempting to score points, then I gave up on that and died on the boss. I think that on top of sucking hardcore, I'm just slightly wierded out with manic patterns in a hori...
I could ALMOST like Progear except for the scoring. I actually played TWO sittings, vs. one for all the others--mostly due to time constraints during the week. Definitely a waste of time figuring out optimal pairing, tho--I think without having a real knack for timing [in general], it's all basically the same.
Dangun can fuck right off, tho
Dangun can fuck right off, tho
"This is not an alien life form! He is an experimental government aircraft!"