Updates (04.02.2005):
- Reposted the ST thread on the new forum. Will go through and add HTML to neaten the ST up later, and mabe reupload the replays of stages 1-1 through 3-1...
here, for your delectation, is the (almost) complete write-up of my various notes, musings and theories for the Shikigami series, all compiled during my continuing mission to master the nuances of the two games. this thread will hopefully explain the inner workings of the basic game system which is common to both games, as well as mini-tactics and ideas that can be expanded, either by myself or by other players.
and I make sure I note that in BOLD and ITALIC:
any thoughts, ideas, corrections etc from other Shikigami players are most welcome. I'm especially interested in hearing from the non-Kohtaro players, as the beauty of the two games is that each character changes the way the game is played - Koutarou Kuga bullet hugs in a similar vein to Psyvariar, Kim De Jon is reminiscent of a Silvergun Swordplayer, Niigi can be played Gigawing-style, and so on.
please note, I'm not quite the authority on the two games, so don't take my random warblings as the be-all-and-end-all of strategic info. if you do have any questions though, I'll be very glad to answer them, to the best of my knowledge. and if you have a musing of your own, please feel free to jot it down.
and one other thing, these notes are incomplete, and I'll be noting more thoughts down when as and when they come to me. for more gameplay specific information, you can check out some resources listed below, or my Shikigami 2 guide, which at present (end of Feb 2004) is forthcoming.
and here are some collected resources relating to the series:
- Shikigami no Shiro Highscore Thread
- Shikigami no Shiro 2 Highscore Thread
- Mode7's Shikigami 1 "Stage 5-1 Boss Milking" Strategy Thread
- Shikigami 1 Strategy Discussion
- Shikigami 2 On-Topic Discussion
So lets get to it!
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> GAME SYSTEM <
- ATTACKS:
Shikigami no Shiro features a very simple control system. you have your directional pad/stick, which moves your character in any given direction, and very precisely I might add, given the nature of the game's scoring system (more on that later). you have a basic Shot, which range varies depending on which character you select. and you have a special attack, the Shikigami Attack, which is activated by holding down the shot button. you also have a Bomb of varying range, power and visual effect, depending on the character you have chosen.
- COINS:
whenever you destroy an enemy, that enemy will release coins. the coins will ascend in value for each one you collect, the lowest starting at 10pts and finishing at a static maximum of 10,00pts. unlike most Raizing games, and some Seibu Kaihatsu, THE COINS WILL NOT DECREASE IN VALUE IF YOU MISS ANY, so you do not need to go running around screen chasing any free-falling coins.
please note that the manner in which you destroy an enemy determines how coins appear. when you use Shot, or a bomb, enemies will release a single coin which free-falls down the screen...
..however, if you use your Shikigami Attack, the released coins will be sucked immediately towards your player, making coin hoarding easy. with regards to Shikigami 1, the enemies will release more coins when your character is at a higher power level, so it is an incentive to stay alive during the profitable sections to boost your score through the roof. - TENSION SYSTEM:
the Tension System is the name for the bonus system that rewards players for coming within close proximity of enemies, bullets and scenery. you should notice a coloured aura around your character, starting from GREEN for safe and changing to RED for extreme danger.
firstly, this ever-increasing Tension activates a bonus multiplier, from 1x to 8x. this multiplier not only affects the points you get from a destroyed enemy, but also the amount of coins said enemy releases, and the actual value of those coins upon collection. for your score to really hit the roof, you, in theory, must be scratching something every second of the game, which is a challenge in itself.
the other thing Tension affects is your Shot power. when at low Tension (1x to 6x), your Shot acts like normal. however, at 7x to 8x Tension, your Shot power goes into temporary overdrive, not only increasing its damage power, but it's range and rapid fire speed. this state of attack power I term HyperFire, and controlled usage of HyperFire is key to speedy progression, saving vital seconds of game time, and achieving massive scores.
an important point relating to Tension that alpha5099 has reminded me about (thanks man!) is that at maximum Tension, your character will begin to emit a small glow from the very centre of his/her body. this is very useful in that the origin of this glow is exactly where your hit area is. take this image as an example:
you see the origin of the glow in the center of Koutarou's body? and the bullet that is right beside it? learn to look for this shimmer, as it can be a lifesaver when dealing with some of the more tightly-packed patterns you'll see later in the game, including Shintaro Kuga's rendition of Sayo Yuhki's main Shot attack (Shikigami 2), World Order's shuriken grid attack and desperation attack (Shikigami 2), and many areas and boss patterns during the fourth and fifth stage sets in Shikigami 1. - NEW! EXTENDS:
(thanks to uwfan_us for bringing this up, btw!)
the Shikigami series is a game of two opposites. on one hand, you're encouraged to take many, many risks in order to score high. on the other hand, your need to dive headlong into bullets is surpressed by the fact that you have a maximum of three lives at any given time, and that Extends are widely spaced out. so scoring big in Shikigami depends on your confidence, your playing ability, and your bombing strategy.
the amount of points needed to gain an Extend are:
Shikigami 1: 150mil for the first, then every 300mil after.
Shikigami 2: 400mil for the first, then every 700mil after.
please note, there are NO ITEM-BASED EXTENDS in either Shikigami games, so don't go looking for secret 1UP items - THE TIMED GAME:
another point to remember (and this is especially relevant to Shikigami 1 players) is that the game is TIMED, so you are always in a hurry to progress to the next stage. this is hampered by the fact that you face stages and bosses of increasing strength and difficulty as you progress, which in turn means you need more time to take them down.
one vital thing to remember: do NOT waste so much time that you run out. this activates a dangerous phase of the game - the Devil Cycle - which swarms the screen with lots of randomly moving, indestructible red Devil heads. not only is this phase extremely hard to survive, but it does not stop until your time counter returns to a positive amount, or your character is completely destroyed, so keep a close eye on your time!
> ADVANCED NOTES <
- TENSION HOPPING - an expert skill:
in many areas of the game you will notices areas which are devoid of enemies, bullets or scenery, or even all three at once. this makes maintaining constant 8x multipliers difficult, especially if you use a character with a long distance Shikigami Attack like Fumiko or Koutarou. therefore, you should practice and make constant use of a technique I call "Tension Hopping".
remember that it takes time for the vacuumed coins to get to your character - anything between half a second to 2 seconds - so you can use this time gap to dash to your next scratchable object to maintain your 8x coin multiplier. for a character like Koutarou, you can just keep your Shikigami Attack active and "bullet bounce" - scratch something for a second while you scan the screen for the next nearest scratchable object - while Kim for example will have to point blank enemies and lead bullets around the screen in order to create a decent scratch route.
a good trick to save time when dashing to your next scratch point is to release your Shot button to gain a quick burst of speed, and then re-activate your Shikigami Attack just before you get to the bullet/enemy/object you want to scratch up against, which helps in that it instantly slows you down, so you don't go smashing headfirst into something dangerous.
this technique, though not essential, is very important to get to grips with, as the majority of points are gained through clever manipulation of the Tension System. don't forget, it is possible to 8x almost all the way through the game. - BOMB TACTICS:
both Shikigami games differ from most other shmups in that you do not seem to get any end of game Bonuses for surplus lives and bombs. this throws up an important question on bomb usage: is it neccesary to bomb? and if so, what are the best ways to manage stock?
lets see. when you start the game, you have three bombs in stock, and you can carry a maximum of five bombs. well, that's three free panic buttons available from the start! also, whenever you get an Extend, or you take a hit, you are given an extra bomb. unlike most shmups, you do not get extra bombs from item pick-ups (since the only items to pick up in Shikigami are coins) so you need to ration out bomb usage.
chtimi, an expert Shikigami 2 player, details his bomb tactics (in his exact words):
since you get frequent life refills with score, and you get one more bomb when you die, it's important you manage your risk taking accordingly.
example:- if you have max bombs but not max life, be extra-ready to bomb.
- conversly, if you have max life but not max bombs, and an extend is soon arriving, be sure to die before the extend so that you get 2 bombs (one from dying, one from the extend) and still have your max life.
personally, I tend to hold off on bombs until I feel that it is necessary to use them. many parts of both games are simple enough to navigate with a bit of preplanning beforehand. however there are several patterns in both that are almost impossible to navigate without the use of a bomb. some examples are:
^^ (Shikigami 1) Stage 3-2 Boss: nearing the end of it's energy bar, it'll dive to the lower part of the screen (so you can't hit it) and spray a load of red bubbles which will drift down from the top of the screen. if these bubbles are popped, they release suicide bullets! you can probably lead the bullets around to create a safe spot, or slowly navigate through the bubble cloud, but I prefer to bomb them to clear them off screen, setting the boss up for an 8x Kill.
^^ (Shikigami 1) Stage 3-3 Boss: near the end of the energy bar, the laser barrier that surround you will contract to a small box, trapping you in the center of the screen. the boss will then spawn lots of drones around you, and try to spray you will lasers and bubbles, while the enemies that surround you will create "bullet lines" to hinder your movement. if you bomb before it contracts though, you can escape the box, and use the "bullet lines" that the drones fire to rack up tons of 8x coins and kills.
^^ NEW! (Shikigami 1) Stage 5-1 Boss: thanks to disposition for more info, who tried out my bombing theory for this boss. in his own words:
Unfortunately Icarus, I tested this theory and it didn't work. When I destroyed the three top pods first, NONE of the others were destroyed. Maybe if one were to use 2 bombs -- one on the top center and one one the bottom center -- the rest would go away. Unfortunately I only had one bomb when I got to this point, so I couldn't test this theory.
my belief is that the pods only disappear if they become isolated - if there is no other pod immediately connected to it, then they disappear (anyone care to confirm?)
however, I took his own suggestion and double-bombed, first taking out the top center group, and then using invincibility time to take out the bottom center with another bomb, and it leaves a few left on-screen that can be easily and quickly mopped up, saving tons of time. here's a low quality, soundless 3IVX clip, that's less than an MB, done in Practice, showing this trick in action. I believe that if you timed the bombs properly, you could even destroy all the pods in two bombs, without the need to clean up after...
^^ (Shikigami 2) Stage 2-2 Boss: I absolute, positively hate this attack! during the last life bar, the boss will throw several fast moving spheres down the screen, each sphere firing tons of bullets outward. this pattern gets very tough to navigate as both the bullets and the spheres have some randomness to their direction. it is possible to dodge the whole assault without a bomb, but sometimes it's just better to be safe
^^ NEW! (Shikigami 2) Stage 4-1 Boss: some of Mimir's more evil patterns have been screencaptured for your delectation above. although I try to hold off on bombing until the start of the third lifebar, more often than not I succumb to my nervousness and defend myself with a bomb.
cigsthecat however, has a far better strategy than me, and it doesn't require bombs. it does, however require a lot more practice though :
Even though you can knock the walls further out, it's simpler to just stay in the middle and move in a straight line up and down to avoid the honeycomb attacks while using the regular shot and maintaining 8x. Too much movement on your part can let things get out of hand quickly.
My strategy for this boss is to kill it as fast as possible without a bomb. Players looking to score well here may need to adjust things a bit.
- 1st Lifebar
1st attack: Start at the top and just pound away with the shot. When the fireballs appear buzz against them using hyperfire to do as much damage as possible. When this attack ends the 1st lifebar should be nearly gone. (this is the most important thing; if you have to endure the next attack for too long you will likely die or need a bomb)
2nd attack: Move left to draw the pink spreads. Buzz them using hyperfire to finish off the first lifebar. This attack gets complicated, but if you did enough damage during the first attack you won't have to worry about it. - 2nd lifebar
1st attack: The all pink bullet waves. Move from left to right and back again finding the gaps, using the shikigami attack (slower speed helps).
2nd attack: Use the shot buzzing the bullets and fireballs to damage the boss quickly.
3rd attack: Same as first, repeat. 2nd lifebar should be over. - 3rd Lifebar
Honeycomb Attack: Start at the top of the screen, dead center under the boss. Just use the shot and pound away again. As the yellow bullets come down buzz them where they crisscross, tapping straight down in a line with the shot for hyperfire. Make sure that as you move down you are always buzzing something to maintain hyperfire.
When you get to the bottom do the same, but start to move back up when you can. Before long the boss will be dead. It's important to not move left or right at all for this technique or the patterns will react dynamically and everything changes.
- MAXIMISING THE COIN MULTIPLIER BONUS:
an important point to note is that, at maximum coin value, you can earn anything from 10,000pts to 10mil from any enemy. therefore, it is important to keep your tension at maximum to reap full rewards.
with regards to Shikigami 1, against bosses, as soon as you destroy the boss, all the bullets disappear from the screen, meaning you have nothing to scratch up against. so how do you maintain your 8x against bosses?
the easiest way is to either scratch an attack near the boss, or the boss itself, and then the boss starts it's "death" animation, which nullifies all the bullets on screen, move towards/on top of the boss. while the boss is still in it's "death" animation, it is still viewed as a dangerous object on screen, and that object affects your Tension - act quick enough, and you can keep your 8x going and get a bonus of up to 10mil.
please note, though, that this trick will only work IF THE BOSS WAS DESTROYED WITH 8x!
with regards to Shikigami 2, the bosses are treated differently. when you deplete one whole bar of a boss, the bullets on screen are nullified, so proximity with the boss is the only way you can increase your Tension. once the last bar is depleted though, the bullets are left on screen, but your invincibility kicks in, so to maintain an 8x here, you must scratch the remaining bullets on the screen. - PLAYING FOR TIME:
when playing Shikigami for score, one of the most important gameplay questions that arises (with regards to time) is: do you have time to point milk?
in my opinion, you do. don't forget that most bosses have destructible parts which you can destroy for coins, or will release coins when they get to a certain percentage of energy, or will spawn destructible drones from which you can coin-hoard. through careful planning, you can extract a large quantity of coins from bosses and still destroy them at speed, reaping a good Time Bonus as well. the most important thing to do is to constantly practice boss battles, so you get a good feel for the boss' attack patterns, what can be destroyed and what cannot, and the average time it takes to destroy the boss. by formulating your own plan of attack, you can maximise your own scoring potential.
another factor to note in the point milking debate involves Shikigami 1's stage 5-1 boss. using an indirect and low scoring character like Koutarou, an expert can gain upwards of 250mil from milking this boss, perhaps even get as much as 1bil. and for more direct attacking characters, even higher. so we can re-word the question into: do I play for speed or for score?
for more intermediate players, I would probably suggest going for a high score before you get to stage 5-1, as the whole of stage 5 is extremely difficult, the stage 5-2 boss is exceptionally hard, and many players (myself included) will fall at this hurdle, and the 5-1 milking technique itself is extremely difficult to do effectively.
for master players, I would suggest playing for score and time. going back to The Timed Game notes (above) I noted that every boss has patterns and states that will generate coins. this is where foreknowledge of bosses, as well as clever usage of HyperFire comes in handy. by using HyperFire to quickly wear a boss down to the phases where they generate coins, you can maximise the total possible coins you can generate from a boss, while saving time for the rest of the game in the process...
... on the other side of the debate is the need to gather as much time as possible for the 5-1 boss. I am unsure, and will need to research further, but I am assuming that the 5-1 boss will go through the green laser firing thingy cycle indefinitely - even through the Devil Cycle - until the player is defeated or the boss destroyed. if that is the case, then a possible strategy is that a player speeds through the game, gathering maximum points from the profitable stages such as 3-1 and 3-3, destroying bosses at speed, and gathering as much time as possible for 5-1 and 5-2. what effect this strategy will have on overall score also needs research, but the Time Bonuses would be substantially higher than if you played the game normally.
> SHIKIGAMI 2 GAMEPLAY SPECIFICS <
- POWERUP-LESS:
unlike Shikigami 1, you no longer powerup when you collect coins - you now stay at a constant power level, even if you get hit. this take a lot of the frustration out of the game, since you no longer have to worry about going into a tough section underpowered.
this also affects your scoring. in Shikigami 1, the amount of coins an enemy released was determined not only by Tension but also by how powered up you were. since you don't power down in Shikigami 2, the amount of points you lose from recovering maximum coin value is less (but it's still enough to put a dent in any scoring run).
TIMED BOSSES:
a major change in the gameplay is that only the boss battles are timed. therefore, you no longer have to conserve time throughout the game, but you still need to think about how much damage you inflict on the bosses in order to reap the best Time Bonus. as a result, the later bosses in the game have a very high resilience to damage, making later battles tougher and harder.
you can, however, milk a boss past the time limit and into the Devil Cycle, and thankfully, you do not have to worry about the Devils popping up during a particularly tough stage. - 8x ACTION:
instead of the Tension Average bonus at the end of each stage, Shikigami 2 rewards players with an 8x Action Bonus, calculated from the number of defeated enemies and collected coins gained with an 8x multiplier. this bonus is calculated by the equation:
(8x TOTAL x2) x 10,000 = total 8x Action Bonus
this bonus makes up a substantial portion of your end of stage bonus, so it is a bigger incentive to try and 8x everything you can to build up this bonus. - FEVERON/IKARUGA SPEEDY GAMEPLAY MECHANIC:
Shikigami 2 takes a small gameplay mechanic from Dangun Feveron and Ikaruga and works it into it's already complex game system. in the aforementioned games, you are rewarded with extra sets of enemies if you destroy each incoming attack wave at speed - the faster you obliterate enemies, the more that appear. with Shikigami 2, this is key massive scoring, as blitzing your way through each incoming wave draws you closer to the extra sets of enemies, all of which can be destroyed for more 8x. many thanks to oxtsu and cigsthecat for research on this gameplay aspect!
- some of the screenshots were pillaged from Alfa System's website, and modified for use with this "guide".
- the really low-quality screenshots were taken from my Shikigami 1 and 2 All Clear replays, to be released in the near future.
- thanks to those who have added to the ST Thread, credit given where due.