Espgaluda II

[Dave_K.]

I really wish they had released a black label PCB of this

Ditto for PS2 Espgaluda Arrange.

[Skykid]

I'm getting some varied opinions of this game's difficulty. I'm concerned about that, since DOJ really kills me. I can't quite enjoy it much, since I feel like i'm "under the gun" as soon as Stage 3 starts, and it's a rarity if I can get to the end of it. And that's it. So, I only usually play about 2 and a half stages of DOJ, in rapid succession. Frustrating.

OK, I know ESP II has 6 levels. Playing strictly for survival, about what stage does stuff start getting DOJ hard? And does it REALLY get that hard? If I can play about 3 or 4 levels(i'd prefer 4..or at least get to the end of the 4th stage), i'd be pretty happy honestly. I'm not hard to please, but I almost always like to get to the 4th stage of any shmup. And more importantly, I don't want to feel completely under the gun the whole time. I'd like some time to breathe and enjoy things. I can handle Ra.de. and Guwange, for reference. I can only get to the 4th stages on them, but that's about my limit I think(at this point).

Clearing Espgaluda 2 is hard as fucking nails, but you won't really feel it until you come up against the stage 4 boss. From that point onwards it will take months of learning. Strider even making it to the last boss is something quite significant - my best is the stage 5 boss and I've had the PCB a while (although I've been distracted quite a bit.)

It's definitely one of Cave's toughest, but I'm sure the Novice mode will be similarly Futari-esque for all the people who aren't yet so good at shmups.

Regarding the new art, I like it, if only because I'm bored of seeing the existing art recycled a million times. New is nice, and I quite like the faceplate too.
Really interested in the BL and Yagawa's modes, and although I don't find much wrong with the existing soundtrack, a new one is a fine addition too.
Can't wait!

[third_strike]

So should we call this ESPavariar, or Psygaluda? I bet you can joystick-wiggle the fuck out of those bullets!

Maybe Shikigaludiar.
Cool!

[adversity1]

Damn, I've never really touched this game, but the difficulty level makes the 1CC sound like an enticing challenge.

[Skykid]

Just watched the vid and it looks fantastic. The new player sprite looks way better than the arcade original (which always looked a bit pathetic unfortunately) and I'm loving the BL vibe. Not quite sure what's happening (an extra life after less than half the stage?) but it sure looks fun.
The music's cool too, although the boss music has been ruined - way better in original.
And I swear I can hear Sunsetrider synth samples in that boss track remix? That's going to be really off-putting.

[dmauro]

Yeah, great vid, but the boss music is god awful.

[pixeljunkie]

Yeah, great vid, but the boss music is god awful.

I agree, but having watched the video 3,000 times....its starting to grow on me. And I have the PCB and absolutely love the tunes.

[pixeljunkie]

yesasia.com is listing this as not region-free. Has anyone confirmed if this is region-free or not?

[Damocles]

That's some really horrible art right there.

[Rupert H]

I'm not so much a fan of the art on the faceplate as just the idea of having an Espgaluda II faceplate. What's the deal with that anyway? Does it come with the Limited Edition or only the Cave Shop Limited Edition? The picture suggests it forms part of the proper box unlike the Futari faceplate stickers.

[dmauro]

I think the LE is just the regular edition with a different cover and the faceplate. The regular one comes with the soundtrack as well, so if the LE didn't come with the faceplace it would be a hell of a scam. I'm down with the plain white faceplate so I'm sticking with the regular edition again. Nice of them to toss in the soundtrack though so that they can charge a little more.

[Shelcoof]

I'm probably gonna pick up both editions just because I own all the other LE and SE versions of Cave's releases for the 360.

[Rupert H]

Ah... so it does. I thought the CD was only with the LE. That's great news. I've developed a taste for Cave 360 face plates. I wonder how much the impossible-to-get DeathSmiles one goes for these days.

Having seen both covers I'm really not a fan of the LE one either. It looks so poorly drawn compared to the 2006 artwork.

So is there any kind of Cave Shop bonus for Espgaluda II this time around?

[Cuilan]

yesasia.com is listing this as not region-free. Has anyone confirmed if this is region-free or not?

No confirmation yet. Pretty sure they just listed it that way to play it safe and not get anyone's hopes up.

[ASK]

yesasia.com is listing this as not region-free. Has anyone confirmed if this is region-free or not?

No confirmation yet. Pretty sure they just listed it that way to play it safe and not get anyone's hopes up.

Yeah Play-asia listed Futari as region locked up until it was released IIRC.

[gatsu25]

Can somebody give me the rundown of whats going on with the pre-orders? My preference would be to order off of Amazon.co.jp, unless of course Cave offers a better incentive. I read in another post that Amazon had put up preorders but they sold out. This seems strange to me though as I check it everyday and have signed up to receive an email if they are opened up. I have not received anything like that.

I live in Japan so you would think this would be easy for me!

[TLB]

Good luck with that. I'm waiting until a region announcement, as I'm sure most are, but I guess it's good we're finally seeing you here :)

[Lawfer]

Can somebody give me the rundown of whats going on with the pre-orders?

They are soldout in every single japanese store that I have checked with:

Try to google.co.jp for エスプガルーダII 初回限定版

Though since you may read japanese, is there no info in japanese on when the cave stores may open to take pre-orders?

[adversity1]

I would be very pessimistic with regards to EspII being region free.

[TLB]

I don't even care about it anymore; Futari's fantastic and Ultra will occupy me for longer than Gal 2 ever would. That and all I wanna do is play DOJ now anyway. Fucking PS2 >_>

[Lawfer]

The only place that is selling the limited edition of the game (whitout the phone card apparently) is yesasia, all this goodness for a "mere"... 140.99 dollars. I am gonna wait for cave to start taking preo-orders, they'll probably have more goodies to their orders like they did for Futari 1.5.

[Shelcoof]

NCSX is taking pre-orders for the regular edition release of this game

I just put in my pre-order a few mins ago

[Biohazard53]

as is play-asia

[chempop]

Thanks for the heads up Shelcoof!

[8 1/2]

What is up with Cave and these LE's? From what NCSX is saying, it sounds like this one is going to be another mess, possibly even worse than the Deathsmiles situation. I guess they want to really ensure their value? JUST LET ME BUY IT!

[Skykid]

I wonder how much the impossible-to-get DeathSmiles one goes for these days.

I don't think a Deathsmiles faceplate actually exists does it?

[Kron]

There was one pictured very early on via the Cave blog.

No news on the LE yet but Play-Asia have the standard edition up for pre-order now:

http://www.play-asia.com/SOap-23-83-9oq ... -3j1d.html
Price: US$ 72.90 (~45.25 GBP)

Has anything been said in terms of it being region free yet?

[Lawfer]

What is up with Cave and these LE's? From what NCSX is saying, it sounds like this one is going to be another mess, possibly even worse than the Deathsmiles situation. I guess they want to really ensure their value? JUST LET ME BUY IT!

Creating demand.

[system11]

Also waiting for a region announcement. The silence doesn't bode well, maybe someone who can speak Japanese should call Cave and ask them? I tried email but no reply.

[Udderdude]

After the recent mess with the Futari shipping (3 weeks and some people STILL have not gotten theirs, including me, not to mention the DLC card/first print run mix-up)

I would highly reccomend preordering anywhere but play-asia

Here's another good alternative : http://www.shopncsx.com/espgaludaiiblac ... ition.aspx