Espgaluda II

[StarCreator]

...he made Metal Black?

Sure, why not. If he can make his hair do that, he can make anything.

[BIL]

Looks more like a case of devil gene to me.

[Phellan Wolf]

asada's hair gets more and more fabulous every time i see him

I ask myself what is he going to do when he get bald??? Maybe he'll use some kind of wig

[supergrafx77]

I love this fucking game! This is the reason why I insert coin!

Edit: I find myself yelling profanity in Japanese like some street grunt Yanki Yakuza Wannabee whose only job it is is to harass the local hoes in front of a shady Pachinko parlor that says you owe money on a drink you never swallowed. Thank you Asada, thank you so very much!

[supergrafx77]

Pre-ordered from NCSX. Oh, and a Egret II from Matsu.

Congrats, best cab ever.

Thank you. And thank you for your excellent write-ups as well as nice website concerning your cab/s. I just ordered the UVC last night after reading your write-up of the unit about a week ago. I probably am going to have a few questions to pm you concerning the install. Can't wait to see Espgaluda II on the monitor!

[Trevor spencer]

Am I the only one, then, who absolutely adores the soundtracks for both games?

Nope me too

[emphatic]

Pre-ordered from NCSX. Oh, and a Egret II from Matsu.

Congrats, best cab ever.

Thank you. And thank you for your excellent write-ups as well as nice website concerning your cab/s. I just ordered the UVC last night after reading your write-up of the unit about a week ago. I probably am going to have a few questions to pm you concerning the install. Can't wait to see Espgaluda II on the monitor!

Cool!

[chempop]

my earlier lack of understanding how Black Label's bullet "catch/deflect" system works (is there a proper term for this?)

I have sneaking suspicion that it only works on bullets coming at you from the front though, I'm probably wrong though.

I'm was wrong about this, but I'm still very confused at to when and why I'm deflecting bullets inconsistently. Someone care to explain this? (the strategy board doesn't have many details about BL mode yet)

[honorless]

I'm was wrong about this, but I'm still very confused at to when and why I'm deflecting bullets inconsistently.

My theory based on videos:

Bullets only slow down (I don't know if they actually stop) near your hitbox when the invincibility gauge (lower right) isn't empty. I'll call it "proximity slowdown" so we can differentiate it from standard Cave slowdown or Kakusei slowdown.

The invincibility gauge drains over time, and drains much faster if you're triggering the proximity slowdown. When it's empty, the bullets near your hitbox move at full speed.

BTW—as I mentioned before—when you trigger the proximity slowdown you lose points, too.

[Zweihander]

Meh. I still find it hilarious when anyone knocks the ESPGaluda soundtrack for being "atrocious" or "forgettable" but then turns around and praises ESPGaluda II's OST. It's like bashing J.R.R. Tolkien's work before proceeding to read Stephanie Meyer.

[chempop]

Both soundtracks fit the games just fine, they sound like fairies at an amusement park.

[ncp]

Meh. I still find it hilarious when anyone knocks the ESPGaluda soundtrack for being "atrocious" or "forgettable" but then turns around and praises ESPGaluda II's OST. It's like bashing J.R.R. Tolkien's work before proceeding to read Stephanie Meyer.

YEAH WELL MY OPINION > YOUR OPINION

edit: also espgaluda 1's stage 4 was the best track, you crazy bro you crazy.

[GaijinPunch]

To be honest, it's just weird and makes the game feel like it's on speed. There are a couple of spots where it is beneficial to the player, but it's not earth-shattering that it's gone.

When you say transitional state do you mean between normal & kakusei, or do you mean the enemies invincibility when they first appear on screen (a la the first Mushihime-sama)? If it's the latter, it will destroy Asagi & Tateha scores.

Will Farrel playing the cowbell > Namiki

Namiki > Will Farrel > your mom

Mine was better.

I find myself yelling profanity in Japanese

Doesn't exist.

[Zweihander]

Meh. I still find it hilarious when anyone knocks the ESPGaluda soundtrack for being "atrocious" or "forgettable" but then turns around and praises ESPGaluda II's OST. It's like bashing J.R.R. Tolkien's work before proceeding to read Stephanie Meyer.

YEAH WELL MY OPINION > YOUR OPINION

edit: also espgaluda 1's stage 4 was the best track, you crazy bro you crazy.

Again, that's just your own opinion. I thought stage 4's track was great, but it still lacked the "dramatic tension" or the feeling of embarking against an evil empire, i.e. stages 1, 3, and 5.

[apple arcade]

Anyone have pics of the disc and soundtrack?

haven't received my copy yet and am curious.

[dan76]

Initial impressions having received the game yesterday and having never played the PCB.

Arcade mode plays a lot like the original. Bullet patterns are an extention of Galuda 1 - they will seem familiar and you'll be doing the same sort of dodging as in the first game. Even though it's cut from the same cloth as Futari it has a much different feel. Overall I'd say the game is slower - bullets feel a lot slower - and therefore easier. I've made stage 5 a couple of times and this is only after a few hours play, so to me it's much easier than Futari Manic and maybe the original - HOWEVER, I'm only playing for survival and haven't really explored the whole bullet spawning thang. So in this respect if you want to play like Galuda 1 completely ignoring bullet spawning you can - just don't looks at your score... Also, comparing it to Futari, the learning curve seems much more gradual - I haven't encountered any difficulty spikes yet so in that respect the game is more balanced. It's a true sequel in that it retains what was great about the original and adds to it. I'm more impressed with this than I was with Futari.

Arcade mode graphic are very chunky, 360 mode looks amazing. Usually I play the arcade modes but I'm sticking to 360 with this. I've only had a couple of goes on the other modes as they seem more built for score and for players who've already mastered the arcade game.

Black Label I hadn't got a clue what was going on - er, complicated... I guess that's all I can say about it.

Arrange I enjoyed at the start - laser cancels red bullets, shot cancels blue... but it's a mode purely for score, not for survival. I got to stage 5 boss on the first credit.

Novice and Omake are both really easy 1CC. Omake has scoring potential I guess.

The only thing I'm not keen on it the bullet slowing/canceling near your character. This is something that both Black label and Omake make use of. It's a personal preference that I just don't like in shooters (didn't really like DFK in this respect) - I prefer to just dodge past 'em all.

Because I'm new to the game (and Galuda 1 being in my top 3) I'm prefering the arcade port over the other versions. It has a real solid feel to it and plays really well. Each of the three main modes have a lot of depth to the scoring - pretty great its all on the disc already. I'm kind of glad I haven't played the PCB as from what I've read it's not all that accurate - doesn't bother me - ignorance is bliss 'an all that. Separate score tables then...

[Kiken]

To be honest, it's just weird and makes the game feel like it's on speed. There are a couple of spots where it is beneficial to the player, but it's not earth-shattering that it's gone.

When you say transitional state do you mean between normal & kakusei, or do you mean the enemies invincibility when they first appear on screen (a la the first Mushihime-sama)? If it's the latter, it will destroy Asagi & Tateha scores.

What I'm referring to is when you damage a boss form, or boss parts as well as destroying some bullet cancelling enemies.

[-Bridget-]

I've just gotten this game myself as well... and I've never played the PCB version... so I'll give my impressions as well.

I've so far tried out 360 mode, and Black Label. Now, Im currently used to Futari, since I play that one to death, so coming from that, to this, makes this seem a good bit easier than it probably is. I can probably 1cc 360 or arcade mode without too much trouble.

360 mode reminds me alot of the first Galuda, with the exception of the bullet-respawning, which I havent really gotten into yet. Black Label though.... now THAT is interesting.

When I first started on it, hoboy, was I ever lost. And looking at the tutorials.... all in a language I cant understand a bit of.... just made me more confused. But I had a look at the guide on here, and a few replays pulled from the scoreboards, and then.... it just clicked. Oh, Im sure there's a couple of aspects Im still missing... like whatever in the world is up with the bullets with the green/red auras, but alot of it did click, and I found myself scoring pretty well for such an early run.

BL seems very, very good to me. Yes, the scoring system is bloody confusing. But it's a blast once you get the hang of some of it. And it's got that "satisfying" quality that some of these games have. Futari BL's scoring (Maniac/God) has that quality. When you get a long chain at x1000 for the first time, it just feels great. And there's so much opportunity to score higher, and so far, it feels alot like God or Maniac do in Futari, in that it's not super-hyper-strict and you're allowed some room to come up with your own tricks, as opposed to, say, Ultra, where you either follow the correct path or it eats your face.

I havent tried Arrange mode yet (or even unlocked Omake) but it sounds like alot of fun. It looks to be a pure scoring mode, much like Arrange in Futari. Which is totally fine by me. I love a challenge, but to me there's different types of challenges. If I want a survival challenge, I'll go yell at Futari Ultra some more.

Havent had a look at the Novice modes yet. I will, though, Im intrigued to see what they're like.


All in all, Im very happy with this game overall. It's not quite as totally awesome as Futari or DeathSmiles are to me, but it comes very, very close.

[-Bridget-]

Ok, something that just happened, I think the replay I was watching just now totally bugged out.

Downloaded an all-clear replay of Arrange, just to have a better look at that mode. "All-clear" it says.

In the replay, the player got a game-over in stage 2, and the score wasnt remotely near what the replay lists it as.

Has anyone else seen this happen with replays? I hope it's not going to be a constant issue here....

[Shuurin]

Ok, something that just happened, I think the replay I was watching just now totally bugged out.

Downloaded an all-clear replay of Arrange, just to have a better look at that mode. "All-clear" it says.

In the replay, the player got a game-over in stage 2, and the score wasnt remotely near what the replay lists it as.

Has anyone else seen this happen with replays? I hope it's not going to be a constant issue here....

That is simply an occupational hazard with downloading replays, sometimes they get bugged. Happened to me as well downloading Deathsmiles replays, Futari, ikaruga, and touhou ones. Not often, and you can redownload the file and it should work. If its a bad upload then just move on to another players replay. Since its not an actual video but rather coding that recorded all the movements of the players, near misses sometimes are miscalculated by the replay mechanic and turns into a hit and its down hill from there.

[Jet Black]

Could somebody confirm if the Tutorial Bug is in Arcade and 360 Mode?

[EPS21]

Ok, something that just happened, I think the replay I was watching just now totally bugged out.

Downloaded an all-clear replay of Arrange, just to have a better look at that mode. "All-clear" it says.

In the replay, the player got a game-over in stage 2, and the score wasnt remotely near what the replay lists it as.

Has anyone else seen this happen with replays? I hope it's not going to be a constant issue here....

That is simply an occupational hazard with downloading replays, sometimes they get bugged. Happened to me as well downloading Deathsmiles replays, Futari, ikaruga, and touhou ones. Not often, and you can redownload the file and it should work. If its a bad upload then just move on to another players replay. Since its not an actual video but rather coding that recorded all the movements of the players, near misses sometimes are miscalculated by the replay mechanic and turns into a hit and its down hill from there.

Some games no matter how many times you download the replay, its still buggy though. DOJ BLEX is just plain fucked, and in futari I had one instance where 1 replay I dl'd gave me one of a different shot type than it was supposed to be, and much lower score as well. I hope E2 isn't consistent with this problem cause I'm going to need them real badly compared to other games to figure out how to score.

[Kiken]

Could somebody confirm if the Tutorial Bug is in Arcade and 360 Mode?

The tutorial glitch works in Arcade Mode but not in 360 Mode.

[-Bridget-]

Ok, a couple of questions here:

1. How exactly do I go from Kakusei straight into Zesshikai? I've seen this done in a few replays, and I think when looking through the tutorials, but I cant figure out how to do it. IF that's even what's actually going on. That's what it looks like is happening. Like, someone going into Kakusei, getting some gold, and then popping right into Zesshikai from there.

2. What's with this "Level" thing in Arrange mode? I understand for the most part how to play Arrange mode. But that's the ONE thing I just dont understand. How does that work, how do I access it?

[evil_ash_xero]

Just a couple of quick questions.

Is there Autobomb in Black Label?

Also, has anyone gotten a grip on Black Label, and can give an impression on that particular mode. It seems interesting. Also, if you want, you can have the original BGM in that mode, can't you?

[Aquas]

1. How exactly do I go from Kakusei straight into Zesshikai? I've seen this done in a few replays, and I think when looking through the tutorials, but I cant figure out how to do it. IF that's even what's actually going on. That's what it looks like is happening. Like, someone going into Kakusei, getting some gold, and then popping right into Zesshikai from there.

I believe you need gems and gold and then hold B to enable Zesshikai while in Kakusei...?

[Skykid]

What you end up with is a slightly more difficult version of the PCB with 5 additional modes.

Wha? Ha ha, they went and made it harder?

Lolz, that's pretty funny. The game is tough as fuck even with slowdown. I can't imagine Shin Seseri coming at you with full speed attacks.

I'll leave this a while and grab it cheaper down the line when everyone starts selling it cos it's kicking their asses.

[StarCreator]

1. How exactly do I go from Kakusei straight into Zesshikai? I've seen this done in a few replays, and I think when looking through the tutorials, but I cant figure out how to do it. IF that's even what's actually going on. That's what it looks like is happening. Like, someone going into Kakusei, getting some gold, and then popping right into Zesshikai from there.

I'm sure this is explained better in Strategy, but the way I understand it is, you have to switch to Kakusei with no gold, but don't let go of the button even when switched; then when you kill an enemy and get the gold reward, you'll instantly switch upon collecting the gold.

[Acid King]

I'll leave this a while and grab it cheaper down the line when everyone starts selling it cos it's kicking their asses.

I'm really excited to try this game but I'm waiting as well. I still haven't cleared any of Futari's 1.5 modes, so I'll wait another month or three before picking Galuda 2 up.

[-Bridget-]

I found out how to change the level, for Arrange mode. At least somewhat, I got it upped to 21 for Tateha.

Stupidest possible method of doing so though. I'd love to hear what the logic behind that idea is.



Anyway, I've spent some more time with Black Label. I gotta say, this is a brilliant scoring system. It's mostly a chaining system... and I normally dont like those, or so I keep saying... but I think maybe DDP and DOJ just left me with a bad taste, as far as chaining systems go, cause Im enjoying the heck outta this one.

Through some replays, I've learned more about this mode, such as what Over Mode is for, and what those green-aura bullets do, and the use of the suicide bullets that happen in Kakusei. I managed to chain the entire first stage (starting at that first turret and flying fat thing) including the boss, and it was.... well, it was totally awesome, is what it was.

Though, dealing with the bosses in Over Mode is certainly difficult.... a bit shorter, but difficult indeed.

Alot of fun though. It can be frustrating at times, however. I hate that huge flying fat thing in stage 3, after the midboss. What a snot that thing is!