[XBLA] Trouble Witches Neo!

[Devil REI]

My review for this is up. I loved it, and encourage everyone to pick it up - $10 is a phenomenal price given this game's quality and longevity.

[Sumez]

FINE I'LL GET IT

[Drachenherz]

Just got this yesterday and I have to admit, I really dig the artstyle and the presentation. It has quite some potential for me, I get this warm, fuzzy "i like it" feeling when I play.

[Soldato J]

Everything you expect from a shmup retail is in here. You can even play the original arcade version if you want to tate.

Huh? Was this originally a vert?

[Cuilan]

I am addicted to this game. I managed to no-miss up to the 2nd half of stage 5 and almost got a 1cc on Heart Pounding. I was playing for score too. My current score is over 61 million.

[Enemy]

I think like most, I am really liking this. Loving the bullet slowing mechanic and for the first time in a shmup liking the shop. Never been a fan of shops in shooters but seems to work here.

[PepsimanVsJoe]

I gotta say I like shooters with story modes.
Even if the stories are ridiculous I end up playing through the game multiple times just to see them all and that equals quite a bit of practice.

EDIT: Wrote a very unspectacular review
http://www.extraguy.com/2011/05/trouble-witches-neo/

[RNGmaster]

I am addicted to this game. I managed to no-miss up to the 2nd half of stage 5 and almost got a 1cc on Heart Pounding. I was playing for score too. My current score is over 61 million.

Can you explain scoring? I'm trying to max Star Coins early, but I don't know if it's better to keep using cards or to cancel with the barrier. I know scoring relies on bullet canceling, but which kind is appropriate when is beyond me.

[Cuilan]

Can you explain scoring? I'm trying to max Star Coins early, but I don't know if it's better to keep using cards or to cancel with the barrier. I know scoring relies on bullet canceling, but which kind is appropriate when is beyond me.

You need to alternate between gold coins and star coins. You should be able to max the star coins by the end of stage 2. You just have to know which spell cards to buy, in which order to buy them, and when to use them. Use the barrier whenever you're not using spell cards, and try to turn the barrier off during points of no/low enemy activity. Always buy MP bottles when they're available. Buy the first Heart you see on sale (and only if you've no-missed up to that point), but any more than that is a waste of gold.

Stage 1 Shop 1 : score should be ~60,000 by this point. Buy Arrows first and then Swing. Use Arrows on the first 3 flying boats that appear. The Arrows should last you until the mid-boss. After mid-boss, activate Swing to take out all the vertical rows of enemies. Swing should last you until you're out of the tunnel and the large gunboat appears.

Shop 2 : Score should be ~800,000 by this point. Buy Bubble, then Arrows, and finally Roll. Take out the very first wave of small enemies, and then use Bubble on the larger ones. Activate the Arrows a few seconds before you defeat the boss (you'll get star coins if you did it right). Total score for stage 1 should be around 2.1 million with around 900 star coins.

Stage 2 : wait until bullets from first wave of enemies reaches center of the screen, then activate barrier. Activate Arrows as soon as the first wave of enemies reaches the center of the screen. Arrows should last you until the flowers start to show up. Activate Role after you clear the first flower field and the first multi-limbed enemy shows up. Take out the multi-limbed enemies as soon as possible, but hold your fire directly afterward so you don't accidentally destroy the 4 bullet generators early. Take out the first 2 bullet generators a second or two after they start shooting, with your Role only (should get lots of star coins if done right). Quickly move back and repeat with the last two bullet generators. Make sure Role runs out before you enter the shop.

Stage 2 Shop : score should be ~3.7 million by this point. Buy Arrows, then Bounce, then Bubble. Repeat the strategy used at the start of stage 2. Once Arrows run out, activate Bounce. Once that runs out, activate Bubble. Bubble should last you until the last two flying ships. Your star coins should be maxed by this point. Use your barrier on the last two flying ships. Try not to destroy them until they finish spewing out bullets. Score should be over 9 million by the end of stage 2.

I think I'll stop right there and leave the rest to you. Hope that helped.

[Special World]

Questions:

A) Does this game have a deep, rewarding scoring system?
B) With all the bullet canceling and junk, do you still get caught up in some nice patterns?

Right now it just looks like a less refined Espgaluda to me, but I'd like to get it when I return to school if it's any good.

[Cuilan]

Questions:

A) Does this game have a deep, rewarding scoring system?
B) With all the bullet canceling and junk, do you still get caught up in some nice patterns?

A) There's some depth to it, and I find it rewarding. It has an intuitive risk/reward implementation, I'd say.

B) Oh yes. Only certain bullets/projectiles are affected by the barrier, and some barriered bullets won't cancel at all unless you destroy the enemies that shot them. On top of that, non-barrier bullet canceling is reliant on the use of the spell cards. If you're caught with no spell cards in the later levels and/or your barrier runs out at the wrong time, you will get shot down real quick. Most of the bosses also have shapes and attack patterns that are designed to trap you.

Edit : speaking of traps, I think it's about time for a new avatar.

[RNGmaster]

Most of the bosses also have shapes and attack patterns that are designed to trap you.

Fuck that Stage 4 boss. Current score is 33 mil, but could be much more if I didn't always fail its final form. I use the correct subweapon (Bubble), but sometimes it's not vulnerable and that makes me a sad panda.

[Cuilan]

Fuck that Stage 4 boss. Current score is 33 mil, but could be much more if I didn't always fail its final form. I use the correct subweapon (Bubble), but sometimes it's not vulnerable and that makes me a sad panda.

Don't activate Bubble until the blue bullets are about to push you away from the core. That way, you can cancel some of the blue bullets. Once Bubble is activated, shoot at the core in 1~2 second intervals.

[RNGmaster]

Fuck that Stage 4 boss. Current score is 33 mil, but could be much more if I didn't always fail its final form. I use the correct subweapon (Bubble), but sometimes it's not vulnerable and that makes me a sad panda.

Don't activate Bubble until the blue bullets are about to push you away from the core. That way, you can cancel some of the blue bullets. Once Bubble is activated, shoot at the core in 1~2 second intervals.

That should help, but what about in Boss Attack mode, where I generally don't have Bubble or F Bomb (love the name there)?

[Cuilan]

That should help, but what about in Boss Attack mode, where I generally don't have Bubble or F Bomb (love the name there)?

Just try to follow a gap between two rows of blue bullets and follow it all the way around until you get to the core again. Use the barrier to slow down the green bullets when you get close to the top and bottom.

[Tyjet]

Luca is available now for 160 ms.

[Cuilan]

Luca is available now for 160 ms.

Cheaper than I expected. Does she have her own fully-voiced route in story mode?

Edit : looks like she does. The DLC also appears to be simply an unlock key... Oh well, at least it's cheap.

[NeoStrayCat]

Yeah, just a short DL unlock key that is cheap, I probably won't get her till next week, maybe...And I like the sound of that "F Bomb" too, its so "insulting", lol...

[Tyjet]

yes she has all the voices and storyline, just like the others. I didn't even noticed that F bomb card. Now that you mentioned it, that's funny.

Anyways, I'm up to 30-1 on boss attack. Anyone knows how far this goes up to?

[TodayIsForgotten]

yes she has all the voices and storyline, just like the others. I didn't even noticed that F bomb card. Now that you mentioned it, that's funny.

Anyways, I'm up to 30-1 on boss attack. Anyone knows how far this goes up to?

supposedly its endless

[Cuilan]

Ok, so I bought Luca.

Main shot is comparable to Sakurako's, though Luca's is wider.
Familiar's shot seems pretty weak and has to arch, also fires slowly.
Luca starts off with a lot of MP.
Barrier is very large.

I was able to 1cc Heart Pounding for the first time after using Luca just a couple of times. My score was lower than my best though, since I died at least once in every level from 3 to 6. Luca seems to be all about keeping the barrier active for long periods of time, and catching a greater number of bullets for canceling.

[Tyjet]

actually, you have to rapidly press the shot button to have her option fire more bricks (just like the others). If you have her option on top of a boss and tap shot, you can cause a lot of damage.

supposedly its endless

where did you here it from?

[Cuilan]

actually, you have to rapidly press the shot button to have her option fire more bricks (just like the others). If you have her option on top of a boss and tap shot, you can cause a lot of damage.

Yes, I know. But even when tap-shooting, it's still quite slow, in my opinion anyway. But in any case, her familiar is best used for barrier.

[Tyjet]

apparently, Luca is so important there is a premium theme just featuring her.

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Produ ... ed08051b93

boring kinda?

[Cuilan]

1CC'ed it two more times with Luca now. My top score is now over 65.8 million. I would have no-missed up to stage 6, but that damn fish got me.

apparently, Luca is so important there is a premium theme just featuring her.

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Produ ... ed08051b93

boring kinda?

I saw a video of the theme in action. Really lacked variety. Was not impressed.

[NeoStrayCat]

I just got her now, and I'll be thinking of going nuts on B.A. mode to see if it goes up to 99-? or higher, and if Todays is right, than we can agree, I was also thinking about that too.

[Cuilan]

Score is over 69.9 million now. I can 1CC the game pretty consistently, but the no-miss 1CC still eludes me. I should be able to get it very soon though. Once that's done, it'll finally be time to sit down and watch the replays.

[sibladeko]

Played this last weekend at an Arcana Heart 3 gathering with a friend...completely destroyed on Ring of Fire boss at stage 4.
Is SIES unlockable in this game?
As in the evil Alice thing.

[Cuilan]

Is SIES unlockable in this game?
As in the evil Alice thing.

If she was unlockable in the PC version, she should be unlockable in Original mode also. Not sure about 360 mode.

[Tyjet]

I don't think she is in Neo. I've only seen her in the PC version.

If she is unlockable, what are the requirements?