PSiKYO Appreciation from a Cave Fan

[Bananamatic]

as soon as I've seen Paradigm posting I knew it was going to be something real friendly

[chum]

If Randorama is going to be an artfag about any shmup company, he should artfag over Psikyo.

But Psikyo art really sucks, and don't get me started on their uninspired soundtracks. Noone should "artfag" over them (why would you use that term? Is appreciating artistic side of games somehow a bad thing?)

[AeroCityMayor]

Simple =/= easy. Psikyo scoring systems fall into the category of elegant simplicity - the rules are simple yet execution is difficult.

If Randorama is going to be an artfag about any shmup company, he should artfag over Psikyo. Their games are perfect models of the sort of minimalism (in terms of both scoring and survival options) that still remains engaging and challenging.

I don't know whether I agree with what you said, but you certainly describe the enduring appeal of the Psikyo games: and FWIW not just the shooters!

[AeroCityMayor]

Christ on a bike!

But Psikyo art really sucks, ...

Are you blind???

... and don't get me started on their uninspired soundtracks.

Are you deaf???

Noone should "artfag" over them (why would you use that term? Is appreciating artistic side of games somehow a bad thing?)

... are you a troll???

After your first two comments, I don't think you're qualified at all to judge!!!!

Cheers,

Ralph.

P.S. Psikyo4life!

[MrChiggins]

If Randorama is going to be an artfag about any shmup company, he should artfag over Psikyo.

But Psikyo art really sucks, and don't get me started on their uninspired soundtracks. Noone should "artfag" over them (why would you use that term? Is appreciating artistic side of games somehow a bad thing?)

Why not artfag over them? I could see why someone would think Psikyo art sucks... but I don't. It has a certain sort of inviting campy value (at least in Dragon Blaze and Gunbird 2) that mixes with the gameplay very well imo. It's easy for me to play those games for long periods of time. And yeah the soundtracks aren't at the forefront, especially when compared to games like Radiant Silvergun or Darius Gaiden... but the unassuming tunes of Dragon Blaze haven't worn on me at all and I've put over 50 hours into that game. I think "unassuming" is a better fit than "uninspired".

As for gameplay artfagging... I'm sure this is a point of contention amongst many shmuppers but I think the coin system in Gunbird 2 is genius. It should at least get an honorable mention in any Best Scoring Mechanics of All-Time list. It's so at-odds with the rest of the gameplay but still fits so well. It's like its own little rhythm game within another awesome game.

AND DO NOT GET ME STARTED ON DRAGON BLAZE'S SCORING OMGGGGGGGG

[ChainsawGuitarSP]

Taito shooters are the epitome of artfaggotry. Psikyo is all go and no show. This should be common knowledge by now.

[MrChiggins]

Taito shooters are the epitome of artfaggotry. Psikyo is all go and no show. This should be common knowledge by now.

Hahahaha it's true... at least the Taito remark . I thought pretty much everything about Darius Gaiden was awesome... except for the gameplay. Even things linked to the gameplay, like being able to capture mid-bosses, were awesome but the gameplay itself was pretty bland. Still fun but bland.
Semi-agree with Psikyo hehe

[professor ganson]

Strange how Psikyo's best looking game is probably their first. It took me a little while to appreciate the art style of Sengoku Ace, but now it's my favorite.

[Estebang]

Strange how Psikyo's best looking game is probably their first.

Not really--it didn't take them long to switch over to muddy pre-rendered fare.

Zero Gunner 2 is beautiful, though.

[Hagane]

Paradigm:

Psikyo scoring is not simple. It just (usually) has clear cut rules, and it doesn't fill the screen with numbers to tell you you are scoring well. Try, for example, to take down all five cannonmen in second loop woods level in Sengoku Blade. Or milk Kaen's drones in that loop. Pretty simple to pull off, huh?

Chum:

As for the artwork... if you mean character designs and in game illustrations, Psikyo always had good illustrators. Jun Tsukasa or Koji Ogata are far better than anyone at Cave save for Styleos.

In game graphics are fine except for Strikes 1945 II and Sol Divide... nowhere near as good as Raizing's (undisputed best looking shooters ever IMO) best works but perfectly fine overall. They were better with sprites than with renders, that's for sure.

I kind of agree about the music. Psikyo games tend to have ambiental music to go with the game's theme, so it usually isn't noteworthy. Solid, but unremarkable. The exception IMO would be Strikers 1945 II. But most of the time yeah music is unremarkable.

[RNGmaster]

Dragon Blaze might be pre-rendered, but dear god some of the backgrounds are amazing, and the character attack animations are fantastic. Psikyo games might have shit soundtracks, but in a gameplay sense they aren't devoid of artistic merit in the slightest.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Sengoku Ace and Dragon Blaze have good soundtracks.

[Estebang]

Quite fond of Sengoku Blade/Tengai's music over here, and the horizontal aspect allowed them to inject a lot more personality and detail into the graphics.