Shin Akai Katana Confirmed for North America

[Op Intensify]

IGN's review not-so-subtly suggests that you should buy Skyrim for the same price.

Get your priorities in gear, people!! What the hell are you doing dropping four figures on PCBs?? With that kind of money, you could be buying 20 copies of Call of Duty™ Black Ops 2™ with matching CoD Elite™ subscriptions for each of them!

[TonK]

IGN's review not-so-subtly suggests that you should buy Skyrim for the same price.

Get your priorities in gear, people!! What the hell are you doing dropping four figures on PCBs?? With that kind of money, you could be buying 20 copies of Call of Duty™ Black Ops 2™ with matching CoD Elite™ subscriptions for each of them!

It's always difficult to reason with people as to why I own a $1600+ PCB vs. a $40 port of the same game.

[jonny5]

IGN's review not-so-subtly suggests that you should buy Skyrim for the same price.

Get your priorities in gear, people!! What the hell are you doing dropping four figures on PCBs?? With that kind of money, you could be buying 20 copies of Call of Duty™ Black Ops 2™ with matching CoD Elite™ subscriptions for each of them!

It's always difficult to reason with people as to why I own a $1600+ PCB vs. a $40 port of the same game.

Because we can!! It's a different experience, and to some, that experience is worth the entry fee. Playing an actual PCB in a cab is in no way, shape or form the same as playing on a console with a joystick in your lap.

It's the same thing as having an actual cab and PCB's versus playing with MAME on your PC; it's just not the same.

As far as the cost goes, unless you are buying PCB's at launch, the pricing is pretty stable, so more often than not, you will get back what you spent on it, if not more, should you decide to sell it on.

Some might not find the difference justifies the cost, but lots do, too.

[burgerkingdiamond]

EDIT post erased. No need to derail

[Shelcoof]

Well, that is whenever I get my pre-ordered copy (which, BTW will be guaranteed sealed since the EB Games up here actually respects and cares about its clientele).

I just gave in and ordered it from Amazon.com instead of waiting for EB and Amazon.ca to get them in. It is only about 5$ more to order on Amazon.com and you probably will get it sooner than waiting for Canadian retailers to have them in.

EBgames.com has Akai listed at 44.99$ and Amazon.com has it listed for 39.99 plus 8$ shipping.

[sven666]

It's always difficult to reason with people as to why I own a $1600+ PCB vs. a $40 port of the same game.

lol its always the same.

"cool you have alot of games, but whats with all the storage boxes?"
me: theyre arcade games.
"wooot, you must have hundreds man!?"
me: no its just one game in each box.
"theyre huge!, must cost a fortune?"
me: yeah theyre quite pricey, about $500-2000..
"daaaamn son youre dedicated!! i just download mine for free "
me: ...each.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

IGN's review not-so-subtly suggests that you should buy Skyrim for the same price.

I threw up a little in my mouth reading that review. What kind of an idiot can't be bothered to research the score mechanics before reviewing a game "professionally" (a term I use loosely here)?

[DJ Incompetent]

Anyone can eventually see the credits roll if they just continue enough times, but only the lonely can do it while minimizing their loss of life and maximizing their leaderboard position.

[DJ Incompetent]

Destructoid, 9.0 http://www.destructoid.com/review-akai- ... 7604.phtml

[NeoStrayCat]

Pfftt, cant spell IGNorant without IGN, I'd rather wait for Serraxor to do an honest review for this game on Bullet Heaven (Ep. 51 me thinks, lol)

Wish granted. Actually, I had it planned for 51 anyways

Well, that is whenever I get my pre-ordered copy (which, BTW will be guaranteed sealed since the EB Games up here actually respects and cares about its clientele).

Tnx, lol, at least AK would have been Ep.50, but the Gundemounium Series would do nicely, fair share of points though...

[Seahawk]

Anyone can eventually see the credits roll if they just continue enough times, but only the lonely can do it while minimizing their loss of life and maximizing their leaderboard position.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed that .


I'm planning to get this. I've never played a Cave title before so this will be my first experience with their style of shooting games.
Is this a good place to start with Cave, or am I better off playing something else first?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I'm planning to get this. I've never played a Cave title before so this will be my first experience with their style of shooting games. Is this a good place to start with Cave, or am I better off playing something else first?

The scoring's more complicated than say Espgaluda or Futari, but it should still be accessible enough for new players. It's also got Novice modes to allow you to get used to the game and work your way up to the actual arcade difficulty if you prefer. Espgaluda's pretty forgiving for a Cave shmup, ideal for a newbie to their stuff, worse comes to worse give it a whirl in MAME or something until your copy of AKS arrives.

[Deca]

Is this a good place to start with Cave

No. It bears passing similarities with ESPgaluda and Progear but really isn't like the majority of their games at all. Still, that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a try. I never regret a shooter purchase, even if I don't get into it right away I know I'll put time into it somewhere down the line.

am I better off playing something else first?

Dodonpachi.

[Obscura]

am I better off playing something else first?

Seconding the Espgaluda recommendation. I'm not particularly fond of the game, but it is a good one for a beginner, and is probably Cave's easiest to play for survival (aside from Deathsmiles, of course), with a possible exception for the stage 5 bosses. I've heard people say that ESP Ra.De is another decent beginner choice, but I've never played it. Dodonpachi is another reasonable choice, although its score system is a bitch (I find chaining in that game much harder than in DOJ).

EDIT:

Nearly 20 years after Donpachi, Akai Katana doesn't give us much new to do or admire.

What? I've never played Akai Katana, and probably never will (hell I've never even played Donpachi, for that matter), but cancel-em-up Horis sure are a whole lot like the Pachis...

[Strider77]

Because we can!! It's a different experience, and to some, that experience is worth the entry fee. Playing an actual PCB in a cab is in no way, shape or form the same as playing on a console with a joystick in your lap.

I have and do both... I have to say it is or can be in most ways shapes and forms very close.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I'm not particularly fond of the game, but it is a good one for a beginner, and is probably Cave's easiest to play for survival (aside from Deathsmiles, of course)

Futari BL Original is even easier to 1cc than Espgaluda is, especially as Reco who basically just cruises through enemies (BL Original is all about the scoring; quite a bit tougher then since you absolutely need to get in enemies' faces for those bright blue gems, rank gets more vicious quickly, etc). Since bosses and stuff die super fast if you're just looking to clear it, it's not really representative of Cave's usual arcade style IMO.

[Obscura]

I'm not particularly fond of the game, but it is a good one for a beginner, and is probably Cave's easiest to play for survival (aside from Deathsmiles, of course)

Futari BL Original is even easier to 1cc than Espgaluda is, especially as Reco who basically just cruises through enemies (BL Original is all about the scoring; quite a bit tougher then since you absolutely need to get in enemies' faces for those bright blue gems, rank gets more vicious quickly, etc). Since bosses and stuff die super fast if you're just looking to clear it, it's not really representative of Cave's usual arcade style IMO.

Having played both, I disagree with that pretty strongly.

I honestly don't see why people call Futari BL original particularly easy. I am literally able to make it further in DOJBL than in Futari BL, and I doubt that the missing slowdown makes that big of a difference.

[Zaarock]

I honestly don't see why people call Futari BL original particularly easy. I am literally able to make it further in DOJBL than in Futari BL, and I doubt that the missing slowdown makes that big of a difference.

Did you try using the bombs? they're crazy powerful in futari BL and bombing actually drops your rank/counter more than dying which is pretty weird but makes it even easier to 1cc.

edit: oh wait missing slowdown.. it makes a huge difference lol. especially in the port lasering some bosses can cause massive slowdown

[Obscura]

I honestly don't see why people call Futari BL original particularly easy. I am literally able to make it further in DOJBL than in Futari BL, and I doubt that the missing slowdown makes that big of a difference.

Did you try using the bombs? they're crazy powerful in futari BL and bombing actually drops your rank/counter more than dying which is pretty weird but makes it even easier to 1cc.

Yeah, I bomb like crazy in that game, and barely score (usually, first extend comes a bit before the stage 4 midboss, when I happen to get that far-which isn't often). It's not really enough. The second half of stage 3, especially the boss, is harder than anything in DOJ's first loop by about a mile, IMO. Stage 4 and 5 (with the rank lowered on 5, since I've never gotten past the "crazy scrolling" bit without a continue) are both much, much easier- but with stage 3 being what it is for me, that doesn't matter much.

[Zaarock]

The stage 3 boss has crazy slowdown if you laser it in the front in the 360 port making it pretty easy on BL, I think it's even more than the PCB though?

[Obscura]

Ok, slight correction:
Futari BL's third boss with no slowdown except for about a few moments the second time he does the first pattern is harder than anything in DOJ's first loop. Maybe the slowdown effects it (although I find that frequently slowdown screws me up more than it helps, since my craft doesn't respond quite like expected).

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I doubt that the missing slowdown makes that big of a difference.

Haven't we been over this? I recall you said you were playing on an emulator that doesn't properly emulate the slowdown.

There's so much slowdown in BL I can't seriously emphasize it enough. Pretty much any time you're firing when there's bullets on screen you'll see slowdown, even to a good extent with Palm. It makes sections like the end of stage 3 and 5 even easier than 1.5, and boss patterns hilariously easy thanks to that coupled with how amazingly strong the shot types are. Please play it on the actual PCB or the XBox 360 port; we're not kidding about how much easier the slowdown makes it.

[Special World]

If you've never played a Cave shooter, get Futari + Black Label.

Or Deathsmiles, since it's a good beginner game and can be found cheap.

[Obscura]

I doubt that the missing slowdown makes that big of a difference.

Haven't we been over this? I recall you said you were playing on an emulator that doesn't properly emulate the slowdown.

There's so much slowdown in BL I can't seriously emphasize it enough. Pretty much any time you're firing when there's bullets on screen you'll see slowdown, even to a good extent with Palm. It makes sections like the end of stage 3 and 5 even easier than 1.5, and boss patterns hilariously easy thanks to that coupled with how amazingly strong the shot types are. Please play it on the actual PCB or the XBox 360 port; we're not kidding about how much easier the slowdown makes it.

If those vids that have almost constant slowdown from stage 2 onwards are at all accurate, then I still don't recommend it to a newbie, even if that makes it easier (which I kind of doubt, but whatever), simply because who the fuck would want to play a game with constant slowdown?

[AntiFritz]

Futari BL is most certainly one of caves easiest games, I think your kidding yourself if you think its harder then fucking DOJ (Black Label or not).

[Obscura]

How could I be kidding myself, when I've seen for myself that I can get further in DOJ than I can in Futari BL?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

when I've seen for myself that I can get further in DOJ than I can in Futari BL?

You're arguing this even though you've only played Futari BL in an emulator that doesn't properly support the game's slowdown whereas DOJ is pretty much fully functional in the PS2 port as well as in MAME? Really?

[PsikyoPshumpPshooterP]

havent posted in ages..is this game worth $40? i really enjoyed ds and ds2

[drunkninja24]

How could I be kidding myself, when I've seen for myself that I can get further in DOJ than I can in Futari BL?

Because you haven't played the game with it's proper slowdown and thus can't make an accurate judgment?

[TrevHead (TVR)]

If you've never played a Cave shooter, get Futari + Black Label.

Or Deathsmiles, since it's a good beginner game and can be found cheap.

I agree, although the original DDP would be the best choice for that quintessential CAVE shooter

Because you haven't played the game with it's proper slowdown and thus can't make an accurate judgment?

I just can't get into Futari original BL on the 360, the bullets are too jerky in their movement, when the true slowdown kicks in they actually move smoother

Maybe I needed time to get used to the jerky bullets but I couldn't play for shit and it strained my eyes