I played this a bit, and it's sure not Black Tiger, but it is very nice.
I just kept watching the beginning of the cart ride for a while because I thought it was all some kind of cutscene - fortunately your friends are very good at keeping the Harpies away! The boss is rather simplistic though (once again).
Gotta love the (screaming?) headless, hands-less corpses in the second stage with their willies all floppin' about.
The reason I didn't upload it is because I thought no one was interested. Heck, it took two years for someone other than me to post a score in the HS thread.
But since you asked, I'll work on it. I'm travelling to the US wednesday night, so I'll try to upload it before then.
Timely bump, Issyos led me here. Whereas that won't run properly in Wine, I was happy to discover some of Locamalito's stuff has a native Mac version. I actually finished L'abbeye des Morts first - a wonderful reminder of ZX Spectrum adventure goodness - before taking on Maldita.
This game is really great. I don't think it's a rich as a Makaimura, but it's definitely cleaner and damn challenging in a very straight up way. This game demands learning, there's no cheesing your way through anything.
I'm pretty happy with my progress so far. I've been on it about 5 days and given it several attempts. I cleared it without the tears and using more than 4 continues, then with all the tears to the TLB but using more than 4 continues - and then last night I had the most perfect run, 1ccing all the way to Moura only to realize in the buzz of such a great run I forgot the last tear on the forest stage! Ha ha, idiot!
Anyway, I'm down to 1cc this now, all the way. The only aspect I haven't figured out are all the legendary item locations. Anyone care to help with the Lady in the Lake?
Ok, so I finished it with less than four continues, so I got the first good ending. Now I really need to polish up my game on a few bosses and sections for the 1CC, and try to get the 7 secret items on the way.
Really challenging and really enjoyable. The only section I find tedious is stage 2 act 1, but everything else is very nicely formed.
Been putting off this game for too long, but finally got around to it now.
I played it originally when it came out for free, and really liked it, but I never got to spend too much time with it. When the console release was announced I decided to wait for that, and eventually Play-Asia announced their physical release, so I decided to order that.
It finally arrived yesterday, so now I'm putting time in to getting that 100% 1CC. Played up to the smashy-hands giant boss of the Aqueduct yesterday using a lot of continues before I had to go do something else. Game feels pretty damn challenging, but also like one of those you can easily get a feel for through just a few sessions, similarly to Choumakaimura.
That said, I don't really feel like this game deserves its reputation as a makaimura "clone". It's cho if it's anything, but in many ways this reminds me more of Chi No Rondo, or Castlevania games in general. But it definitely has its own identity entirely, while also drawing on a ton of other classic actions games and it shows a feeling for solid enemy AI design and attack patterns, that seemingly lifts the game up on the same level as many of the ones that inspired it.
A really great little game. 100%ing the game feels very natural, and although the beginning of stage 2 drags a bit, it's really well designed overall. Enjoy it!
The EX version has two new stages which adds some hefty weight to the game. Almost too long. I can see a lot of stuff that can go wrong in a 1CC attempt. But people are regularly no-missing it, so I guess it's just a question of experience.
Anyone know where the "saint martin statue" secret is hidden?
Sumez wrote:The EX version has two new stages which adds some hefty weight to the game. Almost too long. I can see a lot of stuff that can go wrong in a 1CC attempt. But people are regularly no-missing it, so I guess it's just a question of experience.
Two extra stages?... That would make things too long. I played the original PC version and felt as though it was long anyway, but still a good length. I don't know if two more stages would help the balance much, although I'd be interested to play them just for the sake of it.
Well the new stages are definitely very good (and makes not hurting mermaids actually a bit of a challenge). If you haven't tried the old game, you wouldn't be able to tell which stages are new, and which are old. But yeah, the game is pretty damn long for the genre.
I'm not sure what else is changed in the game - from watching the SGDQ speedrun of the original PC version, the old stages look almost identical. There are a few minor differences in the dark cave section (eg. you find the crystal ball in the room before), and there's no tear in the room with the windmills. They put one in one of the new stages instead.
I have a real love/hate relationship to this game now....
I really think they managed to nail the classic gameplay that inspired this game, but despite how much it plays like a Castlevania game, there's something in the way it challenges me that just doesn't click with me, especially on the bosses. It feels like annoying unbalanced design, but I think the real issue here is with probably with me.
A great example is the final boss. His attacks are easy to avoid, and there's no problem picking the little demons out of the air when they start appearing one or two per boss attack. But when he's down to his last 3-4 hearts or so, and they just start flooding in too fast for me to deal with them while also dodging the boss attacks. The fight looks insanely easy watching other people play it, but I just get overwhelmed. Only been able to beat the guy once so far. Beat the game with 2 continues used, and a 1CC feels like it's gonna be super dependent on my luck.
Some bosses like crazy quixote or the homeless guy in the clouds are potentially super easy, but entirely depending on RNG they risk giving me insane patterns that are almost impossible to survive. I'm really not enjoying that aspect of the game.
But the good stages are really good. Some of my favourite sections are actually in the new "EX" stages.
I totally agree with you about the RNG feeling like it rips you off sometimes, however when you master it you'll barely bat an eyelid. I remember the cloud magician also being an sudden asshole at times, but you'll have that 100% eventually, keep at it.
