Void Gear

[alamone]

I just saw this game got released. Looks kind of like a horizontal Strania / Thunderforce mashup.
Music is by Yack. (Metal Black, Border Down, Senko, etc.)
There's a promo video and a demo on their website: http://salmonsoft.sakura.ne.jp.
Gonna give it a try once I get home.

[Skykid]

That camel toe.

[Pretas]

Tried the demo. I expected this to be an omnidirectional shooter like Omega Five, but it's actually closer to Deathsmiles, since you use a button to turn from left to right.

Certainly interesting to have such a gigantic character in a shooter. You have five quite powerful and versatile weapons available at all times, as well as five shield hits per life, which makes up for this. You switch between them Thunder Force-style, and they can all be used along with your main shot.

Coming from someone who tends to have little interest in doujin work unless it's the cream of the crop (i.e. Crimzon Clover, Gunhound), I'd recommend this and I'm interested in playing the full version. I shouldn't need to say that the soundtrack is brilliant as well.

EDIT: Cleared the demo. The second stage introduces vertical scrolling, walls and environmental hazards, with a Big Core lookalike boss. It might be helpful to have a guide for the special weapons, since you will probably wonder why you aren't doing any damage to the big targets at first:

Bazooka: Not a bazooka, but a wide forward spread of four rapid shots. Average power and coverage, and difficult to aim.
B.Cannon: Large forward beam. Despite how it looks, it's actually quite weak, but good for cutting through popcorn swarms. Passes through walls and enemies.
Laser: Narrow, rapid forward shot. Slow rate of autofire, but shoots as fast as you can tap the button. Very powerful against large targets, but ineffective against swarms. The strongest weapon with the worst coverage.
Missile: Not actually a missile, this shoots homing laser buzzsaws one at a time. Good coverage, but fairly weak.
Attacker: Releases five laser options that seek out and attack anything in sight. Beams pass through walls and enemies. The weakest weapon with the best coverage.

There are no weapon upgrades, at least in the demo, and only 2 speed settings. This is Salmon Soft's first release; they've proved their mettle and I hope they can stick around.

[manatworks]

really like the ost, pretty good game

[ptoing]

Game does not really work for me. I get to the Menu, I can do settings, I can start a game, all the keys work, but she just sits there and does not really move and no enemies appear. Quality coding.

[trap15]

Game does not really work for me. I get to the Menu, I can do settings, I can start a game, all the keys work, but she just sits there and does not really move and no enemies appear. Japanese coding.

ftfy I know this far too well from personal experience

[Pretas]

Have you tried lowering the resolution?

[EmperorIng]

Must be uncomfortable having your robot underwear ride up that much.
Practically screams "keep me in Japan forever."

[ptoing]

Pretas: Yes I did. Nothing worked. It's not like the game does not run, it just seems to refuse to roll the level data.

EmperorIng: And she is shooting from her crotch as well. I guess it is fair to assume that her crotch is also the hitbox?

[Ghegs]

I'm having the same problem as ptoing. A shame as the gameplay looks pretty solid, I love it when shmups give me a handful of weapons to switch between freely. And a hori with environmental hazards? Sign me up.

[KAI]

Not working for me too.

[Pretas]

Forgive me if this is obvious, but have you changed your system locale to Japanese?

[ptoing]

How would that help in this case? I get into the game, it technically runs, it just does not roll the level and the character can not move. I actually tried changing the locale, and it does not change anything about how the game behaves. There must be some really weird bug going on here.

[Pretas]

Just covering all the bases. It plays fine for me.

[1983parrothead]

Purchasing it from overseas seems to not work for me. DLsite Japanese version won't let me.

[Despatche]

Are you attempting to use a debit card?

[1983parrothead]

I think so, but how do you use it as a credit?

[Despatche]

You don't. Banks have started cracking down on debit card use for international purchases. Your options are to run it through PayPal or to get an actual credit card.

You'll notice that finding a site that supports PayPal is somewhat difficult at the moment. DLsite supports it, but not for anything in the 18+ section.

[1983parrothead]

Some require Japanese phone numbers.

For some reason, credit and debit, not even LINE Pay won't work. There are a few other sites to purchase it on than the ones in the link below:

http://salmonsoft.sakura.ne.jp/

Some others are Vector and Amazon Japan.

[OdiousTrident]

Is that camel toe the hitbox?

[BulletMagnet]

Is that camel toe the hitbox?

...we're still talking about the game, right?

[tate]

There’s a trio of videos uploaded in 2014 to Niconico that show all 6 stages played on hard difficulty. Based on them and the demo, here are a few observations. Basically, the game could have used some more development, but it seems it (and the demo) have not been updated since release in 2013. Might still buy it.

Pros:

3D main character: The cel-shaded main character has animations for 16 directional movements + 2 stationary ones + death + an impressive fly in at the beginning of the first level. The character would feel completely at home in a AAA fighting game. The devs were likely justifiably proud of their work and wanted to highlight it. It's easy to imagine that console STGs would look like this if they were still big.

Music: It’s great.

Backgrounds: Multiple layers of parallax in level 1 and the rotating space habitat in levels 3 and 4 represent relevant, well done backgrounds.

Weapon types: Add a nice puzzle-like quality to the game.

Environmental hazards: Good to have, but why do the enemies, their bullets, and some of the main character’s special weapons get to ignore them?

Actual bullets: Some are more than just glowing bits.

Cons:

Other 3D characters: 3 of the bosses are basically reused. I guess that’s not so uncommon, but in 2 of the instances here, they’re the level bosses (1 and 3 with a pallate swap)(2 and 5). Granted, they’re hard to craft, but it shouldn’t be so obvious.

Difficulty: No level above hard? I assume the Niconico poster had cleared hard previously, but there is no other level besides easy, normal, and hard in the first video. The 2 levels in the demo are a cakewalk on hard. The patterns in the videos for the other levels seem pretty straightforward.

Separate main shot and weapon buttons: Why!? And do you need to ever release them? Yes, you can do better than the game’s autofire rate, but really only with external aid. Could be that the potential cheat was fixed in the full release (like button mapping apparently was).

Main character speed: Only 2 settings? It doesn’t even have Thunder Force IV’s hold to increment by 1% option. Why not just implement focus via the speed button or better, yet, holding down shot?

Turn button: With the Missile and Attacker special weapons being so effective, it doesn’t need to be used much.

[xxx1993]

Anyone know where I can get the full version?

[1983parrothead]

Anyone know where I can get the full version?

Some sites like DLSITE and Amazon Japan seem reliable, but have region protection from purchasing overseas.

[kid aphex]

Thanks for bumping this... never heard of it. Soundtrack is amazing.

[xxx1993]

So, I have to pay for it online? No download sites or something? And it's Japanese exclusive?

[trap15]

Read the rules, we're not going to tell you how to steal games.

[xxx1993]

Okay, I get it. But why must it be Japanese exclusive? This game should have a re-release on Steam at the very least...

[Kaleb Parham]

That camel toe.

Provided by Salmon Soft

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Extra Extra, read all about it.
Girl with square hitbox becomes front page news again, and again, and again. But is nowhere to be found 4 years later.