Exzeal - Forgotten Excellence

[mjclark]

I've recently been playing Exzeal after seeing SonikenFJ1991's YouTube vids of it.
I'm a great fan of Raiden III/IV and this has a very similar feel to it so I'm wondering why (like those Raidens) there's such little love for it round these forums: there's no strategy topics or hi score boards - nothing but a brief discussion thread when it was released.
There's a lot of time given to the quirkiness of XII Stag and Trizeal so why is Exzeal so forgotten?
C'mon, it's even got a pharaoah's death mask shooting bullets out of its eyes

[maxlords]

Hated Trizeal. Never even knew there was a sequel...and it's apparently only on Naomi and 360 so I can't play it...

[mjclark]

Hated Trizeal. Never even knew there was a sequel...and it's apparently only on Naomi and 360 so I can't play it...

Well those YouTube vids made me realise that Exzeal and Radirgy Noa can be played on a Naomi emulator too >>>

[xbl0x180]

I love Exzeal, but that's because I'm more into old school shoot-'em-ups that aren't bullet hell (hence, I also loved Eschatos). I think the only thing it has got going against it is the colour scheme - too many greens and browns. The music score for it is catchy, esp. the song on the 5th level (the one after the escape).

Strategy? I suck at this game, so I just try to stay alive by shooting stuff, preferrably with the third ship. Part of the scoring is tied to how many are destroyed at once and how close they are to the ship

[Nasirosuchus]

I played this game for the first time today using Makaron and it didn't disappoint.

[Herr Schatten]

I'm a huge fan of Trizeal, and I have the 360 Shooting Love package with me since its first release. However, I didn't have a J-360 at that point, so I wasn't actually able to play it. I finally got me the console a few weeks ago, but since then all I ever did was playing Bayonetta on it instead of tackling my huge shmup backlog. I'll definitely give Exzeal a spin once I've slaughtered all those angels, though.

[Jeneki]

I remember having a few rage-quits during the final stage of Exzeal. Lots of puzzle bits to figure out.

The stage 4 music is nifty.

[Ghegs]

I actually got the Shooting Love -pack a while a go and Exzeal definitely intrigued me, but the wiggle-mechanics to some of the ships were rather offputting. Unless I missed an option to map the wiggling to a button like in the XII Stag port?

[Herr Schatten]

I actually got the Shooting Love -pack a while a go and Exzeal definitely intrigued me, but the wiggle-mechanics to some of the ships were rather offputting. Unless I missed an option to map the wiggling to a button like in the XII Stag port?

Strangely enough, this option only seems to exist for the type 4 ship, which is basically the XIIStag ship. Why there's no auto-wiggle button for the first two ship types is beyond me, as the game seems to be built around those two. Without an arcade stick, you're pretty much stuck with type 3, which feels just a tad too 'basic' for my taste. Well, at least the proximity-based scoring is refreshingly straightforward when using that one.

Overall, Exzeal seems nice enough, but at first glance it doesn't come close to being a proper sequel to Trizeal.

[xbl0x180]

Does anyone have the lyrics to the Stage 4 song, "Eternal Traveler"?

[KAI]

Eien no Traveler by Kyoko Natsume


Maybe someone can translate it.

[xbl0x180]

I LOVE that song!

[BIL]

Hell yeah, tis a sweet choon. Get the SL2007 OST for the full version!

mjclark: banned excerence ;_;

[Kiken]

I actually got the Shooting Love -pack a while a go and Exzeal definitely intrigued me, but the wiggle-mechanics to some of the ships were rather offputting. Unless I missed an option to map the wiggling to a button like in the XII Stag port?

Strangely enough, this option only seems to exist for the type 4 ship, which is basically the XIIStag ship. Why there's no auto-wiggle button for the first two ship types is beyond me, as the game seems to be built around those two. Without an arcade stick, you're pretty much stuck with type 3, which feels just a tad too 'basic' for my taste. Well, at least the proximity-based scoring is refreshingly straightforward when using that one.

Overall, Exzeal seems nice enough, but at first glance it doesn't come close to being a proper sequel to Trizeal.

Which is why I use Type 4 in the game (the XIIStag ship). I guess the only explanation is that Fujino didn't feel like creating a macro button for the 360 motion required to charge up the first two ships (as the XIIStag ship just uses rapid left-right/right-left motions). Don't forget about the Type 3e as well.

I have been playing this again recently.. determined to finally get the all clear. The biggest obstacle is clearly the final stage with its ridiculous mixture of puzzle elements and crazy end boss (clearly an FC/NES Salamander/Life Force throwback).


Also, Eien No Traveler originally appeared on the Trizeal bonus CD included with pre-ordered copies of the original DC release (along with the Shooting Love bandana).