More difficult to clear??

[Aquas]

This is a debate I have been having recently.

Which of ESP RaDe and Guwange are harder to 1cc?

Poll will end in 7 days.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I've come pretty close to clearing ESP.Ra.De. but Guwange is still too tough for me. The problem is you can't really stock much in the way of resources in Guwange and you're motivated not to bomb at all because you don't lose extra bombs you've acquired if you die, so the usual strategy in Guwange is to get to the last stage without bombing, get the max life refill, and try to beat the final boss from there. Guwange does have the Shikigami bullet slowdown+bullet cancelling effects, but they can be tricky to use effectively, especially if you accidentally slowdown a huge cloud of shots in front of you during a boss fight that ends up boxing you in.

ESP.Ra.De. has a bomb system where you can get tons of bombs on a single life, and the more you use bombs on a single life, the less time it takes to charge up to a full charge. I think it might be tied to how many times you've done a bomb recharge and the number of point items it takes to get the next one active; once it costs the max to get a bomb recharge, you can get pretty much close to a full charge bomb on like 1/3 or less bar used, so a full bar is 2 full bombs plus a quick bomb! You can also stock more in the way of maximum lives/bomb uses in total than you can in Guwange. On the other hand, ESP.Ra.De. is a longer game than Guwange is, so there's more to remember, and unless you know about using the different buttons during character select to pick stage order, you'll probably end up dealing with randomized stage orders which can make things tricky.

Bullet pattern-wise, both games have some seriously nasty attacks in 'em, so I'm not sure one has the edge over the other... someone who knows the games better will probably be able to judge, but I'd say Guwange is a tad tougher. There's more unusual mechanics going on, the life refills are tougher to get, stage enemies are more complex (like the ladies later on that will respawn a second or two after being killed unless you physically run over their corpses).

[1up]

Guwange - dat control scheme

[Wyrmnus]

Definitely Guwange. I only managed to clear Guwange because of the 360 Arrange mode that allows the use of your right stick.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I only managed to clear Guwange because of the 360 Arrange mode that allows the use of your right stick.

Specifically, it allows you to keep all bullets onscreen in slowdown mode at once, which is pretty crazy. But I think the question is more about which is harder comparing the actual arcade versions.

[Wyrmnus]

Its probably still Guwange. Try to imagine for regular Casual gamer try to deal with the mechanics in guwange without Shoving his/her fist through the monitor? That is NOT how to try to get on an audience's good side. ESP Rade however, whether on console or not, is a simple SHMUP in terms of mechanics compared to guwange. You have your Chargeable 'bomb', a sub weapon, and your shot. That's it. All you have to do is dodge and kill.

[Captain]

guwange, and it's less fun to play too.

[Ruldra]

Accidentally voted for ESP RaDe, sorry.

ESP RaDe is one of the easiest Cave games, I beat it in about a week or two of constant play. Never got close of beating Guwange.

[Erppo]

Guwange was one of the first arcade games I cleared and I never considered it very hard. ESP RaDe I didn't manage, despite playing around with it on couple of occasions. I did clear it somewhat recently though while trying a random credit of it so I don't really know.

[Aquas]

Cool thanks for the replies lol. Yeah I think I agree now Guwange is harder mostly because of the control scheme at first. I found RaDe to be pretty brutal but recently I played a random credit in it and got to the last boss. Regardless, when you get into the groove with Guwange's control scheme and movement you kick ass way more easily than you do in RaDe. 2 Bombs per life still ain't bad either... and get the health pickups!

[Deca]

Guwange is probably only harder if you don't know what you're doing. For the record I don't know what the hell I'm doing in Guwange.

Esp ra.de seems easier to just sort of flail through but doesn't really have much in the way of safety nets.

I really don't know much about either of these games though so I'm not even going to vote.

[chempop]

I was able to clear Rade quickly, meanwhile the final pattern in Guwange I still couldn't deal with, even after a dozen tries. The full health item in Guwange's final stage makes getting to the boss pretty easy. Rade's barrier allows you to survive all the tuff patterns and deal massive damage. Control wise, Rade is a lot easier. Guwange is also much more difficult to score well in.

Guwange is harder hands down.

[Squire Grooktook]

In terms of bullet patterns I think Esp Ra.De is one of the easier Cave games. It all basically comes down to that last boss lol.

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

Guwange is harder but the last stage is similar to Espgaluda's - if you don't know how to handle it it's hard as hell, but after you know the trick (in Guwange's case, save up bombs then get the max life refill) it's doable. What's worse about Guwange though is you have to "get lucky" as it has been said, on the out of control final boss pattern. I've played it sometimes and it was so swarming and fast and ruthless that I don't see how the little bastard could possibly dodge it enough even with some life stock. It was a matter of playing it over and over, running up the bomb stock and getting the max refill, over a few times until I got lucky with the last pattern's random swarms and it all fell together. Blue Label is a tad easier. A lot actually. I think I cleared it in 1 day after beating the original. With Esprade it's just a matter of practicing the game over and over, but you can manipulate the route to suit you better too.

[KAI]

Esp Ra.De. Still can't beat that shit.

[zlk]

In Guwange, you can completely refill your life bar very late in the game. You do not have to be so careful in the first 5 stages. In Esprade you need to be careful through the entire game so you can have enough life to be able to survive the last boss. I also think the stages on average are more difficult in Esprade. Both of the last bosses are challenging, but because you can sleep through most of Guwange and still have a chance to clear it, I think it is the easier game to finish.

[MR_Soren]

I voted for EspRade, but I mistakenly picked the easier game. I think Guwange is harder just because moving the shikigami and your character at the same time drives me batty.

[Aquas]

In Guwange, you can completely refill your life bar very late in the game. You do not have to be so careful in the first 5 stages. In Esprade you need to be careful through the entire game so you can have enough life to be able to survive the last boss. I also think the stages on average are more difficult in Esprade. Both of the last bosses are challenging, but because you can sleep through most of Guwange and still have a chance to clear it, I think it is the easier game to finish.

I completely agree with this.

You can change your vote if you want, if you mis-cast or changed your mind. I enabled it for the poll.

[trap15]

Yeah, I definitely think ESP Ra.De. is a harder clear.

[RNGmaster]

ESP Ra.De's bomb refill system is totally broken though. If you run out of bombs at the correct points (and hold slightly instead of tapping so you get 4 or 5 bombs per bar) it's not too challenging. Garra is a really annoying final boss, sure, but Guwange has that annoying TLB.

[charlie chong]

i vote guwange cos i've not managed it yet
i found it very easy to get to the last boss on esperade but beating that bitch took me 2 years of sporadic play.
level 5 and 6 of guwange hurts my brain

[Ruldra]

I'm not good enough to reach this point in Guwange where you can refill your whole lifebar. Stage 5 completely destroys me.

[RNGmaster]

Having to move all around the screen is pretty tough when your focused movement is so incredibly slow

great sprite art is the only reason i play Guwange, fuck chaining and fuck the bullet slowing.

[WizardYuuka]

Awkward hitbox position vs Awkward shikigami system
10 minute long robot masters vs 10 minute long catspiders

It's pretty close, but Rade has more robots than Guwange has catspiders so I guess Rade is harder.

[chempop]

Starting to become very curious if any of the people voting for Rade have cleared either game.

I know Aquas has cleared Guwange with an insane score. I don't understand why you've ever had a problem with Rade.

[trap15]

You find lots of really hard games easy, so you can't judge difficulty

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Awkward hitbox position vs Awkward shikigami system
10 minute long robot masters vs 10 minute long catspiders

I honestly find the hitbox locations even more mystifying in Guwange. There's a lot of movement on the character sprites; Kosame's is the easiest for me because it's sorta near the ribbon on her back...

[jepjepjep]

I haven't played much of Guwange, but I though Esprade was pretty challenging. The last boss in particular is pretty tough. I feel like the hitbox is bigger than a lot of Cave's other games so even bullet spreads that don't look that hard are pretty tough because you have less room for error.

[Aquas]

Some good points and counterpoints here and there. Though, Esp Rade leads in double the votes. Final 24 hours to vote!

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

Though, Esp Rade leads in double the votes.

You got that backwards.