DARIUS BURST CHRONICLE SAVIOURS (STEAM/PS4/Vita)

[Aleksei]

Shmupsforum members should gather around one cabinet, I vote for 007.

[CptRansom]

It stays fresh for me simply because of the challenge. I'm on one right now--Suba (sp?)--and it's only four areas, but one of them is Great Thing, and the preset is Origin with max level 1 shot, bombs, and only 15 ARM... with no powerup drops. Steam LBs show 7 people cleared it with preset, so that's just incentive for me to git gud. I can definitely see where less masochistic people would just say "Fuck it" and shop their way through a lot of these, though.

Also, as far as I know on Steam at least, everyone seems to be on cabinet 11.

[AxelMill]

. It's certainly the most cinematic Darius I've played.

Yeah, no. Nothing really happens during most stages, with few, mild, exceptions (A, H, Z and the two "lasers blasting from the sky" CS stages come to mind), unlike G, which has epic written all over. Omicron is, like, the best Darius stage ever, design-wise. We also cannot forget Gamma and the intro to Queen Fossil.
But, if you consider Burst a sequel to Gaiden and not to G, like me, it's much better. This game's a bit more focused on gameplay, putting spectacle aside. That said, I wanted more of the Freedom stage and less of that fortress with some blue lines on the background, which seems to be present in every CS stage.

[Captain]

It has a nice, pleasant atmosphere and I honestly don't want to ask for anything else.

It's good as-is and adding some epic backgrounds wouldn't help as much as you think.

Because many of the CS stages repeat a metric ton of times, it would eventually just be a boring stage due to repetition, epic or not.

[AxelMill]

It has a nice, pleasant atmosphere and I honestly don't want to ask for anything else.

It's good as-is and adding some epic backgrounds wouldn't help as much as you think.

Because many of the CS stages repeat a metric ton of times, it would eventually just be a boring stage due to repetition, epic or not.

You're right about that, but as those two "lasers blasting from the sky" stages were unique (except the secret stage) in CS mode, so could be some more.
I mean, the last (non-secret) stage in Darius/DariusBurst history is nothing but the rotating fortress which you went through multiple times, just backwards. That's lame.

[xxx1993]

Well, now that I beat the CS Mode, I'll do the AC Modes sometime later. I need a break.

You didn't beat it, you just bought enough shields not to die in it.

I'll look forward to hearing how AC and EX are destroying you because there's no shop, no murukamo, and no way to coast through without using any skill.

Come on, that doesn't count? Doesn't matter what you say, I still won and defeated Gigantic Bite.

[PooshhMao]

Haven't played Chronicle Saviours yet, but I do have DariusBurst for the PSP, which I feel is in many ways a massive step down from G-Darius.

It's still sufficiently Darius-y in many ways, but the boss battles aren't nearly as super-epic as they were in G. No capture balls either, so no extra firepower or massive laser beam dueling.

[CptRansom]

Come on, that doesn't count?

Not really. I'm going to go farm points on stupid-easy stages, load my custom ship with 200 ARM, and "beat" the game. GUYS LOOK HOW GOOD I AM AND THIS TOTALLY ISN'T CREDIT FEEDING

And yeah, I know how boring it is when I play a credit of Futari or SDOJ or Eschatos and just see the same five damn stages and even the same enemy placements every single time. How stupid and boring. Or like how a roguelike uses the same tilesets but just rearranges the layout and enemies. Boring garbage. Why would anyone enjoy this.

[EmperorIng]

Haven't played Chronicle Saviours yet, but I do have DariusBurst for the PSP, which I feel is in many ways a massive step down from G-Darius.

It's still sufficiently Darius-y in many ways, but the boss battles aren't nearly as super-epic as they were in G. No capture balls either, so no extra firepower or massive laser beam dueling.

Watching videos of Burst, I can say that CS (and esp. AC and EX) up the ante considerably. More bosses, more stages, more enemies... It's a big improvement over vanilla Burst.

[Despatche]

Even the original Dariusburst has giant laser beam duels. AC adds a ship based on the G Darius ship.

[Sparrow]

Hey what's up with "Event" mode there? Boss Rush?

[Shepardus]

Hey what's up with "Event" mode there? Boss Rush?

Doesn't do anything (yet?) in DBCS, but I think an all stages or boss rush mode implemented through the event system isn't out of the question.

[amdiggywhut]

There are a lot of cool community-driven things they could do with the Events section. Tournaments, superplays, DLC, etc.

On a side note, I haven't been this taken with a game in a long time.

[CptRansom]

I haven't been this taken with a game in a long time.

Same. Anyone who's known me long enough (IRC or IRL) might remember that I spent years struggling to find an STG that "clicked" with me--one that was actually fun and didn't feel like work. This is it. First game since my Mars Matrix 1CC back in 2010 that's actually been super fun to play for hours at a time. I may rant on Twitter about certain stages (NARATAKI *shakes fist*), but I learn from every failure and it has yet to feel like a grind. This game may not be super perfect across the board, but it scratches an itch I've had for years, and that makes it #1 for me.

[Sparrow]

Okay What are those cube bullets? Since I started practicing Laser and Burst Counter, I noticed they sent only three cube bullets when they got damaged enough eventually self-destruct if I didn't kill.

I wonder what is the purpose of their bosses having self-destruction like that?

Does this game gives any backstory on the Belsar?

Same here, I'm new to Darius series so what's up with those bosses that based on sea creatures despite being aliens or something?

[Icarus]

Does this game gives any backstory on the Belsar?

Same here, I'm new to Darius series so what's up with those bosses that based on sea creatures despite being aliens or something?

Okay. Story time.

An abridged version of the whole story begins with G.Darius (also considered Genesis, the Beginning, which is what the ship of the same name is based on), where Amnelian scientists discovered the All Nothing (shortened to A.N.), a destructive source of power. The A.N. was used to destroy the planet Blazar, who Amnelia had been at war with - in the intro to G.Darius, it mentions "the disappearance of a planet", which in canon is the planet Blazar. This triggered the appearance of the Thiima, super-sized and super-strong mechanical life forms that take the appearance of aquatic creatures - the Thiima exist as peace-keepers, and therefore attacked Amnelia in retaliation.

In G.Darius, Amnelia - using the A.N. weapon embedded in a Silver Hawk which also features technology from the Thiima - successfully repel the Thiima. However, a malevolent race known as the Belsar manage to salvage some Thiima technology and use it against Amnelia, and later against the successors of Amnelia on planet Darius.

I believe that's how it goes. One way to interpret this is that the Thiima were/are sentient life forms - think Skynet - while the Belsar are using Thiima technology to create manned battleships.
Note that while there are a lot of branching paths in Darius games, and thus a variety of endings, only one of those endings in each game is considered canon to the story. Also note that Origin is only named so as it appeared in the first Darius, the true Silver Hawk progenitor in the canon is Genesis, which makes you wonder how/why it regressed in weapons technology as time passed.

[EmperorIng]

Probably because the capture-ball technology only worked on Thiima life-forms, and not the inorganic Belsar warships. Especially since none of them could harness A.N. or fire alpha/beta beams.

My headcanon says that Belsar is just a race of evil robot fish, like Thiima. It's funnier that way.

I remember flipping out when I first encountered mechs in Darius Gaiden. "Who are these assholes, and why did they decide to join forces with the giant fish robots?"

[trap15]

Okay What are those cube bullets? Since I started practicing Laser and Burst Counter, I noticed they sent only three cube bullets when they got damaged enough eventually self-destruct if I didn't kill.

I wonder what is the purpose of their bosses having self-destruction like that?

Those are what's called "timeout cubes", they are there to let you know the boss is about to time out. Most shooting games have bosses time out because otherwise there could be an infinite score trick that wasn't intended.

[Skykid]

Well, now that I beat the CS Mode, I'll do the AC Modes sometime later. I need a break.

You didn't beat it, you just bought enough shields not to die in it.

I'll look forward to hearing how AC and EX are destroying you because there's no shop, no murukamo, and no way to coast through without using any skill.

Come on, that doesn't count? Doesn't matter what you say, I still won and defeated Gigantic Bite.

You didn't beat the game. It beat you.

Using 150 shields to make you almost invincible doesn't constitute beating anything. Why do you even play shmups?

[Sparrow]

Oh I see. I didn't know that about the infinite score. But oddly all minions launched from all bosses didn't score any points... But Gluttons babies does.


Hmm so it's not in our universe setting. Just fantasy universe. So it's Darius Planet's fault for destroying their home planet with A.N?
Here, DBCS tells us about the capabilities of Darius starfighters. Oh boy, I can't wait for a new boss, the Megalodon shark and Orca. Maybe some sea dinos.

[Blattdorf]

I treat this game a little like the Binding of Isaac. Quickly jump in, give the latest unlocked substage a spin or two and come back later. The presets make things especially challenging down the line, so that's a big plus in my book. I'm going to savour this title for a long time.

By the way, is it possible to change the controls so that you don't have to use the keyboard to quit the game?

[Squire Grooktook]

Is it me or the stages feel lifeless/stale compare to the other Darius games?

Depends. Arcade EX mode is about as tight as anything in the rest of the series, though I could understand preferring 1, Gaiden, or G due to their unique nuances. All in all, I think it's safely on par with the rest of the franchise, and plays differently enough to carve out its own niche.

As for CS mode, some stages are entirely forgettable (but thankfully quickly sped through), while others are as excellent as the above. It's a mixed bag, but you can't really expect much more then that with a 300 mission mode.

[BrianC]

By the way, is it possible to change the controls so that you don't have to use the keyboard to quit the game?

I was thrown off by the "Esc: Exit Game" on the title screen too. It's possible to exit without using the keyboard by highlighting "Esc: Exit Game" with the controller and pressing the action button.

[qmish]

you make me sad i love my sweet little original dariusburst as much as dbcs

<3

[yyr]

By the way, is it possible to change the controls so that you don't have to use the keyboard to quit the game?

I was thrown off by the "Esc: Exit Game" on the title screen too. It's possible to exit without using the keyboard by highlighting "Esc: Exit Game" with the controller and pressing the action button.

If it helps (though I'm not sure that it does), you can quit by pressing Alt+F4 from any screen (including gameplay). If you're using a key mapper like Joy2key, maybe you could map that combo to a button on your stick/gamepad. Just don't make it a button that you're liable to press by mistake...

Has anyone tried using an Xbox 360 joystick, specifically an HRAP-EX SA? I'm having an issue with mine where it is recognized as Player 1 AND Player 3 when I'm trying to use other joysticks along as well. Anyone else encounter this? Sorry if I didn't read the thread.

[Steelix100]

idk, I use a PS3 controller, but my laptop thinks its an X360 pad (does that count)

Haven't had any problems with it myself, although my Saturn pad (w/ usb converter) always gives me sass when I try to play DBCS with it

[xxx1993]

You didn't beat the game. It beat you.

Using 150 shields to make you almost invincible doesn't constitute beating anything. Why do you even play shmups?

"Beat me" my ass. I nailed that son of a bitch. What's your problem, Skykid?

[CStarFlare]

He sees using nondefault ships and upgrades as equivalent to giving yourself max life and bomb stock and takes exception to you saying things like "I nailed that son of a bitch" because it sounds like bragging about what is not generally considered kosher within the shmup scene. As he said you didn't beat the game, you ground out a victory and that's not typically considered noteworthy around here.

[xxx1993]

Doesn't matter what people say. I don't have time to deal with shmup elitists like that guy. Just as long as I defeat Gigantic Bite and see the ending, it still counts to me.

[Obscura]

I can't wait to see what happens when you run into Violent Ruler or Ancient Barrage in AC mode.