Espgaluda II

[Special World]

Not gonna argue with your other points as they're just judgment calls on your part, but I'd say I have a very good clue of what the genre and game are like.

Using and appreciating the mechanics of the first stages you can at the very least make inferences about the potential of the last two stages. It also allowed me to see the variety in the last two stages, which looks to greatly add to the appeal of the game. Furthermore, though you might not consider it a "hardcore" review, I am a gamer who appreciates the game for its scoring mechanics. If I didn't play for score I'd prefer Futari as it has more vibrant graphics and more visceral action. But I consider ESP2 equally good if not better than Futari because of the cerebral scoring. There's a lot there that I appreciate, whether or not I have the skills to fully experience the last two levels or not. To me, they seemed like they were absolutely fantastic, and unless there's some stupid garbage enemy type that I didn't realize was stupid garbage, I'm not going to dock the game or anything.

I'd say the game is easily in my top 10 favorite games ever, and I only see its appeal growing the more I play and the farther I get. But I will make an amendment to my review that I had to feed the last two stages. I'm willing to be completely honest and say I'm completely biased towards shoot-em-ups and that I can't beat this one in one credit. That's part of being a good, honest reviewer. If you still take issue with it, that's fine. But it's something I want to do, and if nothing else it can only make more people want to play the game, even if they happen to be "casuals".

However, what I wrote would be more likely to turn on somebody interested in a hardcore game. I can't really imagine having written anything that would appeal to a typical gamer because the game itself doesn't appeal to the typical gamer. But if some "casual" gamers read my review and decide it sounds cool, then I'm all for it. Shoot-em-ups need new blood in my opinion, and it's not my concern if you don't agree. Some people just don't know they love shoot-em-ups as much as they really do. I didn't know until I picked up Mars Matrix again after so many years, but now I love the genre as much as *almost* anyone.

People these days think a lot of things make a good game that really don't. If I can get somebody realize that this game is more finely crafted than 99% of their big budget schlock, then my mission is accomplished. If not, then I've wasted a few hours writing a review.

[emphatic]

Not gonna argue with your other points as they're just judgment calls on your part, but I'd say I have a very good clue of what the genre and game are like. Using and appreciate the mechanics of the first stages you can at the very least make inferences about the potential of the last two stages. And it allowed me to see the variety in the last two stages, which looks to greatly add to the appeal of the game. Furthermore, though you might not consider it a "hardcore" review, I am a gamer who appreciates the game for its scoring mechanics. If I didn't play for score I'd prefer Futari as it has more vibrant graphics and more visceral action. But I consider ESP2 equally good if not better than Futari because of the cerebral scoring. There's a lot there that I appreciate, whether or not I have the skills to fully experience the last two levels or not. To me, they seemed like they were absolutely fantastic, and unless there's some stupid garbage enemy type that I didn't realize was stupid garbage, I'm not going to dock the game or anything. I'd say the game is easily in my top 10 favorite games ever, and I only see its appeal growing the more I play and the farther I get. But I will make an amendment to my review that I had to feed the last two stages. I'm willing to be completely honest and say I'm completely biased towards shoot-em-ups and that I can't beat this one in one credit. That's part of being a good, honest reviewer. If you still take issue with it, that's fine. But it's something I want to do, and if nothing else it can only make more people want to play the game, even if they happen to be "casuals". However, what I wrote would be more likely to turn on somebody interested in a hardcore game. I can't really imagine having written anything that would appeal to a typical gamer because the game itself doesn't appeal to the typical gamer. But if some "casual" gamers read my review and decide it sounds cool, then I'm all for it. Shoot-em-ups need new blood in my opinion, and it's not my concern if you don't agree. Some people just don't know they love shoot-em-ups as much as they really do. I didn't know until I picked up Mars Matrix again after so many years, but now I love the genre as much as *almost* anyone. People these days think a lot of things make a good game that really don't. If I can get somebody realize that this game is more finely crafted than 99% of their big budget schlock, then my mission is accomplished. If not, then I've wasted a few hours writing a review.

Wow, I hope your reviews use paragraphs, because that block of text was very uncomfortable to look at.

[Special World]

They sure do!

[supergrafx77]

Not gonna argue with your other points as they're just judgment calls on your part, but I'd say I have a very good clue of what the genre and game are like.

Using and appreciating the mechanics of the first stages you can at the very least make inferences about the potential of the last two stages. It also allowed me to see the variety in the last two stages, which looks to greatly add to the appeal of the game. Furthermore, though you might not consider it a "hardcore" review, I am a gamer who appreciates the game for its scoring mechanics. If I didn't play for score I'd prefer Futari as it has more vibrant graphics and more visceral action. But I consider ESP2 equally good if not better than Futari because of the cerebral scoring. There's a lot there that I appreciate, whether or not I have the skills to fully experience the last two levels or not. To me, they seemed like they were absolutely fantastic, and unless there's some stupid garbage enemy type that I didn't realize was stupid garbage, I'm not going to dock the game or anything.

I'd say the game is easily in my top 10 favorite games ever, and I only see its appeal growing the more I play and the farther I get. But I will make an amendment to my review that I had to feed the last two stages. I'm willing to be completely honest and say I'm completely biased towards shoot-em-ups and that I can't beat this one in one credit. That's part of being a good, honest reviewer. If you still take issue with it, that's fine. But it's something I want to do, and if nothing else it can only make more people want to play the game, even if they happen to be "casuals".

However, what I wrote would be more likely to turn on somebody interested in a hardcore game. I can't really imagine having written anything that would appeal to a typical gamer because the game itself doesn't appeal to the typical gamer. But if some "casual" gamers read my review and decide it sounds cool, then I'm all for it. Shoot-em-ups need new blood in my opinion, and it's not my concern if you don't agree. Some people just don't know they love shoot-em-ups as much as they really do. I didn't know until I picked up Mars Matrix again after so many years, but now I love the genre as much as *almost* anyone.

People these days think a lot of things make a good game that really don't. If I can get somebody realize that this game is more finely crafted than 99% of their big budget schlock, then my mission is accomplished. If not, then I've wasted a few hours writing a review.

Everything you said was on point. I think Esgaluda II's mechanics and style are so nice that although complex, it does make this genre more interesting to "new blood" than before. My 8 year old daughter has become a little addicted to this game too which I find surprising yet finds Futari not that interesting and harder to avoid bullet patterns. This is the best game ever made.

[Special World]

Your daughter sounds awesome. When I was 8 I was sucking ass at Super Mario Land, one of the easiest games ever made. In my youth all I had was a game gear and stupid math blaster type stuff for PC, so my skills were butt. Though I could get pretty far in Sonic 2 on game gear, which is just a bastard of a game.

[Dale]

The appeal that very simplistic 80's game's had to casual female gamers I think still exists in modern Cave games. I've even showed 2-D action games to younger people and they always showed interest. My ex-girl friend loved Danmuku shmups as well. Hopefully the American release of DS's will bring these games to more female and casual gamers in general. I can almost gaurantee that you'll find more interest or passing interest from females today then your jaded mainstream male gamer.

[Special World]

What games were casual female gamers playing in the 80s, exactly?

And I find the trend toward "cinematic experiences" in games pretty weak. A lot of people these days just can't enjoy a damned game, they have to be lulled in with some "epic" story or the promise of destroying unknown 10 year olds online. But that's just me, I guess.

ED: Only sort of in response to what you said. I got distracted and my post got all scrabbled. I was referencing the "jaded" gamers you spoke of.

[roker]

What games were casual female gamers playing in the 80s, exactly?

And I find the trend toward "cinematic experiences" in games pretty weak. A lot of people these days just can't enjoy a damned game, they have to be lulled in with some "epic" story or the promise of destroying unknown 10 year olds online. But that's just me, I guess.

ED: Only sort of in response to what you said. I got distracted and my post got all scrabbled. I was referencing the "jaded" gamers you spoke of.

I might sound like a bitter, old, and jaded gamer, but I had to sit through like 30 minutes of crap just to get started in Assassin's Creed 2.

The story and voice acting was horrendous and you couldn't just dive in, nor could you skip the cutscenes. Biggest load of shit ever. I just want to sit down and play a game sometimes.

[Special World]

Nothin strange about that. Just want to PLAY some GAMES. It's so exceedingly rare that a game's story can ever match a book or movie that I don't know why everyone cares so much about it.

[grafe]

does anyone know where i could find some of the official artwork? ive been looking around with google and pixiv but havent had any luck, i know about peacefuldeath.net but it doesnt have much

[supergrafx77]

Your daughter sounds awesome. When I was 8 I was sucking ass at Super Mario Land, one of the easiest games ever made. In my youth all I had was a game gear and stupid math blaster type stuff for PC, so my skills were butt. Though I could get pretty far in Sonic 2 on game gear, which is just a bastard of a game.

Math Blaster...chills run through spine... I remember that shit, Catholic teacher making me play that in comp class saying it was going to be fun...LOL

[Dale]

I guess in 80's they weren't really casual gamers but Ms. Pacman, Galaga, Centipede and Breakout are fondly remember by women I know who lived through that time period.

[Exarion]

What games were casual female gamers playing in the 80s, exactly?

And I find the trend toward "cinematic experiences" in games pretty weak. A lot of people these days just can't enjoy a damned game, they have to be lulled in with some "epic" story or the promise of destroying unknown 10 year olds online. But that's just me, I guess.

ED: Only sort of in response to what you said. I got distracted and my post got all scrabbled. I was referencing the "jaded" gamers you spoke of.

I might sound like a bitter, old, and jaded gamer, but I had to sit through like 30 minutes of crap just to get started in Assassin's Creed 2.

The story and voice acting was horrendous and you couldn't just dive in, nor could you skip the cutscenes. Biggest load of shit ever. I just want to sit down and play a game sometimes.

From what i've heard, FFXIII is 2 hours of unskippable opening cutscenes. You then have about 15 minutes of gameplay, including a couple of fights that could kill you if you're unlucky, before the first save point. If you do get unlucky, you have to watch those opening cutscenes again.

[StarCreator]

From what i've heard, FFXIII is 2 hours of unskippable opening cutscenes. You then have about 15 minutes of gameplay, including a couple of fights that could kill you if you're unlucky, before the first save point. If you do get unlucky, you have to watch those opening cutscenes again.

At risk of drifting off topic, nothing in the first hour of FFXIII is even remotely threatening, and in the event you do die anytime during the game, you get just placed right before said battle like nothing happened. You also get a save point every 2 minutes in that opening hour.

[Jockel]

You can skip every cutscene in FF XIII.

[GaijinPunch]

You can skip every cutscene in FF XIII.

I skipped them all -- the result was the staff roll.

Not gonna argue with your other points as they're just judgment calls on your part, but I'd say I have a very good clue of what the genre and game are like.

Fair enough. I'm personally not going to read a review unless I know for a fact the reviewer is pretty sick into whatever he's reviewing, and that simply doesn't happen with mainstream game reviews. I can enjoy just about any game that doesn't totally suck for a week... if I keep playing it for the next few weeks, well, that makes or breaks the game. It sounds like you credit fed through that sweet spot that I find oh so important, which was my point.

[Jockel]

You can skip every cutscene in FF XIII.

I skipped them all -- the result was the staff roll.

[brentsg]

I skipped them all -- the result was the staff roll.

Right, but did you get the true last credit roll?

[ZOM]

You were doing it wrong, that game gets to a very playable status *after* the staff roll.

[Exarion]

ESP Galuda II iPhone is out, and it only works with the iPhone 3GS. It will not work on anything else, according to the description.

[Special World]

You can skip every cutscene in FF XIII.

I skipped them all -- the result was the staff roll.

Not gonna argue with your other points as they're just judgment calls on your part, but I'd say I have a very good clue of what the genre and game are like.

Fair enough. I'm personally not going to read a review unless I know for a fact the reviewer is pretty sick into whatever he's reviewing, and that simply doesn't happen with mainstream game reviews. I can enjoy just about any game that doesn't totally suck for a week... if I keep playing it for the next few weeks, well, that makes or breaks the game. It sounds like you credit fed through that sweet spot that I find oh so important, which was my point.

Yeah, I understand where you're coming from. It really did seem like an amazing segment of the game, I could easily see it being my favorite part once I actually get there. But the way I see it I would give the game a solid 9.75 already, and I'm not sure I could really justify going over that because it does have some small issues which niggle away at that last .25. I don't really think I'm gonna apply a score to the review, because it's such an opinionated piece about not only the game but also tangentially about the genre as a whole. You kind of have to do that with at least one shoot-em-up review, because they're such a difference in playstyle than what people are used to. But if it is easily one of the best games I've ever played, and on that merit I could see giving it a personal 10.

I do get sick into games, but like I said I only re-acquainted myself with shoot-em-ups recently, and haven't been playing Galuda 2 in arcades for years or anything. About playing games for more than a week though, it seems like the only games I can play for any extended amount of time are games with hardcore merit. Usually I only continue to play games that have deep versus multiplayer, and shoot-em-ups are the only real exception to that rule. Even things that I used to enjoy seems lackluster now unless I can compete with other people or compete with myself.

[Special World]

I have a tated 32" 480p TV. Do you guys have any input as to what would look best as far as screen settings go? I seem to remember people talking about smoothing and how only certain zoom %s were optimal.

[Acid King]

Math Blaster...chills run through spine... I remember that shit, Catholic teacher making me play that in comp class saying it was going to be fun...LOL

I don't remember Math Blaster, but Number Munchers was fucking amazing.

[dmauro]

I have a tated 32" 480p TV. Do you guys have any input as to what would look best as far as screen settings go? I seem to remember people talking about smoothing and how only certain zoom %s were optimal.

150%, smoothing won't matter.

[Special World]

Troggle troggle.

150% zoom won't work, mine only goes to 134% before cutting stuff off. Unless you mean for me to cut off my bottom gauges, which I'm not a fan of doing, really...

[dmauro]

Troggle troggle.

150% zoom won't work, mine only goes to 134% before cutting stuff off. Unless you mean for me to cut off my bottom gauges, which I'm not a fan of doing, really...

You're not going to get a proper image sans smoothing without going to 150%. One of the benefits of having this on a monitor that let's you adjust the height and width of the image. If it only cuts off the bottom gauges, it might be worth it since they're not that important (it's usually pretty easy to remember how much barrier you have) :/

[Special World]

Whelp, after checking that would cut off the edges of my screen too, which I cannot do.

Does it matter that I have it set to 135% if I have smoothing on?

[ZOM]

I have mine set to 150% with smoothing off. Just throwing it out there.
It looks horrible because Im playing it on a tate'd lcd panel where I'm at atm, I can't wait to try this at home on my CRT.

Does it matter that I have it set to 135% if I have smoothing on?

Well, if it looks ok for you, why not. Personally, the first thing I do is to get rid of that (horrible)smoothing filter, no matter what the other settings are.


EDIT: BTW, how come they got rid of all those overlay options found in futari? The soft3 scanlines were a good setting for lcds.

[Special World]

Well, I haven't even tried it with smoothing off tbh. I should get on that.

ED: And I think it was because Futari was done by M5? I dunno.

[General Martok]

I use 150% Zoom @ 640*480 and that's the only mode in which the game looks great.

I assume this is the game's native resolution because "smoothing" does nothing and the only scaling done is by the monitor itself ....so it depends only on you screen's built in scaler.

(BTW , I can't find such a "sweetspot" setting in Futari .....ANY mode i try is beeing resized by the game and looks kinda blocky .....although I'd guess futari's internal res is actually higher than 640*480)