DoDonPachi Saidaioujou coming to Xbox 360 (REGION-FREE!)

[chempop]

I like the difficulty. It reminds me of when I was first picking up bullet hells and could rarely even make it to the final stage. It's been a while since I've felt the same sense of accomplishment at clearing a game as when I first 1-all'd DoDonPachi... and I think I'll be getting that from this game. :V

I thoughts exactly! While I do attempt getting a decent score in certain titles, I usually just play the DDP games for survival. Not only are the chains far less strict in SDOJ but I also get satisfaction from just staying alive. I'll be playing this for years and years!

[ptoing]

Watching some video of a replay I just noticed that the shadows of enemies and such are directly underneath them, instead of offset to the right somewhat as is usual for other Cave games. Small detail, but kinda makes me wonder why they did this.

It is to save some little processing time it takes to offset the "vertical" (horizontal for us) position.
That s the only explanation i can imagine, because it looks naturally worse.

Yeah, that makes the most sense really, seeing how much glowy, transparent stuff they are throwing around here.

[DrTrouserPlank]

Fuck yeah!!!

It's arrived and I didn't get caught for loads of tax either.

[MSZ]

Personally, I find it ever so slightly easier than Ketsui.

And I still wish the whole game were balanced around not having auto-bomb.

To me Ketsui is easier. The bullet patterns in Ketsui are easier to figure out, in stage 3 alone the bullets are slower and I got more room to move around, in SDOJ...well, I have yet to clear stage 3.

[Skykid]

Finally got to play the game by hijacking the local game store's Xbox for a couple of hours.

First up, that smoothing shit needs to go straight away. Why they'd put that as the default graphical option is beyond me. Although it's not the first time they've done it, of course, it makes this particular game look particularly dreadful.

Dislikes:

- Mainly the graphical style. Blech, it's not really that nice is it? Donkeypachi Kong Country. All the flat untextured CG... especially on bosses. I know it's a stylistic choice, but everything is so colour rich and plain, from the lasers to the popcorn enemies, and I don't think it's very attractive tbh. Also, every stage basically looks like the same stage. Imagination has really died a death on this one: it's the Danmaku equivalent of Wipeout Pure, but with less finesse and detail.

On the plus side it's got really sexy score screens and high score tables, the design and colour schemes are really nice there, and the girls look pretty good on the selection screen (although I'm unsure why they're mostly obscured by the autobomb option - couldn't they have put that somewhere else so we could look at the portraits while choosing how naked we want them to be?)

- The music is a bit boring/unremarkable.

Likes:

Basically everything else... I think. The hitbox is cheesy, took me a few goes to adjust to, and the game is full on balls out ready to fuck you at every turn. I only played normal difficulty, and I think I'm a Shuri-in-the-doctor-coat man, since she's most similar to EXY.

I love the stage 1 boss patterns. The bastard clipped me the first 3 attempts, but I got him down after that. Very fun. Arcade mode takes ages to build hypers in though, and the entire time I kept thinking "pointless = overflow", which takes the buzz out of it a bit.

1.5 mode... lots more hypers, lots more gold! it's nice, although difficulty seems identical, and I only made it to stage 3 once on a credit in the short time I got to play, and that took a lot of strategic bombing. Whether or not it's harder than Ketsui on the whole I'm not sure, but the stage 3 mid-boss is a fucking joke. It's like 3 stage 5 mid-bosses rolled into one.

I actually don't mind the voices as long as wallpaper is off. The operator is basically the DFK announcer, and none of the girls sound like a helium filled infant... except Saya.

Speaking of Saya, damn that 360 mode is fun. All that constant hypering and high powered shot, it's a fundamental game changer but definitely enjoyable. Misleading though, since you only have the one life: I can see it getting very testing from 4 - 5.

So yeah, seems like a good game. Better than DOJ? Fuck right off with that crap. Ikeda definitely peaked early on, and SDOJ and DFK smack of a certain fatigue. It's difficult to place, but I can see an internal struggle in these games to remain fresh and exciting, and it only half works. His earlier works weren't broken with overflow bugs either.

Still I need to give it more time, seems like there's much fun to be squeezed out of the various modes - although sadly maybe a little more from the new stuff than Arcade HD, which I was hoping would be the most refined of the bunch. Like Akai Katana Shin, it seems Cave only found ways to improve the game after it was released. In the past the arrange modes used to either be okay diversions or suck shit compared to the arcade originals. Things have totally flipped in the last few years.

[denpanosekai]

Is it just me or the 360 arranged soundtrack absolutely sounds like shit? Was it subdued to allow hearing the voices better? The Arcade one is much better and sounds a lot louder without changing TV settings.

[Icarus]

After playing it on-off for the past week, I must admit the shine has worn off on the game, which is ironic given how shiny everything is.

It's a fun little game with an interesting system, but for me, it doesn't have the immediate impact and insanity of Crimzon Clover (Original and Unlimited), or the beauty, timelessness and oceanic depth of Battle Garegga. Even compared to past Cave games it seems a little lacking in… something… that I can't quite put my finger on. The game's presentation is marred by the plastic look of everything on screen, the amount of effects dripping off objects everywhere overwhelms the eye (and makes it really hard to approximate my ships position).

And unlike Daioujou's purity, which Saidaioujou tries its best to return to, the scoring system isn't as involving, and is relegated to banking large amounts of hypers for use in specific spots in a couple of stages rather than using them throughout the game. Saya Mode isn't really that fun, either, if you're playing it in Shot Mode - Laser and Expert type are how the game mode should have been, to be honest, but it's a shame that people are gravitating towards Shot instead. And I don't know why they didn't stick with the "Shot/Laser = normal, Expert = hard" difficulty select system for Saya Mode - Novice Mode should stay in Novice Mode, not leak into other modes. It's also curious that enemy bullets move faster if they are fired at a certain angle in all modes, which is unusual, and I can't recall any other Cave game doing anything like that.

So yeah, got the "Saidaioujou meh". I guess I was hoping Saidaioujou would play similar to Crimzon Clover with its thoughtful use of hypers, but never mind.

[iconoclast]

the scoring system isn't as involving, and is relegated to banking large amounts of hypers for use in specific spots in a couple of stages rather than using them throughout the game.

1.5 fixes this problem. If you're trying to maximize score, you'll max the rank out (@50) near the beginning of stage 4 from constant use of lvl 6-10 hypers.

I like the arcade game, but the slow build of hypers, the lack of recharge points prior to stage 5, and the overflow make it fairly broken. 1.5 is what SDOJ should have been.

[ratikal]

the scoring system isn't as involving, and is relegated to banking large amounts of hypers for use in specific spots in a couple of stages rather than using them throughout the game.

1.5 fixes this problem. If you're trying to maximize score, you'll max the rank out (@50) near the beginning of stage 4 from constant use of lvl 6-10 hypers.

I like the arcade game, but the slow build of hypers, the lack of recharge points prior to stage 5, and the overflow make it fairly broken. 1.5 is what SDOJ should have been.

Going to add to this. 1.5 is like the two best cave scoring systems, DDP and Deathsmiles, coming into one. Its absolutely fantastic and I'm really stunned at how little people on this forum are playing this mode.

[radirgyman]

MAJOR noob query..
But i cant tell if my copy is the Super collectors edition?
Its massive! The box is around 13 or 14 inches..
Is it the S C Edition?
thanks.

[endoKarb]

After playing it on-off for the past week, I must admit the shine has worn off on the game, which is ironic given how shiny everything is.

It's a fun little game with an interesting system, but for me, it doesn't have the immediate impact and insanity of Crimzon Clover (Original and Unlimited), or the beauty, timelessness and oceanic depth of Battle Garegga. Even compared to past Cave games it seems a little lacking in… something… that I can't quite put my finger on. The game's presentation is marred by the plastic look of everything on screen, the amount of effects dripping off objects everywhere overwhelms the eye (and makes it really hard to approximate my ships position).

And unlike Daioujou's purity, which Saidaioujou tries its best to return to, the scoring system isn't as involving, and is relegated to banking large amounts of hypers for use in specific spots in a couple of stages rather than using them throughout the game. Saya Mode isn't really that fun, either, if you're playing it in Shot Mode - Laser and Expert type are how the game mode should have been, to be honest, but it's a shame that people are gravitating towards Shot instead. And I don't know why they didn't stick with the "Shot/Laser = normal, Expert = hard" difficulty select system for Saya Mode - Novice Mode should stay in Novice Mode, not leak into other modes. It's also curious that enemy bullets move faster if they are fired at a certain angle in all modes, which is unusual, and I can't recall any other Cave game doing anything like that.

So yeah, got the "Saidaioujou meh". I guess I was hoping Saidaioujou would play similar to Crimzon Clover with its thoughtful use of hypers, but never mind.

Same here. meh.

[Tyjet]

Its massive! The box is around 13 or 14 inches..

You have the super limited edition (super collectors edition).

[Skykid]

MAJOR noob query..
But i cant tell if my copy is the Super collectors edition?
Its massive! The box is around 13 or 14 inches..
Is it the S C Edition?
thanks.

You mean the one in the enormous cardboard box with the artbook, sticker sheets, 2 music CD's, arcade Toresetsu, and game in a special Steelbook tin case?

No, that's the Super Scrub Basic Edition for Underprivileged Gamers.

[radirgyman]

Its massive! The box is around 13 or 14 inches..

You have the super limited edition (super collectors edition).

Thanks.
Nice to get a mature response!

Mines still sealed.. So I dont know what the contents are..

[Annoyboy]

I know the leaderboards are completely screwed up, but do they at least show in the correct order for the real scores? I'm currently #1 for A-S and C-S on Novice and while my actual score is nowhere near as high as the one displayed in each case, it still seems to be the highest score from what I can gather from downloading replays to see the real scores.

Just wondering if I should be pleased with myself or not.

Edit: I just got a Novice Mode A-S 1CC and although I'm still first on the leaderboards, my real score is about half of the guy in third's. Totally unfair, the patch better fix this. :/

[Jeneki]

There's a forum scoreboard here if you want to compare yourself to what others here have done.

[1up]

DAT FRUSTRATION!!

This game has the most unbalanced novice mode yet. I'm a casual shmup player, I enjoy the rush of playing and have an awesome time right now with the novice mode. I play C-L as it fucks shit up real fast. I can no miss the first 4 stages and head into stage 5 with 5 lives in stock and maybe a level 1 hyper and level 5 just wrecks my shit!!

Haven't been able to clear it yet. Stage 5 is nuts compared to the first 4....

[Cuilan]

After watching this video, I now realize that SDOJ is a lot like Deathsmiles.

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm21056698

Thus, my opinion of what should be tweaked has changed.

I liked that in Deathsmiles I had more control over both Power Up mode and the bombs, thanks to bombs being on their own dedicated button. But in SDOJ, having hypers and bombs on the same button with priority going to hypers makes me feel like I have way less control (unless I use auto-bomb, yuck), and that bothers me. I'd like for shot and laser to be on their own separate buttons, with hypers activating by holding both of them down, just like Deathsmiles. I'd also like big-medal hypers to be available starting at level 3, which I think would give it a more Deathsmiles 2 feel (a good thing, imo).

But as it is, SDOJ reminds me a bit of what I dislike about Touhou Ten Desires.

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

The only reason that worked in DS is because it's a hori with stuff coming from both sides and you didn't otherwise ever have them both pressed down. That would be terrible in a vert. Most people hold C down and A on top of it for laser/concentration so you can use lift off A to go back to C with no delay. But certainly having a separate button for hyper and bomb would have made it easier.

[Jeneki]

Most people hold C down and A on top of it for laser/concentration so you can use lift off A to go back to C with no delay

I came to realize how automatically I do this when I first picked up DFK Black Label. Rank, what's that? lol

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

Yeah that was a really cool idea(s) Yagawa had there with the A + C shot. It's a slow raise though so there's no risk in holding them down for a second or whatever, if you don't want to raise the rank. Most of the time you do though once you get decent. But if it triggered something major like a hyper, that would suck. I guess maybe gamepad people don't always develop the hold C habit. Don't know.

[awo]

Tool-Assisted video (they have these for X360 games now?) showing an Inbachi NMNB, Xbox 360 Arcade HD mode:

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm21114785

A NMNB looks impossible for a human being, though this video shows some patterns the top 1 or 2 shmup players in the world could use to maybe just barely survive a 1CC of Inbachi.

[Udderdude]

Tool-Assisted video (they have these for X360 games now?) showing an Inbachi NMNB, Xbox 360 Arcade HD mode:

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm21114785

A NMNB looks impossible for a human being, though this video shows some patterns the top 1 or 2 shmup players in the world could use to maybe just barely survive a 1CC of Inbachi.

[Giest118]

The final attack is over a minute long even if you're not fucking about and dying all the time. What the shit.

[Udderdude]

They probably expected the rank to be back down to zero from all the bombing and dying .. fighting with the rank still all the way up to 35 is obscene.

[Bananamatic]

inbachi isnt possible lol

[AntiFritz]

Damn no boss afterwards for 1ccing inbachi

[Weak Boson]

The only way I can see past this is to use the genes of all the world's superplayers to produce a shmup playing demigod.

[Jeneki]

Damn no boss afterwards for 1ccing inbachi

A tiny little bee should fly down, boss health bar appears, then says "just kidding" and flies away.

[trap15]

Tool-Assisted video (they have these for X360 games now?) showing an Inbachi NMNB, Xbox 360 Arcade HD mode:

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm21114785

A NMNB looks impossible for a human being, though this video shows some patterns the top 1 or 2 shmup players in the world could use to maybe just barely survive a 1CC of Inbachi.

What a dumb fucking game.