Deathsmiles IIX (Xbox 360) - GoD US/Can/Mex, Platinum JP

[StarCreator]

Any word on 4:3 support? I have no intention of moving my j-360 away from my crt set-up. I assumed the rumors of only 16:9 support were false, since every game MS releases has to pass 4:3 functionality tests. It's just a standard requirement for certification, so I really have a hard time believing this game is an exception.

If you mean "4:3 functionality" as in "the game will add horizontal black bars for you", sure; there's plenty of games I know of that only run widescreen and appear letterboxed on 4:3 displays without any other display option.

[Phellan Wolf]

I don't have the game yet (amiami shipped it yesterday) but I am already upset with the release.
Some bugs are being reported and as far as I see they're really annoying. Just to name a few, the boss in the extra stage freezes and now matters how you shoot at him he won't move neither his life bar will drop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpckNnUHtXw
Another one is the game freezes in the first level and also it appears that when exiting the menu of the X-Mode game also freezes.
What's going on here, are we going to have a bug free game some day??

[8 1/2]

What's going on here, are we going to have a bug free game some day??

Nope. Not possible. Every game has bugs.

[StarCreator]

Nope. Not possible. Every game has bugs.

Indeed, any piece of programming will probably have bugs here and there, but the more I read about DS2, the more I miss the days where title updates weren't possible and developers put much more effort into testing their product since physical bugfix recalls are costly in more ways than one.

[TaygetaVendetta]

Its been almost a month now and the patch for the original Deathsmiles still hasn't been put up, so a fast fix for DSIIX does not seem likely.

I wonder if the boss freezing on that stage is circumstantial? If it freezes every time that seems like a giant oversight to let the game ship with that problem.

[8 1/2]

Indeed, any piece of programming will probably have bugs here and there, but the more I read about DS2, the more I miss the days where title updates weren't possible and developers put much more effort into testing their product since physical bugfix recalls are costly in more ways than one.

This sort of attitude is so ignorant it kills me. You really think Cave, or any dev, is sitting around thinking "Oh screw bug fixes, we'll just patch it later"? No developer wants that. Getting a patch out is such a pain in the ass, as it has to go through the whole certification process again, meanwhile your loyal players are sitting at home pissed off and unable to fully enjoy the thing you've put so much time and effort into. Especially with a small studio like Cave, you just can't control every variable, especially when some of those are on the console manufacturer's side.

On Zombie Apocalypse for instance, Sony changed the firmware just a week or so before we were set to launch, and when the game shipped it crashed in MP games online. This NEVER happened at the studio, and we had to rush out a patch to fix it at great cost and stress.

Trust me, every dev would love for their games to be bug free, and I assure you the process is rigorous to find and fix these things before a game ships. You never really know the whole story of why things like this happen.

[StarCreator]

Trust me, every dev would love for their games to be bug free, and I assure you the process is rigorous to find and fix these things before a game ships. You never really know the whole story of why things like this happen.

Of course not, and every case is different, but when you find game-breaking things within hours of the game's release, I have to question the level of testing that was performed. Games are more complicated than ever now, but even merely adequate amounts of testing should have caught things like a boss becoming invulnerable and forcing a game reset. Of course, I haven't seen it yet and it's still early, but the fact of the matter is, bugs like these were practically unheard of in the previous generation. And if it's not the developers, I wouldn't put it past the publishers to apply enough pressure to force inadequately-tested work out the door.

[8 1/2]

There's simply no way a bug like this was present for Cave at the studio and they just let it slide, and even if they did you still have MS's own internal testers to get through. This is a full-on "A" bug if it's true, and is something that would stop production cold if they were aware of it. Shipping a game with a known major issue does happen, but you have to pay massive sums to MS to get away with it (to the tune of six figures). Some sports titles bite the bullet and do this (I know, I used to work for a sports dev) because they HAVE to get their baseball game out on opening day of the season, but it's just not something a tiny little studio would even conceive of because they're not going to make their money back if they have to pay the fine.

When you submit a game, you send along a bundle of code that is then converted into disc format, and it's not always a speedy turn-around. Things can change, I suspect that something changed on the console side, likely a system update, that hosed some small bit of data. Who knows what it's related to. It might be the way an effect is called into existence, or the way a transition is triggered. Either way, I assure you the game has been in test for months and months and I'm sure Cave is dying over it right now.

And as far as past gen's games being more watertight... remember the boss exploit from Blaster Master? This sort of stuff is not new, and while it's true that games have become more complex, the same is also true of how QA functions. For a retail release they likely have a staff of in-house testers, some sort of 3rd party testing, AND Microsoft's own team. There's likely at least a dozen people full time on the job so it's not some sloppy little effort that barely even looks at the game as you seem to suspect, even on the smallest of titles.

[Ganelon]

So, easiest counterstop ever?

[chempop]

Taking a break after playing this for a couple hours. I'm playing on my 21" CRT using RCA inputs.

Impressions and noteworthy details

Arcade mode is top/bottom letterbox AND wallpaper on the right and left, leaving a very small playable game screen, close to half the size of the TV itself. After 1 credit I was done with that mode.

360 (X mode) is only letterboxed on the top/bottom which I expected, I can live with it but still wish the game ran full screen 4:3

Doesn't seem to have difficulty setting in options menu, looks like the 1/2/3 stage rank select is how difficulty is addressed. Not too happy about this, hopefully I'm wrong and overlooking something to change the difficulty.

Cinemas can be turned off or skipped.

The back button pauses, restart is there but I didn't check if it does the current level or back to the first. Doesn't this vary from game to game?

The suicide homing bullets are a bitch, took me a few credits to realize that they can be cancelled by activating the lock-on shot, thank god! I'm almost certain that Cave changed the graphic of them from the early arcade version, I remember them looking like sperm at one point, but thankfully they don't.

Arrange mode is serious. It plays very slow, but the clouds of red bullets are just absurd. I really enjoyed trying this mode a few times before going back to X-mode.

The game is clearly not as pretty as the first Deathsmiles, but it plays well, still has the same dark vibe, and the bullet patterns are fantastic. It is too easy and maybe a bit shorter than the first. Playing rank 3 on all levels (+EX), I am nearly beating it on a credit on my third attempt. Played a couple of the levels on rank 2 and I 1cc on my second try.... I hope a hard mode unlocked but I don't think it did, need to check. The game did not crash on me.

[mesh control]

Are there sperm bullets?

[chempop]

You can pretend that there are, if you must

[edit] not in arrange mode.

[CStarFlare]

Are there sperm bullets?

fantasize and make your own

[alastair jack]

This seems like the worst looking Cave game.

[chempop]

I can not fairly judge the graphics because like I said, I use a standard definition CRT. This game wasn't really meant for that kinda setup, so once I see it on a nice HD widescreen I'll make my final judgement.

Also, the backgrounds do move in and out and all around in some nifty ways from time to time. i think with more practice Cave could end up doing some really great 3D graphics, it'll take time though. All the crazy point related jewels, skulls, plasma, explosions, and whatnot look fantastic.

Hoping I can finish this paper work for my job that's due tomorrow so I can play some more tonight, got distracted by that Suns Lakers game... man what a game!

[gatsu25]

I didn't see anything for Deathsmiles II in the strategy section. I realize it plays like the first, but I am a bit confused about something.

When you activate whatever it's called, by getting your counter up and pressing both buttons, what are the small blue things that come at you slowly but in your direction? It didn't seem like they could hurt me. There must be some reason for them being there?

[chempop]

hat are the small blue things that come at you slowly but in your direction?

Those would be known as non other than Sperm Bullets

collect enough and you accidentally get a 1up (j/k)
they actually do hurt you, stay away from them, get a bunch on screen and use lock-on shot... poof they go away and points emerge.

[originalz]

Got my copy. Goddamn, the 360 mode is actually really fun! I was one of the guys who wasn't fond of the arcade version, but playing this on rank 3 is the way it was meant to be! If the AC version was like this, no way would it have died out so soon!

Anyone want to write up a guide for arrange mode? Seems interesting but I'm not sure I fully understand how to play it well.

I didn't see anything for Deathsmiles II in the strategy section. I realize it plays like the first, but I am a bit confused about something.

When you activate whatever it's called, by getting your counter up and pressing both buttons, what are the small blue things that come at you slowly but in your direction? It didn't seem like they could hurt me. There must be some reason for them being there?

I'm pretty sure these are new for the 360 port. They seem to come at you, but will slow down when they reach the circle that's around you when you power up. I guess if you wait too long they'll hit you, and you can also fly into them and take damage, I guess it's for pressure. They seem to go away with a bonus when you power down again, but I dunno details of that...

[chempop]

Arrange mode seems to be about prolonging the over-mode by keeping the tension bar high. I think what you want to do is use your familiar to absorb tons of bullets and stay close to baddies while sending the familiar in and out which activates your lock-on shot.

My guess is that people are going to enjoy this more than they thought they would, but most people here will have the same complaint - it is too easy! Even on rank-3 the game isn't hard to clear, and arrange mode is cake on rank-3 (this I expected because most arrange modes have been easy lately).

[originalz]

Yeah, arrange mode definitely looks a lot more brutal than it really is. Tons of shit on the screen, but it's pretty easy to avoid. Hell, I flew into a flurry of them while experimenting and it took much longer to take damage then I would have expected.

Extra mode is a pretty fun diversion, heh. The menu theme is amazing, somehow!

[Elixir]

First day sales

360　Deathsmiles II X LE
9000 copies / 58 percent (of 360 sales)

360　Deathsmiles II X SE
2800 copies / 34 percent (of 360 sales)

...

Wii　Super Mario Galaxy
143200 copies /　28% (of Wii sales)

[StarCreator]

I got home late last night and although my copy has arrived, I decided not to hook up my 360 since we were in the middle of a bad thunderstorm =/

I got my LE copy, and confirmed the DLC card indeed says "Deathsmiles IIIX" on it. It was also taped to the shrink wrap on the outside, whereas previous Cave DLC cards were inside the game case (with a sticker on the shrink wrap to tell you it's there). Did anyone get their DLC card on the inside of the case? This actually makes me wonder if Cave saw the demand and decided to increase the number of DLC cards in circulation after the stock rolled out of the factory...

[Kiken]

I got home late last night and although my copy has arrived, I decided not to hook up my 360 since we were in the middle of a bad thunderstorm =/

I got my LE copy, and confirmed the DLC card indeed says "Deathsmiles IIIX" on it. It was also taped to the shrink wrap on the outside, whereas previous Cave DLC cards were inside the game case (with a sticker on the shrink wrap to tell you it's there). Did anyone get their DLC card on the inside of the case? This actually makes me wonder if Cave saw the demand and decided to increase the number of DLC cards in circulation after the stock rolled out of the factory...

I ordered the LE and the card came taped to the outside of the package, just like yours. Seems like the card was put inside the case of the regular editions though.

[originalz]

Nope, I got the normal edition and it was taped to the outside as well.

[chempop]

So I guess the question is: why does it say Deathsmiles III ???
my guess: same reason why the manual says "Arrenge" Mode

Well then, now that some people have their copies I'm glad we can start talking about where exactly the DLC card was taped to on their package. Mine was sort of in the middle, on the front of the box.

[Ganelon]

Yeah, I thought the vendor (NCS in my case) taped the card there since the original Deathsmiles had the DLC card loose. But is that not the case? In 10 years, will idio- collectors be willing to pay $50 for the official 2 pieces of Cave scotch tape?

[98PaceCar]

hat are the small blue things that come at you slowly but in your direction?

Those would be known as non other than Sperm Bullets

collect enough and you accidentally get a 1up (j/k)
they actually do hurt you, stay away from them, get a bunch on screen and use lock-on shot... poof they go away and points emerge.

I'm new to this one. How do you activate the lock shot? Is that the A + B when you have less than 1000 on the counter or are already in the A + B mode after hitting 1000?

[StarCreator]

Yeah, I thought the vendor (NCS in my case) taped the card there since the original Deathsmiles had the DLC card loose. But is that not the case? In 10 years, will idio- collectors be willing to pay $50 for the official 2 pieces of Cave scotch tape?

I won't be finding out personally since the tape from my copy is already in the trash. =p

I only brought it up wondering if anyone had their DLC cards included inside the seal (indicating possibly that more DLC cards were produced after the initially planned run), or if they just changed the way they packaged the DLC cards for another reason.

I would have commented on the game if I had a chance to play it, but the way work is going, it might be a while yet =/

[Jockel]

Yeah, I thought the vendor (NCS in my case) taped the card there since the original Deathsmiles had the DLC card loose. But is that not the case? In 10 years, will idio- collectors be willing to pay $50 for the official 2 pieces of Cave scotch tape?

I won't be finding out personally since the tape from my copy is already in the trash. =p

I actually kept the Futari DLC sticker for the lulz.

[TaygetaVendetta]

First day sales

360　Deathsmiles II X LE
9000 copies / 58 percent (of 360 sales)

360　Deathsmiles II X SE
2800 copies / 34 percent (of 360 sales)

...

Wii　Super Mario Galaxy
143200 copies /　28% (of Wii sales)

Do you have any idea how that stacks up to the debut sales of the first game last year? Surprised so many opted for the LE when all it came with was an OST.