Parodius is back? Showing at AOU 2007: Otomedius!

PsikyoPshumpPshooterP · Sun Nov 30, 2008 5:04 am

What option do i press to play the game all the way through? it seems like after 3 stages, it takes me to to records page/save and then i start all over.

sideshow · Post by **sideshow** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 5:14 am

I know what you mean. I'm having difficulty guiding threw the menus as well being a westerner. If only there was a english option for the menus. The translation on the previous page of this thread helps out a bit.

TriggerHeartExelica · Post by **TriggerHeartExelica** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 4:53 pm

I dont know if I really like this game. I keep torturing myself playing it even tho I know Im just going to end up sucking hardcore. I myself have been toying around trying to figure out exactly where the hitbox is myself and the closest I've come to it is that its from the girls waist up to her head.

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 5:08 pm

Nah, it's definitely not there. You can fit the ship between parallel lasers, with the upper one slicing straight through her head, without taking any damage.

TriggerHeartExelica · Post by **TriggerHeartExelica** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 5:18 pm

E. Randy Dupre wrote:Nah, it's definitely not there. You can fit the ship between parallel lasers, with the upper one slicing straight through her head, without taking any damage.

Tried that and I died every single time. Oh and it was just barely grazing the top of her head.

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 7:26 pm

So far I prefer Gorgeous mode better than arcade. Setting the difficulty to hard make it feels more like a gradius/parodius game.

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 7:32 pm

TriggerHeartExelica wrote:
E. Randy Dupre wrote:Nah, it's definitely not there. You can fit the ship between parallel lasers, with the upper one slicing straight through her head, without taking any damage.
Tried that and I died every single time. Oh and it was just barely grazing the top of her head.

I don't know, then. I can fit between the two closest lasers on the scarab boss without dieing, and it's a fairly tiny gap there.

It's like the fucking thing shifts around all the time - I've had a few deaths from grazing something with the arse-end of the ship, but it's never consistent. And, just now, I had the green criss-crossing laser attack of the final boss go right through the centre of the ship without killing me. Then it hit the rear and I lost a life. It makes no sense whatsoever.

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 7:45 pm

E. Randy Dupre wrote:It's like the fucking thing shifts around all the time - I've had a few deaths from grazing something with the arse-end of the ship, but it's never consistent. And, just now, I had the green criss-crossing laser attack of the final boss go right through the centre of the ship without killing me. Then it hit the rear and I lost a life. It makes no sense whatsoever.

Sound like the game needs a patch ASAP (a la raiden fighter aces); Japanese companies used to release quality games back in 16bits ROM cartridges days where fuckups were not allowed; nowaday PA testing seems to have become sloppy at best. Did konami ever test it ? It does not look like it.

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 8:43 pm

To be honest, it could have been sorted out by not having the idiotic craft/loli hybrids. At least then you'd have a rough idea of where you were vulnerable.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Sun Nov 30, 2008 9:02 pm

E. Randy Dupre wrote:It's like the fucking thing shifts around all the time - I've had a few deaths from grazing something with the arse-end of the ship, but it's never consistent. And, just now, I had the green criss-crossing laser attack of the final boss go right through the centre of the ship without killing me. Then it hit the rear and I lost a life. It makes no sense whatsoever.

The same thing is happening to me, so don't worry. I failed to comprehend that green laser attack and just froze, and it still didn't kill me. But then I tried dodging the last boss's attack where they rotate the ship at you, and I died. I guess every character has a different hitbox. The yellow girl's hitbox appears to be really large, but I'm guessing that's because her attacks are homing and are so powerful. It's possibly intentional.

I'm having a hard time getting motivated to play this game at all, sadly. Online is pretty pointless since you don't even gain experience or achievements, the only purpose of it is to show off your e-penis with whatever you've collected in original/gorgeous. If you gained experience for playing co-op, I would probably play it much more.

antares · Post by **antares** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 1:23 pm

yojo! wrote: Sound like the game needs a patch ASAP (a la raiden fighter aces); Japanese companies used to release quality games back in 16bits ROM cartridges days where fuckups were not allowed; nowaday PA testing seems to have become sloppy at best. Did konami ever test it ? It does not look like it.

And it had been already delayed one month to fix bugs

pixelcorps · Post by **pixelcorps** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 3:59 pm

seems like the hyperstick has sold out on konamistyle.. not sure if retailers officially have these, or wether they just ordered a few to sell at a markup.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:25 pm

The stick bundle isn't worth it.

antares · Post by **antares** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:26 pm

I got this game today and like it very much so far. But I have only played Arcade mode yet.

Now the questions:

What are the requirements to select Isla da Pescua in Arcade Mode?

In the screen befor entering a stage were you select your Power-Ups what are the 3 buttons on the right for? Also sometimes a smaller button appears left of the three buttons. What is it for?

I cannot see what the touchpad / right stick is good for. In the menus it is a little easier to navigate with it but you can also access everything with the left stick. In the game when you charge your bomb and the crosshair appears you can also navigate it with the left stick and select targets with the A button, so what is it good for?

And last, the Leaderboard sucks. You cannot see were you are and also there is no friends lb!

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:47 pm

antares wrote: I cannot see what the touchpad / right stick is good for. In the menus it is a little easier to navigate with it but you can also access everything with the left stick. In the game when you charge your bomb and the crosshair appears you can also navigate it with the left stick and select targets with the A button, so what is it good for?

Bragging rights.

Other than that, absolutely nothing. Everything that you can do with the touchpad, you can also do with the right analogue stick on a regular pad. Tbh, I'm surprised that anybody imagined it'd be a necessary purchase. Being restricted to the analogue stick on the pad has no negative effects on the gameplay whatsoever.

originalz · Post by **originalz** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:17 am

Elixir wrote:I have no idea. I think it's in the waist of the girl. Anyway, I haven't even had this game a day and I'm getting tired of it. Let me explain why:

I somehow find your complaints misguided...

{
- You don't gain any achievements, or ANYTHING for 1ccing the original game}

Who cares? You get your own personal satisfaction. You don't get ANYTHING for 1ccing most non-360 shooters also! Don't tell me this whole achievement-whoring obsession is spreading here too.

{- No online co-op for the original game}

The arcade version doesn't have it either. Original mode is a copy of the arcade version, which was ONLY vs. play. It's competitive, it's a completely different game.

{- You don't gain any achievements for playing online co-op of Gorgeous mode.. so what the fuck is the point in playing online co-op?}

Yeah, god forbid you play something that doesn't have achievements related to it.

{- As mentioned before, failure to join an online game will not only kick you out of the game, but shove you back to the title screen, forcing you to go through the options, character select, and all menus again}

Yeah, this is pretty annoying. Still, it takes like 10 seconds to get back, so it's not exactly terrible.

{- Unnecessary slowdown in Gorgeous mode, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it makes the ice level a real bore}

Yeah, I don't really get this myself, it's definitely intentional. Must be a throwback to oldskool shooters but I don't really like it, makes some parts way too easy.

{- The final boss has an attack that WILL kill you, and you can't avoid it}

Don't suck. I've beaten all of Gorgeous mode 1st loop without a single death, there's nothing unfair once you know what to do.

{- You can continue as many times as you want in Gorgeous mode, but not on the second loop. WHY.}

See above. Don't credit feed. Increase the difficulty level if you don't feel like playing through it again.

{- No practice mode. WHY.}

This is more or less what original mode is, you can even practice any stage's difficulty once you unlock them.

{- Weird hitbox, definitely}

Takes some getting used to, I dunno exactly what it is, but after playing the arcade version so many times I have a good feel.

{- Stage 6 is like some bad doujin game}

Yeah, the original stages are kind of underwhelming.

{- The touchscreen capabilities in this game are basically a gigantic waste of time}

Yeah, it's of questionable importance, but it's better than having it touchscreen focused and being annoying. It's just a minor gimmick, doesn't take anything away from the game.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:32 am

There's no point in playing original mode, basically. It's 3 stages long, and all you gain is experience. You get 100 points for clearing the game with each character in mission mode, but it should have been split to 50 points per mode, so original and gorgeous are balanced. Yes, achievements do matter. It's an Xbox 360 game, so deal with it.

Being a 360 game, it SHOULD have co-op for original. After all you're grinding for experience, right? My biggest complaint about this entire game is that the online co-op is pointless. Someone said it's for "fun", but it's still pointless. No achievements or experience, which is just dumb. If the online co-op included experience, I'd be all over it, and it'd make the game more fun. As it stands, online co-op just seems to be there if you want to show off your e-penis with how many weapon cards you've obtained.

Having achievements still matters. Like it or not, this is now an incentive for a bunch of people to continue playing a game. Being kicked out to the title screen shouldn't even exist, so maybe they'll release some sort of patch with it along with a hitbox patch. Even XBLA games aren't this bad. I think the slowdown in this game is intentional too, because it gets pretty ridiculous on Expert.

I mean, admit it, this game is sorely lacking in content. What can I say? There isn't that much reason for me to continue playing it, and I haven't even had it for a week.

yojo! · Post by **yojo!** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:46 am

I've been playing in Gorgeous mode with difficulty set to Hard and I'm enjoying the challenge so far. Raiden IV and Otomedius justify my purchase of the jap 360 alone; Who needs IdolM@ster anyway?

RackGaki · Post by **RackGaki** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:53 am

It sucks that the achievements aren't well balanced, but isn't that the story of the Xbox 360? I rarely find a game where the achievements are fully fleshed out, with a fair balance between points for simply obtaining goals in the game and points that qualify as, you know, achievements. I would ideally go for a 30/70 split, but most games aren't so sensible.

<rant>
I personally hate achievements for all of the reasons Elixir laid out. High score used to be an intrinsic incentive. Enter the external reward: achievements. Now, what used to be an internal goal is now dependent on an external factor. Without it, there's no motivation for completing a task.
There are studies that show if you start rewarding a Grade "A" student for good marks on his report card, and end said rewards, his grades will suffer. Every subject did better before they were rewarded for their progress. Once you create an external motivation, it gradually replaces the internal motivation. My own anecdotal evidence is that many of my friends won't play a game if it isn't on the 360 - achievements being a primary citation.
</rant>

yojo! wrote: Sound like the game needs a patch ASAP (a la raiden fighter aces)

It needs a patch that causes some parts of the game to freeze your system?

originalz · Post by **originalz** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 5:27 am

Elixir wrote:There's no point in playing original mode, basically. It's 3 stages long, and all you gain is experience. You get 100 points for clearing the game with each character in mission mode, but it should have been split to 50 points per mode, so original and gorgeous are balanced. Yes, achievements do matter. It's an Xbox 360 game, so deal with it.

Being a 360 game, it SHOULD have co-op for original. After all you're grinding for experience, right? My biggest complaint about this entire game is that the online co-op is pointless. Someone said it's for "fun", but it's still pointless. No achievements or experience, which is just dumb. If the online co-op included experience, I'd be all over it, and it'd make the game more fun. As it stands, online co-op just seems to be there if you want to show off your e-penis with how many weapon cards you've obtained.

Having achievements still matters. Like it or not, this is now an incentive for a bunch of people to continue playing a game. Being kicked out to the title screen shouldn't even exist, so maybe they'll release some sort of patch with it along with a hitbox patch. Even XBLA games aren't this bad. I think the slowdown in this game is intentional too, because it gets pretty ridiculous on Expert.

I mean, admit it, this game is sorely lacking in content. What can I say? There isn't that much reason for me to continue playing it, and I haven't even had it for a week.

You gain experience by doing well in versus mode. Original mode is just a port of the arcade version. Online versus is a completely different game and a lot of fun. If you want to play co-op, play gorgeous, I don't understand the criticism here. Original mode and gorgeous mode are completely different, you can't play for experience in gorgeous mode because they removed elements and the game layout is completely different. I don't really see much sense in complaining about it. Playing co-op with random people sucks anyway, it's better if you can get some friends together and have "fun" (god forbid).

You can continue to play it to get better at the game, go through the 2nd loop without continuing or getting better at online versus. I don't understand why you need achievements to get more enjoyment out of the game. Gorgeous is an excellent port, all of the arcade content is there flawlessly and gorgeous mode changes everything up enough that it might as well be a whole new game. If Ketsui gives you 1000gs for pressing the start button, would you consider it a bad game? How did we play shooters before achievements existed? Why do we play them in the arcades? Why do we play them for other systems or on emulators?

I can't help but think that you just don't understand this game.

Sonic R · Post by **Sonic R** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 5:46 am

RackGaki wrote:It sucks that the achievements aren't well balanced, but isn't that the story of the Xbox 360? I rarely find a game where the achievements are fully fleshed out, with a fair balance between points for simply obtaining goals in the game and points that qualify as, you know, achievements. I would ideally go for a 30/70 split, but most games aren't so sensible.

<rant>
I personally hate achievements for all of the reasons Elixir laid out. High score used to be an intrinsic incentive. Enter the external reward: achievements. Now, what used to be an internal goal is now dependent on an external factor. Without it, there's no motivation for completing a task.
There are studies that show if you start rewarding a Grade "A" student for good marks on his report card, and end said rewards, his grades will suffer. Every subject did better before they were rewarded for their progress. Once you create an external motivation, it gradually replaces the internal motivation. My own anecdotal evidence is that many of my friends won't play a game if it isn't on the 360 - achievements being a primary citation.
</rant>

I couldn't care less of achievements.
Some of my friends, most actually

are becoming achievement whores. Playing shit games to boost gamer score. Wasting time in games and shit. I have a acquaintance, whom I talked into getting Wartech for 10 dollars to play against me, and all he did was leave the game on for a couple days to unlock time achievements. Thats all he has in that game. Not even one clear with one character

Sonic R 0 gamer info

I have my 360 since day one and I don't even have shit worth achievements. i have less than everyone on my friendship list… does it mean i don't try hard, that i don't play games? Fuck no.

/rant II

On topic,
I am very pleased with this game. Gorgeous mode is great. Maybe because I am getting good at it? I one lifed to the final boss last night! I might 1cc something that has come out in the last 15 years! JINX, I said that about Mushi arrange and I cannot beat that

Regarding the special stick,
I am in financial dire straits so I couldn't afford it (I wanted it) but I have done perfectly well with my DOA4 Hori stick. I haven't spent much time with arcade mode as I still need to do the screen adjust, but I will continue to play Gorgeous mode and then give arcade mode some blow when I want further my game playing experience…

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:37 am

originalz wrote:You gain experience by doing well in versus mode. Original mode is just a port of the arcade version. Online versus is a completely different game and a lot of fun. If you want to play co-op, play gorgeous, I don't understand the criticism here. Original mode and gorgeous mode are completely different, you can't play for experience in gorgeous mode because they removed elements and the game layout is completely different. I don't really see much sense in complaining about it. Playing co-op with random people sucks anyway, it's better if you can get some friends together and have "fun" (god forbid).

The criticism of gorgeous' co-op is simple. You don't gain anything for it. I don't even care about the achievements, despite the fact that they should reward you for playing original mode. Look, I've put countless hours into Bomberman Live, and will continue to do so. If I was an achievement whore, I would drop the game and move on to clearing some other crap that I don't care about. What I said was, co-op would be much more fun if you were gaining ANYTHING for doing it. It's just "there". You can either play for experience in original mode or gt in gorgeous, but it's all the same with a different coat of paint.

originalz wrote:You can continue to play it to get better at the game, go through the 2nd loop without continuing or getting better at online versus. I don't understand why you need achievements to get more enjoyment out of the game. Gorgeous is an excellent port, all of the arcade content is there flawlessly and gorgeous mode changes everything up enough that it might as well be a whole new game. If Ketsui gives you 1000gs for pressing the start button, would you consider it a bad game? How did we play shooters before achievements existed? Why do we play them in the arcades? Why do we play them for other systems or on emulators?

I can't help but think that you just don't understand this game.

I understand this game perfectly fine. It's a parody. If Ketsui gave me 1000gs for pressing the start button, I'd call it a good game, because it would actually be released for the 360 and I'd actually be able to play the fucking game. So far it seems to be AWOL with the release. I really don't care what Ketsui's achievements will be, but the game itself is in a completely different league. It feels like Konami is testing the waters after being out of the genre for so long.

I'm not sure what you want me to say. The game's unbalanced. If you're going to take this parody game seriously, you need to unlock (re: grind) all weapon cards for both modes. Online co-op is a neat addition, but playing against strangers still remains pointless, like you just said. The slowdown is annoying and as is kicking you to the title screen. These are pretty valid complaints against a $65 dollar import.

originalz · Post by **originalz** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:14 am

You get points to buy weapon cards as you play through Gorgeous mode. I haven't checked co-op specifically, but I think it's logical to assume that you also get points when you go through that, so you do progress by playing through the game. You unlock weapon cards naturally through original mode, and you can also unlock them with your points through gorgeous mode, they're combined. You may not get experience in Gorgeous, but experience is only important in original mode anyway, and the experience changes absolutely nothing about the game, it's just for online ranking. I'm not so sure why you care so much specifically about experience in Gorgeous mode.

If you don't get any points for playing co-op, well then that's unfortunate. I'll play a co-op match later and see if my point total goes up afterwards to verify this.

There's nothing unbalanced about the game, I think. You can beat the game with no problems with the default layout, the weapon cards are just extra customization and extra incentive to keep playing the game. No other Gradius game has the level of weapon customization as Otomedius, at absolute worse you get 6 very different characters with very different default weapon layouts.

I've been playing through the game on an almost daily basis, it's great for me. If I want to play for awhile, I'll do a round of Gorgeous mode, if I want to just chill out for a short time, I'll do a round of original. If you're not enjoying the game to the point where getting weapon cards is a grind, then maybe the game just isn't for you. It's a fun game for me, I enjoy playing through it and getting more weapon cards gives me more incentive to just go "one more round". If you just plain don't like the game, I can respect that, but your complaints just seem really petty and have little to do with the actual gameplay.

PsikyoPshumpPshooterP · Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:03 pm

are the acheivements achieved in gorgeous or original mode?

RuffNEC · Post by **RuffNEC** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:18 pm

Anyone can Explain the XBOX LIVE Menu in English ? How Can I search a game or join ? How is this mode built up? Is it possible to play with a non japanese account ?

antares · Post by **antares** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 9:44 pm

E. Randy Dupre wrote: Other than that, absolutely nothing. Everything that you can do with the touchpad, you can also do with the right analogue stick on a regular pad. Tbh, I'm surprised that anybody imagined it'd be a necessary purchase. Being restricted to the analogue stick on the pad has no negative effects on the gameplay whatsoever.

That wasn't exactly what I meant.
When you charge your bomb and the crosshair appears you can move it with the right stick and select targets by pressing the right stick. But you can also move it with the left stick and select targets by pressing A so I wondered what the right stick / touchpad is even good for (other than touching the girls - I figured that out)?
I've been playing the game now with my Hori Fighting Stick as I don't see the point for using the 360 Joypad.

PsikyoPshumpPshooterP wrote:are the acheivements achieved in gorgeous or original mode?

The time and touch achievements in both. I guess you can also get the game clear achievements in original mode but I don't know how to select the fifth stage in original mode.

substancej · Post by **substancej** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 2:06 am

Can anyone understand this strategy? I'm able to read it fairly well, but I don't really understand how it applies to the game. All I know is I want to complete the card collection and 2000 points in 5 minutes sounds very appealing.

ゴージャスモードでもらえるポイントはその面で稼いだ点数に面クリアランク補正をかけた値であり、ランクSとAでは2倍の差が生じる。
1面ランクSで、2面開幕に敵に突っ込んで自爆をくりかえせば5分程度で2000ポイント（1面で20万点稼いだ場合）獲得可能。

(from: http://www12.atwiki.jp/xbox360score/pages/564.html)

For what it's worth I think this game falls dangerously close to choukusoge category. It's just not fun to play in any sense. Though I'm not totally sure I understand it yet, so maybe my appreciation level will rise to plain old kusoge.

PsikyoPshumpPshooterP · Wed Dec 03, 2008 8:16 am

how do i get the secret achievements? i played through gorgeous mode with 4 characters already and only got 2 secret achievemnts 5 and 57

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 9:04 am

substancej wrote:Can anyone understand this strategy? I'm able to read it fairly well, but I don't really understand how it applies to the game. All I know is I want to complete the card collection and 2000 points in 5 minutes sounds very appealing.

ゴージャスモードでもらえるポイントはその面で稼いだ点数に面クリアランク補正をかけた値であり、ランクSとAでは2倍の差が生じる。
1面ランクSで、2面開幕に敵に突っ込んで自爆をくりかえせば5分程度で2000ポイント（1面で20万点稼いだ場合）獲得可能。

(from: http://www12.atwiki.jp/xbox360score/pages/564.html)

For what it's worth I think this game falls dangerously close to choukusoge category. It's just not fun to play in any sense. Though I'm not totally sure I understand it yet, so maybe my appreciation level will rise to plain old kusoge.

I can't really make any sense of this. Maybe it's a good idea to play through the first level on Very Hard over and over, getting an S rank by not dying? That nets you a decent amount, but the Tokyo level is unkind on such a difficulty.

substancej · Post by **substancej** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 10:06 am

That seems to be the case. I tried playing through level 1 with an S rank, then dying immediately in level 2. On easy that netted me about 1,000 points.