Astebreed (new from Edelweiss)

[Formless God]

Stages: Rack up the multiplier, move to 1/3 of the screen and hold Wide shot then let go, do it again at 1/2 screen, then press the EX key. Cut anything bigger than you while rhythmically do the Wide lock-on with your ring finger; the game lets you do both at the same time. Getting hit drops your multiplier but it goes back to x16 again in 2 milliseconds.

Bosses: stand still, hold Narrow shot, wait until the gauge is full then let go. Slash cancel the fuck out of everything. Stream the lasers. Read a newspaper while you're doing it.

Game kinda lacks elegance.

P.S. Need an option to make your narrow lock-on snap to enemies even when you're not in neutral because really, that's all you ever wanna do with that lock-on.
P.P.S. Put both the EX and Shield gauges back at the bottom.
P.P.P.S. Don't fuck with the screen when the player is about to lose.

[Zeether]

I'll wait for Playism to add it to their English site. I know you can order off the Japanese site regardless of territory but I'd prefer to have it on the English site for convenience's sake, plus it's not like it wouldn't get localized seeing how we've gotten two Edelweiss titles already.

[Wyrmnus]

I could definitely see these guys pairing up with GUST or Namco Bandai for something.

[kid aphex]

This and Revolver360/RE:actor give me hope for the future of the genre.

[Mischief Maker]

My copy arrived from Rancor this weekend! Yaaay!

Thank God they included an option to turn off the mid-mission yak yak. I don't speak Japanese so I imagine the protagonist is just saying, "Kinda busy here, lady!" over and over and over again.

Definitely seeing the Cloudphobia influence, also Sora.

Happy overall. It's nice to have a shmup that justifies the obscene amount of money I poured into this rig. If I want a more technical challenge, I'll boot up my new copy of Stella Vanity.

[Snake]

Impressed by the demo. Seems head and shoulders above Cloudphobia, and I liked Cloudphobia.

[Mischief Maker]

Does anyone know where I can go to download a standalone .exe of the latest patches? Can't find a link anywhere on the page, but I also don't speak Japanese.

EDIT: If you used the autopatcher and want to back up the patch in case Edelweiss goes all French Bread on us, the patch is located here:

C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Temp\Astebreed_up1_17

[Ghegs]

Got my copy of the game a little while ago, but didn't get around to installing it until now. Very sleek DVD case.

And the game sure is pretty, no denying it. Almost too pretty at times - like somebody said earlier, there's so much stuff going on. Bullets flying at high speeds, popcorn enemies swirling in and out, it feels very chaotic and difficult to ascertain where the threats are. It's a visual overload, a few times I just ended up sitting at the bottom of the screen hitting wide shot repeatedly because I couldn't keep up.

Not that it matters much survival-wise. There's only one life, but with a very generous lifebar that even recharges itself after not getting hit for a moment. And stages have plenty of quiet sections, often before bosses, where the lifebar has a chance to recover fully. I was getting some Gaia Seed flashbacks there. On my first try at the game, I made it to Chapter 5 boss before dying for the first time. And then I died a few more times against the final boss at Chapter 6. I'm sure I could 1CC the game if I were to play it a second time.

Though the graphics are impressive, the gameplay left me a bit cold. I really liked Ether Vapor and was hoping for more of the same, and it kind of is, but the aforementioned overload dropped it down a couple of notches. Ether Vapor's pace, visual clarity and traditional lives system are more to my tastes. Maybe I could get used to Astrebreed's style, but I'm not sure I care enough. The lifebar thing is kind of meh, and it kind of feels it's a concession made due to the chaoticness.

Of course getting hit resets your multiplier, so it's good it's tied to the scoring system, but I don't have much interest in that. I imagine playing the game for score is the only way to get any long-time enjoyment out of the game, as playing it for survival certainly doesn't seem to provide that. It's kind of the mirror image of Ether Vapor that way - EV didn't have much of a scoring system but clearing the game was a nice challenge, while Astebreed has a more complex scoring mechanic with little challenge outside of it.

And there's the story that I couldn't make heads or tails out of, and it's got underage lolis dressed in Eva plugsuit rip-offs, and a few Miranda Lawson-esque buttshots of them. So...yeah.

[cskcsk]

Absolutely fantastic game. Really good 3d graphics for an indie game.Loved the fast pace of the game and the absolute chaos,could do without the gratuitous voice work.Good thing there is an option to toggle that off. Will double dip once its out on steam.

To all those guys who say you beat the game easily with your eyes closed, not playing seriously,one hand tied behind your back,while having lonely time with a freshly made tube of konnyaku ...

YOU ARE LYING.

[Aleksei]

OMG English Astebreed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lOlRh__Uk0

[Ghegs]

Is that a patch that will bring English language options to Astebreed, or has the game been picked up for localization?

If the former: yay, and I'll probably play through the game again. If the latter, I'll probably not doubledip like I did with Ether Vapor and Satazius, but still very good news for the devs.

[SuperSoaker360]

Spring 2014? Wow, a lot earlier than I thought.

[Mischief Maker]

No mention on Nyu Media. Maybe they're going "Cloudphobia" and selling direct?

[SuperSoaker360]

???

[CStarFlare]

That logo is much better than the old one.

[Oniros]

Astebreed is part of a Humble Weekly Bundle!

[Blackbird]

Is the Humble Bundle a DRM-free distributor?

I noticed that Playism also has the game on sale for 10.50.

[Iori Branford]

Is the Humble Bundle a DRM-free distributor?

Mostly. When they can.
In proper Humble Bundles, which are numbered, all titles come with DRM-free ZIPs or installers.
They relax this a little in Weekly Bundles, Flash Bundles, and their store.
Every title is clearly marked with formats and platforms offered. So in this case you're good as long as you're on Windows.

[Alec]

Thanks for the heads up on the humblebundle. I almost bought this on the steam sale for $10.49 now I get Y's origins too! I'm downloading it right now, I'm very pumped to play this game!!!!

[BulletMagnet]

Now available on GOG.

[evil_ash_xero]

I'm not sure if my comp can run this. I need to get that new video card.

How good is this game?

[mamboFoxtrot]

Its pretty easy given the health bar and the fact that you can swipe away a good 85% of the game's bullets, but I'd say that's the only problem most people would have with it. Otherwise, I think it makes for a decent score attack or casual playthrough given the presentation (just don't worry about the story). I'm heavily biased in favor of any game involving robots with swords, though.

[Squire Grooktook]

If you want any survival difficulty you must play on hard mode (unlocked after credit feeding through normal), otherwise play for score. It's pretty good, Xaerock wrote a bit about it and has some good replays.

[cfx]

.

[Aleksei]

Exactly a year after my excitement for the English port am I posting a YT video on the PS4 port.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruo2tA9AxwY

[RHE]

This game was more successful on steam than Ikaruga http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1004506

Astebreed: 59,844
Ikaruga: 52,406

[rtw]

This game was more successful on steam than Ikaruga http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1004506

I cannot believe DotEmus Metal Slug X sold 42601

[Cata]

I bet the GiantBomb quicklook influenced those numbers just a bit. Same thing happened with Puyu Puyo Tetris

[Bonus!]

This game was more successful on steam than Ikaruga http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1004506

I cannot believe DotEmus Metal Slug X sold 42601

Metal Slug 3 sold more than 10x as much.

[Squire Grooktook]

Agarest: Generations of War: 138,622
Go! Go! Nippon! ~My First Trip to Japan~- 95,007

Astebreed: 59,844
Ikaruga: 52,406

My reaction