Little things that annoy the hell out of you

[iconoclast]

I couldn't care less about survival difficulty in any STG. If a game has interesting scoring and mechanics, then it's good. That's what makes Akai Katana one of my favorite games in the genre (having better art and music than any other STG is also a plus). Though I would say Zetsu > Arcade > Shin.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I'm interested in playing it someday too

You haven't even played it yet?! You're doing it a big disservice, honestly.

The challenge isn't to clear it, it's the scoring imo

This. The game is like Espgaluda in the sense that the mechanics used to score can also be used by beginners purely for survival. As you get better at the game, you can use the special ability to score, instead of keeping it for survival. Akai Katana goes a step further, by making the maximum length of the transformation meter relative to how many lives you've lost. The fewer lives you have, the longer the meter (and thus you can use it longer) which is also there to make it more approachable for beginners while still satisfying to play for score for pros.

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Okay, so is it me or is this Dolphin Blue review completely nuts?

Additionally, the special attack that replaces the grenades/shells in Metal Slug is not nearly as useful, since it directly puts you in danger, plus it can't be used as often

I'm pretty sure the special attack when used with a max charge gives you full invulnerability during the attack, and can be used to dodge. Even on a low charge you can use it for extra maneuverability.

[Jonst]

^ exactly, to icon and roo's posts. No one talks about zetsu.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Which is a shame because Origin and Zetsu are fun too, even if Shin gets the most love and attention (though as much as I like the I'm honestly really bad at it and need to play it more).

If you really want a challenge, there's an achievement for never using the transformation at all in a playthrough, and it can't be done on the Novice modes, so there's always that.

[Jonst]

I started out loving shin. But I've found zetsu to be the most fun mode for the last 5 years!

Yeah Roo, play it more!

[mamboFoxtrot]

I've put, like, a million credits into AK and still never beat it. Should I just give up playing video games?
Granted, 90% of those attempts were back when the 360's analogue stick was all I had, and the remaining 10% are when I'd just got my arcade stick and wasn't used to using it (still not really used to it, tbh). Also I have chronic CRS

reminder that akai katana has the best anime girls out of all the cave games yet no one gives it shit for being anime

It's anime but its not quite as "waifu cancer" as some of CAVE's other stuff tends to be. Except for the blonde girl's voice - in case you needed more reasons to not play Type 3 outside of the Original mode.
Serious question, though: Does anyone give any of the ESP games shit over their anime?


Anyways, here's a legitimate complaint about AK that I have: too much damn slowdown. When's the Steam version!

[Xyga]

MMP has the best waifu.

[Blinge]

I've put, like, a million credits into AK and still never beat it. Should I just give up playing video games?

Lol, yeah squire's comments about esp.rade always sting somewhat..

[Bananamatic]

Granted, 90% of those attempts were back when the 360's analogue stick was all I had

there's your issue

[mamboFoxtrot]

I don't think I can blame it all on the analogue stick
I mean, even with the arcade stick now I still slam into shit and generally feel awkward. Though, having since played Ketsui some and not felt that issue so much, I think it may be more to due with AK's huge disparity between its bullet speed and the player speed. Seriously, especially when playing Type B, the game can sometimes feel like trying to drive a race car full throttle through a parking lot.

[Cee]

I'd say that guwange is too hard for serious play with how ridiculous the catspider milk is

I can not emphasize enough how true this is, everything past the 3rd cycle is just a sour dick combo of rocket barf rng and then you can fuck yourself with the random troll orbs to. The entire game is laced with up the bum rng tbh even the 2nd boss can have a good 1-2 million point difference range depending on where the fuck feels like positioning and the legs timing with a 4 cycle milk.

[BIL]

Granted, 90% of those attempts were back when the 360's analogue stick was all I had

there's your issue

Alphabet soup notes,
composed with one's erect shaft!
Analogue shumping.

[Bananamatic]

I don't think I can blame it all on the analogue stick
I mean, even with the arcade stick now I still slam into shit and generally feel awkward.

analogue stick is utter garbage and an arcade stick is pretty much as good as an analogue stick until you learn it, which takes maybe a month

[BIL]

MURDERERS ON THE BUS/TRAIN etc (poor kid v_v )

I can never quite chill with my music, with them lurking everywhere. Portable gaming? lmao! More like portable "get the 1CC just in time to look up as the axe comes down." 3:<

[BulletMagnet]

How a utility knife can get stuck while cutting a sheet of paper, then slip and travel halfway through your thumb as if it were suddenly a freakin' lightsaber.

[Blinge]

Knifemagnet.

People who won't take a recommendation or check something out because they're not the one who "found it"

[BulletMagnet]

Knifemagnet.

I'm expanding my horizons even as I diminish my blood level!

[Xyga]

HDR kiddies. Seriously fuck that marketing sugar-coated shit. It might be one of the best 'cheats' ever in flat panels video processing history, but it's not even properly standardized yet, still an artificial way to cover for the displays weaknesses, and now almost the only fucking thing people care about when buying a fucking display, would it be a technical turd in almost every other field that matters.

[Durandal]

THERES A BEE IN THE BUS

[soprano1]

The fucking earwigs that spawn somehow inside my mailbox. I've been lucky not to get stung by them, fortunately.
My dad once got stung by one that was hidden inside a knot of a wooden broom. It hurts like hell.
They are useful to kill aphids from our lemon trees, though...

[Xyga]

Talking about critters, with spring the spiders are back, and this year apparently they're going big, damn big.
There's one in the toilet right now, it's waiting for me, so I went to the garden.

[kitten]

MURDERERS ON THE BUS/TRAIN etc (poor kid v_v )

I can never quite chill with my music, with them lurking everywhere. Portable gaming? lmao! More like portable "get the 1CC just in time to look up as the axe comes down." 3:<

kind of more than a little thing that annoys you, don't you think? :p

i remember reading about this at the time, it scared a friend who had visited before via greyhound from ever using one again. never heard about the follow-up, though. not only was this guy released back into society, but a police officer who responded to the scene and was diagnosed with PTSD committed suicide just a year or two before he was let back out, likely over continuing trauma from the experience. the victim was 22 and had his heart and eyes eaten. man. not that i don't believe in rehabilitation, but there are some instances where i think i'd be happy this man is never re-introduced to the public.

[soprano1]

Talking about critters, with spring the spiders are back, and this year apparently they're going big, damn big.
There's one in the toilet right now, it's waiting for me, so I went to the garden.

Dude, sometimes there's some big hairy ones inside the house. I wonder if they are warping from Australia!

[TransatlanticFoe]

The fucking earwigs that spawn somehow inside my mailbox. I've been lucky not to get stung by them, fortunately.
My dad once got stung by one that was hidden inside a knot of a wooden broom. It hurts like hell.
They are useful to kill aphids from our lemon trees, though...

Is this a regional name difference (like how a "daddy long legs" is either a fly or a spider depending where you're from) or some kind of huge Australian bastard version? Earwigs are (mostly) harmless and don't sting, the pincers generally aren't strong enough to break human skin.

[neorichieb1971]

When you hum a tune and then someone else starts humming it totally out of sync with yourself.

[Koa Zo]

How a utility knife can get stuck while cutting a sheet of paper, then slip and travel halfway through your thumb as if it were suddenly a freakin' lightsaber.

Those pulp fibers bunch-up and align just right, it becomes impenetrable!
I hope your thumb is alright. It's not your d-pad or joystick hand is it?! That injury could have grave consequences on your scoring!

Does professional gaming have physical rehabilitation specialists yet? That might be a career field I should try to scam my way into. Would only need a Hudson shooting watch and a stethoscope and I'd be in business.

The fucking earwigs that spawn somehow inside my mailbox. I've been lucky not to get stung by them, fortunately.
My dad once got stung by one that was hidden inside a knot of a wooden broom. It hurts like hell.
They are useful to kill aphids from our lemon trees, though...

Is this a regional name difference (like how a "daddy long legs" is either a fly or a spider depending where you're from) or some kind of huge Australian bastard version? Earwigs are (mostly) harmless and don't sting, the pincers generally aren't strong enough to break human skin.

We have them here is Pennsylvania, in the Eastern woodlands of the United States. They're as you described them TransatlanticFoe, creepy and exceptionally primitive looking but with inadequate yet scary looking pincers. As a kid I was told earwigs would crawl inside your ear and lay their eggs then eat your brain. (Star Trek II no doubt had an influence on establishing that fear!)

[Sumez]

Is this a regional name difference (like how a "daddy long legs" is either a fly or a spider depending where you're from) or some kind of huge Australian bastard version? Earwigs are (mostly) harmless and don't sting, the pincers generally aren't strong enough to break human skin.

Does daddy long legs actually "officially" refer to harvestmen anywhere? I always figured that was just a question of people mistaking the two, since harvestmen look like daddy long legs without wings. I'm fairly certain the Danish equivalent exclusively refers to crane flies, considering we don't have any other name for those to my knowledge.

I was curious about the earwigs too, though. I remember in kindergarten kids would whine about being bitten by earwigs or whatever, but I'm pretty sure that's just their imagination running wild when the thing looks like it -could- inflict some harm.

[soprano1]

Earwig stings generally don't puncture your skin, yes, but they sure punctured my dad.

[BulletMagnet]

That injury could have grave consequences on your scoring!

I'm pretty sure you could sever both my arms completely and still not make my scoring any worse than it already is.

[BIL]

You might've just hit on something there! :O

Bulletmagnet in... MY LEFT FOOT II: CARAVAN BOOGALOO