JoshuaBizich wrote:Actually is one of the reasons I put a level select in. So people could skip that level if they wish. Plus it's a good idea.
Unfortunately it seems you have to deal with the first level if you want to reach the true final level as it doesn't show up in Hard Type via level select.
Only one I disagree on with ya. You get the status ailments if you shoot the chest with a wrong shot. Red chest = shot. Blue chest = focus. Shoot them with the wrong type and you get status ailments. They will steal your bombs, if you don't have any bombs they will kill you. I still like this. Kind of a penalty if you don't know what your doing. They could use polish on how they are dispersed. They do disappear quicker than the loot. I always thought of it as springing the trap on the chest for unlocking it with the wrong kind of shot.
I'm aware of having to shoot the chests with the right shot (although the red chests flash blue-white when hit, so it can be difficult to tell in a hectic situation if you're wrongshotting or not) but the issue is that you're penalized rather harshly, especially considering how much more powerful and thus useful the focused shot is.
Have you ever played Mushihimesama Futari? I imagine you have; it does a better job of implementing a 'shoot with the right type' system than even Deathsmiles did (which comes down to having to memorize what to shoot every enemy with, not cool). Futari simply has a counter that changes at fixed intervals and the 'right' shot is based on what color the counter is. Killing enemies with the wrong shot results in a score penalty, but if you need the extra damage to safely get through a section or the extra speed you can use the 'wrong' shot type without suddenly filling the screen with items that sap your precious bomb counter. You simply get a score penalty. Also, you can damage enemies as much as you like with the 'wrong' shot as much as you like - all that matters is landing the kill with the right shot type.
The status items would have been less of an issue if bombing or initating shadow mode let you touch them and get rid of them without penalty. Lacking any way of getting rid of them really was what made them problematic I think.
I don't necessarily think plot is bad in a shmup, especially if it's used well. Giga Wing 1 & 2 are awesome for this; the plot changes depending on character (including a bad and good ending depending on whether you manage to 1cc the game, good initiates a TLB fight), playing 2P coop has its own text depending on the characters you're both playing and the text is quickly skipped if you don't want to read any. The last point is the most important though; shmups are the sort of game where to get a good run you often have to restart several times, so any plot text/cutscenes have to be skippable or you end up waiting seeing the same text over and over.
