Isbarah for a new game.

[bishhenin]

Isbarah for a new game.
Who are we?

We are a team of five from different places and we love games, some of us like Platformer games and some others are inspired by Danmaku “bullet hell games” and this is when the idea was born to get together and create something new and we called it Isbarah

Isbarah is a mix between Japanese bullet hell and platformer - we took the "bullet hell" concept and placed it in a Platformer game and used a life character instead of a spaceship, and this is what came out,

The Danmaku part comes from the only enemy you get in each level, unlike any other game - ISBARAH is different, you don’t have to work your way up to meet the boss because in our game you'll only deal with the boss and that’s what you’ll face in each and every level!

Also keep in mind Bosses are not that easy as you think! and therefore we gave abilities to the character to help the player, you gonna figure these out when you get into the gameplay.


Please give us a feed back about what do you think? and we will answer to your inquiry ASAP.

[Kollision]

any video?

[Cagar]

I've been thinking of the concept of platformer and bullet hell for a long time. Though for me it's a bit different..


omg why haven't i started working on it already

[PAPER/ARTILLERY]

Looks pretty, could do with a video or playable demo though. Screenshots aren't much to go on.

[M.Knight]

I don't know if it is up to date, but there was this trailer that was posted on the game's thread on the French shmup forum a month ago.

[Terramax]

I remember having the same idea for a concept. Therefore, I'm definitely interested in such a game.

However, it sounds to me that this game is more like a boss rush game, similar to Alien Solider on the Megadrive. Was that an influence?

[Captain]

All the better...

[Cagar]

The trailer seemed kinda nice until i noticed the "Graze.." text at the right side of the screen

[Kollision]

the Chelnov vibe was cool, but other than that... ahn.... no thanks

[MommysBestGames]

Really loving the art!
The trailer is a little confusing to follow, as to what the gameplay is.
I found this old trailer, which isn't as pretty, but explains the controls pretty well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckvU5NYOP2c

[Lord Satori]

I've seen other games that attempt to fuse this genre, but this seems to include more actual platforming than what I've seen.

I love the art. Looking forward to it.

[bishhenin]

any video?

I don't know if it is up to date, but there was this trailer that was posted on the game's thread on the French shmup forum a month ago.

yes, this is our latest trailer available online to date,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXOjowC3Y9E

PS. thanks M.Knight for taking the time to find our trailer

[bishhenin]

I remember having the same idea for a concept. Therefore, I'm definitely interested in such a game.

However, it sounds to me that this game is more like a boss rush game, similar to Alien Solider on the Megadrive. Was that an influence?

re to your inquiry, We can't really say that "Alien Solider" was an influence but we can see why you thought so - It's kinda nice game

We do have lots of games that were an influence while designing Isbarah, for example the famous Touhou series, eXceed 2nd and 3rd. We tried to focus on playing lots of Danmaku games to build an idea about the Boss Pattern (Concept) and how should it be like.

We have also studied legends known in pop culture like vampires, skeletons, dragons, Werewolf fiction and tried to make patterns that fits their visual style, games like Marvel vs Capcom 3 gave us an idea about how visual effects are also important in the game.

[bishhenin]

The trailer seemed kinda nice until i noticed the "Graze.." text at the right side of the screen

"Graze" is kinda skill we added into the game that gives players the ability to earn extra score by brushing against the bullets without letting them get you.

[bishhenin]

Really loving the art!
The trailer is a little confusing to follow, as to what the gameplay is.
I found this old trailer, which isn't as pretty, but explains the controls pretty well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckvU5NYOP2c

Thanks for taking the time to search about our game, we really appreciate your interest
Yes, this trailer was in the early stages of development, made by the French team - probably we will do one soon using the current graphical quality since it's helpful and explains the controls pretty well

[Cagar]

The trailer seemed kinda nice until i noticed the "Graze.." text at the right side of the screen

"Graze" is kinda skill we added into the game that gives players the ability to earn extra score by brushing against the bullets without letting them get you.

Yes, I know what graze means.
I'm just tiiiiiireeeeddddd of more and more new developers including it to their games, without further thinking than "it adds skill to the game!"

[Strikers1945guy]

The trailer seemed kinda nice until i noticed the "Graze.." text at the right side of the screen

"Graze" is kinda skill we added into the game that gives players the ability to earn extra score by brushing against the bullets without letting them get you.

Yes, I know what graze means.
I'm just tiiiiiireeeeddddd of more and more new developers including it to their games, without further thinking than "it adds skill to the game!"

I dunno, Ibara Kuro has the grazing element that is really nuts and fun, along with the XTC counter and what not. Not much of a fan of the grazing with Shikigami no Shiro games or Psyvariar tho...

[Aleksei]

I'm reminded of Outland.

[bishhenin]

The trailer seemed kinda nice until i noticed the "Graze.." text at the right side of the screen

"Graze" is kinda skill we added into the game that gives players the ability to earn extra score by brushing against the bullets without letting them get you.

Yes, I know what graze means.
I'm just tiiiiiireeeeddddd of more and more new developers including it to their games, without further thinking than "it adds skill to the game!"

We can't deny that the main reason behind adding a Graze into the game is to help players increase their skills as well as having something motivating them which is the high-score system.

We also have three perks you can choose to add into the gameplay before you hit start:
- One life : you go into gameplay with "one life" where one mistake means game over and try again.
- Graze power : Ira's(main character) three abilities will be getting recharged slower than normal unless players graze against bullets which will recharge them faster.
- Ghost bullet : Having a bullet following Ira the whole time in the gameplay which prevents players from making the same move twice otherwise they will be just going straight into a bullet.

We really like the interest you guys are showing towards our game, and we're really happy to continue answering to your inquires

[Cagar]

So grazing was the only option to "add skill" that you could think of?
Seriously, there are billions and billions of other ways to make scoring systems. You are making a game for a genre that is not even that much explored (platformer bullet hell) so why did you have to pick the most generic and bland "doujin danmaku" scoring mechanic?

[bishhenin]

So grazing was the only option to "add skill" that you could think of?
Seriously, there are billions and billions of other ways to make scoring systems. You are making a game for a genre that is not even that much explored (platformer bullet hell) so why did you have to pick the most generic and bland "doujin danmaku" scoring mechanic?

yes, you are right- there're lots of other scoring systems but we really believe that the grazing system fits better to our game - there are lots of hidden grazing techniques in the game players will master when they play Isbarah.

Also we were busy focusing on creating such a unique bosses - each of them behaves differently in the game based on their own character.
Grazing is not the only scoring system in the game, we also have the three perks option

[Captain]

I think you should add a choice of scoring modes, unrelated to perks.

Add some more ways to score, (like constantly damaging the boss for example), and have the player pick which scoring mode he wants, graze being one of them.

[Cagar]

Well, at least add an in-game timer that saves your time when you beat the bosses, so at least you can attempt to speedkill them? >__>

[bishhenin]

Well, at least add an in-game timer that saves your time when you beat the bosses, so at least you can attempt to speedkill them? >__>

We do have one already

[bishhenin]

I think you should add a choice of scoring modes, unrelated to perks.

Add some more ways to score, (like constantly damaging the boss for example), and have the player pick which scoring mode he wants, graze being one of them.

We actually did
Perfect timing: If players defeated the boss taking less time, doing this will increase their final score.
Health: having a full health bar will give players more score at each round
Spell phase: defeating the boss in spell phase round without taking any damage will let players earn a "Spell Phase Mastered" move that also gives more score.

[bishhenin]

Well, at least add an in-game timer that saves your time when you beat the bosses, so at least you can attempt to speedkill them? >__>

Dear Cagar,

We have decided to give away a steam key to you to access the beta version of the game on steam as we are really interested in hearing your insights about the game.

Please check your inbox for details.

[Captain]

I think you should add a choice of scoring modes, unrelated to perks.

Add some more ways to score, (like constantly damaging the boss for example), and have the player pick which scoring mode he wants, graze being one of them.

We actually did
Perfect timing: If players defeated the boss taking less time, doing this will increase their final score.
Health: having a full health bar will give players more score at each round
Spell phase: defeating the boss in spell phase round without taking any damage will let players earn a "Spell Phase Mastered" move that also gives more score.

This is all great, but not what I was referring to. These are just bonuses if you do better. What I'm talking about is the ability to earn more points during gameplay.

Grazing is one of them, giving points for staying near bullets. But why not other methods you can replace it with?

Stuff like cancelling bullets for score, or refusing to cancel. Stuff like Point-blanking bosses, stuff like using certain weapons against certain parts/phases/bosses/ . To name a few

Grazing should not be our only sub-scoring method.

[bishhenin]

I think you should add a choice of scoring modes, unrelated to perks.

Add some more ways to score, (like constantly damaging the boss for example), and have the player pick which scoring mode he wants, graze being one of them.

We actually did
Perfect timing: If players defeated the boss taking less time, doing this will increase their final score.
Health: having a full health bar will give players more score at each round
Spell phase: defeating the boss in spell phase round without taking any damage will let players earn a "Spell Phase Mastered" move that also gives more score.

This is all great, but not what I was referring to. These are just bonuses if you do better. What I'm talking about is the ability to earn more points during gameplay.

Grazing is one of them, giving points for staying near bullets. But why not other methods you can replace it with?

Stuff like cancelling bullets for score, or refusing to cancel. Stuff like Point-blanking bosses, stuff like using certain weapons against certain parts/phases/bosses/ . To name a few

Grazing should not be our only sub-scoring method.

You have to keep in mind that our game is a mix between Danmaku and Platform therefore we can't really compare it to the classic shoot'em-up games.
and since there is gravity evolved in the game and you don't really get to shoot the bosses in ISBARAH rather than trying to dodge their bullets, players won't really have the time to collect objects rather than worrying about surviving.

The only "sub-scoring" method that fitted our game is Graze since it can be done whilst dodging - it's not a plain method though- It's really interesting and different, there are lots of hidden methods of how to graze in style to increase the score

[ChurchOfSolipsism]

You can see that a lot of work went into the graphics, but I can imagine that, having played tons of bullet hell shooters and being used to having the ability to just freely move around the screen, it will feel frustrating for me to be bound by gravity and to have to jump around.

Another thing is that barrrier mechanic where you can draw a line with your mouse. Personally, I'm not a fan of mixing joypad and mouse gameplay; also, I can imagine that having pauses in the gameplay so often will 1.) destroy the typical danmaku flow 2.) be exploited (if there's no energy bar or something along those lines).

I'll certainly try out a demo if you make one available!

[Shepardus]

You can see that a lot of work went into the graphics, but I can imagine that, having played tons of bullet hell shooters and being used to having the ability to just freely move around the screen, it will feel frustrating for me to be bound by gravity and to have to jump around.

That's the same impression I get. Of course I can't really judge before actually playing the game, but it reminds me of the Touhouvania games, which felt weirdly floaty to me for a similar reason. The danmaku patterns felt more like traditional danmaku with concessions made for the limited mobility than attacks actually designed around platforming. That said, the graphics look nice, and the concept has potential since it isn't necessarily based on already-existing games like Touhouvania is.