futari ultra discussion

[Bananamatic]

tell me what do you think about futari ultra and why it is the best game

i think it's the best

yes i'm drunk again but i want to know what the rest of the community thinks about futari ultra because no one ever talks about futari ultra

[Weak Boson]

I don't like it because I'm a scrubby casual who needs to lern2play instead of posting on system11

[iconoclast]

Futari Ultra is good for a survival challenge, but it's not interesting as a score game. That's what they made God Mode for.

[Bananamatic]

Futari Ultra is good for a survival challenge, but it's not interesting as a score game. That's what they made God Mode for.

i agree that god is objectively better for score

but i personally find ultra more fun

[Doctor Butler]

I can only 1cc Novice-Mode, because I'm an embarrassment to myself and those around me.

[SMC]

dinosaurs aren't bugs

[pestro87]

dinosaurs aren't bugs

[Squire Grooktook]

I only like Original mode.

[KAI]

Ultra overrated.

[system11]

I beat the stage one boss.

[Squire Grooktook]

I'll respond a little bit more seriously.

I have no interest in Ultra, because from what I've seen and played, it's a game that's unplayable without a route and is entirely based around that tightness.

To me, reaction and improvisation are the most fun things you can do in an action* game. Unless I'm mistaken and there's more unpredictable elements then I'm aware, Ultra doesn't seem to be an experience geared to my tastes.

I can tolerate harsh memo and sterile routing when a game offers me something that interests me beyond that. Dragon Blaze has the interesting D-Shot mechanic and character variety, for instance. I already feel most Cave games have very little interesting for me in terms of mechanical "hook" or "gimmick", so something like Ultra feels like it's asking a lot from me and promising very little in return.

*

Spoiler

Hell, scratch the action game part. Gameplay in general. I probably wouldn't like Fire Emblem half as much if the random damage variance didn't force you to think on the fly beyond your preplanned strategy for each mission. I like reasoning out an efficient gameplan, but I prefer it when the fine motions and details of that gameplan are forced to vary each time.

[trap15]

@system11

That's better than probably 99.9% of people on this forum. And you say you're shit.

[Bananamatic]

I have no interest in Ultra, because from what I've seen and played, it's a game that's unplayable without a route and is entirely based around that tightness.

To me, reaction and improvisation are the most fun things you can do in an action* game. And Ultra doesn't seem to be an experience geared to my tastes.

I can tolerate harsh memo and sterile routing when a game offers me something that interests me beyond that.[/spoiler]

there's plenty of stuff you have to react to even when you route it (in fact basically the whole game, there's a ton of random stuff that could easily throw you off)
don't believe in the stgweekly "oh so you just memo it and you don't need any real dodging" crap

it's actually funny because dragon blaze has way more fixed patterns than futari does

[Squire Grooktook]

it's actually funny because dragon blaze has way more fixed patterns than futari does

Yes I know, Psyiko is all about that "move before the pattern even begins" stuff. The point I was making was that I can tolerate it a little because the game has a very interesting gimmick (to me, especially compared to the typical shot/laser stuff) and doesn't demand a ton of routing till the end of the first loop and onward.

there's plenty of stuff you have to react to even when you route it (in fact basically the whole game, there's a ton of random stuff that could easily throw you off)
don't believe in the stgweekly "oh so you just memo it and you don't need any real dodging" crap

Hmmmm, interesting. Maybe I'll give it another shot then. Thanks.

[Smokey]

Futari Ultra is great. Memo done right. Still lots of good ol dodging. Getting a big cancel feels awesome.
Now if only it would release on steam so I can play without massive input lag and broken slowdown, and maybe even get past stage 3 without gameovering :')

[Bananamatic]

well, you'll likely just quit on st1 because of how hard it is
even if you memo it all, it's still goddamn hard just because of the minor differences in some of the patterns screwing up everything and trying to make the midboss not die too early or too late, would be way easier if the bullets from the floating islands always moved in the same direction

at least st2 is easier if you're playing purely for survival, same for st4 and st5 isn't super hard either
st3 second half is probably even worse though

[Squire Grooktook]

well, you'll likely just quit on st1 because of how hard it is
even if you memo it all, it's still goddamn hard just because of the minor differences in some of the patterns screwing up everything and trying to make the midboss not die too early or too late, would be way easier if the bullets from the floating islands always moved in the same direction

at least st2 is easier if you're playing purely for survival, same for st4 and st5 isn't super hard either
st3 second half is probably even worse though

If it's fun, I wouldn't mind adding it as a little side thing. Make clearing stage 2 a personal goal or something, and work on it overtime. Steam release should make that easier since you can just pop it in anytime instead of having to keep hooking up my 360 for each play session lol.

Does Ultra have fun macro, or is it all pure micro? I like a mix of both, but macro is really fun for me since I like using speed.

[Shepardus]

Not a big fan of the purple vomit aesthetic or the rampant slowdown, and the TLB is one of CAVE's most bullshit out of a long history of bullshit TLBs. Other than that it's okay, but not particularly compelling to me. Most of my dislikes about it, TLB aside, apply to the other modes in Futari too.

[Squire Grooktook]

Have you played Original much Shepardus? Slowdown only really happens in places where it "makes sense" there.

[Shepardus]

I've cleared BL Original a couple times and played a little bit of 1.5 Original, and BL Original is my favorite mode in Futari. That's partially because it's the easiest, but I also like the relative absence of slowdown and the fast bullets.

[pokemon123]

I dunno futari ultra just doesn't seem that fun to me. How much harder is 1.01 ultra out of curiosity?

[Blinge]

I was looking forward to finally getting Futari on steam but if its that hard i give up on ultra already.
Down with the 1%!!

[Smokey]

How much harder is 1.01 ultra out of curiosity?

Just fuck my shit up.
Let's see. There's weaker shots, less bullet cancelling enemies, less bombs given, a lot of patterns are just tougher... Considering how tough 1.5 ultra already is, these differences just suck.

[Shepardus]

I've heard that the stage 4 boss is greatly nerfed in 1.5. Maybe other bosses too?

[Smokey]

Pretty much every boss was nerfed, or at least slightly altered. Stage 4 boss is a pretty obvious one, going from a nightmare to a pretty doable boss. As in, it's easier than the stage 2 and 3 boss now. Then god mode came and we all had a laugh.
Weaker shots can also add to the difficulty of the bosses, for example, the last phase of the stage 2 boss. 1.5 you can kill it before the screen gets too clogged and you get overwhelmed. 1.01, you gotta dodge/bomb that shit. The only 1cc I know of actually dodges it, because bombs are more precious, and death there was probably worth resetting over.

[Herr Schatten]

I only like Original mode.

Me, too. In the first Mushihimesama, I also only like Original mode.

[Captain]

Hellsinker wants a word with the op.

[Immryr]

Am I the only person who finds black label original harder than 1.5?

[Smokey]

If you score it definitely ends up harder than 1.5

[Softdrink 117]

don't believe in the stgweekly "oh so you just memo it and you don't need any real dodging" crap

If you're referencing the STG Weekly episode on Futari... well I'm not sure why you would really because it's basically a joke. We really need to redo the Ultra episode honestly; I'm just not sure who to ask. Since you seem to be so vocal about it lately, would you be up to help out?

If you're more generally accusing us of claiming that memo precludes dodging, I'm not sure what would give you that impression. I don't think we've ever said this?

Personally, I think Ultra is really interesting conceptually, but not that interesting to actually play. The scoring system in particular forces a certain rhythm to the game flow, which is one of the reasons I don't like Futari's shot switch mechanic very much to begin with. I really enjoy God mode though, and should probably stop whining and actually practice it sometime, because it's a game I'd very much like to clear someday.