Psyvariar Revision is, in fact, possible.

[xxx1993]

Took a while, but I finally beat it. But how will I handle Psyvariar 2?

[Weak Boson]

It certainly is harder to reach the TLB in Revision than Medium Unit, but it's demonstrably not impossible. Of course, in order to get enough levels over the course of the game you have to reach every milestone, because all the "higher level" stages are also the ones which give you more levels.

You can't expect to do that from the off, but once you comfortably unlock stage 2-D you're on the right path, because getting more practice in stages like this is what will make future progress possible. And even if you miss a threshold you can still use the run to practice the X stages (and the bosses!)

Another difference between MU and Revision is that in MU you can only get buzz from each bullet at most once (or twice if you're rolling). In Revision you can continually get buzz from bullets as long as they are on the screen. Aside from the level design, this is the main reason why higher levels are possible in Revision.

I hope you stick at it and wish you good luck in this awesome game !

[xxx1993]

I need help with Psyvariar 2. I don’t even know how to reach Gluon in that one either.

[yosai]

It's an excellent game but takes a lot of practice to get good at. The stage requirements are in here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psyvariar

I remember it took me well over a year to unlock all of the stages in replay mode.

[Bananamatic]

git gud

[Goompaolo9500]

Impossible if not for the Ultra-Like danmaku patterns.

Welp, don't give up on having a no miss run on some of the stages but not all of them.

Yukkuri Shitte Ne!

(TAKE IT EASY!)

[xxx1993]

I've only beaten the Medium Unit because I got fed up with how I'm not able to reach the criteria level before the end of the level, and to make it worse, leveling up is even harder on boss battles.

[xxx1993]

Welp, I'm pretty much fucked because I don't know how to level up as fast as I can. Not even rolling and buzzing at the same time let alone watching strategy movies on YouTube are helping.

[xxx1993]

Man, I thought I’d be doing good for once, I managed to reach X-C but the game stopped me dead in my tracks after having cleared the stage...Do I seriously need to reach Level 218?

[Weak Boson]

It's tough! Are you struggling with any particular part of the game? Here are the stages you should be aiming for an the level you need to reach in them in order to trigger the next stage.

1 Earth - 24
2D Volcano - 56
XA Photon - 80
3C City - 118
XB Graviton - 96
4C Colony - (I think if you get this far the next stage will always be XC)
XC Weakboson - 218
XD Gluon

Notice how the requirements go down in XB! I think the first goal for someone going for a TLB clear should be to trigger stage X-B before stage 4. Once you do this you are free to decide for yourself how to manage the risk of leveling up in the later stages.

A few tips of the top of my head:

You fill your meter both by buzzing bullets and destroying enemies. For stages 1,2,3,4 you want to avoid destroying enemies until they've fired all their bullets, and then find ways to move to exploit their patterns and your moments of invincibility to get the most out of the bullet spray. You can't afford to miss too many opportunities, but superplays go way above and beyond what you need for a basic clear.

The X stages are very different since the meter fills much slower. I recommend just shooting everything in these stages. Likewise in bosses it's a lot harder to level up by buzzing, so don't be shy of just killing them quickly.

There are a few exceptions of bosses with easily exploitable attacks (eg, Photon's second attack in my avatar ) so you can consider working them into your runs for a boost of levels, but it's risk vs reward.

One important thing to note is that your attack power increases as you level up, so as you level up more in stages you might start finding the bosses become really easy, and when it's easy to kill them it's a lot less scary to try milking them a little.

If you are playing on the PS2 port then you have a roll button: note that holding the roll button will make you move slower, but tapping it will allow you to move faster. Moving quickly is pretty important for buzzing bullets in an optimal way.

Your bombs can be used both offensively and defensively. Tapping the bomb button does the usual explosion (smart bomb) which hurts enemies and bosses and destroys bullets. Holding the button down turns it into a "short bomb" which just gives you the same invincibility sheild as a level up. This is really helpful if you need to trigger a level up to exploit a certain attack, but your meter is not full enough (again, Photon's second attack as in my avatar is a good example)

You will damage enemies while invincible, so the way to do most damage to them is to level up, and fly on top of them while shooting. This can help bring down bosses quickly.

You gain a bomb every time your ship changes form (up to 6 times I think) and you can also earn one by destroying all the enemies in the stage. I think this is only really worth it in the X stages where you aren't buzzing many bullets, but even then it can be hard to do.

Hope this helps people playing this game!

[xxx1993]

So you're telling me I have to tap the rolling button rather than hold onto it? Because I've been holding onto it for buzzing bullets. And yes, just when it looked like I was gaining the upper hand I slowly lost my ground because of the meter not filling up quickly when I reached the X stages.

[Weak Boson]

Indeed, sometimes you want to dart across the screen while rolling, in which case you need to tap the roll button. The slower speed is useful at times, though, when dodging dense boss patterns for example.

And yes, the X stages require a completely different approach. The superplayers will buzz a lot of bullets in these stages because it's worth a lot of points, but it requires careful meter management so it's very risky. For the purposes of reaching the true last boss it's not really worth it when you can level up almost as much just by shooting things, which is way safer.

[xxx1993]

Okay. I'll try it out when I play again. Though I'm gonna have to start over.

[ciox]

Make sure to use shortbombs properly, holding down the bomb button will not cancel bullets and will increase your graze radius, so you're able to get more levelups even in situations where you don't really know what to do.

[xxx1993]

Use bombs? I've never thought of that... Usually using bombs would tend to screw you up.

[xxx1993]

Is it me or is the game taking me to the X stages prematurely? There a reason behind that or is that supposed to happen?

[xxx1993]

I once again ended on X-C... The highest I could level up to was about 216... I swear, I'm better off calling it quits with this game.

[ciox]

Sounds like you're doing great actually.

[xxx1993]

But I still can't reach Level 218, no matter what I do... Is there an easier way?

[Bananamatic]

get better

[xxx1993]

Dude, that’s not gonna help.

[Plasmo]

Learn to play.

[Udderdude]

We need a sign above the forums: No Trouserplanking.

[Shepardus]

I swear, I'm better off calling it quits with this game.

With that attitude, you probably are. Sounds like you don't actually enjoy the game and just want to plow through it and call it quits. A game like Psyvariar isn't going to cater to that.

[xxx1993]

Well, that's the problem with most shmups these days. They always have to give us seemingly impossible tasks to fulfill if you want to reach the true final boss and ending. You can thank CAVE for all of that, honestly. I posted a topic about there being most inhuman true final boss criteria not too long ago.

[Plasmo]

There's a golden rule of what we call the concept of "lrn2ply".

It's never the game's fault, if a challenge seems to be too hard. It's always the player's fault. Always.

[ciox]

There's a golden rule of what we call the concept of "lrn2ply".

It's never the game's fault, if a challenge seems to be too hard. It's always the player's fault. Always.

[Obscura]

There's a golden rule of what we call the concept of "lrn2ply".

It's never the game's fault, if a challenge seems to be too hard. It's always the player's fault. Always.

That's kind of an absurd statement? I don't think anyone would want to play a game where stage 1 is harder than DOJWL 2-5 and it only gets harder from there.

[Bananamatic]

That's kind of an absurd statement? I don't think anyone would want to play a game where stage 1 is harder than DOJWL 2-5 and it only gets harder from there.

sign me up

[Barba]

That's kind of an absurd statement? I don't think anyone would want to play a game where stage 1 is harder than DOJWL 2-5 and it only gets harder from there.

While there's an argument to be made about mass appeal of a product, "too hard" doesn't exist for some, if there's at least a theoretical way to win a game. It's for the same reason that people climb mountains in the Himalayas or walk barefoot to the south pole and stuff like that. The obstacle itself creates the desire to overcome it.