DEVIL BLADE REBOOT (SHIGATAKE GAMES) - coming to Steam

[FunktionJCB]

DEVIL BLADE REBOOT, by SHIGATAKE GAMES, a reboot of a 1996 Japan-only shmup, is coming to Steam.

The Steam page is now up:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2882 ... DE_REBOOT/

The game is looking very promising. It should be worth keeping an eye on it.

[EmperorIng]

This guy has been working on this game for longer than you might think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dW03pJElZA

A real passion project all the way from the Dezaemon days. I think it looks fantastic! I hope the finished product lives up to these initial impressions.

[KAI]

This game looks even more impressive than I thought it would be. Cant wait to play it.

In case someone wants to try the previous version of Demon Blade, its available on Dezaemon Plus Select 100 for the PS1
http://shigatake.sakura.ne.jp/deza/db/db.html
https://youtu.be/6oMqvwa3Wq0

[Bassa-Bassa]

Looks great! Though, as a friend of mine says, it's a real shame it isn't including an actual 4:3 display option for the people on CRTs, specially considering the pixel art is being used as a major selling point (it even could be displayed at 240p, given the proper hardware). The reboot was designed like this at first but once it got the first cutscenes it was clear the dev dropped the idea.


ED: The Steam page says it's using native English fans for the translation, hopefully they can tell Shigatake about this, I'm sure many people here would more than welcome this as an option even if the cutscenes have to be omitted.

[shmuppy-puppy]

It looks and sounds very promising.

[FRO]

Never got a chance to play the original, but this does look like it could be fantastic. Definitely looking forward to the Steam release.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I've tried out the Dezaemon Kids version of "Devil Blade" on PSX -- the 2D hand-crafted sprite artwork is legendary. Yes, that'd be cool if Shigatake Games could implement a true 4:3 aspect ratio + 240p resolution for some cool retro gaming old-school (besides the usual 1280 x 720 or 1280 x 800 res format on a Steam Deck).

Will this new-fangled Devil Blade reboot support the Steam Deck as well?

For Bassa-Bassa,

What kind of proper hardware would be needed to get "Devil Blade Reboot" to display at 240p format?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Bassa-Bassa]

I've tried out the Dezaemon Kids version of "Devil Blade" on PSX -- the 2D hand-crafted sprite artwork is legendary. Yes, that'd be cool if Shigatake Games could implement a true 4:3 aspect ratio + 240p resolution for some cool retro gaming old-school (besides the usual 1280 x 720 or 1280 x 800 res format on a Steam Deck).

Will this new-fangled Devil Blade reboot support the Steam Deck as well?

For Bassa-Bassa,

What kind of proper hardware would be needed to get "Devil Blade Reboot" to display at 240p format?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Given the old engine the game is made on, only an old Radeon graphics card and the cable for the 15khz monitor, really. HD 5000 or HD 6000 series are the best for this, just make sure it has at least one analog out (and that it's compatible with your Windows version). CRT Emu Driver is the best solution to make it output 15khz modes, on the software side.

VGA CRT users would also benefit from a 4:3 mode, of course.

[cfx]

In case this wasn't known, Shigatake is a graphic designer at Vanillaware and worked on the food and girls for Unicorn Overlord:
https://automaton-media.com/en/news/cre ... rs-jiggle/

[oversoul17]

Devil Blade Reboot's Steam page received an update. The release date is set for May 24, 2024.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

According to Shigatake, this upcoming Devil Blade Reboot is rendered in 320 x 240 resolution -- that's the correct setup for use on a low-res 15.7kHz candy cab setup. Wow, color me impressed! The upcoming May 24th, 2024 debut date for DBR isn't too far away anyways. Sure hope it has Steam Deck support from the get-go.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[kid aphex]

Finally.
Been eagerly anticipating this game for... over a decade?
Can't wait.

[Bassa-Bassa]

According to Shigatake, this upcoming Devil Blade Reboot is rendered in 320 x 240 resolution -- that's the correct setup for use on a low-res 15.7kHz candy cab setup. Wow, color me impressed!

If you mean this line on the Steam page:

Rendered in the original native 320x240 resolution of the classics

I'm afraid that's misleading as it just refers to the action viewport. The whole game is rendered at 427x240 because he decided at some point there was a need to fill the whole area of a wide screen and the cutscenes and title screen were designed accordingly.

[Arino]

I hope it won't be expensive

[shmuppy-puppy]

The trailers look and sound amazing.
I’m looking forward to playing this beauty.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Just one more day until Christmas arrives early with Devil Blade Reboot out on Steam.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[oversoul17]

Don't even have to wait that long. Just purchased it on Steam!

Won't be able to play it till tonight though...

[-Fish-]

Don't even have to wait that long. Just purchased it on Steam!

Won't be able to play it till tonight though...

Same situation here.. Nice that it released early though

[DestroyTheCore]

This is the first time I purchase something that fast on Steam without reading any reviews at all, and I have no regret. This game is FAN-TAS-TIC!

[FunktionJCB]

The soundtrack is available at Bandcamp:
https://hasu2010.bandcamp.com/album/devil-blade-reboot

[XoPachi]

This game's presentation might be the best I've seen in the genre since Crimzon Clover. There's been a lot of amazing STG's since then, but they're almost always missing something aesthetically for me.
Maybe explosions are not bombastic enough. They'll go all in on music but severely lacking in SFX. Poor contrast in terms of just appealing visual depth on individual sprites. Bland enemy visuals and minimal animation frames to everything. Or a major lack of punch to the player's own firepower (this one especially bothers me).

This game has everything I could want. It's a real treat on the senses. And it's nice to have Shigatake's artwork in this genre. And of course, the game plays as good as it looks. I'm having a lot of fun on Hard mode.

[FunktionJCB]

Is it me, or is this game stupidly great, or what?
What a big pile of fun!!!

I'm almost getting depressed that this thread barely has any posts.
Guys, you need to give this one a try.

This is a quality game, that leaves a great first impression.
Fun, responsive, great pixel art style, awesome soundtrack, plenty of unlockables, it's a great package.

---

Speaking of unlockables, out of curiosity, if anyone unlocks the last unlockable (the one that unlocks earlier versions of the game), please let me know which versions are included.

thank you

[Some-Mist]

I’m pretty pumped to sink more time in this weekend. Normal seems a tad easy since my first run was a stage 4 run on a game pad, but I think I’ll grab a quick clear there before pumping up the difficulty

[oversoul17]

Normal is quite easy if you're playing for survival. Every bomb restores your shield, so bomb away! (This is not the case for Hard, and definitely not the case for Inferno.)

[PC Engine Fan X!]

This Devil Blade Reboot is a mere 261.6mb d/l and runs on the Steam Deck at an impressive arcade-spec 60fps framerate without the need to use a Proton loader either. I like DBR's Main Screen GUI that reminds me of Treasure's Ikaruga GUI setup. Wow, DBR would best be released as a bonafide arcade stg title in it's own right (perhaps as an Exa-Arcadia cart release with some extra exclusive Exa content to set the 'high bar" even higher)! I got to stage 5 on Normal difficulty setting on my first try. DBR looks awesome running on an external 1080p Oled monitor if the Steam Deck is hooked up to a Deck Dock setup -- the 2D detailed sprite artwork really draws the player in, it's that good! Color me impressed with DBR's high bar set with it's total overall slick presentation -- everything meshs just right the first time around and that's quite rare within the doujin STG scene as it is.

I wouldn't be surprised if DBR appears on the Switch, PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X gaming consoles down the road in the nearby future to give it more broader exposure and gain a wider gaming audience as it truly deserves it.

A option to include scanlines for that cool old-school vibe/presentation would best benefit DBR indeed (or just use an external HD based Scanline Generator device would equally work as well as a temporary fix/solution for now).

The real reason why DBR is such a high caliber/high quality doujin STG title from the get-go is, it was developed over a span of six and half years according to Shigatake. Talk about utmost dedication into making DBR the best it can be by fine tuning it to absolute perfection -- akin to "running out of the starting gate" like it's the prestigious Kentucky Derby in an all-out sprint/mad dash towards the eventual finish line.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[To Far Away Times]

This looks super good.

[Arino]

Don't have time to play it yet, but I already bought it to support them.

[Steven]

Bought it, haven't had time to play it yet. Will check it out, but it seems it's pretty easy on normal difficulty, right? I don't see that as being a problem if it has interesting scoring and/or sufficiently challenging higher settings, and preferably both. Whatever the case, it looks really good.

I see people on Steam complaining about the game not wiping your score when you continue... I'm guessing this does the point of shame thing that 1941 Counter Attack, Andro Dunos II (also an STG Builder game like this one), and others have.

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

Deserves purchase purely for dedication, and also happens to be a really good game. Play Devil Blade

[Steven]

This game's presentation might be the best I've seen in the genre since Crimzon Clover. There's been a lot of amazing STG's since then, but they're almost always missing something aesthetically for me.
Maybe explosions are not bombastic enough. They'll go all in on music but severely lacking in SFX. Poor contrast in terms of just appealing visual depth on individual sprites. Bland enemy visuals and minimal animation frames to everything. Or a major lack of punch to the player's own firepower (this one especially bothers me).

Did you miss GRAND CROSS ReNOVATION? I think lots of people did. It's got all of the explosions, graphics, and all of the crazy visual stuff anyone could ever want in an STG along with the second most powerful weapon in STG history: as far as I know, the only thing more powerful than the Sun Blade is the Giga Wave Cannon from R-Type Final 1/2/3 (Evolved), which is kind of hard to outdo considering the Giga Wave Cannon immediately annihilates everything on the screen, bosses and final bosses included.