It's a cool coincidence that you drop this when I've been grinding this game the past two weeks myself. Always love seeing some ddp content. What you said about not getting tilted early on is super legit advice. I've savestate practiced all the stages a bunch, but those little fuckers in stage 3 that shoot the random pink needles often clip me and I get demoralized and chain death. Watching your run really put into perspective for me just how many bombs the game gives, so I'm just gonna bomb those little pink needle bastards from now on. Thanks for the perspective and the good content. Cheers
Thanks for the kind comments! Yeah that feels like the worst part of the game to die, because everything up until that point is rather easy. I would say bomb away if you're getting frustrated or stressed out. You can probably still clear regardless even after losing a life there but the mental damage really sucks. Make sure you always get the second score extend because that's a game changer since you get so many bombs per life. It sounds like you've already put in the work and just need a few runs that go your way. Panic/reactive bombing is hard to do in this game so it's okay to use them preemptively. Good luck with the clear!
Yeah the needles also still get me a lot. It helps for me to fly up the screen a lot to stay ahead of them and use (wide) shot to take a lot of those ships out aggressively. And focus on destroying the bigger ships when they are around, since that cancels the needles and allows me to sweep the screen of the smaller ships with more freedom of movement. The large red ship at the end of the stage is also a problem because of all the turrets there that prevent me from tap dodging, so getting through that unscathed is tough for me as well.
Super refreshing hearing your voice again after such a long time! This commentary was a true delight to listen to and was incredibly engaging. Fantastic clear as well. I've been wanting to play this game foe ages. Maybe someday Livewire will pull through. It's been roo long since they dished out a Cave shooter. I agree with you on learning away from not learning the second half of the game while the first half gets the bulk of the attention. If I'm going ro play games in this genre, I'm all in. If I ever get to play this, I will take great pleasure in digging deep into the experience and breaking things down to a science! It looks like such a grand title for this sort of immersion. Thanks for the video!
Thank you! I agree that a good port of this game is well overdue. Interestingly enough, "learning" the second half of the game (even though my routing still needs a lot of work) also made it easier to get the clear, since losing resources does not translate into instant restarts. I hope you get to play this at some point. Stages 4 and 5 are really fun to play.
I love it when letsblocking does some classic Cave commentary! Congrats on your clear. It's a great game. The generous bomb resources make it a good introduction to bullet hells. All the fundamentals of what makes Cave great are here.
Fantastic clear, and it’s great to hear your commentary again! I haven’t tried this game yet, but seeing how many bombs you’re given makes the game more approachable for a 1-all
Thanks! It is indeed quite approachable, much easier than CC Arcade difficulty for instance. It feels a bit more flexible than later bullet hell games, in that 1-ALL survival is not too intimidating but you could go for more hardcore goals like a 2-ALL or learning how to chain the stages. Pretty cool.
That was such a good watch, just what I needed! A lot of what you say is relatable as I've been grinding runs in the past 2-3 weeks as well! Since I'm playing the Saturn port, which has key differences in slowdown (there is less of it, yikes), I figured I might as well double down and focus on the Saturn Mode, which has an additional Area 0 (which feels pretty different to the rest of the game in the routing it requires), making it longer and requiring more concentration until you reach the point where you need to switch on forreal forreal lol. The extends are also set at a lower scoring threshold (3 mil and 8 mil), so I typically get my first in Area 2 and my second in Area 4. So far, I've been able to break into Area 6 once, a couple of days ago. I just need to keep on playing and eventually I will get it. I use B-shot by the way. Just what I feel most comfortable with, I guess. I also love what you said about DDP's place in shoot 'em up history. A lot of my fellow oldheads don't care for danmaku, but in a very real sense DDP is the extend that gave the genre a new lease of life, and even though it became more of a niche over time and people dropped off, without DDP scrolling STGs, vertical or horizontal might even be more obscure and more of a footnote in the wider world of video games than they are today.
Thank you! It sounds like the combination of using Type-B, the additional Saturn stage and reduced slowdown would make the game more challenging indeed. I played the game on Mister, which based on what I've heard is thankfully close to the Arcade version. I only got into shmups in the past couple of years, and danmaku was the style that initially caught my eye so I can definitely see how influential it was. It feels quite relevant even today. I agree with you that it gave the overall genre more staying power, players like me who discover the genre via danmaku are likely to try other types of shmups as well. I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea though, and that's fine.
@@letsblocking I totally agree! Yeah I don't know if Type-B adds to the difficulty, but you got me to doubt my ship/config choice now lol. Might experiment!
@@michielkroder4031 It probably comes down to preference but Type-C with its wide shot felt really strong to me. It helps a lot in sections like the stage 5 "hall of hell". I haven't tried Type-B though so I can't really tell you the differences. It's always worth experimenting for sure!
Merci pour cette run commentée! Je suis d'accord c'est un peu le Street Fighter II des danmaku, c'est marrant que tu n'utilises pas du tout les différents tricks sur les boss surtout le 3 et le 5 ^^. Je trouve le dernier boss difficile perso, plus que celui de DaiOuJou par exemple! Vaut mieux arriver avec pas mal de bombes... C'est vrai qu'il y a énormément de bombes ce qui le simplifie pas mal mais c'est bien car ça force le joueur à bien utiliser ces ressources (mais ça peut être stressant quand t'es full et tu te sens parfois "obligé" de bomber même si tes presque sur de passer le pattern), contrairement à DDP DFK avec ces auto bombes par exemple... Le mieux reste DOJ ou tu en as ou plus moins selon la puissance de ton vaisseau (et si tu meurs en hyper le jeu t'en file pas une de plus).
Merci pour ton message Vinu ! Oui je préfère aussi l'équilibrage de DOJ à ce niveau, il est quasiment meilleur en tous points mais DDP reste plus accessible donc ils se complètent au final. J'avais regardé les tricks pour les boss à un moment, mais au final soit je n'en avais pas vraiment besoin (stage 3), soit ça me faisait perdre encore plus souvent (stage 5). J'ai pas mal galéré sur le boss du stage 5 peut-être en partie à cause de ça, et comme j'y ai joué sur Mister je n'avais pas de save states pour me perfectionner sur les boss. Quelqu'un a créé un mod avec stage select, ce qui est déjà très cool ! Pour le dernier boss le dernier pattern est vraiment chaud, mais hormis celui-là c'est plutôt gérable je trouve. Celui de DOJ est pas trop dur non plus. J'ai encore en tête les dernier boss d'Esprade ou Crimzon Clover qui m'ont filé des cauchemars 😂
Thank you! I think you're right, the stages are indeed harder than the bosses, which should make C-S the better choice. I want to go back and try it again now.
It's a cool coincidence that you drop this when I've been grinding this game the past two weeks myself. Always love seeing some ddp content. What you said about not getting tilted early on is super legit advice. I've savestate practiced all the stages a bunch, but those little fuckers in stage 3 that shoot the random pink needles often clip me and I get demoralized and chain death. Watching your run really put into perspective for me just how many bombs the game gives, so I'm just gonna bomb those little pink needle bastards from now on. Thanks for the perspective and the good content. Cheers
Thanks for the kind comments! Yeah that feels like the worst part of the game to die, because everything up until that point is rather easy. I would say bomb away if you're getting frustrated or stressed out. You can probably still clear regardless even after losing a life there but the mental damage really sucks.
Make sure you always get the second score extend because that's a game changer since you get so many bombs per life.
It sounds like you've already put in the work and just need a few runs that go your way. Panic/reactive bombing is hard to do in this game so it's okay to use them preemptively. Good luck with the clear!
Yeah the needles also still get me a lot. It helps for me to fly up the screen a lot to stay ahead of them and use (wide) shot to take a lot of those ships out aggressively. And focus on destroying the bigger ships when they are around, since that cancels the needles and allows me to sweep the screen of the smaller ships with more freedom of movement. The large red ship at the end of the stage is also a problem because of all the turrets there that prevent me from tap dodging, so getting through that unscathed is tough for me as well.
Super refreshing hearing your voice again after such a long time! This commentary was a true delight to listen to and was incredibly engaging. Fantastic clear as well. I've been wanting to play this game foe ages. Maybe someday Livewire will pull through. It's been roo long since they dished out a Cave shooter.
I agree with you on learning away from not learning the second half of the game while the first half gets the bulk of the attention. If I'm going ro play games in this genre, I'm all in. If I ever get to play this, I will take great pleasure in digging deep into the experience and breaking things down to a science! It looks like such a grand title for this sort of immersion. Thanks for the video!
Thank you! I agree that a good port of this game is well overdue. Interestingly enough, "learning" the second half of the game (even though my routing still needs a lot of work) also made it easier to get the clear, since losing resources does not translate into instant restarts. I hope you get to play this at some point. Stages 4 and 5 are really fun to play.
I love it when letsblocking does some classic Cave commentary! Congrats on your clear. It's a great game. The generous bomb resources make it a good introduction to bullet hells. All the fundamentals of what makes Cave great are here.
Thank you my friend! I agree 100%.
Fantastic clear, and it’s great to hear your commentary again! I haven’t tried this game yet, but seeing how many bombs you’re given makes the game more approachable for a 1-all
Thanks! It is indeed quite approachable, much easier than CC Arcade difficulty for instance. It feels a bit more flexible than later bullet hell games, in that 1-ALL survival is not too intimidating but you could go for more hardcore goals like a 2-ALL or learning how to chain the stages. Pretty cool.
GG! I launched the game for the first time yesterday and loved playing it. Seeing you clear it makes me want to do the same! Congratulations!
Merci Hilight, good luck ! C'est un bon jeu pour se lancer dans les danmaku, c'est cool qu'il te plaise.
That was such a good watch, just what I needed!
A lot of what you say is relatable as I've been grinding runs in the past 2-3 weeks as well! Since I'm playing the Saturn port, which has key differences in slowdown (there is less of it, yikes), I figured I might as well double down and focus on the Saturn Mode, which has an additional Area 0 (which feels pretty different to the rest of the game in the routing it requires), making it longer and requiring more concentration until you reach the point where you need to switch on forreal forreal lol. The extends are also set at a lower scoring threshold (3 mil and 8 mil), so I typically get my first in Area 2 and my second in Area 4. So far, I've been able to break into Area 6 once, a couple of days ago. I just need to keep on playing and eventually I will get it.
I use B-shot by the way. Just what I feel most comfortable with, I guess.
I also love what you said about DDP's place in shoot 'em up history. A lot of my fellow oldheads don't care for danmaku, but in a very real sense DDP is the extend that gave the genre a new lease of life, and even though it became more of a niche over time and people dropped off, without DDP scrolling STGs, vertical or horizontal might even be more obscure and more of a footnote in the wider world of video games than they are today.
Thank you!
It sounds like the combination of using Type-B, the additional Saturn stage and reduced slowdown would make the game more challenging indeed. I played the game on Mister, which based on what I've heard is thankfully close to the Arcade version.
I only got into shmups in the past couple of years, and danmaku was the style that initially caught my eye so I can definitely see how influential it was. It feels quite relevant even today. I agree with you that it gave the overall genre more staying power, players like me who discover the genre via danmaku are likely to try other types of shmups as well. I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea though, and that's fine.
@@letsblocking I totally agree!
Yeah I don't know if Type-B adds to the difficulty, but you got me to doubt my ship/config choice now lol. Might experiment!
@@michielkroder4031 It probably comes down to preference but Type-C with its wide shot felt really strong to me. It helps a lot in sections like the stage 5 "hall of hell". I haven't tried Type-B though so I can't really tell you the differences. It's always worth experimenting for sure!
@@letsblocking Yeah, you never know. Maybe C-shot will carry me to the 1CC all of a sudden! :D
Merci pour cette run commentée! Je suis d'accord c'est un peu le Street Fighter II des danmaku, c'est marrant que tu n'utilises pas du tout les différents tricks sur les boss surtout le 3 et le 5 ^^. Je trouve le dernier boss difficile perso, plus que celui de DaiOuJou par exemple! Vaut mieux arriver avec pas mal de bombes... C'est vrai qu'il y a énormément de bombes ce qui le simplifie pas mal mais c'est bien car ça force le joueur à bien utiliser ces ressources (mais ça peut être stressant quand t'es full et tu te sens parfois "obligé" de bomber même si tes presque sur de passer le pattern), contrairement à DDP DFK avec ces auto bombes par exemple... Le mieux reste DOJ ou tu en as ou plus moins selon la puissance de ton vaisseau (et si tu meurs en hyper le jeu t'en file pas une de plus).
Merci pour ton message Vinu !
Oui je préfère aussi l'équilibrage de DOJ à ce niveau, il est quasiment meilleur en tous points mais DDP reste plus accessible donc ils se complètent au final.
J'avais regardé les tricks pour les boss à un moment, mais au final soit je n'en avais pas vraiment besoin (stage 3), soit ça me faisait perdre encore plus souvent (stage 5). J'ai pas mal galéré sur le boss du stage 5 peut-être en partie à cause de ça, et comme j'y ai joué sur Mister je n'avais pas de save states pour me perfectionner sur les boss. Quelqu'un a créé un mod avec stage select, ce qui est déjà très cool !
Pour le dernier boss le dernier pattern est vraiment chaud, mais hormis celui-là c'est plutôt gérable je trouve. Celui de DOJ est pas trop dur non plus. J'ai encore en tête les dernier boss d'Esprade ou Crimzon Clover qui m'ont filé des cauchemars 😂
Nice run. Agree with all your points (and I found C-S the easiest because I find the stages harder than the bosses.)
Thank you! I think you're right, the stages are indeed harder than the bosses, which should make C-S the better choice. I want to go back and try it again now.