Gundemonium

[Discoalucard]

www.hardcoregaming101.net/gundemonium/gundemonium.htm

Rockin' Android put out this compilation of doujin shooters for the PC and PSN last summer, but we haven't quite gotten around to covering them until just now. The sprite design is decent, though the backgrounds are pretty low budget. I've only played a bit of the third one (which I can't even pronounce properly) but they're well constructed enough.

[ist]

I must say, I'm rather disappointed in this article. It's filled with errors about the games themselves.

First example:

The player can choose between Eryth, a more powerful player better suited for advanced use, and Earl, faster and more customizable, but not as powerful as Eryth. There are four playable formats for Earl, or they can just be mixed up to the player's liking. The normal shots range from a five-way with a wide radius but weak fire power, narrower (but more powerful) lasers, and drills that pierce through enemies to hit ones behind them. Mana attacks are charged up by collecting gems distributed from downed enemies, and can be used until the meter is depleted. These can be customized along with a bomb of choice. The default is a handy time-stop special, but this can be replaced with more offensive options. The bombs range from wide-range destruction, to more focused attacks with higher power; ideal for killing bosses rapidly. There's also a rank system called the "Phase" level, which raises when your gun overheats, and lowers when you get certain power-ups. Higher difficulties also mean higher scores, and the "Demonic Shift" feature will kick up the Phase to the highest level in exchange for some mana.

1. Earl's speed depends on what you equip her with.

2. Her damage output is depending on her loadout and how good you are at using her is the highest or second highest of the three, yes, three characters. I don't have enough experience with the third character, who must be unlocked by getting the true ending to be certain of her strength.

3. None of Earl's guns can overheat.

Edit: I must correct myself. I double checked some stuff, and found that the third character is unlocked by getting one of the Play Orders(Something else your article writer forgot), Betelgeuse, or getting twenty-four of the other Play Orders.

Next example:

Like Recollection, there's two main characters to choose from, each with their own style. Beginners should use the high powered Elixirel, while the returning Eryth is faster, and recommended for players accustomed to bullet hell shooters. Once a character is decided, then the player gets to decide between one of six available power-ups. Each has its own use once the power-up meter, filled by collecting gems from downed enemies, maxes out. Some specialize in dealing out focused damage, others in wide-range spread shots, and others are strictly for defense.

1. Elixirel cannot choose her bomb. Only Eryth can.

2. There's a third character, accessible after beating the game(Though, I do not recall the exact requirements. =\)

In addition, whoever wrote the article failed to mention each game has several bonus modes that add dramatically to the replay value. Not only that, but the very first paragraph has huge errors in it!

Rockin' Android is an interesting group. They're dedicating all their time and effort to localizing PC doujin shooters exclusively for the PSN.

RA has had several PC releases prior to Gundemonium, plus their last PSN game, Crescent Pale Mist was not even a shooter!

I've also found several typos, and in general, the writing feels sloppy and overdone. I will say I doubt I could do better, but... HG101 usually has a higher quality than this.

It just feels half edited and not even fact checked.

[Discoalucard]

Well, my initial concern with this piece was that it didn't explain the scoring systems, because there's obvious something at work there. The problem was that the game did a terrible job explaining them (which is typical) and we couldn't find any resources beyond the FAQs over at the Shmups forum.

I can't really comment about specifics, because I'm not terribly familiar with the games myself, but anything else we'll fix up and correct.

[cj iwakura]

Far as I can tell, CPM has bullet-hell elements. And I wasn't aware of any bonus modes.

I'm of the opinion that these games actively go out of their way to make everything needlessly complicated for the player, which is unfortunate, because they're fun at their core, but there's too many elements that are not very well explained; if at all.

[Vokkan]

There was some things I wasn't satisfied with, mainly that the articles was mostly tutorial and story, and I felt it didn't really convey what the games really are about. The author didn't seem that enthused about the games either, and nether did I from reading it, but I think that at least 2/3 are really good and interresting games.

It should be emphasized that in Hitogata Happa, bombing (suiciding that is) is essential. Unless you're playing on easy, you probably won't be able to defeat any boss in time unless you bomb.

In GundeadliGne, the whole game run on timers, not just the bosses. Every stage consists of about 5 sections that each works like a caravan shooter, the faster you kill stuff the more stuff you get the chance to kill. Strategic use of bombs is key. Score well and you can even get time extends. On the other hand you can just lame out alot of the game (you can possibly finish the entire game without firing a single bullet).
The rank also goes up and down like a rollercoaster, and your current level of rank (a total of 21 levels?) is displayed in the bottom corner. The harder the difficulty the higher the score, so a skilled player could easily get twice the score on the first two stages alone than a lame player could get for completing the entire game.

Gundemonium Recollection definitly feels oldest of the bunch, though since it's been heavily revised it's got the most content. I admit to not having played it that much, but the feel I get from the first half of the game is that it features alot of corridor-like navigation. I say corridor-like because it's usually lazers and bullets, but it's alot like the don't-touch-the-floors/walls-feel you get from games like R-Type.