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Death Smiles 2 IIX First Print LTD ED
Death Smiles 2 IIX Standard Edition
Right now I have all sort of mixed feelings toward the game. I've tried all modes found on the disc (Arcade, Arrange, IIx and Extra) and was able to 1cc the Arrange mode at my first try...although I still have to understand if it's due to the arrange mechanics or to the character I used, Supie, a crossover between the Little Red Riding Hood and the Little Match Girl...her familiar is Tyrannosatan's head. A smaller version, but she uses the last boss of the previous game as a familiar.
Story goes that Windia and Casper find Supie alone and cold on Christmas' Eve and bring her home, where she incapacitates the old man living with the girls from the first game. And then an evil version of Santa Claus appears and steals some magical notes for some evil purpose...said evil character dressed as Santa Claus and has very long nails and he's called Satan Claws. The credits call him Satan Crows, but then again the manual mentions the "arrenge" mode and the game goes for arrange.
Of course the bad guy deceived Supie that now has to get things right by helping the girls.
A second new character, Lei, joins the ride for some reason.
Supie always moves at the same speed whatever she is shooting (maybe a little faster than Rosa from the first game) and her familiar always shoots right.
Lei uses two small angels as familiars that can shoot 360 degrees or fixed depending on the firing mode.
Also,
Follett and Rosa are unavailable in arcade mode (officially they are attending to their old man) but are available in Arrange and IIx.
DeathSmiles' basic structure is left essentially unchanged, after the first stage (which is criminally easy) you can choose between four stages each with three difficulty settings and once all these four stages are completed, it's time for the extra stage or the final stage.
Characters can shoot left and right in two different modes, there are bombs, reaching 1000 "bonus points" grant a temporary power up and below that value you can lock on enemies for a better score.
The IIx and Arcade mode are very similar, probably the IIx mode is a bit easier but then again I was testing out Lei in IIx and went with Casper for the arcade mode. I keep saying about the characters I were using as Supie and Lei feel more powerful than Windia, Casper and Follett: like Rosa their speed doesn't change too much between firing modes and their firepower is always where you want.
The old characters are roughly left unchanged, though Casper's familiar seems to fire smaller rounds this time.
Arrange mode is the last mode available on the disc and features mechanics similar to EspGaluda II's own Arrange mode, as bullets can be canceled for an higher score multiplier; the score multiplier is increased by the usual bonus tokens and those are now released by destroying enemy projectiles, killing or just simply hitting normal enemies.
Bonus tokens still increase the power up meter, but this happens at a much slower rate than IIx/Arcade. When the meter is full, all bullets become red and can be canceled; this mode is fueled by keeping the bonus tokens flowing and after part of the first stage it's possible to keep this bullet canceling mode active for the whole session.
Bombing reduce to 0 the power up meter and cancels all projectiles on screen.
There are two additional gauges: a tension and a magic bar.
The tension bar goes from Heaven to Hell and (if I understood correctly) shows for how long you can sustain the full cancel mode without absorbing bonus tokens. Points in the power up meter do not decrease normally but the tension bar does, though I always find it at maximum when the the power up meter reaches 1000.
Absolutely no clue on the magic bar, but since it shows a bomb at its end I think it restores one when fully charge...maybe I'll take a look at the tutorials and try to figure something out.
What strikes first about DeathSmiles IIx is the new art direction: moe character design and real-time 3D graphics.
The latter is especially bad: all enemies are rendered with a small number of polygons and some textures are really ugly, with few enemies showing bare polygons with only gouraud shading. The low poly count on a single enemy helps to keep the game fluid with few slowdowns, but in the end it feels cheap and outdated, especially when Cave did a fantastic job with pre-rendered sprites in their previous titles.
The 3D graphics do allow for more dynamic backgrounds, but then again they feel uninspired: stage D, for example, is set in a haunted house and it's a lifeless repetition of the same pattern, with the background props reflecting on the floor but neither main character nor enemy cast shadows or is featured in the reflection. It might be a very small detail, but due to low poly count and pixelated textures, it comes off as very cheap.
As stages also resemble stages found in the previous game, and the rather uninspired graphical design make them feel very samey.
Bosses are presented with a pre-rendered cinematic using the same 3D models with slightly enhaced textures and visual effects (like depth of field) that further enhances how bad in-game graphics are. The IIx or arrange mode do not feature any graphical improvement over higher resolution or 16:9 aspect ratio, which is very disappointing. Textures are the same of the arcade mode and some of them are blurry, with some props screaming "hey look, I'm a flat surface with a texture on it! My alpha channel map is bad, too!". I just hope that Cave goes back to pre-rendered sprites.
Graphics might be uninspired but it's very easy to tell things apart, so at least they work as they should.
There are more 2D assets this time but for some strange reason the bonfire screen (as in the first DeathSmiles) is pre-rendered (and looks like a '90s render) with toon-shaded 2D portraits speaking. The art itself is not bad, it's just completely different from the first chapter, which I felt was better for a gothloli-themed shooter.
Background music takes some ideas from the first DeathSmiles and adds more vocal themes and the usual techno/disco music that Cave likes so much but leaves me completely indifferent. Voices of the same characters are different from the first game too.
When I said I had mixed feelings, I meant the game is good; not as good as Cave's previous efforts but a competent shoot'em'up that unfortunately feels a little easy (a bit easier than DeathSmiles too) and plagued with sub-par 3D graphics. The Arrange mode doesn't feel as challenging as in EspGaluda II and there are just three modes on the disc...the whole package feels like an attempt to push DeathSmiles' characters rather than the game...which, I repeat is not bad, just plain.
To conclude this lengthy first post, the Extra mode.
I mentioned during the first lines but haven't brought it up yet because it's not a shoot'em'up mode but rather a minigame called "Taikuma Race" where you drive home the girls' familiars by having them bouncing around a labyrinth. Each stage does not take longer than 30 seconds to complete and it's very easy. Backgrounds show stages from the first game and the background music comes from there too.
Still have to use the DLC card, will let you know what brings and how is it.
Death Smiles 2 IIX First Print LTD ED
Death Smiles 2 IIX Standard Edition
Right now I have all sort of mixed feelings toward the game. I've tried all modes found on the disc (Arcade, Arrange, IIx and Extra) and was able to 1cc the Arrange mode at my first try...although I still have to understand if it's due to the arrange mechanics or to the character I used, Supie, a crossover between the Little Red Riding Hood and the Little Match Girl...her familiar is Tyrannosatan's head. A smaller version, but she uses the last boss of the previous game as a familiar.
Story goes that Windia and Casper find Supie alone and cold on Christmas' Eve and bring her home, where she incapacitates the old man living with the girls from the first game. And then an evil version of Santa Claus appears and steals some magical notes for some evil purpose...said evil character dressed as Santa Claus and has very long nails and he's called Satan Claws. The credits call him Satan Crows, but then again the manual mentions the "arrenge" mode and the game goes for arrange.
Of course the bad guy deceived Supie that now has to get things right by helping the girls.
A second new character, Lei, joins the ride for some reason.
Supie always moves at the same speed whatever she is shooting (maybe a little faster than Rosa from the first game) and her familiar always shoots right.
Lei uses two small angels as familiars that can shoot 360 degrees or fixed depending on the firing mode.
Also,
Follett and Rosa are unavailable in arcade mode (officially they are attending to their old man) but are available in Arrange and IIx.
DeathSmiles' basic structure is left essentially unchanged, after the first stage (which is criminally easy) you can choose between four stages each with three difficulty settings and once all these four stages are completed, it's time for the extra stage or the final stage.
Characters can shoot left and right in two different modes, there are bombs, reaching 1000 "bonus points" grant a temporary power up and below that value you can lock on enemies for a better score.
The IIx and Arcade mode are very similar, probably the IIx mode is a bit easier but then again I was testing out Lei in IIx and went with Casper for the arcade mode. I keep saying about the characters I were using as Supie and Lei feel more powerful than Windia, Casper and Follett: like Rosa their speed doesn't change too much between firing modes and their firepower is always where you want.
The old characters are roughly left unchanged, though Casper's familiar seems to fire smaller rounds this time.
Arrange mode is the last mode available on the disc and features mechanics similar to EspGaluda II's own Arrange mode, as bullets can be canceled for an higher score multiplier; the score multiplier is increased by the usual bonus tokens and those are now released by destroying enemy projectiles, killing or just simply hitting normal enemies.
Bonus tokens still increase the power up meter, but this happens at a much slower rate than IIx/Arcade. When the meter is full, all bullets become red and can be canceled; this mode is fueled by keeping the bonus tokens flowing and after part of the first stage it's possible to keep this bullet canceling mode active for the whole session.
Bombing reduce to 0 the power up meter and cancels all projectiles on screen.
There are two additional gauges: a tension and a magic bar.
The tension bar goes from Heaven to Hell and (if I understood correctly) shows for how long you can sustain the full cancel mode without absorbing bonus tokens. Points in the power up meter do not decrease normally but the tension bar does, though I always find it at maximum when the the power up meter reaches 1000.
Absolutely no clue on the magic bar, but since it shows a bomb at its end I think it restores one when fully charge...maybe I'll take a look at the tutorials and try to figure something out.
What strikes first about DeathSmiles IIx is the new art direction: moe character design and real-time 3D graphics.
The latter is especially bad: all enemies are rendered with a small number of polygons and some textures are really ugly, with few enemies showing bare polygons with only gouraud shading. The low poly count on a single enemy helps to keep the game fluid with few slowdowns, but in the end it feels cheap and outdated, especially when Cave did a fantastic job with pre-rendered sprites in their previous titles.
The 3D graphics do allow for more dynamic backgrounds, but then again they feel uninspired: stage D, for example, is set in a haunted house and it's a lifeless repetition of the same pattern, with the background props reflecting on the floor but neither main character nor enemy cast shadows or is featured in the reflection. It might be a very small detail, but due to low poly count and pixelated textures, it comes off as very cheap.
As stages also resemble stages found in the previous game, and the rather uninspired graphical design make them feel very samey.
Bosses are presented with a pre-rendered cinematic using the same 3D models with slightly enhaced textures and visual effects (like depth of field) that further enhances how bad in-game graphics are. The IIx or arrange mode do not feature any graphical improvement over higher resolution or 16:9 aspect ratio, which is very disappointing. Textures are the same of the arcade mode and some of them are blurry, with some props screaming "hey look, I'm a flat surface with a texture on it! My alpha channel map is bad, too!". I just hope that Cave goes back to pre-rendered sprites.
Graphics might be uninspired but it's very easy to tell things apart, so at least they work as they should.
There are more 2D assets this time but for some strange reason the bonfire screen (as in the first DeathSmiles) is pre-rendered (and looks like a '90s render) with toon-shaded 2D portraits speaking. The art itself is not bad, it's just completely different from the first chapter, which I felt was better for a gothloli-themed shooter.
Background music takes some ideas from the first DeathSmiles and adds more vocal themes and the usual techno/disco music that Cave likes so much but leaves me completely indifferent. Voices of the same characters are different from the first game too.
When I said I had mixed feelings, I meant the game is good; not as good as Cave's previous efforts but a competent shoot'em'up that unfortunately feels a little easy (a bit easier than DeathSmiles too) and plagued with sub-par 3D graphics. The Arrange mode doesn't feel as challenging as in EspGaluda II and there are just three modes on the disc...the whole package feels like an attempt to push DeathSmiles' characters rather than the game...which, I repeat is not bad, just plain.
To conclude this lengthy first post, the Extra mode.
I mentioned during the first lines but haven't brought it up yet because it's not a shoot'em'up mode but rather a minigame called "Taikuma Race" where you drive home the girls' familiars by having them bouncing around a labyrinth. Each stage does not take longer than 30 seconds to complete and it's very easy. Backgrounds show stages from the first game and the background music comes from there too.
Still have to use the DLC card, will let you know what brings and how is it.
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