RF Generation Message Board

[img width=550 height=471]http://www.rfgeneration.com/images/games/U-061/bf/U-061-S-03630-A.jpg[/img]

April 2019 brings a unique event for the RF Generation Shmup Club - the only shoot-em-up from developer and publisher Squaresoft! Known far more for their role-playing games, particularly the mammoth Final Fantasy series, Squaresoft ventured into a few new genres during the early-mid PlayStation era. In the fighting game genre, they released Ehrgeiz: God Bless the Ring, and they also published Brave Fencer Musashi, an action game. Despite still being an RPG, they also dipped their toe in the "survival horror" genre waters with the excellent Parasite Eve as well. However, one genre they hadn't explored up to that point was shooting games. They finally dove in, and ended up making one of the more highly lauded genre pieces on the system, the mighty Einhänder!

Strap into the cockpit of the Einhänder, an advanced spaceship, to take on the Earth regime, as you fight for the survival of the moon colony. After the events of the First Moon War, much of the Earth was left destroyed. Now, in the Second Moon War, you're sent to Earth in a single fighter craft to destroy as many defense resources as you can, so that residents of the Moon can get back to Earth to gather valuable resources. Do you have what it takes to fight off hordes of Earth drones and military fighters? Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in April, and test your mettle against Earth, in this horizontal scrolling, PlayStation shooting game classic.

Participants:
MetalFRO
Addicted
zoydo
Duke.Togo
coin_tengoku
SirPsycho
Jam Master J

High Score:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

count me in! ;)

Awesome! Glad to have you participating :D

Yup, I'm in for this one.

Hey hey, glad to have you back in the game!

I may jump in on this too

So since I’m new round these parts...what are the rules for console titles I do not own or have hardware. Is emulating allowed in participating in the shmup club?  Cause I don’t have einhander.


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Welcome to the squad, Crabby!

@coin_tengoku - as a collector site, we pride ourselves on our collections, and most participants will probably already own the game, but given how expensive it is now, emulating is fine for playing. I would say just play it legit, in that you don’t enable any cheats or trainers that an emulator might have available. I would also say that there are also ways to play it on original hardware that would give you a good approximation of the experience, just FYI. But I don’t have an issue with it otherwise. We have had some folks playing the arcade versions in MAME, while some of us play the available arcade ports. A good example is when we played 1942. A couple members played it in MAME, while I focused on the Saturn port, and dabbled with it on Xbox and PSP in Capcom compilations.

@MetalFRO

Thanks. Only thing I have is What really counts...that is the Sega Genesis!...everything else is Steam or emulation. I will definitely preface my activity when posting so everyone knows I’m emulating if I am. And for sure the Legit way with no cheating.


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Okay crew...really enjoying being a part of enthusiasts...I'm in for Einhander.  ("EMULATING" this for my play. No cheats, save states, etc.)

Glad to have you in for a 2nd month in a row!

I'll join in on this one. See how rusty I am since my review a few months back.

Awesomesauce! Happy to have you in the mix.

Been playing this game the last couple days, and I forgot how rusty I am! One thing that throws me off is that the boss AI will adapt to what you do, and sometimes they change up the order of their attacks, or the pattern that they use. As such, they can be a little unpredictable. The 2nd stage mid-boss is a good example, and that often gives me trouble. Same for the Stage 3 mid-boss, that 4-legged spider robot monstrosity. That thing gets me, and I have a hard time adapting to it, for some reason. I'm hoping to get more of a rhythm for it, though, and find a way to get further on a single credit. Right now, I'm just credit feeding to see more of the game, and get to where I can learn the patterns more specifically.

Is it too late to join in?

Einhander is one of those games I've always wanted to dig in and play, but it tends to go forgotten or falls by the wayside to something else. I usually play more for survival and shooting for 1CC's, so I suspect the scoring mechanics with the multiplier bar will give me some trouble haha. It feels like that definitely favors being very aggressive.

It's never too late! Welcome aboard, and we're glad to have you.

I managed to hit this score last night:
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/nowPALil.jpg[/img]

I've only managed to make it to Stage 2 or 3 on a single credit. Usually 2, and occasionally, I don't even make it out of the 1st stage, because I get sniped by one of those ships carrying the Cannon weapon, or I take a stray bullet while I'm dodging. Last night while streaming the game, I ran into enemies a few times, because I was moving around the screen too fast. I keep forgetting I can adjust my ship speed, so I need to remember that I can do that. One of my big hangups in the game is the switching out of weapons in the heat of the moment, and then sometimes having to change the orientation of a particular gunpod. It seems like, as I'm taking time to get my weapon situation figured out, that's when I get punked by an enemy, or caught by a stray bullet. If there's one thing I'd like to change about the game at this point, it's to have the option to NOT change to the weapon I just picked up, so I can continue to use the one I've already had selected. It's maddening to pick up a weapon, and immediately have to change it's position, or switch back to a different weapon, when you're being swarmed by enemies, or caught in the crossfire. Memorization of enemy locations and patterns will help alleviate that somewhat, but there's enough direct targeting of bullets in your direction, which means there's only so much you can do to compensate. It certainly adds to the challenge.

I've found that the Danmaku strategy of point blanking enemies goes a long way for mid-bosses and end-stage bosses. Vulcan + machine gun works well for the stage 2 mid-boss. For the boss of stage 2, you want to get right up in its face as soon as you can do damage then back off and destroy the bottom gun. From there destroy the top flame thrower and then throw all your might at the face until its dead. I should clarify that for the stage 2 mid-boss you want to position yourself so the Vulcan damages the gun on the right side. If done right you should be able to destroy the right gun right before it gets ready to jump and force it to retreat.

@MetalFRO: I've died a couple of times on stage 1 when I'm trying to pick up a weapon and I collide with a police car. It's hard to tell from the constantly changing point of view.

New high score achieved on stream tonight!
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/tLWj8dhl.jpg[/img]

Unfortunately, I can reach Stage 4, but I always get wrecked when I get there. So many enemies, and so many bullets to weave through.

Played a few runs this week, but couldn't get past the Stage 2 Boss yet (on one credit).

[img width=500 height=375]https://live.staticflickr.com/7825/46628749965_a17f4d57b3.jpg[/img]

I hate to say it @zoydo, but I’m kinda pleased that you are running into challenges since you pretty much took the cake with Crimzon Clover. I’m sure you will overcome. If you run into things that are tricky, please give us some tips dude!  Good gaming....


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that's fine. :D

I have to admit, that i have quite a tough time playing Einhänder. I often do not see the bullets because of enemies or explosions and i really struggle to differentiate if the enemies that are coming in are still in the background or already at the same level as my ship, so sometimes i just crash into them. I always liked the game but find it hard to keep a clear view of what's going on.

I tried out every ship now, to see what suits best for me. I prefer the Endymion-2 because it's useful to have some stock weapons to choose from, depending on the situation (the stage 2 midboss is no match for the grenade launcher).

Finally made it to Stage 3 today and also passed the 2.000.000 pts.

[img width=500 height=375]https://live.staticflickr.com/7876/46632973075_6a3071093c.jpg[/img]

This is one of the marks against the game, in that, some bullets are hard to see, because they blend in with scenery, or there's enough going on that you might miss one in all the action. I had that happen several times with the small blue bullets that many enemies shoot out. I also sometimes misjudge when an enemy has been damaged enough to where I can steal its weapon - always wait for the weapon name to show up on screen...ALWAYS. Or, like me, you'll end up on the scrap heap :slick:

My other frustration is that the game always switches the active weapon(s) to whatever you've picked up. I wish Squaresoft made that an option you could toggle, to not switch weapons if you pick up something different, or rather, to allow you to pick up something and have it replace another gunpod, rather than the active one. I understand why they do, and it stands as one of the challenges in the game, managing your weapon loadout. But it's still a bit of a pet peeve.

What BS. I got to stage four after a week of practicing not worrying about score and boss killed me. Then got no score saved because you have to freakin create a data file first. I was never asked to create a data file before starting. Son of a biscuit!  Oh!!! This game!!!!


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So I've been focusing on getting the perfect level runs, and I've been stuck trying to even figure out the first level.

I'm sure you may have run across an S.Bonus in the game at some point. I found 2 in the first level but there were 3 spots. I finally found the 3rd S.Bonus in the first level and it took me down an alternate path to the boss. I had no idea this existed.

i was wondering about the differences between the japanese version and the us-version a few days ago.
A friend sent me this link to a faq:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/197217-einhander/faqs/6809

The changes are not groundbreaking, but it's interesting to read.

@coin_tengoku - That sucks. Not sure why the game didn't prompt you, but it looks for a data file right when you boot it up.


This FAQ has a good breakdown of the Secret Bonuses in the game:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/197217-einhander/faqs/3840

I've been struggling with the game. I had previously reached Stage 4 on a single credit, but now I'm having a hard time even getting out of the first or second stage. Not sure if I get frustrated early, and that keeps me from progressing, or if I just can't find a rhythm. I'm not wildly changing how I play from run to run, but it seems like I have a difficult time with any kind of consistency.

Thanks for sharing that link, zoydo - will have to give it a read!

I finally managed to find a bit of a groove, and got my highest score yet while streaming earlier tonight:
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/DU5DZOhl.jpg[/img]

I also managed to unlock both the Flash and Juno secret/special weapons, so I can now select either (or both!) when I start the game. Hugely helpful to start out with something that is OP.

I had a very nice run yesterday and i was really confident that i could beat my score. After i defeated the Stage 2 Midboss, dinner was ready and i had to pause the game while the Midboss was still exploding. When i came back to the game later and pressed start, something hit me out of nowhere instantly. I had just one life left and the game sent me back right before the midboss. I ran into the very first random bullet and died. Game Over. This game is giving me hell.

I'm finding much the same as you. There's enough difficulty in seeing some of the bullets, or in avoiding them, that it can be harder than it feels like it should be, on the surface. Having said that, I changed tactics last night. Because I had previously unlocked the Flash and Juno weapons, I went with the Endymion FRS Mk. III, for the unlimited ammo double machine gun, and used the Flash only for cover fire in tight situations, and tried to save ammo for boss fights. For the first time, I managed to get the S. BONUS for the first mid-boss, by destroying its hover unit as the way to defeat it. That unlocked the alternate path in the game, which also unlocked the alternate form of the 1st boss:

[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/F6y4F7El.jpg[/img]

I did this a few day ago by accident, but i didn't realize the S-Bonus. So i thought it would be more profitable to stick with the regular route, because there seem to be more enemies to shoot. But with the Bonus, the alternate path might be the better choice for scoring.

I had a nice run yesterday, got to the Stage 2 Boss flawless, but he took me down twice. Stage 3 midboss finished me by ramming into me.

[img width=500 height=375]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47604161512_ce3d2a32bf.jpg[/img]

Stage 2 boss is reasonably easy, if you take out the flamethrower first. Also, you can quickly take out its "headlight" thing if you concentrate fire on it as it approaches. But definitely take out the flamethrower quickly, then dodge its other attacks, and keep firing away at its head. You'll take it down quickly enough. That stage 3 midboss is a real jerk. The stronger the weapon, the faster you can get past its initial laser phase, and get into the 2nd phase.

Right before the spider mid-boss fight in stage 3, an enemy will drop a grenade launcher. Use it to quickly take out the spider.

I've found that the weapon drops before the midboss are inconsistent. I often see a Canon or Vulcan weapon. I think it might depend upon either which weapon you have currently stocked, OR which you have as your chosen default gunpod(s). Both may factor in, somehow.

I managed to reach the mid-boss in Stage 5 on a single credit last night, and got my highest score so far (on Easy difficulty):
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/TDteVvsl.jpg[/img]

Also, I happened to beat the game last night! It only took 9 credits, but I pulled it off. I'm hoping this means I'm closer to an actual 1CC, once I learn the patterns of the later levels and bosses more specifically.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAoxks0mNTc

Good job! :)

I haven't tried to beat the game yet. I played easy mode once, but mostly i kept on trying to beat my score in normal mode. Still unsuccessfully...

The alternate path in Stage 1 seems to work nice for scoring. One time i got all the bonuses and did some good chains, so i could finish stage 1 with ~1.510.000 pts. Unfortunately i screwed Stage 2 completely and didn't even make it on the scoreboard...

I also came across this website with some cool trivia about the game:

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/Einhander

Hey, I just started listening to the podcast since the Zanac episode and wanted to join in for the Einhander playthrough.

Einhander is one of my favorite shooters. I remember playing it on a demo disc. I liked what I had played up to the point that I had reached the end level boss. But it was that circular explosion I saw after defeating him that captivated my attention and I've loved this game ever since. It just seemed so stylish in a way I had never seen before.

It has a special place in my heart because it surprised me with its fairly robust gameplay mechanics. The weapon selection was pretty staggering for its time. It seemed like I was always discovering a new weapon well after the first stage had ended. I adored that the game actually let me blow up passive enemies in the background when you had the Wasp missiles in homing mode.

Besides that, the shifting camera angles in key moments were breathtaking and thrilling at a time when you never saw that in a shooter (except maybe RayStorm). Thinking back on it, I think Squaresoft was applying their dramatic RPG skills to give us the superbly unique Einhander.

Great show guys, keep it up!

Absolutely! Still a few days left in the month to play, and give some thoughts :D

Some good observations here! I would agree that the mechanics are pretty robust, and yes, the weapon selection is pretty extensive. The unlockable/secret weapons also make the game that much more robust, and the presence of so many secret bonuses really give the game a lot of replayability. The shifting camera aspect thing, and some of the game's early set pieces are a bit Blade Runner inspired, and one has to wonder if Einhander was taking a page from Sony's early attempt, Philosoma. There are a handful of parallels between the 2 games, and it's hard to see past those w/o thinking they're more than just a coincidence.

My two cents review..

Game is okay but failed to really make me want to come back to it to continue playing. In totality I just had a really tough time seeing the bullets and having fun playing the game. I think the controls are good, graphics are okay, and sound is good. I couldn’t really make it past stage 3 and have no scores worth posting up that outrank any previous posts by other members. I’m going to give this one a 6.5 out of 10.


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Thanks for weighing in, coin_tengoku! I would still encourage you to post a score, even if it's not very high, if only to chart your own progress here alongside others, but I understand. It's important to play games like this, that have had many years of praise heaped upon it, because ultimately, you don't know if you like it until you try it. That's definitely a benefit of an endeavor like this - we get to play these games, and see which ones resonate with us, and which don't.

I had one run last night where I was pretty on fire, and I topped my best score (Easy difficulty) yet again:
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/MAdwyW6l.jpg[/img]

2 days left to submit scores for Einhander, so anyone wanting to submit a score for any difficulty level should try and do so before the end of the day tomorrow, so we can get you recognized in the podcast!

I managed to top my high score AGAIN last night, and actually broke 10 million on a single credit!
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/T3tvsGbl.jpg[/img]

As you can see in the screenshot, this is on Easy. I might switch back to Normal again tonight, for my final stream/run, and see what I can accomplish.

@MetalFRO that’s amazing!  Congrats.  I’m so straight to the point that I didn’t even know there was an easy mode. I’ve been playing normal all month. DOH!!  Oh well. Here is my best on normal.  Best of luck for the rest of the crew! That dang roller boss always gets me at end of stage three. [img width=700 height=933]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190501/4fa438b1bb6e47033439ada54c539fbf.jpg[/img]


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Thanks, everyone for participating! Hoping to see more folks jump into Gradius III :D

@MetalFRO: this score is awesome, good job man!

Sorry i'm late, but here are some final thoughts:

I really like the design of the game. The developers really put some effort in creating a nice plot and cool cutscenes.
The atmosphere of the game is amazing and the great soundtrack supports that also.
The german voicesamples felt a little weird to me, but i found it quite funny.

As i said already, i often had problems with seeing the bullets or differing if enemies are in the background or on the same layer as my ship. So i often crashed into stuff or was hit by bullets that i didn't notice.
The respawn points and the unskippable cutscenes make the game feel chunky to me somehow and all that really started annoying me after a few runs. Playing for score felt frustrating for me, so that's why i didn't spend too much time playing it and only played 2 or 3 runs every two or three days (i also have to admit, that i was distracted by Ketsui Deathtiny a little bit, because i got my copy of the PS4-port this month and its awesome).

Maybe i wil return to Einhänder some time and play through it in Free Play mode, to see the rest of the game (haven't played Stages 5, 6 and 7 yet) and the ending.