September 2021 Shmup Club - Assault Shell

[Corkman]

 
  It seems like if you get past the stage 3 midboss, you almost get 2 shield extends since 175k is around that same time (at least in my runs). Then once you have those, you can go quite a bit further in the game.

  I've been using Blank Stand more often in the last round of runs and got a 463k score. Blank Stand pattern are harder but not unmanageable. I'll probably get even more into Blank Stand from the rest of the month.

 

[4_T_en]

I'm currently hitting a wall against the Stage 2 boss. Maybe I'm going at it too aggressively? In any case, one thing I am enjoying about this game in the early days of playing it is that is sucked me right into playing for score with the two-stage hyper mechanic. Normally I am a survival player, but in this one I am always toeing the line with how much double hyper I can get away with to boost my power and score, despite the increase in difficulty.

[4_T_en]

Just made the above post, went back to the game, flailed around with the D shell, went back to my fave B shell, passed the stage two boss, and got a new personal best.

[MetalFRO]

I'm currently hitting a wall against the Stage 2 boss. Maybe I'm going at it too aggressively? In any case, one thing I am enjoying about this game in the early days of playing it is that is sucked me right into playing for score with the two-stage hyper mechanic. Normally I am a survival player, but in this one I am always toeing the line with how much double hyper I can get away with to boost my power and score, despite the increase in difficulty.

Totally agree with this! I wanted to score in this game right away, but I struggled big time with knowing when to engage Blank Stand, and risk the crazier patterns and larger bullets. So I stuck to Hyper Stand for a while, learned the first few stages, then went back and started figuring out how/when to activate Blank Stand, to start scoring more. If you do it right, you can earn the 175mil you need for the 1st extend by stage 3, and then earn another extend in stage 3 from the mid-boss, by destroying all of its smaller cannons before taking out the green core at the top. It gets pretty crazy if you use Blank Stand at the wrong time against some bosses, though occasionally I'll activate it to get out of a pattern I can't deal with.

Regarding the stage 2 boss, when you get to the final phase, it's good to stay toward bottom center, wait for the bullets to come around to where they're almost ready to hit you, and activate Hyper Stand, then reposition to do the same thing again. If you're not charged up enough by the time the bullets come back around, use your defensive technique to milk some bullets and get charged up to activate Blank Stand as the boss is low on health, so you can clear bullets, give you the ability to reposition again, and then hopefully get a final cancel when you take it out.

Also: new PB on stream this evening!

[Corkman]

 
   Nice run there FRO!! I saw that run on stream. I thought about chatting with and distracting you to throw you off your game to retain the highest score. But, I was too nice.
 
   At any rate, I gave it a few more runs and got a new high score. 634 mil.  It's been cool this month seeing each of us beat each other's scores. Like an epic football game that goes  back and forth and both teams seem to play better as it gets later and later in the game.

[MetalFRO]

   At any rate, I gave it a few more runs and got a new high score. 634 mil.  It's been cool this month seeing each of us beat each other's scores. Like an epic football game that goes  back and forth and both teams seem to play better as it gets later and later in the game.

Yes! I like that kind of tension in this situation, because then it's not a blowout, where one person dominates, and everyone else scores very low, or can't compete. It's been fun to see both of us progress throughout the month. I'm not likely to clear the game this month, but I've enjoyed my time with it, and definitely feel like this game grabbed me more than I anticipated it would. Anyone else have final thoughts to share?

[Corkman]

 

  I don't think I'll get the clear in this game either this month. I would need to practice the stage 5 boss more. It's pretty tough.

  This game was a nice surprise for me. I didn't know anything about it and I played it quite a bit and loved every minute of it. Even though, I stayed with one ship most of the month, I really appreciated the ship and defensive weapon variety. The hyper and blank stands added a lot of strategy to the game whether to play for survival or score. There was a second loop and several game modes to play as well. There's a lot packed in here for $10!

  I also think this a great game for a mid-level shmup player. It's not easy but it won't overwhelm you. You also have those bullet cancelling hypers, defensive weapons, and regenerating shields. So you can take a hit or use a defensive maneuver and still have a great game. It reminds a little of some Cave arrange modes where you have some ability to make the game a tad easier if you use it right.

  Thanks for introducing me to these doujin shmups. They've been a blast to discover. 

[4_T_en]

I got a late start on this one; only been playing for a week. I'll put up my scores for now since the month is over, but I expect I'll keep returning to this game for a while. I really enjoyed it, and I don't think I would have heard about it if not for this forum/podcast. I found the game simple and refined, while still offering a lot of variation and room to explore that comes from the timing of blank/hyper strands, defensive shots, cancels, i-frames, and such. For me, that combo of a straightforward design with a few options that can be mixed in surprisingly complex ways can create one of the most enjoyable shmup experiences, because it is easy to pick up and get into yet feels like it has space for lots of experimenting. I mean, I gotta keep playing this... I didn't even try the 3-stage hyper arrange mode yet!