Recent reviews by EXMaster

Frankly, as a pure Turn Based RPG Strategy Game, SRW games are simplistic at best. You don't really even have to understand all the mechanics to have a good grasp of the gameplay flow, and even on the hardest (non-DLC added) difficulties, they don't usually pose much of a challenge without self imposed restrictions.

SRW30 is along the same lines, and even more so due to a mechanic change (no more SR points). If you are looking at buying this to play an engaging strategy RPG, there are several other games in the genre that will probably suit your tastes in a more satisfying way.

However, if you are a Mecha Anime fan to any degree (which I, unashamedly, am), then playing SRW games often feel like a Nirvana like experience. You get much more out of it if you are familiar, or even curious about the myriad of Robot Amime properties featured in each game, and even if you aren't, there's a handy encyclopedia/character glossary that will get you up to speed with the cliff notes of what goes on with each amine featured.

The plot of the games basically boil down to being the world's most professionally done fanfiction crossover. There's lots of flashy attacks and cut in scenes that you could watch on YouTube to get a taste of, but the people who mainly buy these games are the ones which hear about giant anime robots, and think it sounds awesome (which is a surprisingly large niche considering these games have been continuously released for 30 years, hence the "30" in SRW30.)

Distinct about SRW30, is that as an anniversary title, it has a lot of homages to classic games throughout the series history. It's something I appreciate personally, as I was first introduced to SRW years ago in high school by randomly coming across SRW4, and played a few others on and off since. The 2nd distinct thing is that, on Steam at least, this is the first licensed SRW game to be officially available for purchase outside of Asian territories (previous SRW games have technically reached this milestone earlier, but feature wholly original characters. Others have been fully translated into English, but not officially sold in non-Asian territories). Months later, it's surreal to me that I was just able to buy this game without jumping through any import hoops to do it, the worst of which is all the stuff I had to do to play SRW Alpha back on PlayStation. I only hope that this will become the norm going forward, based on sales and whatnot.

If you are even remotely curious about the world of Mecha Anime and the like, it is a must purchase.

Great Stuff. My top picks:

"A mighty trial" (st4)
"The darkness crawling" (st5)
"Get over the light" (st6)

After playing and enjoying Picorinne Soft’s previous title "Battle Crust" here on Steam, I was eagerly anticipating the release of this game and checking it out. It delivers.

Infinos Gaiden is a continuation of the dev’s “Infinos” series of shooters, horizontal scrollers that were previously offered as freeware and on other venues such as Playism. As with all of the dev’s shump games, the focus is more on emulating the late 80’s-early/mid 90’s style traditional shooter instead of the manic style shooter more common today. That means looser, less numerous bullet patters, environmental hazards, and a focus centered around weapon gimmicks, over being showered with bullet curtains and figuring out the nuances of elaborate scoring systems to best take advantage of them. The gameplay is relativity straightforward with a frugal weapon system similar to that of “R-Type”, but with it’s own unique twist. It may seem unremarkable at an initial glance, but the simplicity works well for this game, because it is intuitive and makes the game very easy to pick up and play. It starts off relatively slow to draw you in, and gradually progresses in difficulty over the course of the game. Still, even someone with pretty average shmup skills would probably have a reasonable chance getting a no continue clear on the default difficulty at least in a short time frame with a little practice, making it less intimidating for the beginner or someone more casual. Assisting this is the addition of a challenge mode, where you can practice stages as you unlock them, and then unlock some additional things to extend the game even further.

Ascetically, compared to the previous “Infinos” games, there is a noticeable jump in quality. It’s hard not the notice the attention the detail and the craftsmanship that was put into making this game, as shown in the sprites and the stage progression. The dev seems to be improving and refining with each new project. There is a particularly awesome moment in stage 6, where you start off on the planet surface, and suddenly you’re ascending rapidly into the sky, taking out enemy waves and sinking battleships on the way. You burst through the planet’s outer atmosphere and the action packed BGM dims to a faint sound as you catapult into space then gradually reverts back to a normal (but slightly lower) volume as you reorient yourself and finish the stage. All of this was done with 2D pixel graphics. Moments like that show what a labor of love this game is and make you appreciate that games like this are still being made.

For the soundtrack, Hyakutaro Tsukumo returns from “Battle Crust” for another round composing. Where as “Battle Crust” was done in full lo-fi FM synth to match the style of the game, Infinos Gaiden is interesting as it mixes some 16-bit like FM chiptune flair with the distinct PS1/Saturn era style synth Tsukumo is well known for from his Technosoft days and beyond. This isn't a bad thing at all, as no one else makes melodramatic synth-rock sound appealing quite like Tsukumo does. I think the soundtrack most closely resembles his work on “Blast Wind”, since they both feature upbeat, energetic rock style tracks coupled with melancholy "crying" music to fit the more somber elements of the games. Overall it is unsurprisingly excellent.

It’s a bare bones release and that may irk those who are looking for things like achievements and such, but the core gameplay is solid and well worth the asking price. This game is especially a love letter to the old school shooter fan. The type of person who perks up when they hear words like "R-Type", "Darius", "Gradius", "Zanac", "Aleste" etc. I count myself among those people, and if that applies to you, than Ininos Gaiden is a required purchase.

I made comments lauding the soundtrack already in my review of the game, so I'll just say that I'm glad that it was made available to purchase here. Definitely great stuff, "Critical Hit" is my favorite overall. I also like "Sledgehammer" and "Huge Shadow"

I kept meaning to write a review about this game since it came out, but procrastination got the better of me.

I originally played the freeware Hydorah several years ago and liked it enough to give the developer, Locomalito, some donation money. When I heard Super Hydorah was being made, I of course jumped on it as soon as it was released. 

The traditional horizontal shooter style reminds me the most of Gradius. Spefically the Gradius IV/Gradius Gaiden era of the series. This also extends to the music, which has that funky jazz fusion/rock vibe. The controls, gameplay mechanics, and power up system is simple enough where you can dive into it immediately. It provides a good challenge but isn't overwhelmingly daunting. It has multiple paths and several hidden secrets to keep you invested in it. I especially like the fact that you can save/load your progress and pickup on where you left off at any time as you traverse through the multiple paths to the end. 

Overall, I'm going to echo what was mostly said about this game already and say that it is very well crafted. The dev was obviously mindful of the elements that make a good traditional shooter and was sure to craft that into this game. The Gryzor87 composed soundtrack is great too. "No Mercy" in particular I enjoy. For the shooting game fan of any type, this is definitely a must have game.

Earth Defense Force is a very polarizing series. When people encounter it you usually get two types of reactions:

1. Bafflement that this game could be considered good, followed by rants about how bad the graphics, story, production values, and stuff of that ilk is. Optional rants about how boring it is.

2. People who profess their undying love for it.

Having put several hundred hours in the series over the years, I am firmly in category two. It's a gamers game for sure. If your are looking for a game with involved technical mechanics and high production values, look elsewhere. One obvious glance at the game will tell you that the devs didn't put much effort into AAA production values, but the beauty of it is that they just don't care. What this game prioritizes and excels in is being fun. You have one goal for each stage, kill all the enemies, and you have free reign over how you need to do it. No checkpoints. No objectives. This often means unrelenting chaos and destruction as building debris and bug carcasses fly around all over you over loud explosions. Single player is good enough, but co-op'ing with friends, when you pull off a crazy plan to beat a hard stage you were struggling with on Inferno difficulty and everyone is ecstatic and laughing, that's some of the best co-op I've ever experienced in a video game. There's nothing else like it.

If that sounds like the vibe you can get into. Instant purchase.

"Battle Crust", like it says on the description, adheres to the 80's/90's style “traditional” shooter design in aesthetic and gameplay, which are less commonly seen nowadays compared to the more modern “bull hell” design of shooters. I've expressed my preference for the former in previous reviews here on Steam, so I'm always delighted when new ones show up that are well crafted. "Battle Crust" delivers on that front. “Vertical R-Type” has been the common description for it, which pretty apt. The controls are pretty simple, one button for regular shooting and one button for charge shots. In order to use the charge shot, you need to have collected at least one power up. It's straightforward enough where someone can pick up and play it very easily. In addition, adhering to the classic style shmup formula, there are multicolored powerups to collect that transform your standard pea shooter into an assortment of different weapons with strengths and weakness. The game does a good job of placing these accordingly, tailored to whatever is going on while you are playing. It's easy to recover you charge shot upon death, and you never feel like you have to rely on your weak default weapon for too long. You can also select from three different charge shots upon starting (and continuing), which have different properties, and change the flow of the game accordingly.

The game is pretty well designed and telegraphed, so you never feel like your deaths are unfair. Skilled shump players, however, who habitually single credit Cave shooters and the like would likely find the challenge lacking except on hard maybe, and consider it a sour point. For others, it will be challenging enough (I'm just now getting to last stage on Easy on a credit, to give you an ideal of my skill level), and thus best suited for more casual players, beginners, or people nostalgic for classic shooters. The presentation is enough of a draw for groups outside of this to at least check it out though.

And then there's the music, done by my personal favorite VGM composer Hyakutaro Tsukumo. Previously known for his works with the defunct company Technosoft ("Thunder Force V" chief among them), and more recently for his soundtracks to indie dev Dracue Software's run and gun mech games, such as "Gunhound EX" (also on Steam). Instead of employing his usual over-the-top modular synth rocking that defines lots of his works, he opted to compose the soundtrack with old school FM synthesis to match the classic theme of the game. Despite the retro, chiptune sound, the music still has a lot of the rock and roll grooves and melodic, bombastic highs common in Tsukumo's style. On the whole, it is very well done, and a soundtrack release is the only thing I'd like to see from this down the road, because I think it deserves one.

The release itself is pretty spartan, since it was apparently self published by a sole Japanese developer, so it lacks things like achievements, and it has a few configuration oddities to navigate since they aren't in the game itself. Still, the game itself is solid, and definitely worth the value at 8 bucks.

Strania is yet another Xbox 360 shmup release that is seeing new life on the Steam platform. As far as those releases go, this was my favorite along with Eschatos (also on Steam, and something you should also buy if you haven't yet). What I appreciated the most about this game was G.Rev's decision to design it will respect to the "Traditional" style shooter, as opposed to the bullet hell style which has become more common in modern shump design. Not to say I don't like to play bullet hells, I just prefer the design elements of the 80's/early 90's shooters, where the focus was on less numerous but more targeted bullets, an assortment of distinct weapons to use where success in the game is determined by proper use of said weapons in different situations, environmental hazards, cinematic style stage progression, etc. Think Gradius, R-Type, Thunder Force, the various Complie shooters like MUSHA, and Einhander as examples of what this is modeled after. That type of style is right up my alley, and Strania does the job of scratching that particular itch. Add on top of that, add the catchy, shump appropriate, electro synth fusion soundtrack of Keishi Yonao, and you have a very well crafted game.

The craftsmanship extends to the fact that G.Rev took it upon themselves to make a whole extra addition to main Strania campaign with the "Side Vover" add on (at no extra cost in the Steam version), were you play the game from the perspective of the Stranian antagonists, the Vower. Essentially, you play the main game in reverse, starting from the Vower home colony, going through the same stages from the Strania side to get the Stranian home base. However, instead of being the recycled affair you would likely expect from something like this, the stage design, bosses, music, and progression is distinct enough to make it feel like an entirely different game. It was an example of how to do DLC the right way, by adding value to the game while keeping the main portion whole and untampered with.

Those that are more observant will see the subtleties that G.Rev put in both campaigns to differentiate the Stranian and Vower sides, and give them personality without even having to rely on story composition. For example, the Stranian's mechs and infrastructure are very angular and blocky and the uniforms of the main pilots suggest a militaristic, organized culture. The Vower's mechs and equipment on the other hand, are mostly rounded and curved, and the dress of the pilots suggest a tribal, nomadic, theocratic culture. Another example is that while pilots on both sides can use each others weapon arrays (denoted by being highlighted by Blue (Strania), Red (Vower) or Purple (Netural) in game), only mechs on the Stranian side have access to enhanced versions of the Strania side's weapons (essentially activated by collecting two of the same weapon on one weapon slot), and only Vower mechs can use enhanced Vower weapons on the other end. Depending on what side you play, you'll find that the enemies will mostly attack you with their side's weapons, which you mainly get from stealing them off destroyed enemy mechs. Weapons on your side are mainly gotten by storage crates and friendly drops. It's the little things that help make this game special.

If you are a fan of the genre at all, don't make the mistake of overlooking this game, as it apparently was when it was initially released. It deserves more recognition, and is a much purchase. And you definitely want G.Rev releasing more of their games on Steam.

Still working on 1cc'ing the original normal mode, so I got to check out the arranged OST in game for the first time. It's just as good as the orginal FM stuff for the most part. It kinda sounds like Hyakutaro Tsukumo's version of the soundtrack with all the synth rocking, but that's not a bad thing at all. I like how my favorite track "Survive" sounds in this version in particular. Also "Stellar Light". Kudos to Degica for going out of their way to make this available.

If you care about these type of games in even the slightest, this is a must purchase.

In what seems to be a common trend among people who are first exposed to this game, I was initially ready to dismiss it however many years ago before it initially arrived on Xbox 360, based on the seemingly underwhelming visuals and rudimentary looking gameplay.

Then, I played it, and it demonstrated how wrong I was about it.

I now consider it one of the best shmups to have come out in the modern era, and my favorite of that wave of 360 releases aside from G.Rev's Strania. Yes, it's a relevantly simple game on paper, unadorned by any of the complicated scoring trappings of your average CAVE shmup and it's contemporaries, or the elaborate weapon systems of more “traditional” shmups, but the beauty of this game lies in the execution. I like to think of it as a modern day Zanac (which is one of my favorite games of all time), where underneath the mediocre aesthetics and muted presentation, lies a game full of depth and complexity. A shmup that was crafted with such quality, it became one of the standout examples of excellence in the genre.

On top of that, much has already been said about the high quality of the soundtrack. Youskue Yasui, usually does good work, and I think this is still his hottest soundtrack to date. “Survive” in particular has been a regular jam of mine since it was first released.

Get this game.