Ultimately my big take away from playing Like Dreamer wasn't even the cute atmosphere or busty girls or weird nonsensical plot, but that I was improving in my shmup skills and really do like the genre. Not to say that all those things, the busty girls, cute atmosphere, or deranged plot didn't pull me in either. It's very much a mix blend of "Oh, this looks interesting, and oh because I was interested in the genre". I wouldn't even say that Like Dreamer isn't exactly an average game, but rather an exotic taste of weirdness that needs to be tolerated first before engaging with it. Like Dreamer is mechanically sound, very casual friendly, but if you don't dig the ascetics, than you kinda get nothing out of it.

Based on completing all content on Nightmare mode, including an ALL+ run. I've also beaten the Extra stage and all of the individual stages (except 9) on Chaos.

Excellent shmup that blends the fun parts of CAVE and Touhou with exquisite stage and boss design. The recharging hypers and bombs let you experience the power fantasy of mowing through swarms of enemies, but you can't just spam them; there's a carefully considered balance between resource management and dodging (both practiced and ad hoc) that keeps things exciting even after sinking a dozen or more hours into the game.

You might say that that's simply how any good shmup should be designed, to which my response is: well, Like Dreamer is a very good shmup. It really nails all of the elements I like about the genre, offering oodles of content and alternate modes to boot. The staggered progression of modes and difficulties will force the player to get familiar with all of the stages and bosses in a variety of contexts, so it manages to be accessible to all skill levels as well.

It's only 14 bucks on Steam. Check it out if you like shmups, or even think you might like shmups.