Game #3 of my "seasonal game binge"
Very fun with a friend, kinda felt like the easiest Cave shmup I played yet since I had under 10 deaths? Yet it was still damn tough.
Mechanically it felt pretty similar to Castle Shikigami 2 to me since the health bar, shield aura, "flying person" graphic/hitbox, bombs recharging when hit, bosses with multi-phase health bars, two shot types which can't be used at the same time, and speed dependent on whether the player is shooting are all there.
That said it has some interesting mechanics to set it apart from other shmups. My favourite is the bomb charge. Holding the charge longer for extra damage and shield duration is extremely valuable for boss fights in particular.
Gameplay aside, the aesthetic is pretty nice. The pixel art animations are all quite fluid; even random enemies in the background can explode into bloody bits quite graphically and the bosses all have multiple phases with cool unique animations. The music was mostly alright but that boss theme alone ranks it above average overall due to how intense it was.
Loses half a star due to the screeching enemies in the last level alone good god. I also wish each character was more dramatically different like in Castle Shikigami personally, and the Christmas theming doesn't really pop up until the very end.
Anyhow, saving Christmas felt pretty nice. Would rec a playthrough to all shmup fans, especially via co-op.
Very fun with a friend, kinda felt like the easiest Cave shmup I played yet since I had under 10 deaths? Yet it was still damn tough.
Mechanically it felt pretty similar to Castle Shikigami 2 to me since the health bar, shield aura, "flying person" graphic/hitbox, bombs recharging when hit, bosses with multi-phase health bars, two shot types which can't be used at the same time, and speed dependent on whether the player is shooting are all there.
That said it has some interesting mechanics to set it apart from other shmups. My favourite is the bomb charge. Holding the charge longer for extra damage and shield duration is extremely valuable for boss fights in particular.
Gameplay aside, the aesthetic is pretty nice. The pixel art animations are all quite fluid; even random enemies in the background can explode into bloody bits quite graphically and the bosses all have multiple phases with cool unique animations. The music was mostly alright but that boss theme alone ranks it above average overall due to how intense it was.
Loses half a star due to the screeching enemies in the last level alone good god. I also wish each character was more dramatically different like in Castle Shikigami personally, and the Christmas theming doesn't really pop up until the very end.
Anyhow, saving Christmas felt pretty nice. Would rec a playthrough to all shmup fans, especially via co-op.