The genre fusions that Picayune Dreams offers are interesting enough in and of themselves, switching back and forth between bullet heaven, bullet hell, and RPG Maker horror game, but the real feat is how sublimely these all mesh together without the seams really showing. Of course bullet heaven and hell are sister genres, the only meaningful difference being who has the upper hand, but to splash these intense boss fights in the middle of mindlessly shooting down waves of drones without introducing any major pain points is impressive. The push and pull put me even further into the meditative state typically associated with bullet heavens, storing up my resources both, in game and mentally, to prepare for the next boss encounter. The reward for beating a boss for the first time being another genre switch that allows you to slow down massively and just learn more about the setting makes taking them down all the more satisfying. The overall presentation is extraordinarily effective too, I especially adore the UI which is so player-hostile with the way it presents item information to you, that it works in perfect ludonarrative harmony with our character not having all the pieces either. Really just an insane game all around and the only breath of fresh air I’ve seen injected into bullet heavens which seem to have stagnated just as quickly as they arrived.