I got DDP Resurrection because I watched a review for a switch release of DDP DOJ, and then bought the wrong game. This game feels so WILD, you're pushed to be super aggressive, something the generous auto-bomb system seems to hint at... in the few stages I tried to learn (just 1-1 and 1-2) it felt like you had to be really preventative, like quickly managing all the escalating risks that would fly onto the screen - on top of the actual bullet avoidance. Being able to hyper your way out of a situation or to play it safe felt really cool.

I appreciate all the thought that goes into the design, the subtle ways in which bullet patterns escalate and build on each other, the fun of learning stages and then pulling the whole thing off in the end.

Of all things, shmups remind me the most of being a kid and trying to memorize songs on the piano, working through harder sections one at a time to try and pull the whole thing off ("Playing for Survival") and then going back and actually working in personal flair/expression ("Playing for Score"). Sort of like with shmups, I never really got too much into that hobby as a 'soloist' beyond playing in orchestra/band. And I don't think shmups and playing music are really that alike, but there does seem to be something similar in how you have to train/learn at both, and the way in which stuff that feels impossible slowly becomes possible.

Actually, it's hard not to try and compare shmups to many things in life! They (like other arcade games) really distill the whole difficulty/learning thing down to some pure essence. But in particular, these bullet hell shmups feel like they're compressing that essence even further - it's an interesting design space to learn from and experience.

review of the first: https://www.backloggd.com/u/MelosHanTani/review/1572193/

What do game sequels do? That's always a fun question to explore. There's a lot of directions they can take, so... what did this series of kids' games based on a popular animal dollhouse toy series do?

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Sylvanian Families 2 (SF2) takes a standard approach - more of everything. Bigger world, seasons, slower level progression.

They added school events - in the Spring it's stargazing, and in the Summer, it's camping - complete with a 'folk dance' minigame where you must pick a boy to dance with (for you are a girl). (Of course, the boys set up the tents, the girls make the curry) .

Some characters are still weirdly insistent you always return home by 6 PM - probably because it's a fairly strict rule where you lose progress for hitting 6 PM without returning home.

The game is tutorialized better - shop NPCs now cite a fictional 'guidebook' that suggests one ought to 'do minigames at the school to level up before trying to walk further'. Instead of the furniture store being... in your dreams... it's at a furniture store.

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I think I prefer SF1 over SF2 because it's shorter - rather than a big experience with More Everything! SF1 feels more like, well, a toy, that kinda sits off in your closet somewhere, to be enjoyed for a few minutes every now and then.

Not that SF2 is that much worse than SF1, but mainly I want to move on to the 3rd and 2-3 hours each with these games feels like enough to get the gist.

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On another note, this game makes me think: there's something a little misguided in the idea of marketing a game at kids - and then making it about things the kids are already doing (going to school, doing events) - isn't it? A kid already has to be home at 6 PM. What's the point of making a game where the kid has to do the same thing?

Did these games sell well, or was it just an attempt at branching out by the parent company Epoch? Was the main playerbase kids, or actually adults who collect the toys? (Maybe.) Was the gameplay simple 'for kids' or for adults who may not play games often? Life has no answers to such questions...

But if we take this to be a 'kids' game', it's worth thinking about how complex 'kids games' have gotten in the past 15 years with Minecraft/Roblox - or arguably, how complex they've always been - Neopets and HTML scripting, etc.

I don't know what the 'meta' is for making games for kids nowadays (if that's even viable at all,) but whenever I look at something aimed 'at kids' that's also seemingly a little too straightforward it makes me wonder if it's infantilizing to simplify something past a certain point, when kids can make up their own rules playing stuff like Minecraft. If I think back to being a kid, being 4 - maybe 3 - years old was old enough to Judge And Remember Adults. I feel like anyone trying to engage with kids should remember this. Kids' Media can probably do more... or, at the least, scare the kids with glitches. https://twitter.com/han_tani2/status/1786933397849591857/photo/1