What a fantastic game. Ketsui has all its elements just fall into place perfectly throughout its 5-stage run, where everything feels tightly designed and memorable.
The core gameplay element in Ketsui is the scoring system, where the player earns multiplier chips from 1 to 5 based on the proximity of the enemies destroyed. The closer you are, the higher the multiplier. Everything is designed around this scoring system and to that extent, it's what brings out the addictive and satisfying gameplay loop in Ketsui.
The game is really brutal but never unfair. Ketsui is one of the finest examples that arcade games are meant to be replayed and learned, where every second throughout its runtime is meant to be mastered. Ketsui keeps this process of learning interesting as every enemy layout is designed with the aforementioned scoring system. To play effectively, you have to be aggressive and keep in mind how the scoring works. And there are no cheap surprises, alongside minimal random factors that can sneak up behind you, any mistakes you make all feel like it's your fault rather than the game being underhanded.
Hesistation and playing it safe can actually lead to more errors and bigger obstacles over time as the enemies can pile up even more and lead to your potential death.
Each stage is also completely distinct, with its own set of enemies and completely unique patterns, which works well in creating both a challenge and a great way to make each part of the game distinctive and aid in memorization.
The attack patterns themselves feel organic, and once you learn how to get through them, it feels really good to just go with the flow and weave through them with like it's no effort. Coupled with the way you go through enemies as you rack up high multipliers consistently feels rhythm-like.
I clocked over 100 hours already with this game just to get my first single credit clear, and I'm still not tired of it. There's still a 2nd loop of the game that can be accessed, two different 2nd loops even. One where it requires the player to die or use bombs less than six times. And the even harder one, where it requires no deaths and no bombs while attaining at least 120 million in score, on which this more difficult loop features the true final boss of the game, which is also a genuine challenge on its own.
Ketsui quickly became one of my recent favorites. Alongside the strong gameplay design, there's also the great soundtrack that compliments the intensity of the game, and an excellent presentation that makes good use of pre-rendered models alongside its cohesive visual design of a grounded near-future military backdrop.
If you're a fan of shmups, or even just challenging games that you can replay over and over and find enjoyment in mastering well-designed levels and mechanics, I highly recommend checking out Ketsui.
The core gameplay element in Ketsui is the scoring system, where the player earns multiplier chips from 1 to 5 based on the proximity of the enemies destroyed. The closer you are, the higher the multiplier. Everything is designed around this scoring system and to that extent, it's what brings out the addictive and satisfying gameplay loop in Ketsui.
The game is really brutal but never unfair. Ketsui is one of the finest examples that arcade games are meant to be replayed and learned, where every second throughout its runtime is meant to be mastered. Ketsui keeps this process of learning interesting as every enemy layout is designed with the aforementioned scoring system. To play effectively, you have to be aggressive and keep in mind how the scoring works. And there are no cheap surprises, alongside minimal random factors that can sneak up behind you, any mistakes you make all feel like it's your fault rather than the game being underhanded.
Hesistation and playing it safe can actually lead to more errors and bigger obstacles over time as the enemies can pile up even more and lead to your potential death.
Each stage is also completely distinct, with its own set of enemies and completely unique patterns, which works well in creating both a challenge and a great way to make each part of the game distinctive and aid in memorization.
The attack patterns themselves feel organic, and once you learn how to get through them, it feels really good to just go with the flow and weave through them with like it's no effort. Coupled with the way you go through enemies as you rack up high multipliers consistently feels rhythm-like.
I clocked over 100 hours already with this game just to get my first single credit clear, and I'm still not tired of it. There's still a 2nd loop of the game that can be accessed, two different 2nd loops even. One where it requires the player to die or use bombs less than six times. And the even harder one, where it requires no deaths and no bombs while attaining at least 120 million in score, on which this more difficult loop features the true final boss of the game, which is also a genuine challenge on its own.
Ketsui quickly became one of my recent favorites. Alongside the strong gameplay design, there's also the great soundtrack that compliments the intensity of the game, and an excellent presentation that makes good use of pre-rendered models alongside its cohesive visual design of a grounded near-future military backdrop.
If you're a fan of shmups, or even just challenging games that you can replay over and over and find enjoyment in mastering well-designed levels and mechanics, I highly recommend checking out Ketsui.