Ketsui's scoring mechanic is my favorite so far, and it synergizes perfectly with how the game is meant to be played. I much prefer it over collecting gems (mushihime), or trying to chain kills and/or colors (ddp, ikaurga...). It's all about getting close to the enemies and killing them, particularly smaller ones, to increase your multiplier and then use your laser on bigger ones to cash in on it. Laser also has a lock-on mechanic apparently unique to this game, sadly. And the closer you are to an enemy, the faster you can lock on it as well. While your laser will always shoot in front of you, you also shoot bullets aimed to the target you locked onto. Though in a way it makes certain bosses and minibosses a bit easier, knowing where to target big enemies and knowing when to switch to standard shot, in order to get chips during long battles makes a big difference.
Like I said, it really rewards aggressiveness and encourages getting up close, high risk/high reward gameplay which eclipses those games that focus just on being bullet hell. It definitely has a lot going on in later stages, but still I'd say Ketsui retains a nice balance. Groups of fodder enemies even when you're up top, are easier to move around with macrododging, while the bigger bulkier ones will throw more dense patterns that you will have an easier time fighting with your laser (which lets you move slower, more precisely) and auto target (helps you focus on the bullets and not so much in hitting). I wouldn't say it's easy though.
When things go well, the game looks easier than it actually is, because often the best strategy is to kill stuff up close before it has a chance to overwhelm you. It does expect you to be pushing constantly and if you fall behind things can go wrong quickly. It's not as easy to remain up close to enemies and clear the screen when enemies start to pile up and there's a lot more bullets and targets onscreen that there should be. There's always using a bomb as a last resort, which I find not really as punishing as in other cave games (unless going for ura loop but i'm not doing that lol), lives always count more than bombs and there's no other penalties.
During my first hours of the game my problem was actually dying without using my bombs, my deaths being mostly due to playing kamikaze style and running into bullets without looking, rather than getting caught in patterns. In retrospective, it's actually very funny that the story of this game is about some pilots getting sent on a suicide mission. The difficulty curve in stages is gentle and ramps up very naturally, you may run into walls but never feel that the game is suddenly throwing bullshit at you. Because it builds up so nicely on previous stuff, you only feel even more determined to face new challenges in harder stages. And because they're so well designed, going through earlier stages again does not become a chore as you get better; they are also nice warmups where you can improve your chaining skills. By the end stage 5 feels basically like 2 stages rolled into one. Still, to me there's the same drawback as with all other shmups, there's some parts where you have to play a bit until you learn the stage no matter what, but there's a lot you can get away with if you do well.
Bullet patterns are great. It has a lot of unique stuff and often it leans into compositions that move organically and are able to overwhelm a lot without clogging up the screen, giving you a challenge but also room for moving around and getting close to different enemies. Bosses in particular are just mesmerizing. While for some the visuals may be a bit generic, everything else in the presentation is wonderful, especially the music. Plus, the new UI on PS4 is really gorgeous and in-depth even if you won't be looking at it much. I really hope they port this to PC sometime.
In short, I love Ketsui's philosophy. Fairly straightforward, it only has two ships differing in shot type and speed, and practically a single approach. It doesn't need any more because it achieves perfection in simplicity and accomplishes what it sets out to do. Only thing I'd say it's missing is that bosses turning into giant anime girl robots like in dodonpachi resurrection.
Like I said, it really rewards aggressiveness and encourages getting up close, high risk/high reward gameplay which eclipses those games that focus just on being bullet hell. It definitely has a lot going on in later stages, but still I'd say Ketsui retains a nice balance. Groups of fodder enemies even when you're up top, are easier to move around with macrododging, while the bigger bulkier ones will throw more dense patterns that you will have an easier time fighting with your laser (which lets you move slower, more precisely) and auto target (helps you focus on the bullets and not so much in hitting). I wouldn't say it's easy though.
When things go well, the game looks easier than it actually is, because often the best strategy is to kill stuff up close before it has a chance to overwhelm you. It does expect you to be pushing constantly and if you fall behind things can go wrong quickly. It's not as easy to remain up close to enemies and clear the screen when enemies start to pile up and there's a lot more bullets and targets onscreen that there should be. There's always using a bomb as a last resort, which I find not really as punishing as in other cave games (unless going for ura loop but i'm not doing that lol), lives always count more than bombs and there's no other penalties.
During my first hours of the game my problem was actually dying without using my bombs, my deaths being mostly due to playing kamikaze style and running into bullets without looking, rather than getting caught in patterns. In retrospective, it's actually very funny that the story of this game is about some pilots getting sent on a suicide mission. The difficulty curve in stages is gentle and ramps up very naturally, you may run into walls but never feel that the game is suddenly throwing bullshit at you. Because it builds up so nicely on previous stuff, you only feel even more determined to face new challenges in harder stages. And because they're so well designed, going through earlier stages again does not become a chore as you get better; they are also nice warmups where you can improve your chaining skills. By the end stage 5 feels basically like 2 stages rolled into one. Still, to me there's the same drawback as with all other shmups, there's some parts where you have to play a bit until you learn the stage no matter what, but there's a lot you can get away with if you do well.
Bullet patterns are great. It has a lot of unique stuff and often it leans into compositions that move organically and are able to overwhelm a lot without clogging up the screen, giving you a challenge but also room for moving around and getting close to different enemies. Bosses in particular are just mesmerizing. While for some the visuals may be a bit generic, everything else in the presentation is wonderful, especially the music. Plus, the new UI on PS4 is really gorgeous and in-depth even if you won't be looking at it much. I really hope they port this to PC sometime.
In short, I love Ketsui's philosophy. Fairly straightforward, it only has two ships differing in shot type and speed, and practically a single approach. It doesn't need any more because it achieves perfection in simplicity and accomplishes what it sets out to do. Only thing I'd say it's missing is that bosses turning into giant anime girl robots like in dodonpachi resurrection.
2 Comments
thank you! ( •̀ ω •́ )✧
Josh_The_Fourth
1 year ago