So Team Ladybug just shadowdropped a new game, and it's actually a shmup.

You might know Team Ladybug for games like Touhou Luna Nights and Record of Lodoss War.
They're known for their insanely high quality pixel art and overall quality, and this game is no different.
Someone on that team apparently really loves shmups, you can see tons of references to classic shmups and you can feel a great sense of respect for them.
Just on a glance you can see inspiration from Gradius V, Gradius Gaiden, Darius Gaiden, Progear and Fantasy Zone. Hell there is even a Gradius III cube rush reference thrown in there. They know.
Just like their previous games, this game boosts insane pixel art and oozes quality.

Game system is all about absorbing bullets while using the i-frame mechanic.
This meter drains while you use it and refills when you're not.
Absorbing bullets charges your reflect lasers and fills your energy tanks and bombs. You can use these energy tanks to buy upgrades in the pause menu.
The gameplay reminds me of IKUSAAAAAAAN! at times where you just want to absorb as many bullets as possible while abusing the i-frame mechanic as much as possible.

Ridiculous is the hardest difficulty in the game.
Patterns are significantly buffed and you die in one hit, normally getting hit makes you lose power and you only die after you lose all your power.
In the 2nd loop enemies shoot tons of red bullets too, so you actually have to dodge a lot. Red bullets cannot be absorbed, though bombs give a few i-frames you can use to bypass red bullets.
Ridiculous mode is easily the best part of the game.

For upgrades you want to upgrade Guard asap since more absorbing = more powerups.
After that you want a shield and eventually Emergency Power-up to compliment it.
I don't even buy weapons until stage 3 but for weapons you just want to get the most powerful and expensive ones.
After that you want to jailbreak slot 1 so you can put the x1.2 attack EX slot in there.
For the 2nd loop you want to save 27 tanks so you can immediately buy the new 2nd loop weapons and shield. I think you generate less energy tanks in the 2nd loop, so you mostly want to get everything done in the 1st loop.

Dying is pretty bad in this game because you lose all your power.
You're basically unable to kill anything in this state, so chaindeaths will happen or worse.
The Emergency Power-up bomb is the best way to recover in this situation, if you have a bunch of bombs stocked up you can recover most of your power on the spot.

Unfortunately the game doesn't live up to it's full potential and is ultimately broken.
The game has super wacky balance and Story Mode has infinite patterns. Things don't time out, so you can just milk for score and powerups forever, making this kind of a sham. Some power-ups are also super busted while others serve little purpose. Combining the Emergency Power-up Super Bomb with the shield is a super broken combination, as soon as your shield breaks just pop one of these and you'll get it back immediately for basically infinite shields.

Now here's the thing: there is actually an Arcade mode that HAS TIMEOUTS.
The fact that Arcade mode fixes some of these issues but not Story mode is maddening to me.
So just play Arcade Mode then right? Unfortunately Arcade Mode is limited to Hard Mode only, and Hard mode is unplayably easy. If Arcade had Ridiculous this would be perfect but alas.
The Arcade mode in concept is really cool btw. It even has an attract screen with 'insert credit' and it's really authentic. You can also only access the pause menu once per stage and the pause menu has a timer now.

This game would be incredible if it had just a few tiny tweaks and it's a shame really.
Maybe EXA will pick it up and make a true arcade mode that nobody will be able to play.

I guess a no-death clear wouldn't be -that- much harder, but it's kinda obnoxious to try this on a game that's super long like this.

Buy the game on Steam here:
[ Ссылка ]

Did a different Ridiculous clear on Twitch with commentary as well:
[ Ссылка ]

00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Stage 1-1 - Planet Halpax
10:40 - Stage 1-2 - Lunar Railway Mazzaroth
23:24 - Stage 1-3 - Planet Chammatter
30:02 - Stage 1-4 - Battleship Kharlal
41:14 - Stage 1-5 - Kharlal Mobile Fortress Exterior
49:16 - Stage 1-6 - Kharlal Mobile Fortress Interior
1:00:38 - Stage 2-1 - Deja Vu Planet Halpax
1:07:36 - Stage 2-2 - Deja Vu Lunar Railway Mazzaroth
1:14:44 - Stage 2-3 - Deja Vu Planet Chammatter
1:21:16 - Stage 2-4 - Deja Vu Battleship Kharlal
1:32:12 - Stage 2-5 - Deja Vu Kharlal Mobile Fortress Exterior
1:39:22 - Stage 2-6 - Deja Vu Kharlal Mobile Fortress Interior
Ending & Credits: 1:47:38

Some funny scuff in this run.

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Twitch: [ Ссылка ]

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