Is this the greatest shmup of all time? Hardcore difficulty and beautiful, gorgeous aesthetics.
I think the full genre potential has been maximized.
>>3006149
Not even the best Treasure STG, kiddo.
>>3006154
RSG is a boring as fuck grinding game.
At least post Gradius V if you want to try posting a better Treasure game.
>>3006169
>grinding game
>I couldn't be assed to learn how to score it properly
End thyself.
>>3006149
I always preferred Mars Matrix
Never really clicked with me. I prefer Psikyo and Takumi games.
>>3006174
I can score most levels in the game, I just can't keep up doing it for the 90 fucking minutes a score-based playthrough takes.
And doing so means that I play the game like a touhou title.
>>3006149
0/10
So much for subtlety.
>>3006149
It is, but Cavedrones will claim otherwise. However, I wouldn't say that Ikaruga has hardcore difficulty. If you only play for survival the game is not that hard for a shooter, but that's also not how the game is meant to be played.
>>3006487
I'll take Psikyo over both Treasure AND Cave.
>>3006487
>Cavedrones will claim otherwise
But I'm a Taitofag and I don't particularly like Ikaruga. Where do I fit in this equation?
Behead all those who insult Raizing.
But seriously though, outside of great aesthetic, cool level-design and gimmick, the game's not that brilliant. The scoring system's particularly woeful and they two of the bosses are dull.
>>3006487
Both Treasure and Cave are trash.
>>3006487
>However, I wouldn't say that Ikaruga has hardcore difficulty. If you only play for survival the game is not that hard for a shooter,
That's not really true. It puts insane penalty on you if you just shoot shit indiscriminately. Even if you only go for survival, you have to carefully plan your next move and calculate its consequences. You have to be, like, 3 steps ahead of the curve at all times.
On most shmups you can just concentrate on your own ship and dodge while you hold down fire and use your peripheral vision for targeting. On Ikaruga, that tactic is suicidal - you have to pay attention in the exact opposite way as in other shooters. Concentrate on what you are hitting, and use your peripheral vision to dodge (or even map down all bullets in your head and move based solely using that). Like if you were playing Tetris and only looked on the incoming blocks, not the playfield.
Anyone who says that Ikaruga is easy if you just dodge has never played it past the stage 3 boss.
>>3007315
Absolutely agreed.
Playing on hard mode, stage four absolutely annihilates. You need a lot more than twitch-reflex bullet dodging to survive there.
>>3007315
Having cleared normal, it really isn't. It takes getting used to, but learning the deliberate play is not that hard. Personally, not my kind of game, sorta breaks the flow for me.
Mind, hard's tough, but doesn't seem too unfeasible.
>>3007315
>Anyone who says that Ikaruga is easy if you just dodge has never played it past the stage 3 boss.
I have a score of 25 million on normal and the only really difficult part of the game (if you just play for survival) is the endboss. On hard mode it's not much different, even in stage 4, since your hitbox is quite small and you can just squeeze yourself through the popcorn.
Ikaruga is really special in this regard, that it really demands from the player to play for score, otherwise a huge chunk of the game really becomes just trivial. But I don't see this as negative, in contrary, I like it that the player basically can chose on his own how hard the game is.
>>3006182
Play the arcade mode then, which only takes about 30-40 minutes to clear.
>>3006149
>no cute girls
What's even the point?
>>3007503
But there is a cute girl, the pilot of the 2P ship
>>3007398
>I have a score of 25 million on normal
Post the replay file or pic of your high score list, or you are full of shit.
And the endboss is the least difficult part of the game. I can get dot eater on the last level easier than I can on stage 4.
>>3007530
The final boss is also a cute girl piloting a weird fat orb thing with arms.
>>3007542
Here is my highscore. It really took me a while to 1cc the game, but I still think many other shooters are harder to play for survival.
Ikaruga is just really weird, and it really takes some time to adjust yourself to it, but once you memorized a good route, it's actually pretty easy to play for survival, to the point where it really becomes just boring in many places. On 1P normal at least, on hard mode it may be pretty difficult even if you play for survival, but I don't have that much experience with hard mode.
However, I find that you basically must play for score, even if you play for survival, because even if the game is easy, the endboss will still kill you at least twice, except you are really really good at the game. That's how it went for me at least at the beginning. I had to learn to play for score, because otherwise I couldn't beat the endboss without extra lives.
So, IDK... Ikaruga is really a weird game, but I think playing it for survival is not as hard as playing Battle Garegga for survival for example...
>>3007503
>1 Treasure thread and 2 Ikaruga threads
>>3007691
>tfw they never fugged
>>3007734
You don't know that.
