Elden Ring (PS5) Review

 

Elden Ring (PS5) Review

Release Date: 25 February 2022

Date Played: 21 April 2022

Introduction:

I'm not sure if Elden Ring is my favorite game of all time, nor am I sure if it's the "best" game ever made.  However, when I think of all of the best games I've ever played all I can think to myself is, "Elden Ring is as good as that... maybe better."  It's an incredible game that is awe-inspiring in both its scope and its attention to detail and the world that Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin created is unparalleled. And while the game isn't perfect, it is without a doubt a masterpiece by any metric.  

When the game was first announced back in 2019, there was a lot of energy surrounding it that never really let up until it was released.  Even then... even now, Elden Ring seems to be the only game that anyone is talking about.  It released to universal acclaim from critics and the public alike and squashed any negativity that the naysayers could muster. The world was so enthralled by this game that it honestly felt like the video game community disappeared for a month because they were all too busy playing it.

Gameplay:

Being a FromSoft developed game, Elden Ring plays much like the other games in the SoulsBorne series.  It's still a 3rd person action RPG with most of the same mechanics you'd expect.  While some of the names have changed you still have the bonfire system that serves as somewhat of a checkpoint system (now called Sites of Grace), instead of souls that serve as XP and currency, you now have Runes, and instead of Estus Flasks that serve as healing potions, they are now called Flasks of Crimson Tears.  So, if you've played Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, or Bloodborne, you're going to feel right at home here. There are still quasi-online components where you can summon people from around the world to help you, read messages left behind by other players, and even be invaded by hostile players looking to ruin your good time. The "rogue-like" components are still present as well.  If you die, you lose the current XP you're saving to level up unless you can make it back to the spot of your death to reclaim it.  The mechanics are tried and true and have a strong, "why mess with perfection?" attitude.

What is new this time around is that Elden Ring takes place in a vast and expertly crafted open world.  Due to the game's enormous size, you're provided with a horse to help you traverse other overworld much more quickly and are also able to fast travel to and from the various Sites of Grace you'll find scattered around the map. The horse is a valuable ally and you will often be platforming, exploring, and even fighting upon his back.  This mounted combat is a lot of fun and really changes up how you approach different situations in the game.  If you're getting wrecked by an overworld enemy, hop on your horse and charge at him. Boss fights that seem impossible on foot become trivial on horseback and really go a long way to add variety to an already expansive game.

At first I thought the whole open world concept was going to dilute the Souls experience that were are all so accustomed to.  Let me tell you, I couldn't have been more wrong.  The open world not only allows a greater number of different environments that range from crystal forests, snowy tundras, poison swamps, and even alien hellscapes, it also provides a respite from the stress you feel from the inexorable challenge found in the other games.  Yes, Elden Ring still has that "Dark Souls Hard" difficulty and has some of the hardest bosses found in the entire series, but it's a real blessing to be able to take a break from the hardships of combat and just get to explore on your horse and take in the scenery while hacking down weaker enemies.  The other benefit that the open world provides is that it eliminates that impassable wall issue that plagued the other games.  Often you would come to a boss or an area in the game that just felt too hard and you would spend hours and hours of time repeatedly fighting the same boss over, and over... just trying to progress past that point. This is what caused the vast majority of Souls players to give up on the game and quit out of frustration. It's hard to blame them.  The Souls games do have a draconian mindset and you can tell the developers are actively trying to troll you with how difficult they can make things. This time around, when you get stuck, the open world lets you go off an explore in another direction and progress elsewhere until you become stronger.  Then, you can come back to the section that was giving you fits and conquer it after you've become more powerful.  The sites of grace do direct you towards the next area you should visit, but these "next areas" are multiple and don't really have to be done in any set order.  Often times, I would struggle with an area before before taking a break to go somewhere else.  When I got there, I would find myself plowing through enemies easily and destroying bosses on my first try.  Upon returning to the first area, things were much easier the second time around.

As for gameplay styles, you have more options this time around to suit your playstyle than ever before.  Sword and Board, dual wielding katanas, dragon magic, bow and arrow, etc.  If you want to give it a shot, it's probably a viable technique.  Still... items that add "bleed" buildup are your friend.  This is especially true for some bosses, especially one that might be the hardest Souls boss of all time. Still, you will get stuck on some of the harder bosses for sure.  Luckily, FromSoft provided Spirit Ashes that allow you to summon various enemies from the game to assist you in the fight.  Some of these Ashes are so powerful that they can solo many of the bosses by themselves.  So, don't despair, even if you're playing offline, you can still get some help.

Story:

Just like all the other SoulsBorne games, the story in Elden Ring is very lore rich and understated.  You're given a slight background about how Marika, the ruler of the land left her powerful and titular Elden Ring behind.  It was shattered and the pieces were gathered by grotesque demi-gods who used them to gain even more strength and influence.  You now have to slay all of these enemies and gather the pieces of the Elden Ring so you can become the next Elden Lord.  Of course, most of the story and background are filled in by studying the environments, reading item descriptions, and from piecing together bits of dialog from interacting with the game's colorful cast of characters.  If you like to delve into every tiny aspect of a game's lore, then this is probably the game you've been praying for and dreaming of your whole life.  If you don't care about the story at all, then you don't have to worry about it and can just plug your way through the game completely oblivious to all of this esoteric prattle.  Personally, I love the lore in these games, but don't really want to put forth the effort to piece it together myself like some sort of archeologist who's trying to define an extinct people's culture by discovering letters on ancient pottery and dusty tomes.  I typically do enough in these games to get the overall gist of what's going on, then after I finished the game, I watch some sort of extended internet video where someone has spent countless hours spelling it all out for me. Some people have complained that the story in these games needs to be more upfront and spelled out, but I feel like they are mistaken.  The austere story adds a lot of mystery and intrigue to the world that feels unique to the series and would fall apart if more time were devoted to filling in the story with a bunch of cutscenes, dialog, or journal entries.

Of course, there are a ton of side quests that enrich the world even more and feel like a whole game unto themselves.  Some of these span over the entire world and almost the full length of the game.  If you undertake some of the more detailed ones, they will even lead to different endings for the game.  They are all very cool and interesting, but my only complaint with them is the same as it's always been with these games.  They are very obtuse about what you have to do, where you have to go, and when you have to be there. Often times, you have to meet a character at some random location that you completed hours ago and have no real reason to revisit.  Sometimes they are looking for an item, but they don't tell you what it is or where to get it.  Other times, you'll kill a boss or an enemy, and completely derail the side quest and find the quest giver murdered in their sleep or something without any warning before hand.  I wish FromSoft would give us a bit more information during these side quests and some sort of journal to keep track of what's going on with each of them.  It's very easy to lose track of all the objectives you're working toward and a little help would be nice.  Also, most of these side quests lead to me having to lookup a walkthrough to figure out how to do them.  Like 90% of the time, I think to myself, "yeah... I never would have figured that out in a million years." It's not enough to spoil the experience, and I know that this is my personal preference and not an objective flaw.  I'm sure a lot of Souls fans would have it no other way.

In addition to this, there are optional side dungeons that usually provide you with a valuable item when you complete them.  Sadly, they are too similar and often involve some sort of hidden path or trick to progress in them and repeat the same bosses over and over.  They really do feel like they are trying to pad out the game and are reminiscent of the Bloodborne's chalice dungeons.  They feel a bit like a grind and I think the game would have been better with fewer of them... or none at all.  Since they are optional content, you can avoid them altogether if you wish.  But, completing them all was a bit chore-like.

Presentation:

Well, the game looks magnificent.  All of the graphics, animations, textures, and lighting effects are gorgeous.  The art style and world that FromSoft have created is... frustratingly impressive.  I am always shocked at the ideas they come up with.  Every time I play one of these games, I think they are going to run out of fun and interesting new concepts, but they always prove me wrong.  Elden Ring is no exception.  I'm not sure what George R.R. Martin contributed, but it definitely feels like Mr. Miyazaki still has his creative claws embedded deeply into the process. He's a master world builder, and is flexing his skill more than he ever has before. He has a certain "style" that is easy to pick out from the competition and he might be my favorite game designer ever.  Often times, I would find myself just staring into the distance and admiring the magnificent surroundings.  I know I'm not alone in this because there are messages left behind by other players at every vista in the game praising the glorious view.  

On top of this, the soundtrack is spectacular and typically consists of somber strings playing sparse and minimalistic melodies while you journey around the isolated and forlorn world.  Of course, when you enter into one of the game's many memorable and epic boss fights, the full choir kicks into gear with lots of "oohs" and "aahs" that accompany the grandiose orchestral pieces.  It has a very gothic and epic presentation and seems as if it could have been composed by the great Carl Orff. There's nothing like tense classical music pounding in the background to make a white-knuckle boss fight tip over into cardiac arrest territory.  

The cast of characters is as crazy and unique as ever.  The Deathbed Companion, Iron Fist Alexander (the giant jar), Renni the Witch, Dung Eater,  and many others are so unique that they could star in their own games and I wish I got to spend even more time with them.  FromSoft never lets you down when they design characters and I think this is some of their best work.  I'll probably get some art prints depicting these characters and hang them up in my game room alongside some of the other awesome video game characters from the past.

I have nothing negative to say about the presentation in this game and it rivals and/or surpasses every other game I've ever played.  

Conclusion:

Elden Ring did something I don't think I've ever seen any other game do.  For 3 years, it was the most anticipated game out there.  The hype surrounding it was palpable.  Normally when this happens, it seems like everyone is really let down once the game releases.  I think back on all of these huge game that were released in half-finished states, full of bugs, were boring or repetitive, rehashed the same concepts, or just generally disappointed the public.  Not only did that not happen with Elden Ring... it seems to have SURPASSED everyone's expectations.  It's much better than I thought it could have ever been.  It is almost guaranteed to win Game of the Year and will probably start appearing towards the top of Best Games of All Time lists.

Other than the repetitiveness of the the optional "chalice" dungeons, and my inability to keep up with what's going on with the side quests, I have nothing to complain about in Elden Ring.  It's probably the best SoulsBorne game ever made. It's so good, in fact, that it completely destroyed my desire to play any other games.  I was in the middle of 4 other games when I started Elden Ring, and I just put them to the side to dump 71 hours into this game.  Honestly, I would have kept playing on New Game +, but I have so many games in my backlog that I need to get to that I was starting to feel guilty about it.  I could see someone putting thousands of hours into this game... and I wouldn't fault them for it.

Everyone needs to play this Elden Ring.  It's sheer scope and high difficulty will drive many people away, but don't let those two aspects deter you.  They are benefits rather than faults.  You need the tense aspect of the combat encounters to give you that rewarding feeling and you need the open world to take a break from the intensity.

To reiterate, is Elden Ring the best game that's ever been made?  If it's not, it's really close.

Final Status: Beaten... and all bosses cleared

Final Score: 10/10 Masterpiece

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the Necrodancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda - Symphony of the Mask (DLC) (Switch) Review

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the Necrodancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda - Symphony of the Mask (DLC) (Switch) Review

Release Date: 23 September 2020

Date Played: 13 February 2022

Symphony of the Mask was the 3rd DLC expansion pack released for Cadence of Hyrule and introduces the beloved Skull Kid as a playable character.  Although he plays much like the other characters in the game, he has the ability to change masks to gain various powers like swimming, blocking attacks, and more that can help you make progress.  In addition to the new character, this DLC pack also contains a new story mode that consists of a future Hyrule where Ganon has conquered everything and turned the once bright and vibrant land into a muted brown and green wasteland.  While the map isn't as large as the base game, it is still a good size and is about half the size of the full game.  It is, of course, randomized just like the overworld map in Cadence of Hyrule but due to it's smaller size, there's really only so many ways it can be jumbled.  As you explore, you'll definitely get a darker and more sinister vibe similar to Majora's Mask (if you're familiar with it).  Everything feels bleak and desolate and is a nice juxtaposition to what you experienced before with the original game.  You can feel the despair in the air and you want to help fix this broken world.

As you explore around, you'll encounter the Gerudo and Deku civilizations and learn that they are still managing to survive after Ganon has taken power.  Also, Ganon's minions are fully thriving and out of blood.  Many screens you enter will be inundated with harder versions of enemies you've encountered before as well as a host of new bad guys to make you tear out your hair.  And, on that note, Symphony of the Mask is HARD. Not a little more difficult than the base game... but MUCH more difficult.  The enemy attack patterns are draconian and difficult to manage. In addition to that, there can be more than twice the number of enemies you're use to encountering if you've finished the base game.  You'll find yourself losing a huge chunk of your health on almost every single enemy encounter and you'll die repeatedly.  Although the game is about half the size of the standard game, I would say that I probably died about 5X more often in this DLC pack. So, if you're a pro at the original game, this expansion will be more than happy to smash in some of your teeth  if you're willing to give it a shot.

There are two new temples to complete this time around.  The first is the Garudo Village Arena which is just a gauntlet of clearing 5 rounds of attacks from the same bad guys you've encountered all over the overworld before facing off against a final boss.  It'll take some skill for sure, but doesn't really feel like a real dungeon to me and has more of a side quest feel to it.  If you've got enough heart containers and a few health potions, it shouldn't be too bothersome just to tank your way through it with a little skill. The second of the two temples is far more interesting.  The Temple of Brainstorms is by far the most difficult portion of the game and is a sprawling 3 story tall tower of difficult puzzles and combat encounters.  You'll have all of your weapons and collected items stripped away from you at the onset and you'll have to work your way through the procedurally generated dungeon and clear rooms to recollect them.  Along the way, you'll learn new mechanics and be forced to use them to defeat enemies in ways that are totally unique to the game (and a little obtuse, in my opinion).  Apparently, if you've played the original Crypt of the Necrodancer, you'll have a clue how these combat encounters work. But, as someone who hasn't had a chance to play it yet, I was totally lost and actually had to do a quick internet search to figure out what to do.  Unsurprisingly, a lot of other people out there had the same problems as me and were somewhat put off by the lack of direction and huge increase in difficulty of this DLC pack.  

 

Once you work your way through this temple, you'll encounter the most difficult boss fight of the entire game and if you have the skills to complete it you'll finally have access to fight Ganon.  It's the exact same fight as the base game of Cadence of Hyrule and is a bit of a let down because I was hoping for a different ending or at least different boss fight mechanics. I guess it does provide an alternate route to finish the game, but that doesn't help it feel like less of a cop-out.  With all the love and care the developers put into the base game, I was a little surprised by this lack of content.

Overall, I feel like this DLC pack is a good addition to the base game but it doesn't really elevate it in any ways other than the difficulty.  The Temple of Brainstorms was a really unique and interesting dungeon and certainly stands out as one of the best in the game, but the rest of the content doesn't live up to its standard and by the end of the experience, I was kind of relieved when the whole DLC content was over. Skull Kid is an interesting character, but none of the characters in Cadence of Hyrule play that differently to each other and this one is no exception.   While I did spend some time with him, I found Link's charge attack to be so essential for dispatching the difficult enemies that I ended up using him most of the time.  If you're a huge fan of the base game, give this one a shot.  If you bought the physical version of this game on the Nintendo Switch, it's already included on the cart and you have nothing to lose.

Final Status: Beaten

Final Score: 6/10 (worse than the base game and much more difficult)

DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou (Xbox 360) Review

DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou (Xbox 360) Review

Release Date: 30 May 2013

Date Played: 20 December 2021

Introduction:

DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou (SDOJ) was the swan song for it's hallowed developer, Cave, and also the final of the six games in the DoDonPachi franchise. It's a vertical bullet hell game with an anime feel and is has previously made it onto many Greatest Shmups of All Time lists. It was released to Japanese arcades in 2012 with this region free Xbox 360 port to follow a year later.  SaiDaiOuJou translates roughly to "Blissful Death" which is a fitting title for a game with such a notoriously heinous difficulty.  While still a well liked game in a beloved franchise, SDOJ was a bit of a departure and isn't as highly regarded as many of the other games in the series. Though it was highly regarded when it came out, it seems to have fallen a bit out of favor over the last few years. I originally played it back when it was released in 2013 and remember having a rather good impression of it.  Having been on a huge shmup kick over the last few years I decided to give it another shot to see if I still liked it as much as before now that I'm more knowledgeable about the genre. Having played the predecessor to this game, DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu  (DFK, aka. known as Resurrection in Europe) earlier this year, this felt like a good time to compare the two. How would they stack up against each other?

 

Story/Presentation: 

There is definitely a story and a lot of lore associated with the DoDonPachi franchise, and honestly, I don't really know any of it.  All of these games, except for one, are in Japanese.  And, unfortunately, I don't speak Japanese.  You can feel free to read all about these games on the internet if you wish.  Suffice it to say, I'll only give a very brief description of SDOJ's story here.  Essentially, it takes place in an alternate universe from the other games in the series and has totally new characters.  These characters are artificial lifeforms called, "dolls" and their purpose was to help out humanity.  One of the dolls went evil and decided to destroy humankind (I think...) and it's your job to play as one of the four good dolls to stop her.  

It's a basic enough story, and I honestly find it kind of intriguing and would like to know more and wish I spoke Japanese and was more versed in the whole DoDonPachi franchise. As for the character design, I really like it a lot more than I thought I would.  The sexy doll design is a nice departure from the generic fighter pilot stereotype we see time and time again in these games and I think it helps stand apart from the franchise which is primarily a military based shmup series. These military shooters can all start to look too similar to each other after years of playing them.  Compared to its predecessor, DFK, this game has a much more interesting and appealing art style.  

Unlike the other games in the series, you're greeted with a fast and flashy anime introduction to introduce you to the characters.  It's well done, but I could see how it would feel a little out of place if you're a seasoned DoDonPachi fan.  Personally, I liked it and appreciate the direction they decided to go with this entry. Once you begin playing, you'll notice the game is is bright and colorful and really has that signature CAVE look with chunky sprites and blindingly colorful bullets. As you play through the 5 stages that range from nigh time cityscapes, rivers, and all the way into a computer itself you'll get to take in the gorgeous visuals of the game... if you're able to take your eyes off the bullets for a second, of course. Each level feels very distinct from the others as you're going through the game, but seem pretty generic when compared to CAVE's other creations. This was also a big problem with DFK, sadly.  As I'm writing this, I'm struggling to even remember where each stage was set... and that's after putting in a couple of dozen hours with the game. Honestly, other than the characters and gameplay, I wouldn't be able to easily identify this game apart from DFK if you were to show me a screen capture from the game. This makes the game feel a little uninspired compared to some of the masterpieces that CAVE has released before. There are also a lot of recycled enemies and mid-bosses in this game that carry over from stage to stage.  This leads to the whole experience feeling a little too monotonous for its duration.  I end up recognizing most of the stages by the bullet patterns rather than their location.

As for the music, it's a lot better than DFK.  While I'm not personally a huge fan of the music from CAVE games, I find it to be well suited and pretty generally pretty decent.  Rarely, though, do I find it to be catchy or to have interesting chord progressions that keep you hooked and humming along.  This isn't the case with SDOJ, and it has one of the better soundtracks that I've heard from CAVE.  The bridge of the song in Stage 2 has a really nice hook that I always looked forward to while I was playing the game, and the boss music is epic, energetic, and catchy as can be; and it might be some of my favorite boss fight music of all time.  Overall, the composer did a really good job this time around and there are a few standout tracks good enough to listen to in the car.

Excluding the sort of bland environments, SDOJ has a really nice and fun aesthetic presentation that I feel is one of the better ones of any CAVE game I've played.  That's saying a lot, because CAVE is known for making great and memorable games.

Gameplay:

Like any game in the genre, a good shmup lives or dies by its gameplay and SDOJ is no exception.  The creator of this game wanted to get away from all of the complicated mechanics that had been so prevalent in CAVE games for the last several years and move towards a more streamlined system of only shooting and dodging. You begin the game by selecting one of three ships with different strengths and weaknesses.  There's the red ship (Shuri) that's fast and has a strong but narrow shot, green (Hikari) that's more balanced, and blue (Maria) who is slow but has the widest shot. All of these characters seem viable, but a faster speed ship seems to be the preferred direction for most fans of this game. After this, you pick the "outfit" for your selected character.  All three have a fighter outfit that makes your spread shot more powerful, a civilian outfit that makes the focus laser more powerful, and a swimsuit outfit that makes both much more powerful but GREATLY increases the game's difficulty. This is a really cool idea for customizing your playstyle that I enjoyed experimenting around with as I found my favorite combo, but can get a little creepy when you realize you're playing dress up with some dolls. Don't let that deter you though.  It's still very much PG-13.

Still present is the CAVE system of having a spread shot that is weaker but lets you maintain your speed, and a focused laser that is stronger, but slows you way down.  It's a risk/reward system that works extremely well and is genius in its simplicity.  Many, including me, consider this to be the best designed system for a shmup and never get tired of it.  You still have screen clearing (and life saving) bombs that we're all used to as well as a hyper system that is not only used to give you huge scoring opportunities, but also can clear the screen of bullets in a pinch.  Sadly, both of these are mapped to the same button.  So, if you're about to take a hit and want to bomb to save yourself, this only works if your hyper gauge is empty.  If it's full, you'll just activate your hyper instead, which is a bit of a let down and can royally ruin your scoring strategy.  The game could have benefitted from having these assigned to two different buttons and this is one way which DFK wins over SDOJ.  As you play and collect tokens, you're hyper gauge can be charged up to 10 levels to give you progressively larger scoring opportunities. You'll be spending a lot of your time focusing on building it up, so it's very frustrating to play through half of the game, while increasing and conserving your hyper gauge, only to to have to use it instead of a bomb when a stray bullet comes your way. It can often be demoralizing; especially when you have all your bombs in stock. One way to get around this issue, and a smart decision on CAVE's behalf, is the autobomb feature.  If you're about to get hit, the game will use up your current bomb supply to save you from losing a life.  It's a nice returning mechanic from DFK, but I feel like it's a little overly harsh with taking all of your bombs instead of just one.  Of course, you can turn this ability off. But, that's only for the most hardcore of players (myself not included).

As for scoring, it's pretty complicated, and I could spend 2000 words describing it.  So, I'll just go over the basics here.  As you shoot, you build up a combo, using your hyper increases this combo greatly and the higher number of charges you've stocked up on the hyper gauge increase it more and let it last longer. If you auto bomb, it breaks the combo.  If you bomb on purpose, it reduces the combo by 30%.  There are also hidden bees around the levels that you can collect to gain more points based on how many you find.  As you kill enemies, they drop tokens/stars that you can collect for points.  The larger the token, the more points you get.  Killing a large enemy will often cancel all of the bullets on the screen and convert them into tokens.  Holding down your focus attack pulls in all the tokens to your ship.  Obviously, dying messes up your combo and hurts your scoring chances.   There are more nuances to this, but if you're interested in all of that, you can learn more over about it on the internet. 

See, even that was a mouthful.  It basically boils down to collecting all of the hidden bees, not getting hit or bombing until your hyper gauge is maxed out at 10, then using it and collecting all the tokens that you can.  I'll just say that I find the scoring system in this game to be pretty intuitive and fun and wish it was in more games.  It's exciting to see your multiplier and score grow insanely huge when you use your hyper.  This scoring system to be one of the easier and more accessible ones that CAVE has done in the past and I wish they had often kept things this simple in many of their other games. They are known for letting things get a little too complex and I'm glad they didn't drop the ball here.

There are several different modes included in this port.  There's Arcade mode, which is just like it sounds... a port of the arcade game.  There's Ver 1.5, which is the arcade mode with some patched out scoring bugs and tweaked scoring system.  It's really more for experts of the game who are very familiar with its systems.  There's a Novice mode that is a easier and more balanced version of Arcade. And, lastly, there's XBOX 360 more which serves as an arrange mode of the arcade and completely changes up the gameplay and even gives you a storyline and new fourth character to play.  This final mode is one of the better parts of the package and makes the game more about resource management because you have no lives nor bombs and only a meter of energy that is depleted when you bomb or get hit.  Going into hyper mode causes the enemies to drop crystals that replenish this energy gauge.  Personally, I found the Xbox 360 mode to be the most fun way to play the game, but the storyline part has too much dialog that is annoying and constantly goes on while you play.  There are cutscenes that extend the game time as well and aren't very welcome.  Lastly, the music has been remixed and doesn't sound nearly as good and has a strange sound to it like it's almost played in sped up form.  This mode is much easier than the other modes and if you're a fan of the genre, you should try it out. It all of the unskippable story parts are very frustrating, but the novel and addictive gameplay changes, new and powerful character, and new enemy patterns more than make up for it.

Ok, now for the elephant in the room.  SDOJ is hard.  It's unforgiving, brutal, unfair, and as one internet reviewer put it, "mean."  While this game is simpler in terms of its mechanics and scoring over it's CAVE brethren, it is much more difficult and is considered one of, if not THE, hardest CAVE games ever.  If you've ever played a CAVE game before, you know that's saying a lot because they are renowned for making some of the hardest games ever made. So, to be at the top of that mountain is quite the feat.

There is only one loop in SDOJ, so it's doesn't have time to ramp up the difficulty over a bunch of stages.  It starts off extremely difficult and only goes up from there.  The bullet patterns are too dense, the bullets are too fast, the bosses are bullet sponges, and the enemy placement is ruthless.  Add to that, you're hit box is a lot larger than it was in previous games of the series and seems like it can't even fit between some of the bullets slung at you.  Piling on top of all those issues, the Xbox 360 port of this game is rather sloppy and has 5 frames of input delay.  This is right on the border of making the game unplayable. This means when you see a bullet about to hit you, it already has.  You're just seeing a delayed image of what's already happened on the screen. If you're curious how bad 5 frames is on this game, it's about twice as bad as the gold standard. With bullets as fast as they are in SDOJ, and the tight dodges you'll need to make, this small oversite on the porting job pretty much adds an insurmountable struggle to an already impossibly difficult game. It's hard to say if it's the input delay, the fast bullets, or huge hitbox; but often you'll die... and not even really know what happened. Usually in these games, the bullet comes at you and you succeed in dodging or... you don't.  You have to try again to get better.  In SDOJ, you'll be dodging and weaving through enemy bullet patterns that you have memorized and done time and time again... and you'll just die. Some random bullet that you swore you dodged will collide with you and tank your run. Or, the game will send a wave of enemies that push you to one side of the screen, and then immediately bombard you with a tight cluster of bullets that completely annihilates you. That's where the unfairness comes in. No matter how well you're playing, there's always that chance that things will just go awry.

The first 3 stages are fun and manageable, but stage 4 and 5 are so much harder, longer, and generally unfair that they feel like they were designed by a different person. It's almost like they are from two different games.  Even the bullet patterns feel like they were designed differently. It's jarring and makes the second half of the game much less fun that the beginning. In addition to all of this, the game has a rank system that makes the game harder and harder based on how well you're doing.  I personally hate rank systems in shmups, but this one isn't too bad and goes down when you bomb or die.  So, you can manage it more than in other CAVE games (I'm looking at you, Pink Sweets). Unless you're a pro at the game and are playing for score rather than a clear, the rank system shouldn't deter you too much.

I mentioned the Novice mode earlier that was designed for "beginners" to the game, but even it is unbalanced and difficult.  I was able to 1 credit clear Novice on easy difficulty on my first try.  It felt perfect, and just the right difficulty. But even after 10 days of practice, I wasn't able to clear it on Novice Normal difficulty.  Honestly, this is the hardest novice mode I've ever seen in a game and Novice Normal feels like a Normal mode in most other arcade shmups. Calling it "Novice" is basically an insult. Getting a 1CC on the Novice mode of this game is an accomplishment for most gamers. Unfortunately, it doesn't work well for training you up to tackle the Arcade mode of the game. The jumps between the difficulty levels are just too great to make constant progress. Conversely, on the Arcade mode, the difficulties aren't varying enough.  Easy is almost as difficult as normal mode.  To combat this, you're given a training mode to help with Arcade, Novice, Xbox 360 mode, and Ver. 1.5.  It will let you set your lives, bombs, rank, and any other variables you wish to help you out. However, there is one exception to this. The freaking difficulty can't be changed.  It just defaults to Normal difficulty no matter what.  So, if you're working on Arcade Easy mode, there's no way to practice in training mode at all. Want to work on Novice Hard? Tough luck. Yes, it allows you to skip to various sections of each of the 5 stages to practice, but what good will training mode do you if you're forced to play on a difficulty that's way higher (or lower) than what you're currently working on? This pretty much makes learning the game a chore and more difficult than it needed to be. To help you out, you can unlock "cheats" for the game that basically make it push over, but these don't help you learn the game.  Which, after all, is the whole purpose of playing a shmup. Without a functional training mode, any home port of a shmup becomes much less appealing. Sadly, most of the competitive focus of this game is on the Arcade mode... and this port isn't really good enough to train up your skills for it.

The Xbox 360 mode is more balanced, fun, and doable... but is still tough as nails. It still suffers from the 5 frames of input delay, but won't make you rip out your hair quite as quickly as the other modes due to the slower bullets and more forgiving patterns. 

Conclusion:

SDOJ is one of the hardest games I've ever played... and not in a fun way.  Unlike most other CAVE games, when I died in this one it didn't feel like it was my fault or that I made a mistake.  Every death felt like a sucker punch to my face when I wasn't looking.  The input delay and uneven balance of the stages (esp. stages 4 and 5) make it neigh impossible to get into a good rhythm with the game and even after practicing a section dozens of times, I was struggling to make much improvement. Also, the lack of a usable training mode made the whole experience more frustrating than it needed to be.

I really do like the simplified mechanics (even if I wish there was a dedicated bomb button) and scoring.  The tried and true CAVE spread shot/focus laser system works as great as always and never gets old.  The character design was refreshing and a real stand out as was the music of the game.  Yes, the stages were a little unmemorable in terms of backgrounds and settings and the final one runs on for too long.  But, CAVE succeeded with a lot of its design choices with SDOJ.

There is a really good game hidden in here, but it's just covered up by the draconian difficulty and seemingly unfair attitude of its creator. The whole experience feels like CAVE was out to get your and ruin your day. The sloppy port only adds to this as it asks too much of the player and doesn't give you the training tools you need to succeed.  There is some real fun to be had in the Xbox 360 mode and in Novice mode for sure and I would recommend you spend your time with these.  If you're interested in grinding out the 1CC in Arcade mode. Or, if you're crazy enough to want to jump into the scoring scene of this game, you'd be better off playing the game elsewhere. 

I am a member of several shmup communities with a lot of seasoned players.  I asked them their opinions of this game and found there to be a general disdain for it.  The ones who had 1 credit cleared the Arcade mode didn't seem to recognize it as a joyous accomplishment and spoke of it more like overcoming an arduous struggle and were relieved when it was over.  Many others came out of the woodwork (unprompted, mind you) to express their hatred of the game.  While, I personally don't hate the game; I did become very frustrated with it and found myself to not be having much a lot of the time while playing it.  At the beginning of this review I wanted to compare it to the DoDonPachi game that came before it, DFK.  In the end, I would say that SDOJ has more fun mechanics and scoring, better characters and music, and more interesting stages.  However, it's just too hard and playing DFK is a more enjoyable experience.  So, I guess they even out in the end. I know there are people who love this game.  But, to me, it's not a shmup I want to devote the countless hours it would require to truly learn it.

Final Status: Beaten (1CC Xbox 360 mode, 1CC Novice Easy)

Final Score: 7/10 (Good game, bad port... and too difficult)