I've been playing Mushihimesama for about an hour each evening. So far, I've cleared Novice Original and Novice Maniac without using a continue, gotten up to stage 5 in Novice Ultra before having to continue, and I credit fed my way through Arrange mode from Stage 4 onwards. I'm mostly pleased with my progress; it took me roughly a year to clear Deathsmiles--the first bullet hell I sunk significant time into--without continuing. Granted, I've only done so on the easiest difficulties so far, but progress is progress.
Anyway, rather than tackling Ultra or Arrange mode, I decided to learn how the scoring system works in Maniac mode and see if I could beat my high score--on the Steam leader boards, I'm...57, I think? Since that was from my first one-credit clear, I figured with some practice I would be able to beat that score quickly. The reality: I haven't come close to beating my original score. :( Part of me wants to keep practicing until I put together a really good run in Mushihimesama; part of me wants to change things up and work on some other Cave-developed shooter. Or maybe any shooter that isn't Mushihimesama. Or maybe...not play a shooter at all for a few days. Haha, this might be why my bullet hell skills are still solidly average after fairly frequent playing since 2010.
I didn't intend for NaBloPoMo to turn into 'exhaustive updates on personal progress in bullet hell games' month, but hey, here we are! I suppose I find the relative straightforward quality of the games to be intriguing; every game boils down to two goals: "shoot baddies,dodge bullets" and "get the highest score" --and yet, even within the strict confines of the design there is a remarkable amount of creativity and diversity within the genre.
...I really should start writing these entries sooner, before I'm ready to collapse into bed. There are a lot of things I've been mulling about wrt bullet hell game design, but right now I'm too tired to articulate them clearly. I imagine it can't be very intersting to read. Guess I'll try again tomorrow.
Anyway, rather than tackling Ultra or Arrange mode, I decided to learn how the scoring system works in Maniac mode and see if I could beat my high score--on the Steam leader boards, I'm...57, I think? Since that was from my first one-credit clear, I figured with some practice I would be able to beat that score quickly. The reality: I haven't come close to beating my original score. :( Part of me wants to keep practicing until I put together a really good run in Mushihimesama; part of me wants to change things up and work on some other Cave-developed shooter. Or maybe any shooter that isn't Mushihimesama. Or maybe...not play a shooter at all for a few days. Haha, this might be why my bullet hell skills are still solidly average after fairly frequent playing since 2010.
I didn't intend for NaBloPoMo to turn into 'exhaustive updates on personal progress in bullet hell games' month, but hey, here we are! I suppose I find the relative straightforward quality of the games to be intriguing; every game boils down to two goals: "shoot baddies,dodge bullets" and "get the highest score" --and yet, even within the strict confines of the design there is a remarkable amount of creativity and diversity within the genre.
...I really should start writing these entries sooner, before I'm ready to collapse into bed. There are a lot of things I've been mulling about wrt bullet hell game design, but right now I'm too tired to articulate them clearly. I imagine it can't be very intersting to read. Guess I'll try again tomorrow.