Dodonpachi Saidaioujou

[SuperPang]

First impressions after ten or so credits.

Firstly, it looks horrific The bubblegum style and ridiculously vibrant colour pallet are really gaudy. The soundtrack is equally sickly. A very odd experience in what is otherwise DOJ2. It would probably work better in high res. The inevitable port might make more sense.

Gameplay wise, it's one of Cave's hardest for sure. Shot and Laser modes seem a similar challenge to DOJ so far. Expert ramps things up to somewhere around Ultra difficulty. I really can't see there being a second loop. Expert is it.

The bullet patterns are very reminiscent of the Ketsui/DOJ era, which I love. The patterns are only half the story where difficulty is concerned however, hitboxes seem bigger than anything Cave have done. You don't get away with half as much. Autobomb seems like a must for now.

I'm liking the A ship overall. B seems handy for killing popcorn enemies quickly. C seems too slow. I think A-Laser will be my game,

Chaining isn't very strict. Not entirely sure how to score well though. I've only managed half a billion so far and haven't seen stage four yet (other than to confirm that Ustream freeze was a one off). I need to get my hyper meter up quicker to start milking the crazy sections for gold, I know that much. I don't think my rank has been over 3 yet either!

Overall, it's not love at first sight but it very rarely is. I need to know where the scoring kick is. One thing that's clear, though, Cave have aimed this one firmly at the hardcore, the bubblegum chewing hardcore.

[cheuboh]

Firstly, it looks horrific The bubblegum style and ridiculously vibrant colour pallet are really gaudy. The soundtrack is equally sickly. A very odd experience in what is otherwise DOJ2. It would probably work better in high res. The inevitable port might make more sense.

Really ?
From what i've seen, all the cabs where 31khz cab on the videos/lock test etc, and lcds screens from the japanese users, i hope it's not made to look good only on hi-res screens !
Are the graphics comparable to any other sh3 ?

[SuperPang]

I've often wondered that myself. SH3 games can be quite soft and high contrast. It's on NNCs in Cave's offices, I know that much.
Akai Katana looks amazing on a native monitor though. Go figure.

[cheuboh]

I've often wondered that myself. SH3 games can be quite soft and high contrast. It's on NNCs in Cave's offices, I know that much.
Akai Katana looks amazing on a native monitor though. Go figure.

Can SDOJ be compared to any of the sh3 games in terms of look ?

[SuperPang]

Like DFK with the contrast turned up

[cheuboh]

Like DFK with the contrast turned up

That could be nice
Thanks for the feedback.

[SuperPang]

It's an acquired taste. It just seems a very weird way to present a sequel to DOJ.

[SuperPang]

I've got over my dislike of the graphical style and am enjoying this a lot. It's proper old school danmaku, all about dodging bullets. Triggering a hyper and watching that boost counter fly up is fun too. The chaining may not be very strict but you still have to be faultless. It's all about getting that hyper meter up quickly. I'm still using them to save my **** however. I'm too busy avoiding bullets to think about any scoring exploits. My score has hardly budged. Level 3 goes on forever! I doubt I'll get very far with this scoring wise but like DOJ it's fun just to play for survival.

[yosai]

Sounds good, thanks for the impressions.

[cRacKh0rN]

Sounds good. So it is rock hard like DOJ by the sounds of it
Has the music grown on you at all?

[SuperPang]

Shot/Laser are probably a tad harder than DOJ. Expert is somewhere between a second loop and an Ultra mode. It's bum rape.

The music is a mixed bag. The boss music is OK, stage 4 is pretty good, first stage not too bad, stage 3 awful.

[cRacKh0rN]

A bit harder than DOJ?! Bum Rape indeed
Still better hard than a 1CC after a few days... Just been watching some more recent vids on youtube. It does look hard but rather good to my eyes

[SuperPang]

It's **** epic kern. It's very much an uphill difficulty curve but once you start getting used to the hitbox and the patterns and you have the confidence to save up some hypers it's seriously satisfying. But yes, very tough. Cave needed to make a game with more rigid scoring and no cheap tricks and this is it. It's a long time before you can even think about your score.

[emphatic]

I'm sure you will be able to turn the voice off in the very likely console/iOS port.

[SuperPang]

The chatter doesn't bother me, and it's very handy to know when your hypers are going up without looking.

[TwonK]

The chatter doesn't bother me, and it's very handy to know when your hypers are going up without looking.

I was thinking the same. I've gotten wasted more times than I care to keep count of doing stuff like that.

Everyone I've talked to besides a few said they thought it was Caves best title. We'll see.

[markedkiller78]

It will probably be a long time before I see, so thanks for the observations pang. Sounds good

[brentsg]

The chatter doesn't bother me, and it's very handy to know when your hypers are going up without looking.

I bet that all the chatter is the reason for the problems people are reporting with the sound effect samples. I bet they either over-compressed the sound effects, or they're just overloading the sound chip trying to handle the music, chick talking, explosions, etc.

I bet it's the new sound version of the old PGM video glitches.

[TwonK]

Sticking to my impressions. Edited for my current score.

- Definetely made for higher level players, not the casual shooter fan.

- Scoring is tough for a mid-level player such as myself. I've only gotten 2.4b (Level 5) another VERY lucky run.

- The patterns are perfectly programmed for higher level players, very tricky to get around.

- The larger than normal or oddly positioned hit box is a challenge getting used to, for me at least.

- The visuals are very nice, but extremely boring. The game lacks charm. I find that important for games that I like.

- Music is pretty cool, well composed and suits the title well.

- It's the most difficult in the DDP series, surpassing DOJ and DFK BL.

- The replay value, for me, is low - a more experienced player may really like the challenge.

- Chains are very easy to hold onto, easiest in the DDP series.

- I personally rank DDP and DDP DOJ higher on my personal rating scale.

- Game is more difficult than Ketsui's first loop, DOJ's first loop and Futari Maniac.

- Even with loads of practice, I will not 1CC this game.

- Cave really got it right for the higher level players, so I'll sit back and watch their vids.

I've since put Muchi Pork back in the cab. I feel this was a waste of money. I really don't see where the fun is. I've had twice as much fun with DFK 1.5 and I don't even like that game much.

When the port comes out, you guys can judge for yourself.

[yosai]

Thanks for the impressions Twonk.