SATAZIUS

Too much ♥♥♥♥ going on in the screen.

eigentlich wollte ich super bewerten, nur leider wieder ein entscheidender Minuspunkt: keine Speicherpunkte nach erfolgreicher Mission. Wenn die Leben aufgebraucht sind, geht es zurück auf Anfang. nicht gerade motivierend. Schade!

Astro Port is a developer of boutique doujin arcade-likes. They obviously put a lot of love and care into their games which are always replete with gorgeous details, excellent stage and enemy designs, epic bosses, and fun gameplay mechanics. I see folks complain about their games' difficulty. Are they hard? Yes, certainly by today's standards, but compared to the arcade games they pay homage to, they are tough but fairly designed. Are you expected to clear them on your first go? No. Game overs, just like in the arcade games of yore are expected. There is an easy mode if that really isn't for you, but normal is for those interested in building up skill and who want to earn their victory. And the nice thing is Astro Port's formula of customization and level exploration with branching paths and approaches ensure that repeat playthroughs are not boring as you'll have an opportunity to tinker with different combinations of weapons, tactics, and level paths. SATAZIUS has multiple primary weapon options which couple together with 2 sub-weapon slots that can be powered up along with a powerful charge attack (which is your first option of insurance if you get in over your head). The game is further generous with lives, shields, checkpoints, and continues (a full 9 on normal). Despite how many bullets are potentially on screen at a time, I never found myself having a hard time recognizing what is going on on-screen. As with any shooter, you develop skills of pattern recognition as you play, but familiarity with shmups will make this an easy pick up and play. I suck at shmups, but on my first few playthroughs I had little difficulty clearing many of the levels. One of the biggest flaws is the lack of d-pad support (seems to only work with the stick). But, at least Astro Port fixed this for their later games like Gigantic Army which support stick and d-pad. Personally, I find it not terribly difficult to play with an analog stick and the added precision for getting right up against obstacles to grab power ups without crashing is helpful.