Digging Final 2 so far. Performance feels a little sluggish, and load times a little long, but maybe that's just on the Switch. I like the cut scenes, they really went all out on the presentation here. And all the little call backs to the previous games are great
I'm a big time STG pervert. These are the soul of Video Games for me. My favorite type are modern ones that came around the turn of the century, so naturally that puts me in Cave territory. I also have a lot of respect for the older, grittier ones, but I just find that I play them less.
I know the Touhou games are a whole specific thing with a lot of internet cultural baggage, but I really like them as well for the really bizarre, creative scoring mechanics they employ. I'm pretty negative on the culture around these games though, other than my due respect to the singular creator's herculean work on the official games. The 18th installment is coming out soon, so I'm looking forward to drilling spell cards and working on my 1cc's for the various difficulty levels again.
Predictably I‘ve been playing a lot of R-Type Final 2 the past few days and having a wonderful time with it, I’m so glad they really nailed the series‘ mood so well. I can’t imagine I'll be able to spend enough time with it to clear R-Typer mode, but one stage is a start, right? 
I also gave Progear a very quick go via Capcom Arcade Stadium and felt utterly, utterly, lost.
I‘m enjoying RTF2 as well! Just like the old one, it’s really easy for me to completely space out while playing it and realize it‘s the end of the day all of a sudden. Right now I’m trying to find a beast of a ship that I can use to brute force through to the end of the game.
On the aesthetics side of things though, it's clear they spent the majority of their budget on the ships, then the enemies, and finally the stages, which look awfully cheap. The bosses, at least so far, aren't especially interesting (that could change of course).
As an aside, dang does it kill the batter In handheld mode! I’m not sure if it’s just my elderly Switch or what.
OH and I completely caved in and bought both Darius collections! I'm still stunned that a game as incredible and weird as Darius Gaiden ever got made! Also, I'm not positive I ever played Darius II, somehow? It's at least not very familiar to me, which was unexpected.
When there was concern that the PS Vita store was going away for good, I spent some time looking through the library and remembered that I wanted to pick up Gundemoniums (PSV/PS4) and I nabbed it. Turns out it‘s a pretty great! As much difficulty as I’ve had with horizontal danmaku games, I can actually wrap my brain around this one and have gotten into it pretty deep. It has a simple but really fun rank system that has a dramatic effect on the bullet patterns that makes for some nice rank management strats.
@TracyDMcGrath I’m a fan
I am so bad at these types of games but I recently modded my Wonderswan Color and got a flashcart so I decided to sit down and spend some meaningful time with Judgement Silversword which just feels so luxurious on the WSC
you can tell the points where it’s struggling with what’s on screen but the use of vertical mode for a “tate mode” works amazingly well. (also yes it bothers me how dusty my screen was, I didn’t take it in before hand)
Capcom Arcade Stadium Pack 3: Arcade Evolution on PSN has 19XX (one of my all time arcade favorites), Giga Wing, 1944- The Loop Master, AND Progear (among other Capcom greats) for only $14.99! I‘m kind of blown away. These are some great games for a very decent price. Progear is one of those long lost Cave games that’s been locked in publishing heck.
@Southeastpaw I was a bit disappointed in 1944. For a Raizing game it’s remarkably straight forward, hard but not interesting. Progear on the other hand exceeded my already high expectations. That game is more than worth the price of the pack alone. 19XX and Giga Wing are also great of course.
I don‘t have a great deal of experience (or skill) with this genre, but I randomly started playing GG Aleste on my RetroPie a few days ago. I was really bitten by the Aleste bug and soon found myself creating a JP Switch account to purchase the collection M2 put out on the eShop. I’ve only barely scratched the surface but wow this is such a well-made collection! I played through GG Aleste on Normal (with liberal use of save states lol) and I'm completely amazed at how solid this little game gear game is, not to mention all of the lavish touches M2 has included. I really appreciate the stats along each side of the screen as well as the little countdown when exiting the menu and returning to gameplay.
I'm playing on my Switch lite, which until now was kind of languishing in a drawer because of Nintendo's silly approach to digital license management across devices on the same account. Though I wish it were positioned higher, the d-pad seems to work pretty great for shooters.
Excited to check out the rest of the collection, especially the newly developed GG Aleste 3!
@kory Welcome aboard, my friend! I feel like each player in this group has their origin story and what a great series to find yourself steeped in. M2 has just gone above and beyond in regards to their ports over the past few years in all genres and we are just reaping the benefit that a group as dedicated to accuracy is lending their skill to the shooter genre. Especially bringing out games as rare as Battle Garegga and as completely unreleased (on home consoles) as Dangun Feveron, they have become the publisher that I probably pay the most attention to these days.
If you like the feel of the Aleste, you’ll find a similar feel in Compile’s other popular shooters Gun-Nac and Zanac. Of course, they also developed The Guardian Legend which is an interesting experience if nothing else. If you want something newer but still has a low res feel, I’d check out Judgement Silversword and Cardinal Sins (I have this on the 360 Eschatos release but I think it has dropped on PC too).
I hear the switch has some great shooters but I don’t have one yet!
@Southeastpaw Thanks for all the recs!
Yeah, this has been a genre that I always liked in theory, but was just a little too punishing for me. I always feel like I am on the verge of getting into the all important “flow state,” but one stray bullet picks me off and (due to a combination of frustration and, typically, loss or downgrading of powerups) I exhaust whatever remaining lives I have in rapid succession. I think the save-states really helped me here, as my goal is more to experience the whole game than to chase a high score or one-credit it.
I remember getting into Raiden on the PSX, which seems pretty bread and butter and actually reminds me a lot of Aleste. The shooter elements of Nier Automata were also super fun. I was eager to try Ikaruga when it was released on XBLA based on its legendary reputation (and the fact that I loved non shmup Treasure games like Bangai-O and Astro Boy), but that one really kicked my butt and I have yet to go back!
Been playing R Type Final 2 on and off since release. I first got into shooters with Mushihime on the 360 and since then almost exclusively played Cave shooters so R Type is a real change of pace. I'm enjoying it immensely despite not being very good at it. Just beat stage 3 for the first time on normal and it took me 22 credits to do. Enjoying it a lot though.
Oh my goodness, huge STG sale on PSN! I would personally recommend Natsuki Chronicles for $15.99 or better yet, The Seventia Collection which includes Ginga Force.
I guess Darius Burst CS ($23.99) and all of the DLC of which there is a lot of, VASARA Collection ($0.99), Azure Reflections ($12.49), Caladrius Blaze ($2.99), Astebreed ($3.99) are also on sale :)
I will also recommend Risk of Rain, Rock Boshers DX, and Hyper Light Drifter. This is one heck of a sale!
@Southeastpaw If you‘ll forgive the vague question, are there any of these sale games you would recommend for a relative beginner? I have some PSN store credit burning a hole in my pocket. Still plugging away at the Aleste collection on Switch, so that’s the level of sophistication I’m coming from here!
@kory Natsuki Chronicles isn‘t super easy but it does do a great job of telegraphing where the bullets are going and helps you learn how to separate aimed bullets, which you can usually ignore as long as you’re moving, and fixed pattern bullets, which you have to plan your pathing around.
Vasara is difficult but for a dollar for the whole collection is probably worth picking up anyway.
Darius Burst is getting the M2 treatment soon, think the one on the PSN is not the new version coming out so maybe wait on that one.
Caladrius Blaze is…probably best avoided for reasons unrelated to its difficulty imo. Ymmv
Speaking of difficulty in shmups, tried out Hecha Mecha Fighter, the NMK cute em up that Hamster just re-released on PS4 and Switch. It‘s absolutely adorable, you play a otter with a team of option otters firing fish at ferris wheels. It’s also, somehow, by a large margin, the hardest shmup I‘ve ever played. Went to check to see if this was just me and it is not. Plenty of shmup diehards calling it the hardest first loop they’ve ever played and there are infinite loops after that. There are enemies that split into 2 enemies who split into 2 enemies etc that all still fire at you, there are revenge bullets when you kill random background elements, there are hitboxes the size of Texas flying from all directions all the time. It’s astoundingly, incomprehensibly hard, especially for a game that looks as friendly as it does.
https://twitter.com/godandgodzilla/status/1401599901826314240?s=19
This section seemed literally impossible to me so I went to check Jaimers’s 1 All and saw this:
So uh…if any of you are looking for a challenge, this is certainly that. It was also delightful to credit feed through even though I’m never going to even dream of 1ccing it.
@TracyDMcGrath Wow, this post did not go where I expected after the opening sentences…I would never even try this, but I might watch a playthrough just to appreciate that adorable little otter’s pendulous lower half. Fascinated by bizarre/cute shmups, but will have to keep searching for one on my level.
Also, thanks for the recs, as always!
@kory I would second what @TracyDMcGrath said whole heartedly. For a beginner, I might suggest The Seventia Collection (only as a sale item). I couldn’t get into Natsuki Chronicles as much as I would have liked and will definitely go back but Ginga Force is absolutely fantastic and has nice progression as well as lots of modes to appeal to different skill levels.
For cheaper thrills, you could get the Capcom Arcade Stadium Pack Vol.3 but, while brilliant, those games (19XX, Giga Wing, Progear, and 1944) are wicked tough.
You know, I always recommend picking a shooter that draws you in no matter how difficult it is traditionally perceived because the game that you actually enjoy is the one you’ll come back to. To this day I still can’t get past stage 3 of Radiant Silvergun and I’ve put dozens of hours into it! Just my two cents
I don’t know if anyone here has played it, but I would recommend Just Shapes and Beats (also on sale) if you dig the music. It’s basically a shooter without the shooting… a dodger, if you will.