Game:

Espgaluda (2003)

Duration: 28:11

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10

My first no-continues clear of a game developed by Cave! They made some great bullet hell games. Espgaluda is difficult, especially the final boss, but it's still one of Cave's easier releases. I really like the art+music+vibes+gameplay!

Espgaluda has 4 buttons: shot (good coverage), laser (good damage, slow micrododging), a bomb, and a slowmo button. When you kill enemies normally, they drop green gems. Toggling the slowmo button turns bullets pink, slows them down, and drains green gems. Killing an enemy while in slowmo drains more gems to turn their bullets into gold, giving lots of points. You get 1ups at 4 million and 14 million points, so you want to save some green gems for survival, but use some for big juicy cancels!

Green meter on the bottom left is bombs.Tap the button for 25% meter small bomb, or long press for a ~50% big bomb. Bombs give invincibility, and big bomb does high damage. I struggled to use bombs, and wrote a blog post about how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb, if you're interested. https://cohost.org/BoatsAndJoes/post/1575678-use-your-freaking-bo
P.S. getting hit while in slowmo auto-small bombs to save your life, but it costs 50% meter.

0:09 Stage 1
2:41 Stage 2
6:21 Stage 3
11:26 Stage 4
16:26 Stage 5A
19:57 Stage 5B
21:22 Final Boss

Notes on this run:
I pick Ageha because he's fast, which helps in dodging some stuff.

Stage 1- If you slowmo after your gems drain to 0, the bullets turn red and speed up. This is worth some points, and if you leave it on for a while and then turn it off, enemies will drop more green gems until you lose a life. I do fast motion in stage 1 mostly for kicks, though.

Stage 2- I slowmo big guys for score. On the last boss pattern, you can stop a few bullets by killing the popcorn.

Stage 3- My score is pretty good already, so I speedkill most trains before they can shoot much, and start using slowmo for safety. There's aggressive popcorn paired with movement-restricting cannons on the airship at 8:10, but also a bomb refill and 1up. With good positioning you can kill the popcorn and cannons before they cover the screen, or you can also tap dodge. If I identify early that things are getting bad, I can slowmo, but at the end I'm pinned and have to bomb. On the boss I'm hit during slowmo twice, which uses up my bombs.

Stage 4- I've practiced stage 4 the least. Some guys cover the screen if you don't speedkill them. When that happens, I slowmo to cancel bullets. 14:05 I go to the right before killing the tank and don't return quickly enough, so I have to slowmo back to the left. I leave it on a bit too long and a bunch of popcorn gets destroyed, draining most of my gems. I try to dodge the next guy at normal speed and get hit. I could have gotten out of that situation in a few ways, but I feel good that I died with all resources used. 15:08 I get the easy pattern, which is nice. 15:30 there are better strats, but I just wing it. I drift too far to the side while dodging, and I should bomb, but my "bomb hoarding" habit comes back when I've died recently, so I get hit again. I use resources well the rest of the fight, and 2 deaths into stage 5 is totally fine.

Stage 5A- Stage 5 I've practiced the most, and made up a pretty detailed route. 17:17 I should go to the right immediately, but I forget, so I slowmo it and the next section. The next section is a shorter but harder version of the stage 3 airship. I do a few risky dodges, which convinces me to bomb at the right moment late. I get through unharmed, plus earn the last 1up earlier than I usually do. I autobomb the boss's opening volley, but overall stage 5 went great with no lives lost at all.

Stage 5B- The little Alices are fun. I get best results with turning laser on and sweeping across quickly, killing everyone. Move forward past the bullets already on screen, and you have space to sweep back, killing the next group. 20:43 has Alices that spray everywhere instead of aiming at you: I speedkill them as much as possible, and then use slowmo to cancel some bullets.

Final boss I've practiced a lot. This is like my 7th time taking a full run to him, and I have a ton of resources left, so I'm not as nervous. 22:46 sometimes is easy, but this time it crisscrosses, and I bomb it. 23:06 I usually slowmo, but I have low gems, so I bomb it. The next pattern's trick is to stay under him for as long as possible. When you move to the side he starts flinging stuff sideways, which will cut you off if you go too early. 23:51 all 4 patterns are hard, so I spend resources on them when possible. Last pattern I have 1 extra life. It's best to hang near the bottom, for less crisscrossing. During this pattern, slowmo does low damage & causes him to fire extra bullets, and bombs heal him: at 25:50 I heal him a bit by mistake. But I make it through!

Played on Fightcade FBNeo with 1 frame runahead, and an autohotkey script to change hold-to-fire to toggle-to-fire (lets me play longer without hand pain).

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