Game:

Graze Counter (2017)

Duration: 12:06

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23

Having accumulated quite a few videos to post in my backlog, I'm pushing out the last Indie/Doujin title for a while, Graze Counter, a fun little vert. shmup from the small team at Bikkuri Software and published by Hentenko Doujin. While Graze Counter is Bikkuri's first Steam release, they've been working on games in the freeware sector since 2011, slowly polishing their skills with titles like "REVOLGEAR II Ver.D Revision+EX" (which was in collaboration with XYRS), Kirisame Blade 1 & 2, and Laser Maiden. While priced a bit high at $10, most of its acclaim is well-received.

It's a simple shooter that draws some parallels to Cho Ren Sha 68K (like the power-up system, though you can grab two at a time if skilled), Judgement Silversword and your average Cave shooter, with the main gameplay mechanic emphasizing on grazing bullets to build up your counter meter, which is the game's equivalent of a bomb. When activated, you will shoot a powerful beam and be temporarily invulnerable, but it has to be at least 50%. Conversely, your graze counter rewards you with stars which increases your "Break" gauge, which allows you to fire off a high-powered volley when maxed (you are NOT invulnerable during break, but gain red stars which offer a greater score multiplier). Players start with two different ships, but can unlock six others (a few from their other games), or (if you're lazy) you can unlock all the content through different cheat codes. Unlimited Mode, Mission Mode, Boss Rush, Extra Stage, Suicide Bullets, this game's got it.

There is a great synergy between these base mechanics combined with a variety of modes and adaptive difficulty that is rewarding and good even for novices to the bullet hell sub-genre, as everything feels natural and well-incorporated and it has a wealth of unlockables to really incentivize the experience beyond the simple desire to get the highest scores. It also helps that the game has some good pixel art and great music to tie everything together, and even a funny Engrish plot if you're a fan of stuff like "Castle of Shikigami". Overall, Bikkuri Software did a great job here and I hope their next games are even better. This a video of the game in action. You can get it at:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/629440/Graze_Counter/

Enjoy.

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