[奇々怪界-月夜草子-/Pocky & Rocky 2] Normal ALL Clear [Score: 621,379] [CC Commentary]

Channel:

Weeb Nerd Gaming

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431

Published on April 13, 2022 4:57:09 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVmy4dOHRGw

Game:

Pocky & Rocky 2 (1994)

Duration: 1:01:11

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The sequel got a sequel! Many people love the 2nd game, including myself! Then why don't people talk about the 3rd game in the series?

Oh... okay... it's not as great... I like it, which means weirdly enough I like this game the least within the trilogy. At times, having the objective perfection doesn't mean you'll like it more.

I do appreciate them taking risks to make the sequel different from the 2nd game, but if you ask me, the decisions they took made it feel the series went steps backwards in terms of stage design because while having "options" (think of Tails in Sonic 2 and 3) is a distinct moveset indeed to make the game itself feel different, and it is, the option thing is a good idea, really, the baffling part is what they have removed from the previous game: the evade button. And with this you know my direction of my criticism!

It's a top down run n gun...? Shmup? Like the previous games you can shoot and do the melee attack. The melee attack here is buffed. Awesome! You still can't move while swinging that, though. It still blocks several projectiles. That becomes more important than one would expect since it would also protect your option and your option's HP is finite. Rest in peace the evade / dive jump button :'( screen clearer bombs are gone too, though I don't mind it as much since it functions more as the phase skipper.

The new thing in the game is the options. You have the fusion / gattai button and the option throw button. The option throw isn't that bad. The options are essentially AI 2P that have fixed and nerfed fire rate. The important ones are mainly the 3 starters: Manuke, Shinobu and Takuan. Takuan is the worst for actual combat, but for hoarding resources he's the best, mainly for his fusion function. Shinobu has the best bomb of the starter. Long shot intervals but not too shabby. Manuke (Rocky) is the most reliable offensively because his fire rate is the most stable and have a long damage start but devastating bomb damage. The option throw would be your primary DPS dealer as you use your main shot to chip out damage to the boss. Otherwise, the option throw is useless.

Then there is gattai that is also mainly useless. I think it's basically make you control the AI option? Mainly to use their specials. Manuke's? Suck. Shinobu's? What's the point of taking the long gattai time just to go slashy slashy with such a pathetic range? Takuan, also useless for combat but he'll lift up rocks which uncovers resources like barriers and keys. Pretty neat but you have to note that you'll compromise combat safety.

In other words, as much appreciated as this new option and fusion thing, it's not that well integrated in the stage design compared to the evade button.

I'm not saying the stage design is bad though. It's on the good side, really. But it's just comparable to the middle-quality top down run n guns of the time... Nothing tricky, just shoot and defend. There is variety and the enemies do fight back, but it will be apparent the tactics required doesn'tt need to be changed that much compared to the 2nd game... There is one awful part, though! That single, very steep difficulty spike soured the entire game for me. Sure, the 1st game can feel quite cheap, but the curve is relatively stable throughout so when you expect the same level of difficulty, the ride feels great. It doesn't help that without practice while other stages no practice is really needed it will dwindle down your lives from max to 0 without memorization! Eep!

There is also the shop, but eh, nothing too remarkable. It's pretty important, but not as fatal as Euroshmups. In fact, you don't need to buy anything up until Stage 9, really.

Also while it's nice to have score extends, really nice, in fact, your max life stock is only 5. That doesn't sound so bad until you encounter Stage 8 and your life get depleted really quickly and you can't quickly enough get extends to recover because the next extend requirement became so high you can only see your lives dwindle even further! Seriously!

To its defense, there is no on-your-face money pinching bulldung like in the 1st game. I also think the boss design is better in most cases since it's... fairer and easier to figure out except Stage 4's and Stage 8's. It's a shame that the exciting fun only starts at Stage 7. Previous stages are just breezes...

Still, check it out. I am critical to the game but it's primarily due to its previous game being superior. It's still a good game and I still can ensure you it will be a good time to play it. It's still a well made game all things considered! Just not as great.

#stg #shmup #kikikaikai

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