[Trouble Witches Final! Eps. 01] Synfi Arcade Nausea ALL CLEAR (Score: 90,202,000) [CC Commentary]

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Weeb Nerd Gaming

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Published on October 24, 2023 4:07:05 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcok2y8KyGk

Game:

Trouble Witches (2011)

Duration: 34:57

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From what I heard this is a remake of the 1st Trouble Witches game (I heard the sequel is still in development?), originally a doujin game released in 2007, this is the most up to date release with wide-screen playfield at 16:9 and some revamps on the graphics notably on the HUD, character art and shop art. Otherwise in regards of gameplay it's identical to its previous versions.

If you're not that critical in regards of the genre, in particular in the ESPGaluda-clone bullet hell sub-sub genre (This is surprisingly popular, by the way! Check out Klorets and Senxin Aleste), it's a great experience with meaty destruction and fun patterns! But if you're experienced with the genre long enough, you'll be amazed at how close the game is to teeter to mediocre category. I still love it, it's just its well-masked questionable design decisions needs to be called out.

To clarify what a ESPGaluda-clone is, it's a sub-sub genre of bullet hell where you have a Hyper mode capability to slow down and cancel bullets limited by a resource, an extension of DOJ's Hyper-mode formula that simply increases DPS per level and multiplies the combo count alongside momentary shot upgrade. In Trouble Witches you can shoot (no laser or shot type change!), Magic Square, the bullet slow down mechanic, and spells, your bombs.

Shoot is, until magic square is in use, simple. You shoot your own bullets as well as your option / familiar, which will shoot their own unique bullets. All of the options move in a trace pattern. Keep this in mind. Both also have bullet limits so pointblanking when possible is ideal.

Then the iconic mechanic, Magic Square. The slowdown is not all-screen like ESPGaluda, but confined in a circle around your option. In use, your option stays in place! So you have strategic control over where to deploy it! Keeping it active costs MP, the green gauge below HP (Life). Don't worry, while not in use the MP gauge recovers automatically. Even faster when you don't move (shooting is still a-ok). Mind you, the recovery rate between characters are different! Though so too the MP consumption. Synfi, for example, is on the moderate consumption and pretty slow MP recovery.

There are intrigues in the bullet control, though many does feel like it's patching out design issues... Green bullets are the default. Can be slowed down to screeching halt! Spikes, REGARDLESS OF COLOR, and blue bullets cannot be slowed down. When you beat the parent of the bullets, the green bullets will turn into money while slowed down! If the parent escapes off-screen, well, it will linger until it's out of the circle, becoming yellow bullets that will aim at you. Slow down yellow bullets, they will be converted into low-value money. Better than nothing. Sounds cool and all, but you must beware of several things!

First, magic square renders THE OPTION IMMOBILE! Them staying in place isn't a problem, but THEY WILL STOP SHOOTING! In other words activating it DECREASES SHOT DPS! Okay, you're very much protected and the MP is very easy to recover anyway. So what's the problem? The devil is in the details! Some character have very, very weak shots and the main DPS source is actually their option! Others have already strong main shot so it won't be a problem in terms of defense. It's very, very apparent in Nausea where it literally vomits out lots of bullets! Its so bad, the common option for 1cc in this mode is Synfi, the canonically strongest playable character in the game! Mainly because she melts bosses like butter, but that's for the commentary.

Second, there is NO DIFFERENTIATOR BETWEEN BULLETS FROM ENEMIES THAT YEETED OUT OF THE SCREEN AND CANCELLABLE ONES! You'd be surprised that you get to die from yellow bullets that you think will just go way like it used to be before the slowdown! OFTEN!

The scoring also feels contradictory! The main way to score is to cancel bullets using spells! Enemies beaten while a spell is active will drop out score coins. However, these coins yield low money value! So going scoring all out means you won't reap much profit enough to reload bombs or more commonly, buy extends and MP extenders! Don't forget that the spells inflate in price the more often you buy them! Like, while the game rewards you for keeping life count, it punishes you to not spend on bombs! Sure, the game gives score extends, like, 3 of them? But if you're overzealous with scoring then you'll leave yourself naked from cannot buying anymore spells the further you progress!

Last but not least, BULLET BLOCKERS! It's mainly common in bosses and it makes fighting bosses rather annoying! I honestly don't think most of the bosses fit as bullet hell bosses! They're too protected though thankfully fittingly brittle. I'll explain more in the commentary.

Don't get me wrong, it is a fun game. But don't take the fluke for granted!

This is the Nintendo Switch version.
https://store-jp.nintendo.com/list/software/70010000059419.html

#stg #shmup #nintendoswitch

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