Author Topic: Kekkai Gensou Rokukyou~Mythical Mirror/ Maihana Ao Makyou~Uniting Barrage Action (Read 15016 times)

BlueDigitalDragon · « **on:** January 06, 2013, 04:04:29 AM »

So these are the two games my friend managed to get me while at Comiket 82
Kekkai Gensou Rokukyou

So has anyone played it? I must say it is awesome! I'm possibly gonna be recording a playthrough of it if I can actually beat it without continues. I find that danmaq and Dangoya did a great job on the game. Everything is original, though I don't like what they did with Mokou's design. The bullet patterns are interesting and fun to dodge and the music is very well made. Let me know what you guys think about it.

You guys can find the site here--> http://kagaminer.in/indexx.html

Maihana Ao Makyou

The second of the two games my friend got me. It's a horizontal scrolling shooter based on Embodiment of The Scarlet Devil. It features a Barrier Gauge and Break Chance Mode. Basically you can activate the Break Chance Mode if your Barrier Gauge is filled up to a certain amount and use it to absorb bullets and deal heavy damage to enemies. It is also used when you was to capture a spellcard and is the only way to do so. This game takes a little getting used to with the controls and if asked I'll go into detail with them, but it is intended for you to actually use a console-type computer controller. There are also other stages you can access if you meet certain requirements, though I have no clue as to what they are. If anyone else has it, let me know what you guys think of it.

The site for this game is found here --> http://lost-identity.jp/souvenir/html/Maihana/html/maihana.html
Gameplay footage (if you don't want to bother with the site) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvsnIkmsD-s
I will leave the translation to you guys, I just used logic to figure things out in these games.

Goldom · « **Reply #1 on:** January 06, 2013, 05:57:42 AM »

I really want to like Mythical Mirror, because danmaq is one of very few non-ZUN people who makes shooters I like. But it's got this problem that is driving me absolutely nuts: if you move along any of the screen borders, rather than moving slower like in Touhou, you freeze completely and can't move without releasing the arrow key facing the wall. It's just throwing me off continually.

Hint for anyone else though. You can get rid of the input lag by turning off Vsync in the game options, but this'll run the game at an uncapped speed. Use an external program like Dxtory (actually, I don't know any programs BUT Dxtory that can actually do this properly) to lock the FPS to 60, and it'll play properly without the input lag.

Hinacle · « **Reply #2 on:** January 06, 2013, 06:45:26 AM »

:V

Mythical Mirror had a lot of potential. If only they fixed some of the bull patterns, didn't have bland shottypes, fixed the hitboxes, and some other stuff that I can't remember right now.

E: If they had better bombs. Cirno's is the best bomb and Momiji's is the worst bomb ever. It has some creative patterns but, some of them just weren't pulled off correctly. Also deathbombing doesn't work. Extra Boss survival is impossible to capture because spell score keeps going down.

BS Pattern 1
One of the patterns that I really like.
Stage 5 Boss is full of BS patterns.
Hitbox.
One of the attacks that I realllllly love.

I'm not saying it's a bad game I'm just saying they need to work out some kinks.

Darth_Sirov · « **Reply #3 on:** January 06, 2013, 04:34:03 PM »

Uniting Barrage Action? I played that for some time. Do love the character design...

And the character viewer (Toy versions), including a Sakuya censored box to cover up some undersided views.

Validon98 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 06, 2013, 05:45:43 PM »

Mythical Mirror... oh boy, that game. I'm with Hinacle when I want to enjoy it, but I can't. The game controls way too weirdly for me, there are way too few life-ups unless you boost your starting lives from the beginning, and the hitboxes on the bullets... yeah.

BlueDigitalDragon · « **Reply #5 on:** January 06, 2013, 06:58:25 PM »

@Goldom: I never had that problem with hitting the screen borders and not being able to move. Works perfectly fine for me.

@Hinacle:
BS Pattern 1: I'm able to capture that card easily. You have to misdirect Oral's shots in a certain way, Coral isn't that hard to deal with.
One of the patterns you really like: That one threw me off the first couple times, but is pretty simple once you get the timing and movements down.
5th Stage BS: Yeah, I hated that one too, especially when I saw the Laevatein look-alike card.
Hitbox:....is a bitch.
That Spellcard you really love: Yes! I love this one too! And I like the last one as well, so much fun to dodge. Though I wish the final boss had more colors to her shots.

@Darth_Sirov: I love the game, easy to 1cc on easy and normal, hard is another story. >_>

@Validon: Yes, I agree that it could have been better and seems sort of rushed. I'm thinking that danmaq and Dangoya possibly ran out of time because they wanted to release at C82? Though, it HAS been 6 years since Concealed The Conclusion, so I can't really hold up that idea. I still don't like Mokou's design....

Yes I know I can do quotes but I'm lazy and found this easier.

fondue · « **Reply #6 on:** January 06, 2013, 07:43:02 PM »

I haven't played the game but I'm agreeing with heenahkewl. The game has one of the WORST hitboxes ever and BS patterns. The game is pretty much eye candy. Still it's very very pretty.

Goldom · « **Reply #7 on:** January 06, 2013, 09:57:31 PM »

Really? That is, to be clear, if you hold the down arrow while at the very bottom of the screen, left and right don't work. I just deleted the preferences file and even out of the box that's how it behaves for me. My version number is 1.0.1.236, is there perhaps a patch already? I don't see any downloads on the official site though.

BlueDigitalDragon · « **Reply #8 on:** January 09, 2013, 10:11:21 PM »

@Fondue: Yup, it is very pretty indeed!

@Goldom: Never had that problem! I do well until the 5th stage boss, then I'm screwed.

Ikari · « **Reply #9 on:** January 14, 2013, 01:49:24 AM »

Oh Mythical Mirror, how I loathe you.

While it has admittedly interesting patterns (though sometime bland), it also has ridiculous difficulty scaling, the worst shot types I ever saw, (as well as some bombs) and hilariously wonky bullet hitboxes and BS attacks that often cause instant kill if you don't know that x bullets will appear in x place at x speed.

Mythical Mirror is the only game with which I refuse to take others opinions in account when criticizing it. You have the right to like it, and I agree that some parts of it are nice, but I will always hate this game as well as refuse to play it ever again.

In the end, I think Mythical Mirror is something that had tremendous potential, but ended up being an unplayable crappy game. As others say, I wish I could enjoy it.

Sparen · « **Reply #10 on:** January 14, 2013, 02:59:30 AM »

The thing about Danmaku is that you really have to make it so that it is possible for a player to do a blind run. And no BS. Marine Benefit's Extra was just too much BS at some points (seriously? a survival card where the bullets blend in with a moving background? That's really not fun.), and when you have a boss that wipes half of the screen clean in less than a tenth of a second (I thought this game was easy until those dual bosses beat the life out of the player in the video playthrough I saw), it's not cool. Especially if you can't dodge it like in L?vatein. Still, I'll give it some credit for being really pretty and creative at some places.

Although the "BS/impossible blind" gimmick has ruined a lot of Danmakufu games as well, I have to say. A good Danmaku game is challenging, but not to the point where you can't discern a pattern at all.

Sakurei · « **Reply #11 on:** January 14, 2013, 03:04:32 AM »

there are a lot of patterns you actually have to figure about before properly doing. I don't think anyone here has done royal flare on their first try. dying on something you see for the first time isn't bullshit, it's fairly normal. Mystic Square's extra stage has that, too. the memo-part before alice is something you WILL die to until you know what to do. same to alice's 2nd green phase.

Hinacle · « **Reply #12 on:** January 14, 2013, 03:11:35 PM »

Admittedly I wouldn't mind the bs attacks if there weren't any wonky hitboxes and deathbombing worked.

MM is like the Sonic 06 of touhou fangames. It had alot of potential to be something good but, it was wasted. I have no clue why Danmaq and Dangoya would release this game with all the problems it has (Survival Extra stage spellcard can't be captured, Points allocated in High Score instead of Score, and Character is rendered immobile if go to the very edge of the screen [according to 2 people now!]). Maybe it was time constraints. Who knows?

Sparen · « **Reply #13 on:** January 14, 2013, 10:46:25 PM »

Do you think that they'll patch the bugs?

Hinacle · « **Reply #14 on:** January 14, 2013, 11:57:35 PM »

Quote from: Sparen on January 14, 2013, 10:46:25 PM

Do you think that they'll patch the bugs?

It came out C82 so, I doubt it.

fondue · « **Reply #15 on:** January 15, 2013, 01:58:29 PM »

I'm surprised no one said anything about the music yet. It's amazing, Hinode and Oral and Coral's theme is amazing.

Branneg Xy · « **Reply #16 on:** January 16, 2013, 06:36:41 PM »

Thanks for the links!

Maihana Ao Makyou~Uniting Barrage Action looks particularly good so I'll give it a try when I have more time on my hands.A pity it's not patched in eng but it won't be so bad with those animations

.

Drake · « **Reply #17 on:** January 16, 2013, 07:24:26 PM »

I'm a bit peeved how Uniting Barrage Action takes existing Touhou patterns and then rapes them so they retain no charm or difficulty or intent of the original. It's also super easy. The grazebox is retardedly small and the hitboxes are just ambiguous enough that if you try to graze things you will die. It's a nice game and the models and stuff are great but I see problems everywhere.

Ikari · « **Reply #18 on:** January 17, 2013, 06:13:46 AM »

Quote from: Drake on January 16, 2013, 07:24:26 PM

I'm a bit peeved how Uniting Barrage Action takes existing Touhou patterns and then rapes them so they retain no charm or difficulty or intent of the original. It's also super easy. The grazebox is retardedly small and the hitboxes are just ambiguous enough that if you try to graze things you will die. It's a nice game and the models and stuff are great but I see problems everywhere.

I have to completely agree with you. I can't clear most official Touhou games on normal, yet I could pretty much do everything in the game with my eyes closed, even on high difficulties. I liked the concept, but it was too easy and not enough... Pretty? The patterns were indeed changed too much.

Quote from: Sakurei on January 14, 2013, 03:04:32 AM

there are a lot of patterns you actually have to figure about before properly doing. I don't think anyone here has done royal flare on their first try. dying on something you see for the first time isn't bullshit, it's fairly normal. Mystic Square's extra stage has that, too. the memo-part before alice is something you WILL die to until you know what to do. same to alice's 2nd green phase.

Those are mostly extra stage examples; The kind of stage that isn't that frustrating to retry, because clearing it is, in the end, clearing a single stage. Reaching stage 3 and getting a nonstop amount of ''Don't know what's gonna happen here? Oops, you're dead'' is just so amazingly frustrating, it makes the game unplayable. It's not one or two spellcards, it's nearly half the stuff in there. I reached stage 6 through sheer bomb spamming and then the game crashed in my face right at the start. It was really fun.

Quote from: ☯The Embodiment of fondue☯ on January 15, 2013, 01:58:29 PM

I'm surprised no one said anything about the music yet. It's amazing, Hinode and Oral and Coral's theme is amazing.

I kinda feel terrible because I know I'll be hated for saying this, but still.

The music in Mythical Mirror was alright, especially since it's original music and all. The stages theme were great, but almost every single boss theme really ended up flat to me. There's a flagrant lack of... Boss feeling. I mean, listen to almost any Touhou boss themes, and there's a specific feeling, it really feels like ''This is the boss theme. This song represents *boss name here*''. Mythical Mirror? They all feel like ambiance background music. It felt like another stage theme. There's no climax, or strong melodies; it's mostly just a song that stays kind of the same for the duration of the battle.

It's my own opinion and I seriously don't call their music bad, I call their boss themes boring.

BlueDigitalDragon · « **Reply #19 on:** January 23, 2013, 09:53:07 PM »

Okay, so finally back after doing some programming on my computer to run a custom emulator for some other consoles and now looking this over. Yes, Mythical Mirror is pretty much bull, though the music is great, but I feel the bosses could have had better themes.

As for U.B.A. I really liked it, especially playing it on Hard. I can capture every card except Sakuya's last one. Because it can be either easy, or complete BS. I seem to always get the BS side of it.