Once, someone told me I didn't complain about the difficulties, but that may be because I never found a suitable place to voice my opinions. I don't see the rage thread as a good place to bash multiple aspects of the game, and I don't believe I've ever had a single instance in the playthroughs that would be annoying enough to warrant bringing up, let alone in a fit of rage (Kogasa's first spell was a side comment).
Anyway, I can't pass up an opportunity to praise some of the games even though it'll inevitably lead to downranking some of them, possibly crumbling down to a long list of whining. Let's get started!
Top:Perfect Cherry BlossomLots of bias being the first game I was introduced to, so some parts I might be perfectly fine with may be brought up as a downside for other games. Or maybe it really fits together that well after playing this more than the rest of the games combined. I enjoy all the little cogs that make up the cherry system and how it is influenced by many factors, factors that you can control to an extent. A cute little portable shield in addition to lives dropping like candy, making it easy to clear and move on to trying out new risks. Ignoring the gameplay for once I find that the stages build up nicely to the very end. Music fits right in.
Not much to say about Easy and Normal right now. I've hardly conquered either but currently Hard and Lunatic have more room for improvement by simply dodging better. From the standpoint of an intermediate player the scoring system doesn't really step on your toes when you spend lives and bombs (again, just Hard/Lunatic). Blow away any troublesome spells! Most of them have a low spell bonus potential and the bomb will contribute to the border. Same for standard deaths opening the way to full power bonus effects.
Undefined Fantastic ObjectCould I also be biased for this because it's the first new game I've seen since trying this series? Whether or not that's the case I love the malleability of the UFO system. Oh, there's something in common with PCB! Granted, all these games are going to be boiled down to a science and it turns into a planned route for scoring / 1CC attempt, but at least there's more freedom in a game like this if only to play it for the sake of playing *something*.
Easy and Extra are really the main points of interest so far. All the other difficulties remain largely unexplored, but these two difficulties are enough to handle for the time being. The entire Extra stage has me sold. The beginning part for so many other Extras is streaming or static stuff like SA, but this here is lovely freeform dodging. I don't mind restarting to see this. Two of the midboss spells call for some (relatively) faster action and the noncards are far from stale. Lots of freebie spells and the moderately difficult ones are closer to 'just right' than anything else I can think of for an Extra. Plus, nice large spell bonuses!
I don't know what it is about the Easy difficulty for this game, but it isn't the same level of tiredness as SA Easy's grazing. Maybe it's because there's more moving around, more repositioning, and the music keeps me up better in this game. There's a little leeway in the beginning for making a life-costing mistake if you're not a perfectionist, but then misses are just as deadly as in SA. Still, you're moving around a lot in this and working with the UFO summons, very much awake.
Subterranean AnimismOh no, I'm drawing a blank. Let's see...all I can say is it's a decent game and deserves to be in the upper tier of this list. I think it comes down to the fact that there's a lot of freedom to move around (well, that's in all the games?), it's on a new engine, and the grazing system is back. Just...none of the other games handle grazing like this. The bombs don't let it, it doesn't exist, or in UFO's case it's tied more to scoring. Sure, so is this but you now have the auto-POC aspect. Which...really ties to scoring also. I don't know! It's new, all the games have something new, but I enjoy this particular new feature. Fly around, touch bullet clusters, follow lasers, and goodies will fly into your possession.
Now, the scoring if it wasn't already mentioned enough already. Again, I tend to stay with the lower difficulties be it from current skill level or just no desire to work on the higher ones. Easy and Normal do have that 'no-miss except for the beginning' standard, else one suffers a deathblow to their score. I feel there's less hindrance to prevent such a death by bombing. The spell bonus is still small and there isn't major damage to the point item count after ending a spell like in MoF. Hard and Lunatic aren't so severely impacted by deaths and it won't have such a terrible psychological counter. I guess I may tire of it the more I go into grazing attacks, but there's no drive to do so and I'm happy playing this game to play it.
Mystic Square (honorable mention)Only because the topic is asking for the order and I play this game infrequently, but with this tier system it's going up here. You know what, I was going to veer off the gameplay again to give a plus to the music but that's the case for all four of these games. Most of them are pleasing to hear and no doubt icing on the cake. Or a third of the cake itself. Is it convenient that the perceived decent gameplay has nice music to complement, or do they interchange?
No qualms with the stages except for on Lunatic where everything has the potential to launch a bullet at you when they're two-thirds down the screen. Lots of flying around to pick up stuff, very good. Nice buildup throughout the game, attacks are relatively sparse but makes sure the bullets count, intense but short-lived. Extra stage has a very good atmosphere.
Middle:The Embodiment of Scarlet DevilI appreciate its straightforward attacks but the randomness of some of those attacks along with boss movements can swing it to either end of the difficulty slider. UFO Lunatic may be supremely difficult but that's all. This game, on the other hand, is...hum. Mixed feelings about the rank system and I'll leave it at that. Large support for the Extra stage. Again with the straightforward attacks and quick boss battles.
No strong opinion about the scoring system which is another reason why it's here in the middle. Pretty close to SA with the amount of time invested, maybe a little more.
Shoot the Bullet (honorable mention)The game doesn't click with me and so lack of dedication leaves a low overall score. No strong feelings for it as a whole.
Lotus Land Story (another honorable mention)Something like what was said for StB. Very short middle tier list. Well actually, the music was good but only a few of the stage portions are memorable. Extra stage is quirky.
Phantasmagoria of Flower View (another)Definite blank.
Bottom:Imperishable NightSomething about the pacing of the first three stages that's off. Fifth stage is a complete drag, fourth and sixth are troublesome for reaching the POC. The fourth stage issue could be remedied with enough practice like PCB, but I'm already put off by the game so very little time goes into it. Kaguya's battle is complete blah. Just like Remilia's battle walls can surface here and there but this time you have to put up with it much longer before the attack ends. Fourth noncard looks like it should be there to catch your breath but makes me fall asleep.
I guess a life by itself doesn't have a major impact to the score but to not complete this game with max lives is an eyesore. Only room for one mistake and if you're chasing for points that extend isn't going to come in the middle of Kaguya's battle, unlike PCB's 1,400 mark. I think her first four last spells are absolutely fine but not in a full run with the 'if you suck' threat
because we're going to crush your score at the very end. Easy is the only difficulty I can stand for but then there's the huge bonus from supergrazing her fourth last spell. One day it'll click but not anytime soon when you don't try it for months at a time.
Mountain of FaithForgot to lump it in with IN, but neither of these have a great deal of memorable soundtracks. Feels too linear, poor final spell for stage one and two bosses, Kanako's second spell is worse on Normal and Hard than Lunatic, Aya's first and second spell are just as bad or worse on Normal than Hard and Lunatic, ridiculous survival, Extra boss is difficult for the wrong reasons. And this is where I conveniently overlook some of the attacks from PCB like endstage Youmu's first two spells and the Prismriver Sisters' final, but they feel a little fairer. Oh, is that it? It just feels right, right.
The scoring system, while not as bad as the item rigging in Mario Kart Wii, isn't my cup of tea. As mentioned in SA there's more inhibition when it comes to bombing during boss fights later in the game because this game actually has a sizable spell bonus and you're going to take another point item hit when you're no longer at 5.00 power. Did I complain enough about some of the attacks out there? No peace, not even in Easy. Still, both of these games get more playtime than any of the honorable mentions.
Complain, complain, and it wasn't put together that well. Most of the energy disappeared after the beginning. I wasted too much time. This really is too long. Why the hell did I do that? Just...oh damn it. Some words are repeated too much also.
No really, that has to be it. None of the attacks last quite as long as those in Imperishable Night. PCB comes close but at least you're working with the cherry system. No more edits, I'm going to kill myself for spending the last 50 minutes typing this.
