Replay Critique / Analysis Thread

[jc_foster]

Just an overall note, the more "flaws" a run has, the more I advice I can give.

Nothing too wrong with Stages 1-5, save for a few enemies not shot down due to Alice's range being limited.

Stage 6; "Earth Galaxy in a Pot" can be done very simply with the Magic Team. Fire unfocused. First Kaguya Last Spell should be done with vertical movements only; if you feel you're going to get trapped, then you unfocus (or remain focused; it works but just barely IIRC) and make a quick movement to make an opening for you to swap directions.

There's nothing else wrong apart from the Power crisis.

Thanks, Baity -- I got your method for the Last Spell working perfectly. I'll post a normal run of something Sometime Soon (tm), but I think I'm still at that stage where more bullets == more really stupid moments ....

[Laughing Bird]

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6194

I haven't touched IN in a long while but its blindingly obvious I dont really know the stages and later bosses that well.

Any starters on where to improve besides the usual "play more, get better?"

[ghost333]

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6194

I haven't touched IN in a long while but its blindingly obvious I dont really know the stages and later bosses that well.

Any starters on where to improve besides the usual "play more, get better?"

you are doing really fine.
at the begin i thought it was a no focus run btw.
u should practice stage 5 and stage 6.
mostly stage 5.
some cards can be done a bit easier like:
emphermally 137  : http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6202
cmnt: destroy the familiars= less bullets.

Light Sign "Earth Light Ray" : http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6203
cmnt: misdirect the bullets taht are aimed at you.

"Invisible Full Moon" : http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6204
if you go near her you have to worry only about the blue bullets.( the wave of blue bullets tah will come down is the one that spawned before.)

[hyorinryu]

Here's one http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6207

It's my first UFO 1cc.

[Laughing Bird]

at the begin i thought it was a no focus run btw.

I wish I was that good :V

Thanks for the advice, though I remembered at earth light ray I had a method for doing it that just involved going left and right with no vert, but its been too long, couldn't recall how to do it in time
Invisible Full Moon I remembered after the first death that I had to do it close but I kept screwing it up as I tried to move in. Multiple times. ;(

Here's one http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6207

It's my first UFO 1cc.

Man, this looks so similar to my most recent attempt, except I choked super hard at Shou and couldn't even death bomb right

Near the end of stage 5 (past midboss) start going green. On stage 6, unless you have 2 life pieces in stock go all green.

Murasa's survival can be done with more or less minimal movement since all you need to do is hop between the gaps. Card gives you more space than you'd think so just slowing down after each circle as you go between the gaps is the way to go.

Survival card: http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6211 Disregard stage, I nearly time out the second card cause Murasa wouldn't get underneath my lazors.

Your stage 5 run can be chalked up to not knowing the stage well enough.

[Poochy.EXE]

So I finally got around to clearing SA Normal. Turns out I'm much less efficient with MarisaB than I thought I was, and switching shot types helped immensely. Anyways, here's my highly flawed but still successful replay; please do nitpick it to pieces.

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6214

[Poochy.EXE]

(Once again, excuse the double post.)

Here's one http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6207

It's my first UFO 1cc.

Interesting UFO chaining strategy on stage 1.
Nazrin's final boss spellcard: Keep in mind that the white rings of the large bubble bullets are actually perfectly safe to pass through, so you don't need to move as much as you did. Not that it made much of a difference here, but that becomes quite useful in some other scenarios.

Kogasa's first boss spellcard: Try unfocusing briefly whenever you're sitting still, to destroy a couple of those circling orbs before they move low enough to become a nuisance.

Stage 3: On the waves of blue yin-yang orbs, try to summon a UFO, but focus on hitting the orbs before the UFO. The larger bullets are aimed, so the lower they get, the closer their trajectories are to horizontal, and the more of a nuisance they become. And the smaller bullets can be equally obstructive if you let them fire too many. Of course, towards the end of the wave, explode the UFO to clear out all the bullet spam.

Stage 4: Try to have a blue mini-UFO during midboss!Nue, since immediately after that will come a pair of static blue mini-UFOs and none other for a while. Summon a blue UFO when the blue yin-yang orbs show up.

Also, trying for all red UFOs is not necessarily the most effective strategy for survival. There are points where, for example, a different type of UFO is much easier to summon because of the static-color mini-UFO drops, points where a strategically-timed UFO explosion is very useful and is probably worth getting non-red UFOs for, etc. For example, at the beginning of your stage 5, I think you should've just summoned a blue UFO instead of wasting your two blue mini-UFOs. Keep in mind that all UFOs drop a flashing mini-UFO when they explode, so it's generally worthwhile to just summon a UFO instead of wasting the mini-UFOs you've already collected.

Shou's final spell card: When the green lasers appear, do NOT stay at the very bottom.

Byakuren's penultimate spell card: Don't bother trying to follow her zig-zag left and right. You'd be better off just sitting on one side (right side on the first time, left side on the second time, repeat) to hit her on every other end of her zig-zag movements.

[Laughing Bird]

Reimu A

I find SA harder with Reimu A than Mari B to be honest, even though Reimu is the "easier" of the two

I think starting stage 5, you started bombing during sections where it felt unnecessary and it didn't feel like it helped your survival but rather it just lowered your power.

Stage 1: nice grazing on the opening fairies

Stage 5: The bomb at the second midboss nonspell was a waste. Don't chase Orin all the way during catwalk. It's better to stop at the second last circle and stay still, only moving a little to dodge the wave.
It didn't look like you needed to use a bomb at the first spellcard. Also, make a beeline right for the top corner before the fairies spawn. Orin boss's second nonspell is more easily dodged going horizontal rather than down imo.

Stage 6: If you are going for graze, you might as well kill the wisps while you're at it and graze around the centre.

[hyorinryu]

(Once again, excuse the double post.)Interesting UFO chaining strategy on stage 1.
Nazrin's final boss spellcard: Keep in mind that the white rings of the large bubble bullets are actually perfectly safe to pass through, so you don't need to move as much as you did. Not that it made much of a difference here, but that becomes quite useful in some other scenarios.

Kogasa's first boss spellcard: Try unfocusing briefly whenever you're sitting still, to destroy a couple of those circling orbs before they move low enough to become a nuisance.

Stage 3: On the waves of blue yin-yang orbs, try to summon a UFO, but focus on hitting the orbs before the UFO. The larger bullets are aimed, so the lower they get, the closer their trajectories are to horizontal, and the more of a nuisance they become. And the smaller bullets can be equally obstructive if you let them fire too many. Of course, towards the end of the wave, explode the UFO to clear out all the bullet spam.

Stage 4: Try to have a blue mini-UFO during midboss!Nue, since immediately after that will come a pair of static blue mini-UFOs and none other for a while. Summon a blue UFO when the blue yin-yang orbs show up.

Also, trying for all red UFOs is not necessarily the most effective strategy for survival. There are points where, for example, a different type of UFO is much easier to summon because of the static-color mini-UFO drops, points where a strategically-timed UFO explosion is very useful and is probably worth getting non-red UFOs for, etc. For example, at the beginning of your stage 5, I think you should've just summoned a blue UFO instead of wasting your two blue mini-UFOs. Keep in mind that all UFOs drop a flashing mini-UFO when they explode, so it's generally worthwhile to just summon a UFO instead of wasting the mini-UFOs you've already collected.

Shou's final spell card: When the green lasers appear, do NOT stay at the very bottom.

Byakuren's penultimate spell card: Don't bother trying to follow her zig-zag left and right. You'd be better off just sitting on one side (right side on the first time, left side on the second time, repeat) to hit her on every other end of her zig-zag movements.

What's so interesting about it? What's the unusual about it?

As for Kogasa's first card, the idea is that I kill the card before anything funny happens. Did I cap it there? I forgot, I usually do.

As for aiming for all reds, I do that because it's the simplest thing to do(i.e. hardest to screw up) I'll try your way though when I have time (this was my first chain of attempts in about two weeks).

Also, for Shou's final card, I stay on the bottom so I don't need to read as many glowing bullets. It's the same idea as Yuugi's midboss spell.

As for your replay, I'll offer advice, but keep in mind mind I use MarisA so it might not be applicable. I would reccomend doing it again as a lot of your deaths seems like loldeaths. At Orins first spellcard, you should lure the faires in to one place and then shoot them down and Orin at the same time. As for second nonspell, you should move up instead of down, it's easier that way. As for stage 6 , do you alway bomb that often? As for Utsuho, during her first spell, you should shotgun till you see the signal for the huge suns. Then you move out the way and way so you have a clear-ish shot at Utsuho. You might alreadly know this, but her fourth nonspell, the white balls she shoots after the yellow orb things are aimed, so you can just make a path through the bullets and you'll be fine. I bet you were like FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF! going into Nuclear Meltdown with 0.00 power.
Is it easier sgoing to the side for you, I find it easier to stay in the center as the bullets are easier to read. You did Hell's articficial sun pretty well didn't see much wrong with it.
Overall, you need to shotgun more. Unlike the others, SA doesn't have that first few seconds of immunity. There were numerous examples (Yuugi's midspell and Orin's last spell came to mind)  where you could shotgun the hell out them but didn't. I hope this helps.
One last thing, your death bombombing skills are h4x, srsly. As last poster mentioned your grazing 1st stage was impressive(doubt I could do that with Marisa).

[Laughing Bird]

Overall, you need to shotgun more.

Lol shotgunning with SA Reimu A

What's so interesting about it? What's the unusual about it?

As for aiming for all reds, I do that because it's the simplest thing to do(i.e. hardest to screw up) I'll try your way though when I have time (this was my first chain of attempts in about two weeks).

The interesting thing imo is how you summon the ufo during the end of midboss battle.

As for summoning all reds... Full Red = 0.5 lives/Full Green = 1.3 bombs. Just food for thought.
Having something as simple as a ufo summon route could help.

[Poochy.EXE]

What's so interesting about it? What's the unusual about it?

As for Kogasa's first card, the idea is that I kill the card before anything funny happens. Did I cap it there? I forgot, I usually do.

As for aiming for all reds, I do that because it's the simplest thing to do(i.e. hardest to screw up) I'll try your way though when I have time (this was my first chain of attempts in about two weeks).

Also, for Shou's final card, I stay on the bottom so I don't need to read as many glowing bullets. It's the same idea as Yuugi's midboss spell.

The most unusual part would be when you summoned a UFO during a midboss. Though I also usually see people summoning a green UFO between the midboss and boss, taking advantage of the static green UFO dropped by the fairy shortly after the midboss.

Kogasa's first card, you didn't cap it. You got cornered by one of those orbs that flew too low, hence my suggestion. (Note that I usually use SanaeB, and her spread shot usually takes out the orbs, which I notice makes that spell card MUCH easier than with other shot types.)

For Shou's final card, move just above the bottom green laser. There's usually a section of glowing bullets that move downward, so you can move to the bottom right above them and still have the advantage of having to read fewer glowing bullets. The main problem with staying at the very bottom is that you have much less room to move while the green lasers are active.

To answer your questions on my replay: Yeah, I always have a bunch of loldeaths on SA every time I play. I also do shotgun more when I use MarisaB, but I figured shotgunning doesn't make much of a difference with ReimuA and didn't bother. As for stage 6 and Utsuho, well, I was pretty much winging it the whole time. All those bombs were usually when I panicked and didn't want to screw up a perfectly good run at the very end (which is something that I seem to have a knack for).

Thanks to both of you for the SA advice!

Edit: And I now have a slightly better replay. http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6224

[Laughing Bird]

Its still easier to lead the Orin fairies (1st spell) to the top corner. The reason this is is cause when you head back down
you can park your ass at the bottom of the screen, micro dodge and kill orin before the faires get to you without having to go for a second loop.

Rest of the replay is alot smoother (with the exception of those hurr deaths at Okuu)

And just for fun: http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6225

It wasn't really that serious, this run (emphasis on capture and lol rather than survival). Yet I still got it on my first attempt. I'm scratching my head here. As it turns out gapping into a bullet does jack all since there is no invulnerability! Hooray!
I'll never do that again.

[ふねん1]

Baity may be out for a while, but hopefully someone is around to give critique on this. It's a perfect run, so no bombs or deaths are to be had. However, what I want is for someone to judge my overall execution, and if possible, see if I've improved on any of my faults that Baity described earlier in this thread (I'm sure my replays and his critique are still around in previous pages).

[jc_foster]

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6231

Yay, IN Normal. First time getting past Marisa, and first time getting to Keine's Last Spell. Nearly restarted after the idiot move on Wriggle's LS.

Hopefully, there's a bit more to pick apart in here than in my last one.

[Laughing Bird]

My Lady, why are you 1cc-ing IN Normal without meeeeee?!

I completely winged the last stage and Reimu battle (I usually choose characters that lead to Marisa). Reisen battle could use work as usual. Its harder when you can't destroy the familiars on demand but at least I didn't have to deal with Reimu balls

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6231

Yay, IN Normal. First time getting past Marisa, and first time getting to Keine's Last Spell. Nearly restarted after the idiot move on Wriggle's LS.

Hopefully, there's a bit more to pick apart in here than in my last one.

Dont forget that Dying or bombing = free PoC due to invulnerability so make the most of it when it happens

Marisa's openers should be done with Reimu as much as possible since destroying familiars will make life easier for you. Master spark is best misdirected, Stardust Reverie you should move down a little from your starting position and try to remain in that area since its pretty safe with Yukari. Don't really know where to go from here so I'll leave it at that

[Arcengal]

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6245

UFO Lunatic Stage 2. The stage goes okay, then Kogasa smashes me. This replay was my best attempt in a two hour window.

Help.

[The Greatest Dog]

Okay. Before you go overly harsh on this replay, I've only 1cc'd Hard twice, both with zero lives remaining and the general "bombing is better than deathbombing" idea.

And then I came up with this somewhat far Lunatic run. Made it all the way up to stage 5. If I practice Marisa's spellcards, I might be able to actually see Kaguya eventually.

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6251

[ghost333]

i was just messing around for score but nothing came out again.
perhaps some scorer can enlight me?
mistakes known: marisa fight and stage 6(i was confused becuase i was expecting another spell, mostly hard/luantic version)
IN youmu:
http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6257

[DgBarca]

I loose all my reflexes while unfocused to much...and, better grazing or shotgun in IN easy ? because there is not many bullet to graze...

Oh and those fairies in stage 4 with lots of slaves...don't know how to react to them ? keep unfocused all the time ? just bomb it ?

[Helix ⑨]

Just started with Phantasm stage
http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6269

I think I'll get the hang of the stage part in a few runs.
Particulary interested in:
Ran's 2nd - Any fixed movement pattern I can copy somewhere?
Yukari's 1st - A lot harder than the extra stage's equivalent
Yukari's x - the one with the butterflies, which come back, then return at high speed, 2nd wave is with knives.

And other crap I forgot atm

[Poochy.EXE]

Just started with Phantasm stage
http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6269

I think I'll get the hang of the stage part in a few runs.
Particulary interested in:
Ran's 2nd - Any fixed movement pattern I can copy somewhere?
Yukari's 1st - A lot harder than the extra stage's equivalent
Yukari's x - the one with the butterflies, which come back, then return at high speed, 2nd wave is with knives.

And other crap I forgot atm

Ran's 1st: Don't unfocus unless you really need to in order to get through a gap between two bullets before they reach the bottom. Unfocusing is a good way to get yourself cornered.

Ran's 2nd: Try to stay under her for maximum damage at first. When you see the wave of blue bullets moving towards the bottom, the very bottom right corner is a temporary safe spot. Sit there until Ran moves to the top right, then try to stay under her again to take out the spell card as soon as possible. I always make sure to take out her spell card before the following wave reaches bottom, so I don't know what to do after that.

For the last few waves of bullets coming in from the corners right before Yukari, sit halfway up the screen, but move to either the left or right side. Then, move horizontally to the opposite side at the first sound of bullets firing, and hold it until the second sound, at which point you should switch directions at the exact moment the second wave is fired. Repeat, moving back and forth.

Yukari's 1st: You're moving too much. Your first death and your bombs were all because you moved too early and failed to move again. Listen to the "pingpingpingpingping" sound of the light blue bullets. If the last time you moved was before the series of pings ended, plan to tap over again when they approach you. Don't worry about trying to stay under Yukari. Like with Ran's first, tap over as little as you can while still being out of the way of the bullets that are aimed directly at you.

Yukari's 6th (Evil Spirits "Bewitching Butterfly Living in the Zen Temple"; the Ultimate Buddhist equivalent): Again, you were moving to much at the blue bullets the first time. Try to stay under Yukari, and tap to the side if necessary. (Never mind, I noticed you figured it out on the second round.) When transitioning from red to blue, be careful, since the blue kicks in much faster than the transition from blue to red.

Yukari's 7th (Sinister Spirits "Double Black Death Butterfly"): If you're just playing for survival, you can actually get through this will a well-timed border. Avoid finishing Yukari's previous nonspell while you have a border active, in order to make sure the bullets that get turned into mini-Cherry items count towards your Cherry+. When the spell card comes, you should have a border most likely before Yukari fired the first wave of butterflies, but at the latest it should kick in soon after. Sit at the bottom center (unfocus if necessary to get your Cherry+ up to 50,000 in time) directly underneath Yukari. Once she fired the butterflies, weave your way up towards her so that you're sitting in between Yukari and the highest butterfly that's directly underneath her. Try to stay under her as she moves. Stay right underneath her as she's about to fire the 2nd wave (the knives). If your border is running out at this point, try to bomb it at the last second, and hopefully you'll clear out the knives just as she fires them; otherwise, just let yourself get hit to break the border. Then proceed to stay directly underneath her to finish off the card as soon as possible. If you can't finish it off by the third wave, sit at the bottom for the third wave, weave your way up, and finish off the card before she fires the 4th wave.

Yukari's 8th (Shikigami "Ran Yakumo"): Stay towards the bottom. When Ran moves to the side of the screen, scoot over horizontally in her direction a little right before fires. Immediately after she fires, scoot in the other direction. Note that Ran's circles at the very bottom will always have a perfectly horizontal set of butterfly bullets just below the lowest point your hitbox can reach, so if you're close enough to the bottom, the lowest touchable butterflies should simply float up harmlessly over you. Worry more about the bullets coming down from above.

If you'll excuse me plugging one of my own (older) replays, this should demonstrate most if not all of the above strategies:
http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=1142
Or on YouTube: [Part 1] [Part 2]

[Helix ⑨]

I never knew how people manage to border break Sinister Spirits "Double Black Death Butterfly", I've seen many videos of people clearing the 1st + 2nd wave with one border but I tried it every time and I never succeeded in it. I break my border as late as possible and that's still before the 2nd wave spawns...

Other than that, very helpful

edit: I don't get your tactic for the first spellcard at all, I move like told and I still get hit by white bullets.

[mikeKOSA]

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6276 

well this is my very first playthrough of SA. surprisingly, i reached the final spellcard but then i died... don't know what are the bullet patterns so i bomb a lot and died many times on stage 5 boss. Also, its pretty amazing how much life this game gives you, maybe that's why i almost 1cc on my first try 

[Poochy.EXE]

edit: I don't get your tactic for the first spellcard at all, I move like told and I still get hit by white bullets.

It actually can be sort of tricky, in that you need to get a sense for when and how far to move. If you get hit by white bullets, either your timing is a bit off (moved too late, or your previous tap was too early) or you're tapping over too lightly. If you get hit by green bullets, you've moved too far, too early and/or too frequently. It takes some trial and error to get a sense for it; it's pretty hard to describe those few crucial details. It doesn't help that the white bullets come from varied angles, either; even I still get the occasional clipdeath on it.

[Bananamatic]

Bored, so here's my first UFO ex run in a month or two:
http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6279

[Serela]

blargh, trying to 1cc UFO Hard

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6292

Don't even ask me how I captured Sinking Vortex like that.

[WinDEU]

Here's my best 1cc attempt on IN Lunatic. Ends at the end of stage 4.

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6298

[ghost333]

Here's my best 1cc attempt on IN Lunatic. Ends at the end of stage 4.

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6298

how i see it.
stage 1: i would really consider to restart... learn the stage better, seriously this is stage1.
stage 2: dont hesitate to bomb on her attacks if u are not confident about some.
stage 3-4 fight for survival.

basic note is  to memorize enemy spawn places.
learn some.

messy replay for the first stages: http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6305
forgive some stupid mistakes... there have been ages, and i am too lazy to play again.
u might consider to watch also some scoring replays.

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

Here's my first 1cc of UFO Normal.

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6311

I'd like some advice to help make it easier when I try with the other shot types.

Edit: UFO Extra. Need lots of help with the stage portion.

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6321

[WinDEU]

http://replays.gensokyou.org/download.php?id=6351

1cc UFO Hard attempt. Ends at Vajra of Perfect Buddhism. (which I call complete BS on with my last death, what did I get hit by?)

My current UFO path tends to go for red UFOs first, rainbow UFOs second.