Mushihimesama: Hardcore Bullet-Hell Shooter on PC (AAA Metascore)

This bullet-hell shooter came out on Steam earlier this month:

It has a 92% score on Metacritic, making it one of the highest-rated games of the year (4th highest on PC, 7th highest overall). And it has a 95% user rating on Steam.

I picked it up not long ago, and it's some of the most fun I've had all year. Bullet-hell shooters are known for being some of the most difficult hardcore games around (which usually puts off a lot of gamers), but this one has a great difficulty curve, slowly easing you into the game... before bombarding you with tons of bullets. It also has the best soundtrack I've heard this year. It's a great game, a throwback to the days of old-school, hardcore, arcade gaming.

Now I'm looking forward to the sequel, Mushihimesama Futari, which looks even more hardcore...

This is a classic Cave game from about a decade ago. This recent release was the first time they've released one of their bullet hell games on PC.

-Byshop

It's on sale now 30% off.

Is this one of those weird Japanese 2D games where the end boss is a penis or something.

inb4weeaboo

puh...weabs...smh

I have all but 3 of the cave shooters that came to 360, fun games.

I really do not understand how people can stay alive so long with so many missiles aiming at them.

I'll pass

I strongly urge everyone to buy this game. Not only will you be supporting a great game, but you will be supporting excellent game design in general.

It's because your hit box in these games is really, really, really small.

Mushihimesama is a classic but Futari 1.5 and EspGaluda II are even better.

As a PC gamer, I love the heavy support we have been getting from Japanese devs as of late. Heck, if this keeps up, I might even prefer the japanese support over the american support :O

Have you played any other Cave shooters? Which ones would you recommend?

I enjoy this genre. I've never been able to remember a game like this on PC from about 20yrs ago but it was "free roam" any direction on a map with different areas and missions. You could do upgrades to your jet/spaceship and add support for stuff like auto-tracking machine gun turret and multi-missles, and shields.

I haven't played many. Mush.....etc is the only one I've spent a lot of time with as many of them were arcade games in a time when arcades were getting hard to find around here.

-Byshop

92% with 4 reviews, let's be real about this, the only people who are going to review such a game are hardcore fans of these games which already calls to question their integrity for everyone else not already a big fan of these games

anyhow, these games need a rotate your TV 90 degrees display mode (or do they have that, if so my hats off to them)

This game is like playing Beatmania IIDX on the highest difficulty.

I don't even see how it's fun.

I don't understand the appeal of bullet hell shooters. All your attention is on dodging. There's no skill involved in killing enemies, all you do is hold down the fire button and they'll eventually be killed by where you're forced to move anyway. It's not like you have any room to maneuver. Where's the fun in this? These games strike me as lazy game design. It doesn't take effort to flood the screen with bullets.

Galak-Z is what I desire in a shooter. Plenty of room to maneuver, upgrades for guns that have different effects, a mech mode, physics, decent enemy A.I., and enemies that fight differently.

You always have room to maneuver, knowing the size of your hitbox and finding the room is what it´s all about , you only hold the fire button to concentrate your shot and use bursts or a different button for wide shot, sometimes a different button gives a different weapon, you do have tactics for higher scoring, weapon upgrades and enemy´s with different attack patterns, know when or not to use bombs .Some have deep scoring systems by chaining enemy´s or award bonus points when killing enemy´s in close proximity .

A lot of people have an opinion but just don´t understand these games though, or it´s just not your thing which is always possible.

Mushihimesama has some of the best game design of any game released this year. It doesn't have much to offer in terms of storytelling or presentation, but Mushihimesama's "gameplay triumphs above all else" attitude is refreshing.

If I remember correctly, I think you mentioned that you beat the sequel Mushihimesama Futari? How was that like?

There were still a few arcades around where I live up until a couple of years ago, but I don't remember seeing Cave shmups there. It was usually racing games, light-gun shooters, fighting games, dancing games, etc.

That is a gross misunderstanding of how these games work.

Was it maybe Tyrian? I remember that being the most popular PC shmup of the '90s. I played the heck out of that game on MS-DOS back in the days.

I wouldn't call myself a hardcore fan of the genre either. While I used to play shmups (non-bullet-hell) a long time ago, Mushihimesama is the first bullet-hell shmup I've really got into. It's actually quite easy to pick up for gamers who are new to the bullet-hell genre. It starts off straightforward, but gradually gets more difficult as you progress. But as it gets more difficult, you can feel your own skills improving along the way. That's what I mean about its difficulty curve. That's the essence of great game design.

Also, you don't need a rotating TV. It has the option for a 90-degree rotated TV/monitor, but you can play it on a standard TV/monitor as well.

Lol, I didn't know what to expect when I clicked this thread. I have to say, the music took me back to the Genesis & Arcade days some reason ( which is a good thing).

It takes effort to fill the screen with bullets in a way that the player can still evade them and have fun playing the game. I haven't played a lot of bullet hell shooters, but I generally enjoy them.

Looks almost identical to Espgaluda 2, which I play on my iPhone.

I can't get jiggy with this shit

It's not identical. Both games are very different, but they are both developed by Cave. The bullets are colored for people who think about where they are going. Generally, one type of bullet is directed at the player's sprite (usually red), and the other is semi-directed and part of a pattern (blue). Espgaluda 2 has a mode where all of the bullets slow down and increase in density; this can be used for both score or moving through patterns that you think are difficult.

Yeah it is some of the best re-released this year. Mushihimesama is a 2004 game. It's good that at least one of Cave's works has made it to PC. Their games, though many of them have strange designs and stories, are the best around.

You can also pick up ports of many of Cave's games on the PS2 and Xbox 360. Some of their 360 ports are region free.

I love the idea of these games until I actually get in there and suck balls.

It's a genre I'd love to enjoy, but lack the patience for.

You should try this one out. Play it for about an hour a day -- an hour of thoughtful gameplay. You aren't going to be 1 credit completing these games on your first try, but when you start getting better, it will be more than worth it.

People should buy this game and check out other shoot em ups developed by Cave and others. There's another good bullet hell on PS3 called Mamorukun Curse that people interested in Mushihimesama should check out.

DodonPachi was pretty much the go to one for me. Loved that game.

Yeah, I might check it out.

I'm not typically one to shy away from challenging games. I usually embrace them. Either I'll get good enough to completely own the game, or at the very least (like with fighting games) I'll become a middle of the road player, just good enough to enjoy my time.

I've just had a bad track record with bullet hell games, though I probably haven't played the genres best, and this one does look fun.

Looks good, thanks for the tip.

That's a big reason why I wanted to try out bullet-hells, because they're like an evolution of those old 16-bit Sega/Arcade shooters.

Cool, I'll check that out. What about Espgaluda? I've heard a lot about that one too.

That was a spiritual successor to DodonPachi released on the PS2. Dodon is on the PS1 and Saturn. And yeah bullet hells are definately an evolution of things like Rtype and Truxton. There's no way a 16 bit console could handle a bullet hell shooter. it's basically 32 bit 2D.

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