Brave Rounds

[後半に日本語レビューあり] [h1]Close-Range Bullet Hell: A Vertical STG Built on 00s Arcade DNA[/h1] A vertical scrolling bullet hell STG set in the occult and sci-fi-laden year 20XX, where three protagonists stand against a mysterious cult's plan to trigger a volcanic explosion. The game's core is the concept of "close-range dominance." The risk-reward design makes diving into enemy fire the optimal play, while the dynamic difficulty "Rank" rises automatically with player improvement—whether through scoring or using bombs. The structure where getting better makes things harder is a compelling loop for score-attack devotees. Three playable characters each carry Options, and co-op offers either "Two Player"—where a friend takes direct control of the Options—or "Dual Control," where one player manages both simultaneously. Mode variety is solid: a five-stage Arcade Mode, a Story Mode with cutscenes and upgrade elements, Score Attack, and Stage Practice. The hand-drawn visuals, inspired by 00s arcades and anime, are colorful and carry a nostalgic warmth. HHF-chan's comment: "Close-range bullet hell—diving into enemy fire feels terrifying at first, but once it clicks, it's thrilliiiing!" [h1]00年代ACリスペクト、近接特化の弾幕縦STG[/h1] オカルトとSFが交差する20XX年を舞台に、謎のカルト組織の火山噴火計画を阻止すべく3人の主人公が立ち向かう縦スクロール弾幕STGだ。 本作の核は「近接特化」の概念だ。敵の射線に飛び込む積極的な立ち回りが最適解となるリスク＆リワード設計で、動的難易度「Rank」が自身の上達（スコア稼ぎも爆弾使用も）に応じて自動上昇する。うまくなるほど厳しくなる構造は、スコアアタック層にはたまらない仕掛けだ。 3キャラクター選択制で各自がOptionsを携えるほか、Co-opではOptionsを友人に委ねる「Two Player」か1人両刀操作の「Dual Control」が選べる。5ステージのアーケードモード、カットシーン、育成付きのStory Mode、スコアアタック、練習モードとモード構成も充実。00年代アーケード・アニメにインスパイアされた手描きビジュアルはカラフルで、見ていて懐かしくも気持ちよい。 HHFちゃんコメント: 「近接弾幕STGね。最初はビビるけど慣れると最高にスリリングだヨー！」 [quote][b]Check out our Steam curator ([url=store.steampowered.com/curator/36364102-Horny-Hentai-Festival/]link[/url]) , YouTube channel ([url=www.youtube.com/curatorhhf/]link[/url]), and X(Twitter) ([url=x.com/hhfcurator]link[/url])![/b][/quote]

The scoring mechanics took a bit to really understand, especially since I'm not too familiar with shmups/danmaku games. But once I understood it the arcade mode is a good timekiller (I've yet to get past stage 4 though). A simple game to play on the go with a Steam Deck, seems to work there as well with lotsa battery life to spare. Pros: + Pretty simple and satisfying flow with that timing of focusing -> special -> releasing focus to rack in all the scores on-screen at once. + I really like that the devs explain a lot of shmups terms and tech, helps a lot for those unfamiliar to the genre. + Game can probably run on a toaster, very light. Graphically it's easy on the eyes as well, the bullets aren't a total light show (from what I've played) and the enemy designs are simple and fun. + Three characters that play differently enough from each other to keep things interesting. Cons: - Score requirements in Story Mode seems a bit too steep, there is quite a spike from easy score requirements to normal. Could be doing something wrong, I replayed the score tech tutorial and I still have no idea which part I'm doing wrong lol. Always falls like 300k points short from the goal, which is like 2.6 mils or something on Normal diff. It's like the hard part isn't dodging the enemy bullets, it's getting the perfect timing to rack in all your scores at once. Good game to get if you want to try out a shmup with an emphasis on scoring. I'd like to play it more to get the scoring tech down.

So many Indonesian memes and jokes sprinkled around it's honestly amusing(since I understand it) Game is fun, I'm still stuck on the 4th stage though. Music is very enjoyable as well. EDIT : Now that I've finished the arcade once on normal(with continue) and played the story mode all the way to the end I'm gonna say this is a very welcoming shooting game, while the arcade throw you straight into the fire, story mode introduces you the section of the stages one by one, even giving hints on what to do on that section diguised as challenge/star achievement very genius design by mr producer/designer. For example like in the boss section there's score challenge, medal challenge and no hit challenge. Score challenge incentivize you to gather more score to get extra life/extend medal challenge tell you to survive the bullets by using special attacks and no hit challenge tell you to use bombs to avoid getting hit. Isn't that awesome the story mode gives you hints on what to do each section of all the stages. All the while you can made the game easier while using upgrades for the stages, everything prepares you to clear that arcade mode without continue(which I'll do eventually). [spoiler] My review is biased because this game is made by a friend [/spoiler]

A massive step up presentation and soundwise from the devs earlier, excellent game Hell Blasters. The game is excellently designed , very approachable but also very hard if played for scoring bumping up the rank , however bumping up the rank and seeing how far u can get is also very fun for casuals like myself. Easy recommend and deserves way more exposure.

super fun game, played the score attack loads, if you are into the genre, highly recommended

Brave Rounds is pure arcade fun. Fast, aggressive, and super satisfying.

Nice game really hyped on trying it on my Steam Deck next time

At first I didnt really get what the hell is going on, but once it clicked, I got completely hooked!

Very smooth controls and great visual clarity. Even when the screen gets busy, it still feels smooth.

The game is pretty funny