Devil Engine

Devil Engine is presented very well. The art and music are by far the best parts of this game (ironic, given the controversy) and I can say that I am never bored when playing. As a shmup, Devil Engine just doesn't feel good to me. There is not enough telegraphing of large bullets, so often you are left with attacks that you never could have dodged without memorization. I don't mind memorization, but when you have to memorize to the extent that this game makes you, it just feels like studying for an exam. Some attacks are too fast or too dense, even with the bullet-clearing gimmick. This is only further complicated by the three-speed system, which makes precise dodging cumbersome and slow to adjust. I've only been able to make it to the final stage by feeding this game all of my credits. I recognize that some of my struggles with this game are because I'm not a skillful shmup player, but I am an experienced one. Getting good at this game just doesn't feel like it's worth my time, when all it boils down to are inhuman reflexes and memorization of the entire game with little-to-no incentive. If you don't mind the gripes I've noted, then you should play Devil Engine--it's very polished and has its moments! I just wouldn't recommend it.

Presentation is brilliant. Banging music as well. What really lets the game down is the difficulty and how it's designed around memorisation. I like overcoming challenge in games from either skill or a better understanding of the game mechanics and systems. With this you've basically got stuff you have no chance in avoiding unless you've memorised from your last run that it's going to happen. I find that poor and not game design I enjoy. It might take you a while to appreciate what I'm explaining, but you'll soon realise that the lack of choreographed attacks and the timing you'll get to avoid them is nothing. They're basically just instant attacks. You could argue that shmups require routing to some degree, but this is to an extreme just to survive.

This games graphics are a work of art; up there with Metal Slug in their own way. Don't be intimidated or feel emaciated by the "insulting" comments on the difficulty level choice- IMHO Easy Mode IS the Normal mode and the comments are a reference maybe to the Psikyo Japanese way of referecing difficulty levels. The game is brutal and hard but personally I find it alot more playable with the "Rayforce" ship Scathach. Wheras with Andraste you get alot of bombs with Scathach you tend to accumulate alot of lives which makes it more accessible IMO. Ignition Mode is just insane but very fun in a "see how many seconds/minutes I can last" frame of mind. If you accept your're gonna die then its good , insane fun.

Very competent game with gorgeous visuals and a stellar soundtrack. The presentation of this title is definitely the thing that stuck the most with me, it reminds me of some classic 90s anime aesthetics like Genocyber and Akira backed by a soundtrack that never ceases to amaze, top notch stuff from the very first stage 'till the last one. There's a lot of content here too: unlockable ships, color customization for the bullets, CRT filters and a hard as nails challenge mode. I love the way that the game gradually rewards you with so many customizable stuff based on your global total score. Now about the gameplay, I feel like this is mainly aimed to really hardcore players of the genre, it feels like there's no middle ground to the balance and no easy way to start getting into the game without dealing with severe punishment and memorization. Some people will like that but if you're here just trying to relax, enjoy the presentation and shoot some enemies, you'll regret that decision early on during any of the first three stages. Personally that ends up making me play the game a lot more than I would, but I think it wouldn't hurt anyone to make the experience more accessible for a broadier audience. This game really requires you to deep dive into its level / encounter design while maintaining your reflexes up there with the high speed agressiveness of the enemies. My only complaint is that it feels like every weapon avaiable to you are very situational and never feels powerful or punchy enough to give you that sweet satisfaction to balance things up after going through the learning curve of the tight defensive maneuvers. Mind you there's a unlockable ship that plays in a more agressive way compared to the main one and I think that one feels way more fun to enjoy the challenge than what the game initially presents to you. When a game focuses on its lean learning curve and difficult aspects as a main feature of replayability, my personal opinion is that the more and the crazier are the tools that you give to the enemies, if you give that (almost) same sense of power to the player, the payback will always feel great balancing frustration and satisfaction. Imagine if you parried a full super in SFIII 3rd Strike and could only punish with a jab or if you could only shoot your gun in Devil May Cry after dodging a boss fullscreen super. Imo this game is pretty close to perfection, like I've explained before I just think your ship should be able to feel more poweful as my main complaint, but I can't wait to see what kind of new stuff the planned DLC could bring to the overall experience. Cheers to the devs, I hope more people pay attention to Devil Engine in the future, this is a great game!

歯ごたえと理不尽をはき違えた勘違い BGMとグラだけは良い、ただし百太郎氏が担当した曲は１曲のみだ メインショットについては S：ザコにはちょっと使えるが固い敵が多くなると豆鉄砲 L：火力他の２種よりマシ程度、これをメインで使わないと基本敵弾まみれになると思え H：水鉄砲、罠だ！ 自機が爆散後の復帰の無敵時間が短すぎてリスキル状態な事も多々ある 回避し難い敵の攻撃が予兆が極わずかもしくは無しで撃ってくる殺意溢れる心折設計 普通のザコですらSショット１発で沈まない固さ 敵弾をかき消すバーストのシステム周りが噛み合ってない 開発のゴタゴタのせいでバージョンアップ版は絶望的 と思いきやCS機で１０月に出るみたいだけどどうなのよ？ほんとに出るの？ ストレス溜めたいドMだけが金をドブに投げ捨てろ

Disclaimer: Technically I got the base game for free from the dev giving free keys to people around but I still bought the DLC once it came out. What I can say is that this game is what a good classic shoot'em up should always be about. In this era where the indie shmup scene is flooded with vertical bullet hell kind of game (I still love them, Crimzon Clover being a prime example) it feels refreshing to see a horizontal one with weapon power-ups and being able to crash on the floor and ceiling.

A dev team so self-destructive they make sonic team look competent producing more drama than a game this mediocre could ever justify

非常に高速かつ高密度の弾幕が飛んでくる ドット絵調の難易度の高い横スクロールSTG。 楽曲、演出、デザイン世界観良し。 一方でSTG入門向けでは無く、 STGの中でも相当難しい部類の１つだと思います。 確実に練習ありき、何十回と練習とパターンをつかむ必要のあるSTGです。 ただし無理ゲーという訳ではなく、 コンティニュー無しで4面、5面までは行けるようになったので 恐らく練習を積めば全クリもできるのかもしれません マルチエンディングシステムもありますが、 まだノーコンティニューもできないので全エンド 見れる気がしないです… 機体はアンドラステとスカサハの2機（DLCのブーディカ含めると3機）。 それぞれに弾消し技があり、要所要所で必ず弾を消さないと進めないような 場所でうまく使わないといけません シークレットでポイントやエクステンド（残機アップ） アイテムが出る事もあり、割と爽快感はあります （けど前述の難易度もあってなかなか完璧な爽快感にならないですが） バグやらに関して： 今まで問題なかったのですが、23/11/12時点でDLC追加後、 日本語の文字の改行部分が壊れてしまい、 「/n」と表示されたままちゃんと文章が表示されない バグが発生してしまいました 恐らくそのうち修正されると思いますが あとSteamのスクリーンショットで撮影すると 画面には表示されているのに日本語部分が画像側では 映らない、といった現象にも遭遇しています 結論： 非常に高難易度のゲームですが、やり込み十二分にあると思うので その難易度に負けない方は買ってみてもいいのでは。 自分はにわかシューターですがこの難易度は嫌いではないのでオススメで。

**EDIT** I just saw a response to another review from Protoculture Games, and the issues involving this fantastic game have been resolved, and the developer, Protoculture Games, has control over their game once again, so all is right with the Devil Engine world, and we can, hopefully expect so much more in the future from this talented group of developers. Do buy this game, it is as good of an example of one of my favorite genres as you will find!! Now, I do hope we can receive this game on other platforms as well. **Original Post** I love this game, Sh'mups is one of my favorite genres and I have been playing games since the 70's, enough so that I have purchased it on both the PC and the Switch. Sh'mups like Defender, Stargate (Defender 2), Galaga, Galaxians, and the list goes on, ate countless quarters in the early years of video games. If Devil Engine were released on other consoles (PS4/5 or Xbox One or Series X), I would absolutely buy it there as well. This game is absolutely incredible, one of the best Sh'mups to have released in a very long time. The controls are spot on, on both systems, the graphics take us back to a much earlier and beloved time in gaming, and the difficulty is perfectly set. This game is no cake walk, so bring your Sh'mup skills with you and be prepared to die, a lot. I wish everyone involved the best, and hope they can resolve their problems, because if they can't it will be the gaming community who loses the most in the long run.

Two games for the price of one basically. Damn good game especially DE Ignition!