Mushihimesama

Stages 4 and 5 are some of the best stages in all of shmups in my opinion. All modes are really fun and worth playing including the arrange and 1.5. Ultra is insane and something I don't think I'll ever have the obsession to clear, but it is cool that it is there. After a long time of casually enjoying this game, I got my first 1CC. I really never thought I would be able to do this, but thanks to shmup enjoyers and creators re-sparking my interest in the genre and several games helping to develop my skills, I was finally able to knock it out in less than a week of earnest effort. I feel like I've built some more STG foundations after this clear. Knowing where to look and where my ship is feels a bit more natural now. I feel like this is the game that finally made me figure out how to just know where my hitbox is without having to look right at or around it. It's something you are really forced to figure out with how fast some of the bullet patterns are. I think I enjoyed my time with the game and am not quite done with it yet. I will also be going for Maniac, Arrange, and 1.5 clears. I really love the approach to the difficulties in this game, as they don't just feel like a ramp up in intensity, but like different design philosophies. Some of the patterns in Maniac feel objectively easier to me, but there are a lot more bullets and it feels like it is exercising a different set of skills. I look forward to tackling those maybe someday soon. Mushihimesama is a really beautiful game and just pleasant to look at. I love the colors and I really think this may be the game where Cave's bullets pop the best. The music for each stage and boss also just feel perfect and I love their arrange and 1.5 versions as well. The sound design is pleasant and perfectly communicates hits and part/enemy destruction. I've found playing some shumps for a long time I eventually start hating some sounds or music tracks, but that never really happened for me here. Each stage provides a unique set of challenges, enemies, and patterns to overcome that feel distinct to each stage. I am really fond of each of them, aside from maybe stage 3. Stage 1 feels like the perfect opening warm-up and I never got tired of its opening music every time I started a run. Stage 2 feels like an appropriate ramp up with engaging mid and final boss. I enjoy the boss design of being able to destroy parts to reduce the difficulty, but I believe its also more points if you are able to do it without destroying the legs. I always enjoy those sorts of implementations of being able to modify the gameplay experience through play. Stage 3 is the one kind of sour point. It is probably the stage I spent the most time with in practice mode and I had my ups and downs with it, but it just feels kind of boring in comparison to the other stages, despite being this sort of barrier to the run. It doesn't feel like a compelling frustration to overcome and has a lot of repeat patterns in a way that isn't really an issue in the other stages. The concept is cool with the stage basically just being 1 giant enemy and a bunch of the most annoying zako you will ever encounter. I don't know, it just isn't very fun. Stage 4 and stage 5 are the real stars of the show and some peak design both offer beautiful dances with bugs. The zako enemies really become dangerous here and not in the kind of annoying constant flanking way of stage 3, but as this sort of constant threat you have to keep in check while managing other enemies. The dragonfly enemies also feel instantly iconic. Stage 5 has some of the most devious sequences of enemies I have ever encountered especially in the final lead up to the boss, but they feel incredibly rewarding to overcome. In my 1CC run I ran out of bombs in the final part of the stage and was forced to overcome this area I normally bomb. It was such an exciting triumphant way to close out the run. You will also find some of the most satisfying bullet cancels ever in this stage. The music pairs perfectly with the enemy deployment in this stage, it is just such a beautiful spectacle from beginning to end. I still feel compelled to keep playing after the clear and I think that really speaks to the excellence of this game. I look forward to taking on some of the other modes here and may write up more after the clears.