RefRain - prism memories -

Every now and then when the stars of the universe are in perfect alignment, you'll discover a game, look at a couple of screenshots, and before you even buy it you'll nod to yourself and say "this is perfection." You might not even know why, but your heart will tell you that this is it. And after 150 hours, I am happy to report that my heart was right. This is perfection. I've always considered "feeling one with your ship" (along with "player feedback") as the principal criteria of any shmup. If you're going to be investing dozens if not hundreds of hours into a shmup, not only do you need to feel in absolute control of your ship, you'll also need to feel some sort of connection with your character. And yet so many shmups get this wrong or even outright fail to consider it. RefRain - prism memories - really wants you to connect with your character. While you'll only be introduced to one from the start, each character has their own unique desktop environment which you'll use to start your run, watch replays, and so on. I'm not sure I've ever played a game which so cleverly introduces its characters to the player as it allows the player to get to know each character much in the same way as how you're able to gain a little more insight into someone when using their PC by observing their desktop icons and wallpaper. Even in-game you'll be seeing your character a lot. At the beginning of each run you're presented with a beautiful transition of your character diving into her virtual world with her ship, and your special weapons also trigger quick fading appearances of your character in and out and across your screen; something which I really truly wish more shmups did (Gunvein does this as well, but RefRain's implementation is more diverse, graceful, and refined). Not only does it give the game an awesome arcade feel, it really helps develop that player-character bond. Even bosses are presented in similar fashion at the start or mid-battle when they unleash special attacks of their own, and this gives the game so much more character and soul as it elevates boss fights from you being up against some kind of soulless machine to feeling as if you're up against another person, and one with a purpose beyond merely existing. RefRain's controls are also sublime. Apart from suffering from the classic doujin shmup problem of not being able to rebind your keyboard (thank goodness for AutoHotkey; my review for Danmakai addresses this issue as well), RefRain is ludicrously responsive, sharp, and tight. There's a certain immediacy you get from the game and not once did I have a "I totally did bomb in time" moment. On tightness; RefRain's player hitbox is the tiniest of any shmup I've played, but don't think this will get you out of trouble because bullet patterns can likewise be extremely tight, and they will get you. Some players say RefRain is more "resource management" (of your special weapons) than dodging, and while somewhat true, being able to dodge well is still an invaluable trait that'll grant greater freedom in deciding when you can unleash your specials for maximum effect. This is where RefRain will become somewhat divisive though, because this game can at times be immensely obtuse. While the game does have a decent tutorial (and manual in the game directory); you'll still be left with a fair bit to figure out on your own especially on harder difficulties and routes. RefRain has four basic difficulties (Easy, Normal, Advanced and Extreme) and two routes (Standard and Re:). The Re: route (which forces 1CC, introduces revenge bullets, increases boss health, and ultimately unveils the TLB) is unlocked after defeating the last boss for the first time. So because we effectively have seven difficulties in total (Easy, Normal, Re:Normal, and so on) RefRain should appeal to a broad range of player skill. That said, Re:Extreme is in a world of its own and the difficulty spike from Re:Advanced or Extreme to Re:Extreme is, well, "Re:ally" Extreme. The aggressiveness of revenge bullets on the Re: route scale significantly with difficulty, and on Re:Extreme every single enemy type -- even popcorn enemies -- spam them with an unholy vengeance. Fun. I can't remember how many attempts it took me to 1CC Re:Extreme, but it took almost 148 hours of playtime to acquire the Re:Extreme 1CC No-Miss achievement. Why "resource management" though? Because of how your weapons work in tandem with one another. Each character has two specials: the M.E.F.A2 (your traditional special, which can be charged up to six levels and unleashed up to four at a time), and the Concept Reactor (which converts enemy bullets into harmless prisms); and they work hand-in-hand in driving your offensive and defensive capabilities. Damaging enemies with your basic shot charges the M.E.F.A2, collecting coins from enemies charges the C.Reactor, using the C.Reactor accelerates M.E.F.A2 charging, and unleashing the M.E.F.A2 nets more coins. It gets complicated, but that's the gist of it. On harder difficulties, or when playing for score, you'll be walking an extremely thin line on when is the best time to unleash your specials; because while RefRain does not have a chain counter, you'll want to build and maintain a natural chain of sorts such that you can keep your specials charged up through careful timing of their usage. RefRain can be so tight with resources though that I've had entire runs fail just because I activated a higher level M.E.F.A2 by accident just once leaving me with less resources further down than optimally required. And this is a big part of what makes RefRain incredibly obtuse because you'll be spending a lot of time finding the best route for yourself and your route is going to be highly character and play-style dependent. Even with boss fights -- which make up a big portion of the game -- you'll want to be extremely specific with when you activate your specials because it's entirely possible to only partially cancel a bullet wave or pattern and then wonder why some pesky bullet managed to seemingly spawn out of nowhere -- or even behind you -- and kill you without any warning whatsoever. You'll even occasionally be wondering why your M.E.F.A2 does more damage one time and less another (even at its maximum level), or why its stun is more effective on one occasion than another, even when you are seemingly doing everything exactly the same from one run to the next (hint: you're not); there's just a lot of micro details which matter a lot and are easy to overlook. Where RefRain is at its absolute most obtuse though is with scoring and the leaderboards are evidence of this. As of the time of writing I'm only one of 15 people on the Steam leaderboards who have acquired the top scoring achievement for this game, and for good reason. RefRain has a lot of micro details crucial for scoring which are incredibly easy to miss. That said though, I've never played a game which has managed to give me such consistent and immense satisfaction; and not just from my accomplishments, but also from how well RefRain communicates with the player and how its awesome music, visuals, mechanics, sound effects, and its technical performance come together with such grace, beauty and harmony. The only criticism I have for RefRain is its lack of a practice mode. It's one thing for a game to be obtuse, but being forced to needlessly replay familiar segments of the game for the sake of practicing specific parts which escape your brain can be a test of patience. A "Retry Central" button does exist on the standard route, but this option is locked out from the last boss onward, and is outright unavailable on the Re: route. This is particularly annoying because Re:Extreme plays so differently that it's simply impossible to route Re:Extreme by playing on Extreme. With all that said though: this is it. This is the peak. This is perfection. Thank you so much. <3

I really loved this game the first 6-7hrs. A sensual and banger soundtrack that'll stick with you all day. It also has some awesome attacks and counters. It challenges you to play up close and personal not only for score but to gain energy. My issues with the game are: 1) Enemies and enemy missiles can be hard to see. Sometimes enemy missiles are faded into the background, and occasionally, bullets are shot from off the bottom of the screen if the enemy is blown up just off screen. You'll def have to slow down a video to see what the heck is even going on for some sections. Once you understand what is coming at you, it's not bad, but my gawd, in game it is just a blurry barrage of cloudy or bright explosions. 2) The end bosses just will not die. I can't figure out why sometimes a special attack will do loads of damage and other times gnarly a scratch. And soooo much health and phases. Even the phases have phases! And the last boss isn't even the last boss, no! there's more dodging after that. 3) The hell is up with blurring 60% of the screen on the final boss's spotlight phase. Like I am just getting blown up, and have no idea what to do. The left side of the screen has some open area but even then BAM! something hits me and I've got no idea what. And there is no training mode to figure this crap out so you have to play for 20 mins to get to the boss to then work it out. Also, the final bosses are 33% of the playtime. They're soooo damn tanky, and again your special attack becomes a dinky pea shooter. 4) Anyone look at the steam achievements for this game lol. Beat Advanced & Extreme mode without losing a ship HAHAHAHHA yeah okay. 5) The story. The more runs you do, the more logs/emails are unlocked. The writing for all the characters is the same. Ditzy anime girls. Which is weird b/c Mews is nicknamed the Bronx Terror, and sometimes she talks ditzy and then switches to a serious note, then ditzy again. Even the "enemies" talk to the heros in a very informal dialogue. Honestly, it makes the whole situation seem silly and pointless. It's just poor quality writing. Close to being a good game, but this shmup's got me a tad frustrated. Will I play it some more,,, idk,,, maybe.

2000年代のペプシのような青！

Very stylish, the character designs are pretty, the soundtrack is mostly trance and techno and it ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ rocks. It's not as heavy on dodging as some bullet hell because you have a couple attacks that can destroy bullets. It works great on the Steam Deck so far, if you're going back and forth between PC and Deck just make sure to select the "Controller Layout Tool" at launch to set your resolution.

Work of beauty. Peak game design philosophy, soundtrack and aesthetics. This game feels ahead of its time and it's such a shame its sequel has been on Dev Hell for so long... Brought to you by the team who worked with ZUN on early Touhou games and the responsible behind Seihou/Samidare/RedRive!

If modern AAA games could be likened to long novels, STGs could be thought of as poems. Like a poem, STGs may be shorter, but they are no less powerful, condensing a complete experience into a lean, sculpted form with no room for excess. And while a poem’s content may be the same on each reading, what the reader finds in it—and himself—can change radically over repeated readings. And for my money, RefRain might be the most poetic STG ever made. Beauty suffuses every aspect of this game, from the character designs to the bullet patterns to the absolutely stunning OST. And, if you let it, that beauty can lead you to an ever-deepening understanding of its inner workings and a mastery of the challenges it presents to you. There are many great titles in this genre, but this is the one that made me love it.

Ultra-stylish shmup that looks like an early 2000s forum signature in the best way possible, and lets you chain super attacks to rip through bosses.

Pretty great and unique game. Wonderfully nostalgic. I love this period of Japanese indies. I just wish it had some better visual options and a stage select.

曲よしエフェクトよし難易度もノーマルはちょうどよしでSTG初心者の人にもおすすめです！

Preddy cool counterattacking-type shmup. Can play as an attractive glasses OL.