Schildmaid MX

I was not sure if I would genuinely like this game since I'm more of an old school shoot 'em fan but this game still has some old school mechanics too. Though the screen can get absolutely crazy at times leaning towards the bullet hell style there are some very methodical methods used here a la R-Type route planning. You get a power up EX shot and can choose when to use that along with also choosing when to activate your shield, albeit activating said shield happens when you run into a bullet rather than clicking some button. So, where I'm heading with this is when you use this EX power up shot and when you use your shield can be rather critical to get pass certain sections or stages, or impact your score such as having the shield active when beating some bosses give extra points and extra lives come in at certain point intervals. I really appreciate this aspect of the game which can be mastered from learning not only how to use your arsenal, but when to use them!

A unique and hugely gratifying shoot 'em up that succeeds both as an example of its genre and as something else entirely. Played for score as it's designed to be played, it turns the traditional STG underdog narrative on its head and instead becomes a game about being untouchable; manipulating enemy formations to feed you more and more gold bullets, selectively picking off threats to keep your shield active and your multiplier growing. The enemies here are as much a resource as they are a hazard, and using them strategically - calculating risk and reward, and figuring out how to bite off the exact amount you can chew - is the real meat of the game. If you play a lot of shmups you might have to reprogram your brain a little - it’s important to resist the urge to hold down the fire button and kill everything that moves, and that can feel a bit unintuitive at first - but once it clicks it’s incredibly rewarding. There’s still a solid survival-focused experience here if that’s what you’re looking for, with some very intense and challenging stuff in the higher difficulty modes, but this is a game that really comes alive through experimentation and a “play to learn” mentality, and there’s nothing else quite like it. It’s probably quite telling that when I try to come up with a good comparison for Schildmaid the first things that come to mind are Pacman CE DX and Space Giraffe - games that use the established language of classic arcade design to create something new, something subversive and greedy and cathartic that could only be built on an affection and understanding for what came before. This IS a shmup, of course, and a very good one. But it’s also something else entirely, and I love it for that. Can’t recommend it enough.

very addictive

I've been following the progress of this game to steam for a while, and I wasn't disappointed with the final product. An excellent game with a unique absorption mechanic, great presentation and rocking soundtrack.

Disclaimer: I won this in a contest run by a fan of the game, but would have happily bought it otherwise (I'd already bought it on itch.io). Although this may look like a typical side scrolling shoot-em-up, it's not intended to be played that way. Instead, the game is built around a unique three-states system - Neutral, Shield, Danger. You start in Neutral mode - colliding with an enemy or anything red will kill you, but hit an enemy bullet? You won't just shug it off - this will nudge you into Shield mode, where the real fun starts. From now until a timer ticks down, you'll be charging all over the screen hoovering up bullets, and powering up your ship into the deal. Take out an enemy craft, and the timer will extend...but when it's depleted, you're dropped into Danger mode. While a cooldown timer ticks down, all enemy bullets turn red meaning, yup, they're now deadly - and once the timer's done, you're back in Neutral mode and ready to rock. The game thus boils down to a tremendously addictive rhythmic flow, from aggression to evasion, and back again, with the geography of the screen flipping in an instant as you switch modes. Coming into it as someone always interested in, but never much good at, the shmup genre I've been very impressed by how well the difficulty curve has been set. There's a hell of a high skill ceiling here, but it's surprisingly welcoming to those of us curious about, but intimidated by, the genre. I can easily see this being something I come back to year after year, and will be keeping a close eye on the exciting dev team behind it.

Schildmaid's bullet absorbing mechanic takes a lot of the intimidation of modern bullet-hell style games and turns it into a whole new kind of fun. Instead of dodging, you get to gobble up enemy fire and use it to your advantage. I can't recommend this one enough for anyone who like space action shooters. A really original spin on shmups.

The game is great! The absorb bullet mechanic is really interesting, it makes you switch from an offensive to a defensive and back again constantly, and when playing for score also ryhtm your kills so enemies fire more bullets. At first it feels counter-intuitive to chase bullets, but soon you get used to it and it becomes a real fun mechanic with a lot more of depth than it first may seem. You are NOT invencible while shield is on, you still can crash on other ships and different enemy fire, there's just one single type of projectile you can absorb, so you still have stuff to dodge an be aware of. The game looks is nothing short of spectacular with all the particles flying, explosions and visual effects. You always feel like you are in the middle of an epic battle because of this, which only raises the overall experience. With a fair amount of different game modes, secret bosses and more stuff I still need to uncover, it's hard to not recommend Shcildmaid MX. I've been enjoying it a lot.

Legit Shoot 'em up. Don't let the colorful graphics and "busy" presentation mislead you, as this game can be quite hardcore.

I bought Schildmaid MX when ti came out on itch back in 2021 and I can safely say that is was one of the best shmups of 2021 and it will be one of the shmups of 2023 Pros - Not route heavy - Unique Mechanic of absorbing bullets - Banger soundtrack - Replays - Leaderboards with downloadable replays - 6 Game Modes with increasing difficulty and unique twists. - Lots of settings to make the game more readable - Amazing Practice Options - Easy to understand difficult to master - Fun Cons - Deaths can spiral out of control rather quickly So all in all this is an amazing game.

Superb!