Now the game opens up as you can push towards the second boss, or replay the first level on a higher difficulty so you can rack up more stars get get your ship upgraded faster.
I really enjoy how the levels seem to have tipping points. I’ll play for a while and get to a point where I am getting nowhere and think, well I’m done, I cannot possibly beat any of these levels any harder than I have, and then a few tries later, a couple of upgrades are enough to get me over that hump and onto the next set of challenges. All the while I think I am getting better at the actual shmup part of it all. My mind boggles at belouskis and krazykroks level scores still though.
For those way further in than me, do the weapon upgrades actually end at some point? I have trouble saving stars to activate the laser, shield and mega-bomb when there is all that upgrading to do.
Yes45
I don’t think it’s worth fussing with those until you’ve maxxed out other stuff. Basically, they seem like a resource sink for the endgame? You’ll also – spoilered in case you want to discover gameplay mechanics as they’re added – You’ll unlock a way to get power-ups on the map
-Tom
Like Tom said, upgrades are definitely a much higher priority. You’ll only really want to stock up on the weapons themselves when you are trying to max out bonus scores on levels (the endgame).
It took 30+ hours, but I finally passed @tomchick on my leaderboard. @belouski is still ahead of me though. My progress is slow going because I’ve come up against my skill ceiling I think. There is still stuff to do but not sure if I can do it. It’s fun to fire up for 30-60 minutes to try and make some progress. Definitely a good buy.
It’s a great game that I’m often tempted to pick up again, but I’m not sure if I could raise my score too much more. I’d just about maxed out on plane improvements, and was certainly very close to my skill ceiling.
I just wish I could finally beat the main boss level so that I could unlock a new difficulty level for all the previous levels. At least, that’s what happened in Skyforce Anniversary, so I assume it’s the same in Skyforce Reloaded. But I just can’t beat that main boss. That final battle is like Living Failures from Bloodborne for me.
I had beaten the boss on the Switch, and don’t remember that. Maybe it did, it’s very fuzzy. But in any case, at that point, the game had become too grindy and I bade it farewell. It was a great dozen of hours though, much more fun than the free mobile version which had reach the unbearable grind point a couple of hours and levels in.
I haven’t been able to beat that last boss either. I probably need to save a bunch of cash and try fully loaded with consumables. Not sure it would help a ton.
Ah, maybe I should have, instead of hunting for monies for hours to meager upgrades, without ever using items!
Dang, now I think I may have played the game wrong.
I actually really dislike this game. Which is an odd thing to say for a game I’ve played as much as I’ve played. But as a shmup, it’s utterly unremarkable and unimaginative, not even fit to buckle to sandal of the average Cave shmup. It’s based entirely on the allure of a steady drip of upgrades and unlockables. It’s not game design, it’s dopamine.
-Tom
Well the scoring system is simplistic and… yes, totally stupid actually. But I’m always game for multiparts Psikyo-style bosses.
I enjoyed the basic game play quite a bit, but they didn’t need to have so many levels of upgrades for all of those things. It could get tedious trying to get over some humps. I liked getting to a new level and having variations on patterns that I needed to respond to.
As I said in the original post in this thread, this is the first game to ease me into this genre, which always turned me away because of its difficulty. Of course, eventually it became too difficult for me. What would you recommend as a third game in the genre now that two Skyforce games have made me appreciate this genre for the first time?
I can’t remember, but is Galaxy on Fire sorta similar? I think I enjoyed that one.
Yeah, that’s why I got much farther in Skyforce Anniversary. In that one they only have 10 levels for all the things, so you quickly get to the max level guns, shields, laser, bomb, magnet, etc. Whereas in Skyforce Reloaded, it seems endless, and it keeps going forever. I’d recommend Anniversary if you haven’t played it yet.
Steam Link for Galaxy on Fire 2. It doesn’t appear to be a 2D shmup. In fact @BrianRubin calls it a Freelancer-style game in that page.
I played one on my iPod quite a long time ago, and it was a very basic mix of 3D shooting and ship upgrades, which may be why Rob is linking it to this game.
Oh, anything by Cave! But you have to appreciate that they’re score chases, like a pinball machine. I have a soft spot for Bug Princess, but really, you can’t go wrong with a Cave shmup.
-Tom