Today, Ol' Pappy Alduwyn has a little treat for ya'. A short but enjoyable shoot'em up that leans a little on the easy to play side, but has a fresh helping of beautiful art and quality audio. Shikhondo - Soul Eater.
(Boss Battle Screen)
Shikhondo is a brand new game, hot out of the kitchen, from the developer DeerFarm. While its not their first shot at a game, its the first they have managed to publish. Its an easy to play shoot'em up. You play as either a grim reaper or "girl". Both are females, but each have their own style of shooting. There are only five bosses and five stages if you go by the standard arcade mode.
To get the questions out of the way, the game is short (1 hour), has no story, and little online support (a small ranking feature that only matches you with friends, if that). What Shikhondo does have going for it is pretty stellar. The game is very easy to grasp, with only a few (read: simple) options for controls. A single attack function, a hold-to-alternative-fire button (which slows you down but focuses your shots), an I'm-still-learning/I-didn't-expect-those-attacks button (your Soul Attack), a really responsive and giving movement system with a tiny hit-box for precision dodging.
The premise of the game is fairly simple: You are a soul reaper, here to take yokai (spirits) to… well somewhere. As mentioned, there isn't really any story, and has no dialogue. The developer is still new to the gaming scene and hasn't had much interaction with an English audience. It is clearly an Oriental style game, featuring mythological creatures from Korean, Chinese, and Japanese legends . All of the bosses are unique in style and combat, and they keep you on your toes.
("The Girl" Player Character)
I picked up this game because of its looks, stayed for its simple style, and fell for its musical score. The game plays like a standard Bullet hell, but is considerably easier to understand. The developer has expressed that the game does feel a little easy, and is comparable to Touhou style games on a normal setting. I found myself able to keep up on hard, and felt that was a good mix for my skill. There is an extreme mode, for those who are interested and there isn't anything locked behind different modes or difficulties.
There are a few modes, all of which are fun to mess around with. I recommend the Arcade mode since it is a more casual introduction to the genre of bullet hells. Boss rush is for those of us who found the levels fun, but time consuming. Custom modes exist allowing you to play around with the way you gain health or souls, really letting the player experiment with how the game flows.
(The First Boss - Shingiwonyo [ 신기원요/伸妓寃妖 ])
Easily the best feature I found that makes this game a gem is the Soul Attack. This charges based on a few things like proximity to bullets and how many spirits you seal up. These can change based on the mode you play but its fairly straightforward. Kill enemies, save your big attacks for openings, and give those spirits a ticket outta here. Soul Attack is a casual learning tool to help players be met with extreme, seemingly impossible feats and take them at their own pace.
I found myself saving these attacks for bosses and trying to hold my ground. When the boss threw an attack I felt I couldn't dodge, I lasted until the projectiles were right at my face and erased them, doing damage to the boss and saving my butterfly lives. The more I played, the more dangerous I became. I was able to recognize the patterns of the bosses and rather than feeling like I was going to get slain, I had confidence to try and move my character in and around the bullets, watching my hitbox. After about two hours of playing around, I found myself able to beat most bosses without losing my allotted lives and also being more aware of how the projectiles traveled and the patterns I was facing.
(One of the Second Boss' attacks. Use the Soul Attack to wipe the screen of projectiles)
This game doesn't need a rating, but I'll give it a recommendation. If you like Japanese, Korean or Chinese mythology and like to see the art, pick this game up. If you are interested in bullet hells and want a good introductory title, grab this on a sale. If you want to support a smaller developer, keep it in your wish list. The title, I feel, was worth every penny and I look forward to picking it up ever so often just to see how I can fare.
Shikhondo sits at about $9.99 on Steam at the moment, with an optional OST bundle at $13.48. The game has 'Very positive' reviews, and at that price, it’s a solid buy-and-try.
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