I got this game when it was on sale on here, as part of a shmup bundle. Crimzon Clover was the game I wanted. I had heard of this game, but it wasn't a factor in my purchase. The bundle was on sale for somewhere 7 dollars, Crimzon Clover is 10 normally, that was it. In the end though, this was the winning game. It is my new favorite shmup, my current favorite game, and might be one of my favorites of all time. The gameplay is perfect. Very few games control this smoothly. I've heard complaints it is impossible to go without getting hit in the game, and that lots of times you just have to swing the camera around and hope for the best in terms of avoiding getting hit. But that is no fault of the gameplay, either in terms of polish in control or the quality of its unique gameplay features. It'd be like complaining that it is impossible to not get hit in an FPS. It's not something you are punished for, and 90% of the time, it IS possible to slickly dodge everything. And what a gameplay feature. I had heard of the game before, and seen trailers, and knew what it was about - I mean, its a very simple "gimmick" to wrap your head around - and while it looked neat, it didn't look like that big a deal. But once that feature is in your hands, it changes everything, and it feels amazing. It sometimes it feels less like a shmup and more like the genre's cousin, the on-rails shooter. It's very much a mix, and brings to mind Panzer Dragoon (which also featured camera rotating as a unique feature, though it had less of a "holy s**t" factor in that game) as a comparison more than it does any other shmup I can think of - and any comparison to that game is of course a plus. The graphics and art direction are gorgeous. I could love the game simply for the appeal in flying around the gorgeous world (another thing that it has in common to Panzer Dragoon). The atmosphere is reinforced by a generally subdued soundtrack that knows when to go crazy (yes, another similarity). Buy this!
