Also On: PS Vita, PC
Publisher: Degica
Developer: Pyramid/Chara-Ani
Medium: Digital
Players: 1-4
Online: Yes
ESRB: E
As I wrote a few months ago about Shutshimi, I’ve always felt pretty indifferent to shmups. I think they’re fine in small doses but after awhile, everything starts to feel the same.
That, in a nutshell, was why I loved Shutshimi so much. And, more relevantly, it’s why I literally fell asleep playing Dariusburst Chronicle Saviours.
Admittedly, I was already a little sleepy when it happened, so it’s not like Dariusburst should get all the blame here. Not only that, I should probably emphasize that my reaction is undoubtedly atypical, since generally there’s so much happening on the screen at any one time, it’s very, very hard to not be visually stimulated, if not outright overwhelmed. Between the abundance of enemies and the vibrant colours, you’re more likely to feel like your senses are under attack than you are to feel bored.
My issue, however, is with the amount of content here, rather than the content itself. Simply put, there’s way more game here than there needs to be. I mean, I’m all in favor of giving people too much to do rather than too little, but Dariusburst features well over 3,000 levels.
Just for emphasis: three thousand levels.
I suppose this wouldn’t be so bad if there was some kind of variation between those three thousand levels. But generally, if you’ve played one level here, you’ve played them all: you shoot your way through several dozen enemy spaceships and meteors, you grab a few power-ups, you battle a giant space robot fish boss. Repeat that a couple of thousand times, and suddenly you’ve experienced everything this game has to offer.
Obviously, your feelings on Dariusburst Chronicle Saviours will differ from mine greatly if you’re more favourably inclined towards shmups in general. If you like the prospect of getting a few thousand shots at refining your shmup abilities without the hassle of changing games, then this is absolutely the game for you. It’s visually appealing, the controls are intuitive, and it’s pretty well-made overall.
Non-shmup fans, however, will probably find the experience much less worthwhile. It may be fun for the first couple of levels, sure, but by the time you reach that second thousand, it’s just going to feel like an indistinct blur.