Deathsmiles II X [JP X360, May 27th, 2010 | US X360 GoD, May 17th, 2011]

[EOJ]

One of the secret achievements is "pause the game 2 times in a row during a stage". Talk about running out of ideas.

[lmagus]

What I really want to know is if both versions come with the DLC card.

[EOJ]

Yes, they do. That was stated here a long time ago. It was also confirmed by ncsx.com today:

http://www.ncsx.com/2010/052410/deathsmiles_iix_regular.htm

[EOJ]

Full run of X-Mode w/ Rosa. All Rank 1, so the bullets are sparse and boring for the most part.

Part 1:
http://dic.nicovideo.jp/v/sm10857571

Part 2:
http://dic.nicovideo.jp/v/sm10857608

Part 3:
http://dic.nicovideo.jp/v/sm10857660

Part 4:
http://dic.nicovideo.jp/v/sm10857712

[EOJ]

Pics of the X360 DSII stick (from a dude on 2Ch):




Sorry, no LS-32 stick, and the Sanwa is soldered on. Fail.

And how's this for going crazy on DSIIX's release!



Close up of the soundtrack disc case that comes in the LE:

http://imepita.jp/20100527/452320

[Monouchi]

But the stick has Seimitsu buttons. 
Looks good.

[EOJ]

It comes with the Hori buttons. The guy just put Seimitsu buttons in after he got it.

[Monouchi]

Ah, now I saw the small pic of the hori buttons.

[Joe T.]

Ahaha that bubbletop is perfect, like a fruity little snow-globe.

[Elixir]

Anyone else remember thiiiiiiiiis?

[GaijinPunch]

Anyone else remember thiiiiiiiiis?

Sure do. I got 404 errors all the time.

[Elixir]

Anyone else remember thiiiiiiiiis?

Sure do. I got 404 errors all the time.

http://blog-imgs-18-origin.fc2.com/h/a/t/hatimaki/deathsmiles_otonagai.jpg

Same person.

[Monouchi]

404..   

[Van_Artic]

aw, i want that card with Casper on it 

[adverse]

July issue

[EOJ]

As usual, the glitch reports are coming in. First, a particularly bad glitch on the new Bears boss in Arrange mode:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpckNnUHtXw

The guy says he can move, but he does no damage and the boss stops. He does continue to leech point items, and increase his score though. Apparently this just continues on indefinitely, forcing a reset.

Next, the game can freeze when loading up X-mode, as shown in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lCr9lNgv88

Also, others are reporting game freezes when they exit the X-Mode menu.

[EOJ]

I'm not liking the further impressions of this port I'm reading on 2Ch. You can't enter initials for your score? WTF Cave? 

I'll have my copy in a few hours. Tests and detailed impressions will follow soon after.

[StarCreator]

In all seriousness, I initially read the post above as:

I'm not liking the further impressions of this port I'm reading on 2Ch. You can't enter initials for your score? WTF Cave? 

I'll have my copy in a few hours. Tears and detailed impressions will follow soon after.

At least my sleep-deprived mind is trying to find me amusement...

[EOJ]

Video of the new TLB added to the port, called "Pigeon Blood Jitterbug" (he appears around the 5 minute mark):

http://dic.nicovideo.jp/v/sm10868870

They guy gets him to appear in Arrange mode, not sure if you can fight him in the other modes. Not sure on the requirements yet either, seems all rank 3 is a must, though.

That vid also shows the credits. The programmers are listed as:

CHIEF PROGRAMMER:
TAKASHI ICHIMURA

PROGRAMMERS:
TSUNEKI IKEDA
YUJI INOUE
DAISUKE KOIZUMI
MASAHIRO SUZUMURA
TOSHIHIKO SERA

Yagawa played no role in this.

[cstarflare]

Video of the new TLB added to the port, called "Pigeon Blood Jitterbug" (he appears around the 5 minute mark):

http://dic.nicovideo.jp/v/sm10868870

color me impressed

[Kiken]

I'm not liking the further impressions of this port I'm reading on 2Ch. You can't enter initials for your score? WTF Cave? 

Yeah... this doesn't make any sense to me either.  I kept wondering why the game would let me look at the score and then just exit.  I kept wondering if I hadn't made the top 10 list or something.  Also, vanilla DeathSmiles II wasn't asking if I wanted to save my replay.

[EOJ]

So what's the deal, NO ONE else wants to post impressions?? I would but my game isn't here yet. Damn Fedex are waiting until the last minute of the delivery day, it seems.

[brentsg]

I figure another day of waiting for most, if not more.

[EOJ]

I know a few people here already have it.  

[brentsg]

To those in the know, do I need to move my J360 to my HDTV to enjoy this?  It's currently on a 20" CRT. 

[EOJ]

X-Mode and Arrange will be letterboxed on the SD TV, and for some dumb reason, according to a guy on 2Ch, Arcade mode will be both letterboxed and have wallpaper on the sides.

[thamasha69]

and for some dumb reason, according to a guy on 2Ch, Arcade mode will be both letterboxed and have wallpaper on the sides.

That is correct.  I received my copy today, and to my disappointment, Arcade mode is in fact letterboxed with wallpaper.  Actually, initially the play area is even shorter dimensionally in height compared to the area of the wallpaper (like a small screen pasted in the center of the wallpaper - wallpaper showing above and below the image in addition to the black bars), so you must stretch the image vertically [and horizontally to preserve the aspect ratio] to maximize the play area.

[EOJ]

Just got my SE.  




Also got the DLC card (thanks Play-Asia) - unlike Futari, it does not come inside the case. Off to play, eat dinner, play some more, and post impressions!  

[EOJ]

Okay, impressions.

GOOD THINGS
-X-Mode is quite impressive. Visually it's great, the scoring system is deep and easy to pick up, bullet patterns are excellent in Rank 3.
-Stupid boss cinemas can be skipped or turned off
-New Canyon-type stage is superb. The boss is one of the coolest Cave bosses ever.
-Loads aren't bad
-Follett and Rosa are fun (though Follett seems pretty over powered)
-Arcade mode slowdown & speed feels accurate overall. But, I need to test more. Some parts with Windia and Lei felt too fast, but maybe I just wasn't playing well (I'm a bit rusty). I did a full run with Casper, and it felt pretty accurate from start to finish, which pleased me.
-Good options for all modes - dip settings for Arcade, screen adjustment for Arcade, wallpaper select or you can turn off wallpaper in Arcade.

BAD THINGS
-Good God CAVE, do you not care about DSII Arcade mode at all?  There are no replay saves/loads/recording. WTF?  
There are no online leaderboards. WTF? Even the stupid Tsukaima race mode has online leaderboards.
There is no training mode. WTF??
It's like they coded some quickie Xbox emulator for the game and slapped the rom in. There is just no love in the port. They even stuff the Arcade mode explanation in the last two pages of the instruction booklet (after the xbox live info), almost as to hide it.
-You can't enter your initials for your score in ANY GAME MODE. WTF??. Due to this having a hi score competition in Arcade mode becomes quite difficult, as there are no online leaderboards with your gamertag by your score, and the offline leaderboards don't have initials! Even shitty ports from 10-15 years ago let you enter your initials. Unbelievable. No point in taking screen shots of scores, really.
-No demo/attract screen in Arcade mode. No title screen either. They also removed the hi score board from inside the game (which I really liked) - you access the scores in a generic menu. Once again, WTF?
-Tsukaima Race is pretty blah. Seems like some $2 indie game for PSN or Xbox live arcade. Sadly, it appears they spent more time on this than on the port of Arcade mode.

WEIRD, STUPID, POINTLESS THINGS
-The background of the map in Arcade mode is a blazing bright white now for some pointless reason. It's so white you can't see the background texture.
-There seem to be two very faint wire-frame boxes that hover around your character & familiar in Arcade mode. Never noticed this in the Arcade version, and it doesn't look good.
-The background in the part of the last stage just before the boss in Arcade Mode is way brighter than in the arcade version.
-Instead of blackbars above and below a stage's intro graphic in Arcade mode, they're now white. WHAT'S THIS FASCINATION WITH TURNING EVERYTHING WHITE IN THIS PORT, CAVE??

Haven't tried Arrange mode yet.

[EOJ]

Gave Arrange a try. Tons of bullet cancelling, moves super slow, too many different bullet types (looks like some kids' breakfast cereal smeared on the screen half the time). Will watch some replays and see if I like it any more.

Further tests with Arcade mode have turned up quite favorable. I think it's a great port, the slowdown seems spot on. I AM happy about this.  
Too bad they didn't add the bells and whistles they've added to every other port.

I'm not clicking with X-Mode's scoring system. I like Arcade mode's system way better, though X-mode has extra characters and extra stages. X-Mode feels too much like Espgaluda 2 Black Label too me, and I really don't like E2 BL. 1CC'd it on all rank 3 with the EX stage on my first try with Follett.   Way too easy.