Deathsmiles, DSMBL + Deathsmiles II [PS4, Xbox One & Switch, 12/16/2021]

[EOJ]

I found a copy of my old DSIIX review from 2010, and put it up here:

http://cave-stg.com/forum/index.php?topic=1912.0

Reading through that again it made me realize the bonus "Tsukaima Race" mode is not in this new port.

[EOJ]

Patches for the Switch and PS4 version are coming in early 2022:

https://city-connection.co.jp/deathsmiles/en/topics/#20211216002

They mention they will fix the inability to fully adjust the screen on the PS4 version. That's good. No mention of the missing slowdown in PS4's DS IIX Mode. That's bad, but hopefully they will address that soon.

[Sandinista]

Yeah , as well as the screen size , and the lack of slowdown , theres also the picture quality of this port ..(DS2)

Its so dark and so much detail is lost . Trying to adjust the tv just makes other aspects worse

Just checking on YT and you can see the huge difference between switch and Ps4

[EOJ]

Sounds like the Switch version is the one to get, if they don't fix DSII on PS4.

[Sandinista]

Sounds like the Switch version is the one to get, if they don't fix DSII on PS4.

Yeah definitely . Was at my daughters yesterday and offered to buy this for her switch ... only to see its been delayed till the end of December .

Changing the tv settings ive got DS2 looking ok now , but when i switch back to DS1 it looks a bit wishy and faint .

Using a (oldish) sony bravia in game mode which looks good on everything else

[XtraSmiley]

Thanks for the feedback on this, convinced me to pre-order the SLG version, but I guess I'll have to wait until March to try it!

Any word on if the patch coming out next month will be on the SLG version? I hope so...

[Sandinista]

Thanks for the feedback on this, convinced me to pre-order the SLG version, but I guess I'll have to wait until March to try it!

Any word on if the patch coming out next month will be on the SLG version? I hope so...

Hope so , but i think its doubtful ..

I ordered this because the dlc characters are on the disc , would be great if the update was too 

[dan76]

I haven't picked this up yet, it's quite expensive for a digital game, £32 in the U.K. DLC an extra £12. I've not read or seen any major reason to prefer this release over the Xbox 360 ports other than better slowdown for MLB... which might be reason enough.

If anyone knows, how are the extra characters? I've not managed to find any good footage of them yet. are they fun to score with?

[EOJ]

If anyone knows, how are the extra characters? I've not managed to find any good footage of them yet. are they fun to score with?

I like Souffle the best. Pretty fun to play with, and her familiar shoots a green bird out that "sticks" on enemies to leech skulls, which is pretty cool (reminds me a bit of Lei in DSII). I tried out the rest of the characters but didn't like them as much. That might change in the future, though.

If you aren't interested in the DLC and you aren't going for a WR, then the X360 version is perfectly fine for DSMBL, and DS is pretty much the same across all home ports (outside of Steam) since the slowdown was already so accurate on the X360 port. DSII/IIX is still best on the X360 too.

[EOJ]

Two potential pluses for the DSII arcade mode port:

-So far, I haven't encountered the annoying bug (in the X360 version) where one of your shot buttons randomly stops working.
-There was an infrequent crash bug at the end of the game (after you beat the last boss) in the X360 version. Maybe this was fixed too?

I'm also curious to try the Switch version, to see if it's any better. But I'll buy the physical for that, rather than the digital download.

Not sure about the end-game crash bug, but I read a Japanese player on twitter complain that the bug where your rapid fire shot randomly stops working (when there is a lot of slowdown happening) is still in the PS4 port, at least.

[dan76]

If anyone knows, how are the extra characters? I've not managed to find any good footage of them yet. are they fun to score with?

I like Souffle the best. Pretty fun to play with, and her familiar shoots a green bird out that "sticks" on enemies to leech skulls, which is pretty cool (reminds me a bit of Lei in DSII). I tried out the rest of the characters but didn't like them as much. That might change in the future, though.

If you aren't interested in the DLC and you aren't going for a WR, then the X360 version is perfectly fine for DSMBL, and DS is pretty much the same across all home ports (outside of Steam) since the slowdown was already so accurate on the X360 port. DSII/IIX is still best on the X360 too.

Got to admit, sticky shot sounds pretty good, but as I'll be nowhere near a record attempt, I think I'll wait. Deathsmiles is so easy it's only really worth it if the new characters bring interesting ways to score.

[EOJ]

SPE says the Switch version of DSMBL 1.1 is missing a lot of the slowdown of the X360 original. The same run on both systems is 7 minutes faster on Switch, due to this.

https://twitter.com/SPE2500/status/1474009707111415809

It doesn't seem to bother him, truth be told.

I haven't tested the PS4 version of 1.1 yet.

[cstarflare]

SPE's a great source on this port. He's done a side by side of the amusement park side from the recent port vs X360:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USzojbFR6t0

It's even better when you realise the Switch side is Level 2 and the X360 side is level 3.

[EOJ]

SPE's a great source on this port. He's done a side by side of the amusement park side from the recent port vs X360:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USzojbFR6t0

It's even better when you realise the Switch side is Level 2 and the X360 side is level 3.

The left side is Death Mode LV2 (not rank select level 2) in Training mode, the right side is from a real run, after selecting level 3 in each stage with a no miss. Apparently the X360 version doesn't properly enter Death Mode LV2 in the Amusement park stage, so this was "fixed" in the new ports of DSIIX.

[Sandinista]

Crashed my ps4 twice now ..

An error has occured in the following application

(CE-34878-0)

Deathsmiles I - II

 

[cstarflare]

I've experienced the crash once. Not terrible but obviously never good to have a crash in your game.

I've encountered some behaviour I don't understand in DS2 but I'm not sure if it's typical game mechanics or something with the port. In the ruins stage as Lei, my options sometimes stop generating rings while they ride the falling stone blocks which costs me score and messes up my recharges. Not sure if this happens elsewhere but it is very noticeable in this stage. Also, sometimes after taking a hit during a boss point will stop generating red rings even after dying again or continuing (I do generate them while bombing, though). I don't remember either of these happening on the 360 version, but it has been a long time since I spent time with that.

Is there a mechanic related to these occurrences that I should be planning around, or are these bugs similar to the rapid shot getting disabled during the Tamecos fight?

[EOJ]

A patch has been released for the Switch and PS4 versions:

2022/01/11 Announcement about some bug fix update

The Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 versions of Deathsmiles I･II have been released with an update patch.

The fixes are as follows.

・In the PlayStation 4 version, fixed a specification of the value that can be set in the zoom function of the screen option to the same specification as other console versions.

・Fixed a bug in which a single-player score on the 1P side was sometimes treated as the 2P side in the local rankings.

・Fixed a bug where a single-player name entry on the 1P side could appear on the 2P side.

・Fixed a bug in Deathsmiles where the button assigned to the shot could not be used to send conversations.

・Fixed a minor bugs.

With the update, the latest version for NA and EU will be as follows.

Nintendo Switch版：1.03

PlayStation 4版：1.02

The Xbox One version will also release a similar patch soon.

Thank you for your continued support.

https://city-connection.co.jp/deathsmiles/en/topics/

I'll give the PS4 version a try today to see the differences.

[EOJ]

I tried the PS4 version out, after the patch. Being able to do full screen 4:3 in Deathsmiles and Deathsmiles II is a welcome fix. However, the slowdown is still missing in IIX mode, and the colors are still off in DSII (All modes). So overall not much has changed. In other words, the DSII modes are all pretty bad and you're better off with the X360 or Switch ports.

[EOJ]

This will be coming out on Steam soon. I wonder what will happen to the original Deathsmiles Steam version? It is pretty awful, so hopefully they will just delete it from the store.