Instant Brain (& Dodonpachi) [JP X360 2011]

Shalashaska · October 16, 2011, 04:15:34 PM

Hmm...I'd like to have DDP but unless there's a really detailed guide I don't see myself making it through, or getting much enjoyment out of, IB. And $140 for the limited edition?

EOJ · October 16, 2011, 06:40:49 PM

The game isn't region free.

Despatche · October 16, 2011, 09:54:05 PM

Is this even separate from that arcade party game anymore?

Monouchi · October 16, 2011, 11:34:16 PM

Finish the game then get DDP....
I rather go and buy the DDP PCB.

EOJ · October 17, 2011, 08:00:53 AM

Asada says DDP will have its own acheivements, but they'll be easy stuff like 1CC the first stage. As the game has 1500 achievement points, maybe there's 1000 for Instant Brain and 500 for DDP? Well, whatever.

Monouchi · October 17, 2011, 09:16:19 AM

Hehe.
I feel like I just got slapped in the face by Cave.
Im really curious about some new news coming from Cave about som awesome full retail shooter....and then:

-Here you go you geek, play some VN!

Dave_K. · October 17, 2011, 11:48:07 AM

Cave must not have a lot of confidence in this adventure game if they have to resort to throwing in a shooter to motivate people to complete it.

Orochi S · October 17, 2011, 04:13:46 PM

I would really like Dodonpachi for X360. Whether I buy this depends on how good the port is and how quickly Instant Brain can be finished. My Japanese should be good enough to get through it, but I have no interest in playing that kind of game...

I suppose a later XBLA release of DDP is too much to hope for?

Special World · October 18, 2011, 03:11:54 AM

Goddammit Cave. I might buy Instant Brain for DDP, if it was an automatic unlock.

Super annoying.

EOJ · October 18, 2011, 03:15:45 AM

I wouldn't be surprised if there's some unlock code, or a paid DLC to unlock it.

Clearing visual novels is usually pretty easy, they often have auto buttons and fast forward buttons, which you can just hold to skip through the whole game except the decision points, where you can just choose random answers and come to some ending. You can't really get a 'game over' in these games (there are probably some exceptions, but I haven't played them).

This game does have some photo-taking mechanic implemented, we'll have to see how crucial it is to the overall gameplay.

EOJ · October 26, 2011, 07:36:10 PM

Preorders for the limited edition are currently sold out on amazon japan. That's a good sign for its first week sales.

Orochi S · October 27, 2011, 05:34:14 AM

Anyone else played the demo yet? I didn't think much of it - it hardly seems interactive at all beyond very occasional choices of response to the dialogue. There doesn't seem to be much to the camera mechanism either. On the plus side, the Japanese is not too difficult for non-native speakers.

Oh, and you get to see pictures of pants and boobies too. All very tasteful and artistic (but not really).

I think that I'll pass on this unless the DDP port includes the Campaign Version.

EOJ · October 27, 2011, 07:38:09 AM

Ah, I didn't notice silver people could download the demo. Downloading it now! I'll try it out later.

EOJ · October 27, 2011, 09:22:53 AM

Ok, I played about 30 minutes. So far the game is awesome.

I love the menus, they remind me of a Saturn game or something. The art and music also give me a mid-90s vibe. Here's a quick summary of the story:

-The main guy, Zenya, is a documentary reporter in name, but is really more of a paparazzi. He lives with an android (the girl with red eyes and big boobs), who is his only family. He found her in a dumpster along with a gun that shoots pictures instead of bullets. He woke up in the dumpster 6 years ago, does not know how he got there, and doesn't remember anything about his life before that. He's low on cash and lives in a small apartment with her. The gun camera takes pictures (you do this by pressing the X button). Its unique feature is it sometimes takes pictures of the past, rather than the present. It takes pictures of past events in a certain room or area, and exposes them.

Well that's as far as I've gotten so far. I think I might stop and wait for the game's release, so as not to spoil the rest. You can save in the demo, so maybe saves carry over to the real game? That would be nice.

Orochi S · October 27, 2011, 01:52:13 PM

I did think that the menus and general presentation were very cool. Is the point of the game just to follow the story, though? There's no gameplay at all

I'm not sure about buying this - I'm tempted to try something new, especially by Cave. If EOJ reckons the whole game is good once he's played it, I'll probably give it a go.

EOJ · October 27, 2011, 07:26:57 PM

Well it looks like you'll have to take a lot of pics, and do something with the pics. Maybe there will be some navigation-type system, to go to different areas.

Anyway, unless you can read Japanese pretty well and are interested in the story, you probably won't find much enjoyment in the game. But a quick and dirty clear will unlock DDP, so I'd think it's worth it for that. I don't play games in Mame and I don't have a port of DDP on the consoles I own, so I'm pretty happy about this.

Orochi S · October 28, 2011, 05:21:23 AM

I read Japanese to about JLPT level 2, which should be fine. If the game goes on to involve a bit of puzzle-solving, I think I'll get it - I've played through the demo now and there's a lot to like. Besides, I don't enjoy using MAME either, so DDP after finishing the game would be a pretty big bonus.

I'll be interested to hear what you think once you've played more of the game, EOJ.

EOJ · November 04, 2011, 10:56:27 AM

How to play DDP with Kinect:

http://www.cave-stg.com/?p=1732

Also, fresh new screenshots:

http://www.cave-stg.com/?p=1728

ookitarepanda · November 07, 2011, 04:27:25 PM

Colonel (General) Longhena?

EOJ · November 08, 2011, 07:08:06 PM

Famitsu rating: 9, 8, 7, 8 - (32/40). That's higher than I thought it'd be.

Orochi S · November 09, 2011, 04:00:58 AM

Quote from: EOJ on November 08, 2011, 07:08:06 PM
Famitsu rating: 9, 8, 7, 8 - (32/40). That's higher than I thought it'd be.

Those are good scores - I'm sold, I'll be getting this (after Christmas, probably...).

EOJ · November 10, 2011, 08:31:28 AM

I found this waiting at home for me after work today, and I played about an hour (would have played more, but I wanted to clear Blue Dragon first). Neither the box nor the instructions mention Dodonpachi anywhere, though they do say in the instructions "an omake (bonus) opens up when you clear the story". I don't have much else to add in regard to the story or quality, compared to my last post on the subject, but the game is fun and the story keeps you interested. Judging from the achievements there are [spoiler]7[/spoiler] chapters, and do note that you can't progress through a chapter unless you take the right pictures, so it's not a visual novel where you can just slap on auto and pick random answers.

Anyway, I'll post updates as I play through the game.

EOJ · November 10, 2011, 09:16:17 AM

A guy on 2Ch unlocked DDP and played it with Kinect. He said you can choose to play all the stages, select a specific stage, or "Hachi only" (which means you start on the game's last boss). You can use either arm for movement, the other will be for laser & bomb (the game notes what arm you're using when you start, and sets the controls appropriately). Moving left to right is easy, but up and down is problematic. There's also a slight delay when changing from shot to laser.

Orochi S · November 10, 2011, 09:20:25 AM

The quality of the Dodonpachi port is a big deal for me with this game, although I am looking forward to IB too. Obviously the Kinect controls for DDP are optional, right??

EOJ · November 10, 2011, 09:23:41 AM

Yep, Kinect controls are totally optional. Still waiting for someone to post on port quality and stuff like that. Being able to select individual stages as well as the last boss for practice is pretty nice.

I'll keep playing through the game to unlock DDP ASAP, but there are quite a few chapters and I'm not even done with the first one, so it could take awhile. I've also read the picture taking thing gets harder as you go on, a lot of trial and error to get the right picture.

TimingTripod40 · November 10, 2011, 09:43:10 AM

Does DDP have leaderboards?

brentsg · November 10, 2011, 11:40:50 AM

So basically it's not going to be easy for someone to post a walkthru for western folks.

EOJ · November 11, 2011, 01:45:55 AM

I've played a few more hours, but I'm still not done with Chapter 1. This is going to take awhile! The game is really great though. The story has me hooked, and while some of the characters are goofy and over the top, it just adds to the whole charm of the thing. I've played a few visual novel/adventure games in the past, but this is way better than any of them. It's also nice that everything is fully voiced, except the main character.

This game would not be easy to play without Japanese reading ability. You do have to work with clues, take pictures at specific moments, and unravel mysteries as in a detective story. I actually think this would be a really good Cave game to localize (especially with Nin2-Jump and DDP inside). A company like Xseed might be good for it.

EOJ · November 11, 2011, 09:57:56 AM

I played about 5 hours today but I'm still not done with Chapter 1 yet (I'm at the end though, I think). This is one long ass game! The scenes where you have to show evidence and explain your theory are both intense and highly interactive. They remind me a bit of the Phoenix Wright games on the NDS. You have to pick all the right pictures, you even have a life bar and each time you pick the wrong picture it goes down by 20% - 5 misses and it's game over. If you can't read Japanese you'll never get past these parts, and even if someone wrote a FAQ it would be a pain to follow as sometimes you have to point out little details in specific photos, so this is definitely a game you shouldn't import if you can't read Japanese.

Anyway, that's the last update for today. I'll play some more tomorrow.

Monouchi · November 11, 2011, 10:58:59 AM

Quote from: EOJ on November 11, 2011, 09:57:56 AM
I played about 5 hours today but I'm still not done with Chapter 1 yet (I'm at the end though, I think). This is one long ass game! The scenes where you have to show evidence and explain your theory are both intense and highly interactive. They remind me a bit of the Phoenix Wright games on the NDS. You have to pick all the right pictures, you even have a life bar and each time you pick the wrong picture it goes down by 20% - 5 misses and it's game over. If you can't read Japanese you'll never get past these parts, and even if someone wrote a FAQ it would be a pain to follow as sometimes you have to point out little details in specific photos, so this is definitely a game you shouldn't import if you can't read Japanese.

Anyway, that's the last update for today. I'll play some more tomorrow.

Thanks for the update EOJ.
Wow, sounds like I wont be buying this game.

Better hope for a DDP unlock code...