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

[Monouchi]

Wow, so many bugs and I havent even got the game yet....

[lmagus]

Wow, so many bugs and I havent even got the game yet....

my thoughts exactly

[HVL]

Finally got the game! Haven't been this excited to fire up a game in a while.

[dmauro]

Another problem with scoring in X-Mode: if you put the boss movies ON, your fever mode counter stops counting down quite a bit before the boss appears. If you have the movies OFF, it doesn't stop going down until just before the boss appears (when it just pauses for a second). This creates higher scoring possibilities for those who play with the movies ON.

In case I wasn't already done with X mode for the time being.

[lam47]

I have gone ahead and ordered it. May not be the best of ports and seems to have its fair share of issues but I just can't resist that crazy Deathsmiles style.
Has anyone else used the $18 (?12) Fedex service? How long does it tend to take?

Oh and whats on the DLC card? Is it an arrange soundtrack? I hope I get one. I love an arrange soundtrack

[EOJ]

DSIIX ranked #9 on the latest Famitsu weekly sales chart in Japan:

http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2010/06/02/mario_galaxy_2_enterbrain_charts/

The Media Create sales list it at #10 with 16,000 sold in its first 4 days of availability:

http://www.andriasang.com/e/ranking/2010-05-24/

[HVL]

Arcade mode is really awesome. X-Mode is cool visually and has great patterns on lvl3 but the scoring system seems to be too dumbed down. Don't know what to make of Arrange yet, seemed alright although I ended my credit because I wanted to play more Arcade mode.

[EOJ]

Yep, you got it. X-Mode is pretty dumbed down in the scoring, which is why I'm already pretty much done with it. Such a shame.
Looking forward to seeing you in the Arcade mode scoring thread. 

[twoup]

The game arrived today, only had a quick play through Arcade mode and found it a bit more fun then the first game was the first time around. I like that it doesn't take 45+ minutes to play through and the bad 3D has a certain dreamcast-like charm imo (with a couple of ps1 style arms and zombies thrown in). The game froze on me after exiting the Arcade mode screen

It's a shame the Arrange soundtrack can only be played in Arrange mode and even worse having to enter in that long code with a joystick but there's a remix from Yuji Takenouchi so that should be interesting. I'll find out later I suppose.

[Kiken]

Update on the patch. Asada lists the following additional fixes:

-Clear bonus bug (this gave over 2billion in clear bonus)
-Secret achievement "get over 6 billion points in X-mode" not unlocking bug (it randomly unlocks now, they are researching as to why)
-The inability to attach a keyboard to the X360 while the game is running
-A bug in Co-op mode where Rosa's familiar would not shoot anything
-Glitch with the button config on the 2P side
-"Some other things"

All online leaderboards will be wiped when the patch arrives in mid-June.

http://cave-game.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2010/05/post-6dde.html

They better fix the damn Arcade mode ranking that doesn't allow you to save more than one score.

I hope "Some other things" includes fixing the playback for the replays so that they show you the end game, and put back in name entry.  Another odd thing I noticed about the replays is that if you have movies turned on, even if you skip them with Start during the game, it won't skip the boss intro movies during the replay, but will skip any of the character cinematics.

[HVL]

I had the OSD and even bullets disappearing for a split-second in the stage w/ the books. Does this happen on the PCB too?

[EOJ]

No, it never happens on the PCB. That's something SIN mentioned on his blog post.

[EOJ]

I'm pretty sure now that the controls in Arcade mode are broken. In most of my runs with Lei the rapid shot buttons randomly stop working a few times, particularly when there is a lot of stuff on the screen and a lot of slowdown occurring. Sometimes it shifts into laser instead of rapid shot as well. After 5 seconds or so, and slamming on random buttons, things go back to normal. This is breaking a lot of my runs and it's very frustrating. If Cave doesn't fix this, I won't be able to play this game for score.  

I think I mentioned this earlier, but I'm positive it's a problem with the software of the game now. I'm not the only person to report this problem with the game either.

ALSO, if you haven't watched this vid SIN made yet, you need to:

http://sinmoon.sakuraweb.com/movie/ds2x_100531_kamikakushi.mp4

It shows the on screen display disappearing in the port. It's so bad the BULLETS disappear. This is some glitchy shit.

[lam47]

I just got my copy today.
I would like to share my first impressions though I'm sure a lot of it will have been said. Would be interested in counter opinions.

Firstly I do love the soundtrack. For me its the best I have heard in a shooter. I love the over the top Gothic registration in a lot of the tracks.
I have the DLC card too. Is this worth the download?
The artwork in the new story parts I like. Its a very clean style and looks very pretty.

The game does for the most part look like shit. Although I think the girl character models are pretty good all of the enemies look awful. Its not so bad when the screen is full of rings and numbers but compared to the first game the character is just not there.

So far I have only had a couple of goes on each mode. I don't fully understand any of them but Arcade does indeed seem like the best.
Its a shame they didn't bother with the HD upgrade for Arcade. Surely it wouldn't take that much time.

X mode looks nice but feels pretty odd, reflecting the blue bullets and constant recharge is not a lot of fun.

I don't know where to start on Arrange. It seems like there is a lot happening but its really just cancelling everything like Futari Arrange which was also awful. Over all I am very disappointed with this game. Even Arcade does not save it for me. Perhaps with some bug fixes it will be fun to play for score but for now its not going to take much time away from Ketsui.

[Ast-Kot]

My copy just arrived today....I ve a problem with the Arcade mode display setting....I can't zoom the image all over my crt as in other game's port...The arrange and the DSII X-Mode works well, but I've to play in a stamp-size screen ans it's so frustated.... I tried to change the main display options and all the single's mode display option but it did not work..In all ports there is a display setting-option (zoom) for fit the game's image on tv..I can find nothing like this on this port....HELP?
WTF, Auto save doesn't work

[lam47]

There was a thread in shmups with info for crts. Auto save is working ok for me. The squares around the characters are more pronounced than in videos. Looks rough as hell.

[lam47]

One other thing. The white in the last level looked normal on my system even though I'm using hdmi.
Can anyone explain what the hell is going on with the bear and rabbit's genital problems. It's freaking me out.

[Joe T.]

I think I'm on the same page as most here.  Seems like a fun game so far, but really looks like shit in some places.  The underground stage with the snakes is just bad, especially the lumps of turd (they look like Chet from Weird Science) that are hanging on the falling rock slabs.  X-mode is only fun if you play it on level 3, and arrange mode is a giant mess.  I was falling asleep playing it.

I think at this point I'll likely stick to Arcade mode as it seems like the biggest challenge. 

[StarCreator]

One other thing. The white in the last level looked normal on my system even though I'm using hdmi.
Can anyone explain what the hell is going on with the bear and rabbit's genital problems. It's freaking me out.

It's only screwed up in Arcade mode - it renders fine in X and Arrange modes.  I run my 360 into my monitor via an HDMI->DVI cable at 1680x1050 and the problem is definitely there.

[lam47]

Oh I see. I have not got that far in arcade.

[Ast-Kot]

Wtf, did it....Thanks lam47

[lam47]

Well done. I would have linked it had I been ok the pc rather than the phone.

I'm enjoying x mode now. more than arcade. with all the rings and suicide bullets on screen (which are 2d) it looks quite pretty.

can anyone help me out with the story? Lei in particular I find interesting.

[EOJ]

New blog post by Asada:

http://cave-game.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2010/06/post-e45e.html

He says the title update is completely finished and is on schedule to be available sometime between June 10-20th. The main fixes include everything mentioned before, plus they changed the way the button config works (you now just press the button to select it), and THEY FIXED ARCADE MODE!

DEAR GOD THANK YOU

Those are the "main" changes, smaller stuff was also fixed.

[dorakyura]

plus they changed the way the button config works (you now just press the button to select it)

Really appreciate this as it's annoying the way it is right now. Seeing that they turn their attention to low priority "bugs" like this one suggests that they got rid of all major issues

Speaking of patches: Really wished that DDPDOJBLEX's would rise from the pits of M$ approval ...

[cstarflare]

THEY FIXED ARCADE MODE!

Fantastic. I guess I'll have to pick this up after all.

[lmagus]

Do you think it hasn't been beta tested at all?

Because seriously, the bugs are very easy to spot and some of them are game breaking

[emphatic]

So, you can actually enter your initials now?  I'm kinda glad I haven't spent any time on this yet. Patched for joy.

[EOJ]

I can't see it in the first DS (running through HDMI or RGB - haven't tried it with other input types).

yeah its hard to see but its there, i running it on HD 4:3 CRT via component input. I also watched several youtube clips of both the 360 and arcade versions and it was present. I had to confirm as i thought my xbox was malfunctioning and i just plain could not believe it being on next gen hardware

I played DS again today: Arcade, 360, and 1.1. None of them had the wire frame box around the character via HDMI or RGB output. I looked pretty hard, but it's just not there. Not sure why you guys are seeing it. Maybe it's some glitch with component output.

In DSII Arcade mode, it's obvious right away to just about anyone.

[Monouchi]

Got it, played it, played the different modes.

Meh....

[lam47]

The more I play X mode the more I like it. I was too quick to judge. Give it time.
The difficulty does go up if you play for score spawning yellow sperm bullets and all.
Looks pretty too.