I just finished a full no-continue playthrough (granted, it was on easy, but hey - it's shmup) and I have to say it was the best experience I've had in the genre since Ikaruga.
The visuals are probably the greatest I've seen in recent memory from the shoot 'em up genre and the gameplay has a good amount of complexity without a steep learning curve. It may not be easy to master right away, but there really isn't any punishment to not being a master of the mechanics unless you want a low-damage/high scoring run. Definitely gives a lot of replay value without detracting from the overall gameplay: finesse really only leads to high points and less damage obtained at the end of the day. Going through all the chapters might be around an hour, though, if you don't need any continues, so that might be something to take into account. I didn't have any problem with that necessarily, although I forget what the average times are in the genre, like Ikaruga for example. I think an hour is par for the course?
Would definitely recommend Astebreed if you enjoy the shmup genre, though!
I'm not in love as everyone else seems to be, but its definitely a pretty good game. It looks gorgeous and they have some great set pieces in the levels. Kinda bummed me out at how short and easy it is(regenerating health is OP). The low difficulty does let you focus more on the scoring aspect though, and I respect that in a way. Its still a really fun shmup and pretty approachable(good tutorials), so I find it super easy to recommend.
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