Darius Gaiden Is Peak Shmup Aesthetics

[@Klatrymadon]

Loved this. It's oddly rare to see the game's artistic ambitions and accomplishments discussed in earnest, despite their abundance, so it was especially refreshing to see that happening in a '1CC guide' format. Glad you're enjoying the series!

[@hazylevels]

Awesome, happy to hear that! I wasn't quite sure what to call this video since it's not a typical 1CC commentary, but in the end decided that there's no reason a commentary vid can't be about aesthetics too ✨

[@Klatrymadon]

@hazylevels Yeah definitely, and there's a refreshing modesty to it in this sea of videos presuming to 'explain' media! :p

[@thattwoguy214]

Nice video! I generally like this format because it allows you to discuss your critiques (critiques in the traditional sense of "critical thought," not strictly negative critiques) of a game as they become relevant through the playthrough, rather than in a broader or more abstract kind of way. There were a few times where the jump from one subject to another did feel jarring, but overall I think it's a framework that works well for shmups, and you should keep developing it. I also really appreciate the effort you made to highlight the aesthetic choices of the game - such as the surrealness of stage H or the melancholy of stage V + the ending. Great work with this one!

[@hazylevels]

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback, I appreciate it! And I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the focus on aesthetics, that's really the main draw of this one for me.

[@danielfoutz]

Great job! Your commentary is insightful. I love the mix of review and strategy talk.

[@hazylevels]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@EngineerSTG]

Great commentary as always!

[@js200gb]

These videos help me appreciate the game and its design so much more. Thanks!

[@Misanola]

Great commentary. So happy you're delving into the Darius series. Now I don't feel so bad about bomb spamming the route H boss.

[@hazylevels]

Glad you enjoyed it! And yes, Neon Light Illusion is definitely a good place to go into bomb mode 💣

[@Lonxu89]

Thanks for the great video. I also started my year with some Darius. Managed to get 1CC with G-Darius and then followed it with Darius Gaiden using this same route. I enjoyed G-Darius a bit more with it's pokemon mechanic, felt a lot better (and 10x easier) than those captures in Gaiden that I never even bothered to go for. G-Darius also has those great beam battles with bosses, though while satisfying to pull off, you are doomed if you miss the opportunity to absorb the beams. On my first Gaiden 1cc I did manage to recover after a death, but generally it was just game over if you died in a bad spot with no weapon upgrades available. G-Darius changed this a bit to letting you keep the weapon, but only lose the level upgrades. Like you get to keep wave lvl 1 and never drop down to laser. Yes, the music and art is top tier in both Gaiden and G-Darius, I never got bored of it. I wanna come back to Gaiden and G-Darius for some more advanced routes at some point in the future, but not before I 1CC DoDonPachi and a bunch of other all time greats.

[@hazylevels]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the series. I definitely need to play G-Darius, and just like you, I want to explore Gaiden's other routes at some point, too. Wishing you good luck with Dodonpachi 🐝

[@VinuShmup]

Congrats for the 1 life Hazy! Excellent commentary, you covered some very interesting topics, always great to hear your thoughts + you got me with the beginning of last stage 😁

[@hazylevels]

Thanks for watching + for the encouraging words as always, Vinu! 😊

[@Prickly_Angler]

Nice run and commentary, looking frorward to see you tackle the other routes at your own pace 🐳 Edit : this is a bit nerdy and technical but the penultimate shot power level isn't the strongest actually. The strongest one is the one you get at 00:43, you will see it used on speedruns and some co-op runs. The penultimate level is however the most usefull one in many situations 🙂

[@hazylevels]

Thanks for the correction! The joy of shmups *is* in being nerdy 😌

[@PhilValMaCl]

nice love gaiden

[@ThistleWoe]

I have a question: You used the 12hz rapid fire, why did you choose that over 30? Also...is the 12hz rapid fire called 12sec in the game? I cant figure it out...and its driving me mad

[@hazylevels]

I talk about it in the video, but basically for me the normal fire made recovery too hard and 30hz made the game too easy. So I tried to find a middle ground. The firing rate can be changed in the controls menu, you should be able to cycle through different hz values there.

[@KingFossilFER]

I love this game but goddam is it hard. Just looking at the screen makes the rank go up.