Errant Signal - Devil Daggers

”When you touch the Devil Dagger, you are fated to die and it's really only a question of how much of a horror you will become along the way." is such a great line.

[@DenpaKei]

I got chills hearing that. If Devil Daggers had a physical release, this would be a perfect line to have on the back of the box

[@Melissanoma]

I love that closing line: "When you touch the devil dagger, you are fated to die. And it's only really a question of how much of a horror you'll become along the way." It's a great metaphor for this kind of 'endless endurance' game. Even something as innocent as Tetris. Once the tetrominoes start falling, they are certain to hit the top eventually, it's only a question of how many lines you can clear along the way.

[@barrierloss]

This video is longer than most people can stay alive in this game.

[@samchez8941]

uh umm, all people

[@WangleLine]

@@samchez8941 not anymore. The world record is over 20 minutes long

[@Sojk65a]

Halloween and all, i think the sound design is what makes the spookyness of this game. As you get further into the game the monsters you encounter makes some really messed up sounds, and at a certain point the sound for shooting daggers is just a bunch of screams.

[@GoodOlKuro]

oh the great Sojk! give me your powers :)

[@SpuntyS]

Sojk do you have any god tips for us

[@AGKyran]

Wow, we have a legend here. I started playing yesterday, my record is 142s. And I've seen your record. It's really impressive. Can I ask you how many hours you have on this game, if this doesn't bother you ?

[@hazmongrel]

not worthy

[@BaebyBear23]

Literally the longer I last, the more anxious I become and when I finally die, it just creeps me out even more and I sometimes have to throw my headphones off cause of the creepy chittering and squishing coming from the game. its fucking creepy!

[@RiotGearEpsilon]

I'm kind of surprised you didn't mention the sound design! God knows it's memorable.

[@Czarewich]

He kind of did, when he mentioned that near the end you're mostly playing in your head with synesthetic audio cues.

[@wompstopm123]

this is the best reveiw of this game i have seen yet, instead of bitching about how hard it is, yu actually understand it. kudos

[@MrCalhoun556]

It's not a review.

[@teejgreen6591]

hear that sound? its a loud drone with doppler shift

[@madrix5667]

+MrCalhoun yes it is

[@meatrace]

This is one of the best game reviews I've ever seen period.

[@AlquimistEd]

I think this is less of a review and more of a philosofical pondering about some of the more subtle aspects of the game.

[@whynotanyting]

Dividing 400 seconds by 60 gives you 6.6666... minutes. Thought that was neat.

[@Tsuchigumo880]

Some shmups do actually reward the player for not firing- the "power up magnetism" effect is sometimes triggered or enhanced whenever the player is not shooting, in a certain position on the screen, or both (such as defeating a boss and moving up on the screen without firing to collect the massive number of points pickups they drop.) Touhou is a good example of that.

[@CollectingGames101]

Played this for 4 hours straight after a recent humble bundle. Very addicting!

[@Zoomy]

You know, I didn't even realise I had this in my Steam library until I checked after reading this comment. Thanks.

[@sevenbrokenbricks]

If ever there was a game that flies in the face of "short games suck because they're short", this is it.

[@jknifgijdfui]

Its not short its endless its an arcade game a short game is like an hour long

[@pv1612]

Even if I wasn’t interested, I’d stay after hearing the term “Multi-directional SHMUPS”

[@RacingSnails64]

I like the way you explain the gameplay. The sound design is extremely mesmerising and I like the concept of losing touch with reality as you enter the game's flowstate. I think I'll pick it up thanks to you! 👍

[@Immryr]

a lot of shmups actually feature that thing where when you stop shooting all of the gems on screen get sucked into your character. mushihimesama and mushihimesama futari being the first examples to jump to my mind.

[@Atrac89]

Quake, not Doom. Every fucking person compares it to Doom, when it's clearly more similar to Quake 1 than anything else. From the way it;'s stylized to movement/double jumping, it's all very much like Quake 1.

[@intereality]

Still though. Id and their engines and offspring so maybe no harm no foul?

[@ErrantSignal]

These are all Very Correct Points That I Agree With (tm) I guess DOOM's the more convenient fallback re: skulls and "demon" imagery since Quake had the cyber/futurist stuff mixed in with its Lovecraft stuff, but yeah, this is way more Quake than DOOM.

[@jasonjayalap]

intereality this is the internet. No harm, nothing at stake, lots of foul.

[@nngnnadas]

hmm DooM had a lot of sci fi theming too, and it wasn't necessarily lovecraftian.

[@katherine2596]

Damn, I wish Quake had a mod like this.

[@nicholisesmithbobjunior1889]

Rly great video. Didnt once mention the absolutely amazing sound design though

[@ErrantSignal]

I regret not pointing out that the subtle laughter of the Skull Level 3 type enemy is perhaps one of the most important cues in the game. And yeah, the sound design across the board is fantastic, from chattering skulls to the "Burger Cheese" spawn noises.

[@nicholisesmithbobjunior1889]

Errant Signal Thx for replying. Thx also for getting this game some more attention. Its by some of the people that made my favorite game dustforce.

[@keltzar1]

The thing I really liked about the sound design is how essential it is to being able to play the game. With no radar like you would have in many other shooters the only way for you to tell if enemies are near to the sides or behind is purely through sound. Every enemy has such a distinctive sound though and the volume matches their proximity very closely so you essentially have more information then you would with a radar through subtler means.

[@georgegeorge8784]

I love the 3D/pixel art style, I'd like to see either a longer version of this or just another game with similar visuals

[@wompstopm123]

this is one of my all time favorite games, im glad you made a video about it.

[@ripoutyourprejudice]

Anyone shouldn't underestimate this games addiction level.

[@WildlyStapled]

Holy shit. I never would have bridged the literary gap between the mechanics of Devil Daggers and a story as you've done. Having cut my teeth on fps's like quake and thief, I also never would have thought to compare this game to a shump either. Excellent episode.

[@ShinoSarna]

Tyrian and JetsNGuns are examples of shmups that include reload-like mechanics (guns overheating), just saying - and in both cases, it's a 'smooth' waiting period that player can adjust, rather than a static forced one like reloads. Also I don't know a single shmup where enemies spawn randomly, honestly. Usually, enemy spawns ARE level design in shmups from what I've seen.

[@Tee-qh5wg]

That ending was especially insightful. Love everything this game is doing.

[@Kraigon42]

6:50 - "Can you tell what's going on?" Yes. Yes, I can. I may not know the _exact_ intricacies like how to change weapons or how much hp the various enemies have, but I can tell what the player is doing in that clip.

[@x341175]

>change weapons >wheeze.jpg nice meme Kraigon42

[@Kraigon42]

S A L S A I have roughly no idea what you're talking about.

[@ranielyfire]

Lord LunaEquie is me o edgy

[@Felixicity]

Excellent work, I really enjoy your take on how high-level play mirrors 'knowledge beyond'--it's a cool way to consider it.

[@Geostationary0rbit]

wow your right about the story I never thought about it that deep but all the visual cues are there to back it up, that is an insane breakdown! nice one.

[@kerrik52]

The month of Peepants is upon us.

[@Sentay0]

Actually the "Stop firing to absorb collectables thing" is a hold over from bullet hells (Crimson Clover, Touhou, etc). However it's intention / purpose is identical, a deliberate lull in the action now for more power to perform better later.

[@superkerel9]

Neither of those examples actually feature that mechanic however.

[@Sentay0]

Really? I could've sworn that Crimson Clover had it, maybe I'm thinking of Mushihimesama Futari or some other CAVE shooter.

[@AshenVictor]

It's a reasonably standard mechanic in Cave shooters. The gems are just for score though, because score is the point of bullet hell games.

[@imantssafronovs327]

It's always a treat to see you've uploaded a new video.

[@LowenStrosst]

Always a pleasure, Chris :)

[@MiloKuroshiro]

The only wrong things is: shmups, uni or multidirectional have preset enemies too. If they haven't it would be chaos, and bullet patterns wouldn't make sense. Lot of shmups have more things to make you don't overshoot. Like accuracy points, or even the same thing as Devil Daggers, Sucking all the power ups, the same with two shots, generally crowd control and damage(I know touhou does both mechanics)

[@Woot100]

GOD i am so hyped for more halloween videos from you. also, i think i'm probably going to end up trying In The Kingdom now, if only for that highly distressing snippet. that's just... Wrong. its Upsetting. i Do Not Want That. which means, of course, that i have to play the shit out of it

[@tibipics]

oh man that song though. I remember leaving the game on the main menu, going away for a while and just being blown the hell away when i came back

[@morbid1.]

I love this early 3D texture art style... It reminds me Quake on VooDoo accelerator

Love your videos. Your analysis are so spot on.

[@Fazz321]

Oh finaly, errant signal without spoiler tag. I can watch it now.

[@dosbilliam]

That bit of story could really be turned into a good RPG if given enough time and effort. :D

[@greenhowie]

Just bought this. Been playing for a solid half hour. Met the second type of enemy. This game is tough.

[@ratheonhudson3311]

As always, your analysis is entertaining and enlightening for fellow gamers who see Sh'mups and Shooters and compare tale/tale-less games with differences that work both for and a little against the games.

[@bransomething]

It's a little frustrating because that kind of tight, strategic design has been a staple of arcade shmups for years. (Properly managing fire types, how/when/where to shoot, how/when/where to move, predefined enemy placements, pattern/stage memorization, high skill ceiling, insane variety of intricate mechanics, fine balance between risk/reward, scoring incentives with life extends, etc.) I think something like Deathsmiles might be worth a look, especially since it's also Halloween-themed. :)

[@thetayeti]

this FOV is killing me bro lol I put a lot of hours in the game and it's weird to see it so close up

[@MrNargleflex]

Hey! You know that "stop firing to get the doodad" mechanic is present in shmups too, most Cave games have this, I believe!

[@TypeSaturn]

good one, chris! the game looked pretty simple, so it's interesting to hear how it evokes an edlritch narrative through gameplay alone. looking forward to the next videos!

[@Paperclip_Tank]

Campster is gonna be doing scary games? This is gonna be good.

[@MellowGaming]

I need to play this sometime. Love a good Twin Stick shooter and this is essentially that with more tentacles. I like the halloweeny colour scheme for the title card.

[@bluzi633]

i love that final line

[@Honeyxilim]

Okay, i'll start a Halloween wishlist now thanks to you :D

[@petebasgen]

Just found your videos and really really dig them. Keep it up!

[@Eszuran]

I love how this game looks.

[@DetectiveOlivaw]

This game is so hard to play for longer than five minutes because, with headphones, in the dark, it's such an all-consuming white-knuckle vision of hell that it's hard to stand. I have to turn a light on or look at something else. For my money, that makes it a fantastic horror game.

[@anlumo1]

This video would have benefitted greatly from 60fps… Very hard to tell what's going on with the quick action.

[@1r0zz]

strange, but I do not really have problems understanding what's happening... :/ I guess it's because I played quake 1 ad nauseam...

[@zetetick395]

Heh! ...If you play that, even a bit too much, and *Real Life* seems to be in _S l o w - M o t i o n!_

[@noahstanley9666]

loved this fucking game. 250+ club what up

[@wompstopm123]

400+ club right here baby!

[@superuber27]

I liked this game so much I played it for 20 hours in two days 380+ represent

[@tibipics]

I'm in the 69 club and tbh I don't wanna leave

[@x341175]

+CaptainSkelebones >thinking you're good for getting 401. filthy.

[@TTNDR]

just joined the club lol

[@MegapiemanPHD]

A game like geometry wars is more of a twin stick shooter than a shmup but the context of shoot em up fits well enough to those kinds of games I guess.

[@BrunoB78]

yeah it seems that chris doesn't play lots of shmups but apart that excellent review!

[@TrevHead10]

Agreed even though Errant took the time to make the distinction that he was taking about arena / twin stick shooters I couldn't help thinking of gem collection and scripted enemies in bullet hells when he said they weren't a staple of shmups.

[@WarpedByTheNHK]

Yeah, that kind of hurt me. I knew what he meant, but I hope he doesn't give anyone the wrong impression about the shmup genre.

[@Disthron]

At the point where you ask *can you tell what's going on*.... yea, I can, they're shooting the tails of one of those skeletal snake things as it goes by.

[@x341175]

gigapede*

[@fortris]

2:35 ...that mechanic is straight up from Touhou. A shmup (bullet hell, whatever). I'm genuinely shocked you've never played any top down shmup where you stop firing/moving to collect pickups on screen. It's actually fairly common.

[@superkerel9]

In which Touhou is that the case? Generally powerups will slowly drop down the screen and can be collected normally but if you go above a certain part of the screen they will quickly go towards you. It doesn't have to do with the player shooting or not.

[@DoughyBiscuits1994]

Subterranean Animism has that mechanic, sort of. One of the weapon selections makes it so when you release all of the keys, including movement, powerups will swarm to your character. That's the only Touhou game I've played so I'm not sure if it's in any other.

[@fortris]

Joey Asagiri Actually my mistake you go to the top of the screen, not stay still. Either way this IS a common mechanic in a lot of shumps.

[@TypeSaturn]

even if it's not literally present in a touhou, it did strike me as being kinda shmuppy; scoring mechanics in shmups often promote putting yourself at risk or getting in harm's way in order to get more points

[@TrevHead10]

it's common with bullet hells which have focus fire (hold fire) and spread shot (tap fire) you need to let go of fire for gems to autocollect eg. Mushihimesama Futari & Akia Katana

[@ScrawnyMcMassive]

THE SPOOKS. BRING ON THE SPOOKS. MY BODY IS READY.

[@skii_mask_]

Nobody calls them shmups.

[@michaelpalin8953]

Ah, fuck! It's that month of the year again, only videos about spooky things for the next four weeks, :(

[@vearheart42]

Favorite game of 2016

[@Ahov]

This one earned you a subscriber

[@NastySmash]

Holy crap your sensitivity is too damn high!

[@vidboy_etc]

woah

[@yokokuramaful]

The struggle to categorize the games high-speed first person shooting swarms in an arena gameplay and the implication that it's super unique makes me think Errant hasn't seen/played Serious Sam and Painkiller.

[@skii_mask_]

I don't think this game is as story focused as you think it is. The atmosphere is to get your blood pumping, but the actual systems and mechanics are the real meat of the game, independent of the theme.

[@Arganoid]

Have you played Llamasoft's Space Giraffe?

[@SecretlyStarscream]

Reminds me of Smash TV and Robotron 2084, and a bit of Serious Sam.

[@reifenrir]

i like the way you think is unique, not like every fucking utuber. omg actually fun and interesting to watch, keep up the gj

[@sig4311]

"Can you see what's going on ? Yeah me neither... This pplayer has reached a point where he plays the game almost exclusively in its head" Sounds like me playing Polynomial 2 on insane mode at high levels of play XD

[@GentlemansCombatives]

Spooky cthonic indie game season... are you gonna do darkest dungeon?

[@iannoonan5807]

omg its summer and im looking at this game and idk if i should get it so i looked up a review like this one... I never thought i would of found someone who has a sexy voice

[@Shilag]

Oh god, looks like your sensitivity is WAY too high. You're jerking around all over the place, over-adjusting on every single movement. Beyond that, I've been kind of addicted to this game too since the Humble Bundle. Man, watching the top people like Sojk and Bowsr is just ridiculous. They're very nice people, for anyone who's getting into the game. I had a bunch of questions, and they both answered everything I wondered during one of Sojk's streams. My current record is only about 300. Hoping to improve that a lot more.

[@wompstopm123]

that is the only game this game is playable. any slower and you cant react fast enough for the skulls

[@Shilag]

CaptainSkelebones Absolutely not true. Assuming you can turn 360 degrees across your full mouse pad (or the imaginary length of one), there's not really any reason to have it higher than that. Of course, there's personal preference, that's what's most important, but you can see in the video how much he misses and over-corrects because of his high sensitivity. It's clearly hurting him more than helping.

[@wompstopm123]

Shilag pick up the game for your self, you have no idea what you are talking about dude., also it may look like the sensitivities is too high for you, but for the player its just right, turn up your eye sensitivity lol

[@Shilag]

CaptainSkelebones I do play this game, and all I can tell you is that I strongly disagree with you. Sensitivity is mostly preference, but when he's jittering with every move and over-correcting all the time, I think he's objectively hurting his performance with the sensitivity he's playing on.

[@wompstopm123]

Shilag whats your high score?

[@Lifeformed]

Turn down your mouse sensitivity!

[@morbid1.]

do you play on console or gamepad?

[@SpuntyS]

high mouse sensitivity is really important in this game, which is why it's set to high by default. you need to be able to turn really fast as all the shooting is close range and there is no sniping or whatever.

[@ickerolig]

That doesn't mean so high one cant adjust the mouse without doing a 180. 15-30cm/360 would suffice but this looks like he just booted up the game with 3000dpi and just rolled with it.

[@awesreek2542]

No, mouse sensitivity is a matter of personal play, its there to conform to how one feels is best to there experience to the point where either one finds it painful to play with it high or one finds it painful to play with it low.

[@YusufSheth]

great writing.

[@OverZealousQuakeFan]

I think your 'metaphor for obtaining forbidden arcane knowledge' stuff at the end is a stretch. All I can see is what naturally happens as difficulty in a fast fps climbs higher. Good sound cues and game knowledge helping you build a mental map of the current gameplay situation is bread and butter for an arcade FPS. It's one of the reasons they are so much fun, and it's cool to see more games capturing that feeling. Play Serious Sam or larger custom Doom levels on a high difficulty and you'll find it's a necessity to progress, since you can't see all around you like in a top down shooter, you rely on these extra cues + understanding of how enemies move and behave in order to predict how gameplay will unfold and react to you. So when you say "can you tell what's going on", well I've never played the game but, yes, I can quite clearly tbh :) PS that gem mechanic sounds pretty neat.

[@concrete_dog]

I love this game even though I'm bad at it

[@concrete_dog]

Scratch that I just got 180-and-a-bit seconds! (Still far from good though)

[@dotanuki3371]

Will buy, cheers

[@gloverelaxis]

this is some fuckin good games criticism

[@DctrBread]

lets be clear on this fox only final destination was pretty much just making fun of people who try to chaingrab their friends after looking up how to do it on smashboards, and its pretty much the jankiest stage for the matchup

[@Cobey_Smith]

I love this game!

[@GreatJoe]

Please play Progear. The gem mechanic in this game is taken almost wholesale from there.

[@fallout4able]

that melee reference

[@weezerfan123]

I know you probably have a schedule for your reviews but a man can dream, DO PONY ISLAND

[@babelfish9948]

1:10 What is the name of that game?

[@zetetick395]

2:40 What is it you're shooting at the nasties? ...They look like test-tubes of neon blood, or festival glow-sticks... :/

[@confusingdalek709]

daggers.

[@zabaoth]

While some people of my generation identify more with Doom or Quake, I was the odd one out that liked Hexen. To this date I'm looking for something like Hexen I - II. This game doesn't quite scratch that itch, being a schmup, but it comes close.

[@InnuendoXP]

Adrian Jutronich have you checked out Amid Evil at all?

[@mickeyakerfeels7298]

why is this video only available in 1080p?

[@ChandlerMakesVidya]

Do you mind if I cite this video and add onto it in my own Devil Dagger's video?

[@SebbySenpai]

I recently broke 250+ secs in this game and realized it has one *MAJOR* flaw. When the first centipede spawns, a spider also appears with it. The centipede doesn't stay around long so I have to kill him fast to get the gems. But 9/10, the spider ends up taking them all since they often spawn very close to each other. It's *IMPOSSIBLE* to know where the spider will spawn and how close he'll be to the centipede, and as a result, he sucks up all the gems you need to level up. You have to get lucky with the centipede's spawn position. Which sort of ruins the rest of the game since it's so skill based.

[@HideNZeke]

like 1/10 times it does feel like the spider spawns so you cant get the centipede in one go which kinda sucks but not a major flaw. but yeah you have to kill the spider before the spider, just listen to it and strafe jump straight to it then turn around stand under the 'pede and blast it to smitherines

[@boonie1994]

The centipede only dives if you pass under it. You can just walk around, kill the spider, and then line up the centipede.

[@x341175]

protip fam the snake only goes under ground after a very long time (during this very long time you have more than enough time to kill the spider) or if you go under the snake. you're completely wrong in what you're saying here.

[@InnuendoXP]

Really? I can usually hear the spider a couple of seconds before it comes to the arena edge even with the centipede coming in, giving me time to strafe-jump towards it and kill it as the centipede comes out. The positional audio setting actually makes it harder to hear sounds accurately for me, I can hear position better, but the overall clarity suffers so I tend to leave it off. and yeah as the others have said, the centipede's dive is triggered by you passing under it or nearby in front of it

[@awfulotis1922]

That was set up specifically to teach you how important it is to kill spiders. No flaw

[@thelaw8042]

No items fox only FD. #Melee

[@Kybeardruid]

There is actually third firing mechanic - homing daggers (Blue hand upgrade) and I would call that a dagger jump rather than rocket jump. Overall, good video, but your aim is little bit all over the place, is it low FPS or too high mouse sensitivity?

[@confusingdalek709]

way way too high sensitivity. you can see the dpi.

[@1r0zz]

I hope you will talk about Siren and Silent Hill (the good ones) sooner or later.

[@elegantcat1496]

Silent Hill would be neat but at this point what else could anyone say about the games? I feel like 1&2 have been fully eviscerated at this point.

[@1r0zz]

Elegant Cat still most of the people still get the story wrong, taking it as a some sort of "create your fanfiction", and force some urban legend about the second game on the first and the third one.

[@elegantcat1496]

1r0zz That may be just me but I don't feel the need of "mansplaining" something just because someone somewhere could not get it or get it wrong.

[@noshow]

Why u no 60fps?

[@jamesmason3734]

This game looks right up my ally. If I get money and after I buy dark souls III I'm so getting this game. Also Chris you aren't fooling me. I saw the slender episode and the spooky's house of jump scares episodes of spoiler warning. I know the real reason you aren't playing anything super spooky mr. pee pans.

[@Shilag]

This game was recently in the $1 tier of a Humble Bundle, so you might even be able to find someone with an extra copy they wouldn't mind giving away if you ask around enough. Pretty sure you could pick it up for super cheap on third-party sites too, if you're into that.

[@jamesmason3734]

Yeah I probably could. Though with the billion other games I need to catch up on (like AM2R that I am currently playing.) I'll probably forget.

[@Shilag]

James Mason That.. is a perfectly valid reason. So many damn games nowadays!

[@jamesmason3734]

It can be a bit overwhelming to the point where I don't want to play any games because I want to play so many games.

[@Scaevola9449]

Shmooter.

[@spootot]

I'm genre-fluid

[@Felik18]

I was going to check it out but you made it sound like the game doesn't have enough substance. I presume it has the same amount of content as Downwell and at the same price? If so then I might check it out.

[@confusingdalek709]

imo it has a good deal more substance than downwell.

[@TTNDR]

what is the game at 0:58?

[@EdgardR.]

Geometry Wars

[@menisc2797]

Anyone know the game at 1:07?

[@sasuke2910]

Jamestown.

[@subnormality.]

Jamestown. The bugged version (which is why the enemy projectiles are all grey).

[@menisc2797]

Thanks

[@TheSoijohn]

why it has to be spooky for halloween ? Bloodborne is a perfect game for that time of year, for example, and yes it is action packed.

[@shadowreaper518]

whats the game at 1:28?

[@CaptainCabinet]

Serious Sam 3:BFE

[@Lugbzurg]

Excellent. That's what that game is. "Excellent".

[@shadowreaper518]

thank you

[@Arkey707]

Fuck yeah

[@SolarMoth]

yesssssssss