Shikhondo Soul Eater, 1cc, Hard Difficulty, The Girl, (STEAM), player JAM

[@Shmuptopia]

Hey Jam! I just jumped back into Shikhondo a couple of nights ago. I am buckling down for the Hard mode clear since I didn’t keep going with it earlier this year. Despite needing to clean up a bit, it’s amazing to observe parts of fights I dreaded back then which are now the simplest things and it means I don’t have to use a bomb or have my gauge ready to fire off. I, of course, had to rematch this clear because it’s such a wild run! I trust you are having a pleasant holiday and enjoying some game time! Take care!

[@1CCJAM]

Good luck man, I'll look forward to catching your replay. All the best for the new year!

[@Shmuptopia]

I had such a blast watching this run last night. It was 3-4 months ago when I buckled down for my Arcade Normal clear and after getting it, I sampled Hard mode for a bit which definitely tripped me up. Decided to boot it up last night and additional skills must have set in because I was handling the bulk of the run without much issue whereas before things would have felt far more daunting to me. On my 4th run last night I made it to the second half of the final boss before biting the bullet but I know I will pull this off before long. I really love this game. I like how the stages are relatively easy to deal with and how much higher the risks are when in a boss fight. The attack that snakes its way down the screen is certainly the one that trips me up the most too. I want to explore that fight in more depth because I'm sure there are things I'm currently missing which will give me a better grasp but for a first night of playing so far, I'm incredibly pleased with how things are looking. One of the reasons I want to bang out Hard mode is because I'm super stoked to tackle Extreme mode but I won't allow myself to taste that until I polish off Hard mode. Also, during some sloppy areas yesterday evening I learned that if you have one life left and then choose to gain a life after a fight, you go back up to four lives! That drastically alters how I view what approach may or may not be needed. This tells me I can more often than not choose bombs over lives because as long as I can make it through each fight without getting a game over, I can snag the starting amount of lives. I'm wondering if bombs work similarly. There have been times where I've recieved two bombs so that's noteworthy. Anyway, thanks for a riveting session and congrats on the clear! Stoked to get this one!

[@1CCJAM]

Hey Dace, sorry for the late reply. I’m stoked to hear you are going for the Hard mode clear, and you have enjoyed my replay. Shikhondo is definitely all about the boss fights! The attack that snakes its way down in the final boss is brutal, and will be quite an achievement if you can tame it. I look forward to tracking your progress on your channel. Wow, I never noticed that about the lives and bombs. I wonder if it works like that in the PC version as well? Wishing you well for the Hard and Extreme clears.

[@Shmuptopia]

@1CC JAM Oh it's no problem, I'm responding late to you too so never a worry. I haven't played as many shmups as some people but I still find it rare enough to see a game where the main threats are strictly during boss encounters. In ways, it can feel that much more rough when taking a hit before the boss because the stage stuff is much easier to read and respond to. As for the snaking attacks, I feel that will be the most significant undertaking since there's no training mode, so when getting there during actually runs, I'll likely be more focused on just surviving the encounter to get the clear. I suppose boss rush mode would be another alternative but it's still a lot of time just to reach one part you want to examine more carefully. It's not ideal but I'll need to work within that regardless. I haven't played in about a week since I have dabbled in other games but I did boot up Extreme mode once just to see what it was like again and even the stage 1 boss has me scrambling haha. If I'm going to pull that off, it'll be a long-term project for sure since I don't want to pressure myself to bang something like that out in a short time. Anyway, I missed your latest two uploads and will definitely be scoping those this afternoon. Thanks again for getting back to me and have a stellar day!

[@dominikweber1346]

This One Pattern in the Middle in the second Phase drives me crazy.

[@1CCJAM]

Yeah, the pattern that starts at 29:00 is horrible. I would have whole runs collapse in less than a minute because of that pattern. I found if you focus your eyes on the vacant space and try not to let its strange movement distract you, made it easier. It’s also very easy to get trapped in the corners. As you can see from the replay, most of my movements were panic based and I lost most of my lives to this pattern, so I never really got my head around it.

[@dominikweber1346]

@@1CCJAM yeah i beat it two days ago. i had the feeling that is was more luck than skill but its okay :) and i think youre right. i tried also to watch the whole screen and kinda feel about where i have to go next. it worked and i got one live left after this second phase and then starts the third first phase with the green bullets again. one only one live and no bomb left it was a little bit hard for my mind but i did it.

[@1CCJAM]

@@dominikweber1346 Congrats on the clear.

[@MikeandKatieShow]

@@1CCJAM Bro, you had the Soul Collect Full lol, damn. That is definitely the worst pattern in the game lol. Nice run

[@1CCJAM]

Thanks @@MikeandKatieShow Nerves got the better of me near the end, some bad dodges, and I really should have a plan for using Soul Collect on the final boss, but still happy with the clear. :-)

[@anoufurude2613]

yeah ! It's so beautiful congratulation

[@dominikweber1346]

Nice Job!

[@1CCJAM]

Thanks!

[@Shmuptopia]

Hey Jam!! It's been ages. You came to mind this evening and I was wondering how things are going for you these days. Are you on anything other than KZbin? I'd like to run an idea by you. Have a stellar one!