RGT Nostalgia Society #3 - Einhander

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

This game upscaled to 1080P + a good CRT filter is just gorgeous

See now I feel like I'm missing out. I'm playing it through adrenaline on my Vita.

 

[Kamako]

This game rules, but it's kicking my ass!
So far I've managed to get to stage 4, using the ship with 1 machine gun and two weapon pods. I think the cannon or the blade are my fave weapons.
Here's my best score for levels 1 and 2 so far:

Post automatically merged: Aug 3, 2025

(also on a side note: I'm really glad to be able to join in on this) :D

 

[throughdarkness]

I concur lol. This game is brutal. I managed to get to stage 6 so far and I definitely don't see 1CCing this one. I was having a lot of trouble on this boss that jumps in and out of the water but as soon I picked up a sword he went down in like a matter of 20 seconds. So I feel like weapon swapping is part of boss design but man, it's gonna take some time.

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

I've been doing some research to give me a bit of help since this isn't really a genre I'm all that comfortable with, and this stuff goes waaaay deeper than I was expecting it to :L

I wonder if I should have gone to the trouble of getting the NA release so I could actually read the small bits of text that pop-up or something.

 

[Kamako]

I've been doing some research to give me a bit of help since this isn't really a genre I'm all that comfortable with, and this stuff goes waaaay deeper than I was expecting it to :L

xD Yeah it strikes me as the kind of game that has a design document/bible naming every gunship and the history of the planets and warring factions etc.

I wonder if I should have gone to the trouble of getting the NA release so I could actually read the small bits of text that pop-up or something.

For what it's worth, I'm playing the NTSC version, and most of the enemy dialogue is still in German. The mini-brief between missions and the opening cinematic is in English though.

 

[medisinn]

Ooh, neat! I played this game a lot back in the day on a PS1 demo disc and maybe a bit via emulation later on, but have never beaten it. I slacked off on the other two games but I certainly have no excuse for not participating this time. Gonna grab it off the Repo and throw it on my Raspberry Pi here shortly.

 

[SlobodanElectro]

This game rules, but it's kicking my ass!
So far I've managed to get to stage 4, using the ship with 1 machine gun and two weapon pods. I think the cannon or the blade are my fave weapons.
Here's my best score for levels 1 and 2 so far:
View attachment 96658
View attachment 96660

Post automatically merged: Aug 3, 2025

(also on a side note: I'm really glad to be able to join in on this) :D

nice effort

Post automatically merged: Aug 4, 2025

wow, I thought I was alright with shooters, Japanese version, difficulty normal. Made it to what seems like the real final boss for just stage one. *ss kicked over and over. Sure die over and over to know what's up, I have no history with the game, damn. It's a good one.

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

nice effort

Post automatically merged: Aug 4, 2025

wow, I thought I was alright with shooters, Japanese version, difficulty normal. Made it to what seems like the real final boss for just stage one. *ss kicked over and over. Sure die over and over to know what's up, I have no history with the game, damn. It's a good one.

I had this experience, but on my second run, I managed to smoke him without losing a continue at all.

There's a lot of background shit going on in this game, including your choice of ship at the start. (Pro Tip: As soon as you can, move from the Mk3 to the Mk2. The Mk3 is easier to learn butthe Mk2 can hold onto multiple gun units that you can rotate between. This is super helpful in boss fights because you can save your most powerful gun module for the fight, and the right unit can take out a boss in seconds.

 

[diapered]

What does the meter in the corner mean?

 

[Kamako]

What does the meter in the corner mean?

It keeps track of your score multiplier. The more ships you destroy, the higher it rises (up to either 16x or 20x, I'm not so sure). The higher your score multiplier, the faster it falls.

I'm not sure what causes the score to go red though...

 

[ThatOneLum ThatOneLum]

It keeps track of your score multiplier. The more ships you destroy, the higher it rises (up to either 16x or 20x, I'm not so sure). The higher your score multiplier, the faster it falls.

I'm not sure what causes the score to go red though...

16x is the max at least on normal difficulty.

 

[DanCalibur]

My plan to finish this one quickly and go back to Vagrant Story was ruined on my first try

 

[diapered]

Is it just me, or did anyone else think there was a fly by their ear because of the bgm on this stage? I smacked at my headphones first time >_<

 

[Kamako]

After reaching stage 4 on Normal I decided to shift down a gear and play on Easy.

I just figured it'd save a bit of trial and error time. I plan on going back to higher difficulties afterwards. I've managed to reach the final boss now, so I think I will beat it tomorrow.

One piece of spoiler-y advice I can give:

Spoiler

There are two (relatively) secret weapons that you can collect, Juno (a more powerful machine gun like the Vulcan, and Flash, an energy weapon that 1-shot's most enemies, and is the highest damaging weapon in the game. Retrieving flash once means you can equip your ship with it on subsequent New Game attempts. It makes a big difference. Hint: It's hidden in level 3.

 

[SoThankful]

Ngl firt stage was already challenging for me, but I like it so far. There's no tutorial, so I still have to figure things out.

Post automatically merged: Aug 5, 2025

After reaching stage 4 on Normal I decided to shift down a gear and play on Easy.

Don't scare me...

 

[Kamako]

I just beat the game! Woo!

Even on Easy, that was no joke.
I'm not very familiar with aerial shooters as a genre, but this is now easily my favourite.

Depending on how brave I feel, I might try and go for some of the other achievements.

Spoiler

 

[SoThankful]

I just beat the game! Woo!

Even on Easy, that was no joke.
I'm not very familiar with aerial shooters as a genre, but this is now easily my favourite.

Congratz. I switched to easy too just to get familiar with the genre.

 

[Kamako]

Congratz. I switched to easy too just to get familiar with the genre.

I think this is one of those games where playing on Easy to begin with is the intended way to play, especially for folks like us who don't play many of these games.


Have you had the chance to make any further progress? I'm already looking forward to playing it some more to hear more of that killer soundtrack. Plus, there's something about those blocky models that's so unique to Square PS1 games, and that rules.

 

[SoThankful]

Have you had the chance to make any further progress?

Got past this point

 

[Kamako]

Got past this point
View attachment 97490

Nicely done. I think the first half of level 4 may take the cake for me as the hardest part of the game (on Easy and on first experience at least)

Gonna try livestream some awful attempts on YT

 

[SoThankful]

Gonna try livestream some awful attempts on YT

You play exactly like me

 

[Kamako]

You play exactly like me

Lemme guess, you dash in for perilous weapon pick up's too?

I got to the final boss earlier in the stream and lost my remaining lives. Feels cathartic to get my revenge!

Only 10 achievements to go now....but I think the challenge of beating the game on Hard may be too great...

 

[diapered]

What are you supposed to do when enemies just hang out behind you There is no way to turn around right?! Or am I that stupid O_o

 

[Kamako]

What are you supposed to do when enemies just hang out behind you There is no way to turn around right?! Or am I that stupid O_o
View attachment 98036

You're right, you cannot turn around. You either have to fly behind them (left of them) to damage them, being very careful not to get crushed,
-or-
you need to secure a weapon that fires backwards, of which there are a few (Blade, Grenade Launcher, Wasp, Spreader) all have a function to hit an enemy behind you if used in the right places/situations

 

[throughdarkness]

Ooph! I can finally say that that I've completed this one. Kinda. On easy mode, using the Mk.II ship, with the Blade primary and mostly the Cannon and Gatling as pickups.









To share a few thoughts quick - I wasn't expecting such a memory heavy game. It's weird because I've played some really difficult shmups in the past but this is one of those where it doesn't really seem difficult when you watch someone play it, but one mistake and you're basically done. Things come at you quick and and pretty relentlessly, particularly boss attacks.

The design really shines, in that you don't respawn, it forces you to a checkpoint. I like this because it's essentially a skill check where it forces you to repeat sections, over and over again sometimes. It's great for intimately learning mechanics and strategies. I really like that there are secrets and the part in stage 4 where you are flying alongside conveyors/carts is neat in that there's a few differing paths you can take through the area, one path leading to a nice surprise.

There's a lot more I could say about this one, but I'll just say it really surprised me and I'm disappointed that I didn't play it earlier. This may be my favorite shmup on the system now. Not only are mechanics and gameplay super tight, but man the thematic visual/audio work is just way beyond what I expect of a shooter and they nailed it so good.

I would like to try normal next, and depending on how it scales, I don't think I'm up for hard mode. Oh, and if I was going to complain about something, it'd be about how bullshit the final boss is. I thought that was a weak-ass battle with the way the camera behaves.