I don't think you can accuse any CAVE game of having bad art - barring maybe Muchi Muchi Pork - but ESP Ra.De. is certainly an overachiever. The thing that most strikes me about this game is the impeccably detailed sprite art and its engrossing cyber-noir aesthetic. Joker Jun was the man when CAVE had him on art direction, and it's a real pity that he stopped after Progear for whatever reason.
I do have problems with Ra.De.'s systems. The character selection is pretty unsatisfying, without much difference in playstyle beyond different stage orders for the first 3 stages. The scoring is fun in concept, but the timing needed to get full 16x multipliers on enemies is really fuzzy and hard to understand. Thankfully, scoring in this game is more about brief precise bursts rather than the sustained no-room-for-error chaining you'll find in so many CAVE games, so these small inconsistencies don't make the experience too frustrating, just a bit baffling.
Despite my complaints, among CAVE's "golden-age" 90s games Ra.De is the only one that I actually love playing. Guwange's shikigami system is hard to get used to, chaining in general can die in a fire (sorry, Dodonpachi fans), and Dangun Feveron has never really clicked. This game's dodging is as thick and random as the best parts of Dodonpachi, with the only real problem being the severe slowdown that can make some attacks feel a bit too easy. And the scoring, despite its occasional bouts of brain problems, is really rewarding when you manage to nail a huge 16x chain and see glittering gold numbers trail your character for the next 10 seconds.
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...2022-02-22 14:05:20.44152+00
Weird, and convoluted mechanics, which don't necessarily add to the fun factor. Love the visuals, soundtrack, and I think it's a fun game overall, but not CAVE's best.
- Be respectful! All the community rules apply here.
- Keep your comments focused on the game. Don't post randomness/off-topic comments. Jokes are fine, but don't post tactless/inappropriate ones.
- Don't get in arguments with people here, or start long discussions. Use the boards for extended discussion.
- Don't use this space to complain about the average rating, chart position, genre voting, others' reviews or ratings, or errors on the page.
- Don't comment just to troll/provoke. Likewise, don't respond to trollish comments; just report them and ignore them.
- Any spoilers should be placed in spoiler tags as such: [spoiler](spoiler goes here)[/spoiler]
Note: Unlike reviews, comments are considered temporary and may be deleted/purged without notice.