Shikhondo: Soul Eater (PS4)

I am in love!!! ... maybe lust!!! There's finally a shmup with a mature Asian folklore theme that I can get behind!!! This shmup I speak of is none other than Deer Farm's original shoot'em up creation, "Shikhondo: Soul Eater". A shmup brought to us by Nephilim Game Studios via conversion, and published by Digerati Distribution. The game itself is a five stage fright fight featuring a female Grim Reaper protagonist, and some sword wielding girl with equally soul sapping powers. They face off alone or in co-op against some of ancient Asia's/Korea's most frightful haunts. Ultimately battling through bullet hell, and facing off against truly hellish forms of yokai bosses after having bested their slightly lesser than hellish forms. It's a shoot'em up with expertly choreographed bullet hell patterns fitting of the bosses, and 6 modes of play that cater to all the challenges, and desires a shmup enthusiast might like. The experience itself is complimented by an electronic soundtrack filled with haunting melodic tunes, laughter, screams, and heavy hitting synthesized sounds when the action is at it's most intense. Combined with the traditional, and layered style of Asian scroll-like artwork everything comes to life in a way befitting of the theme it encompasses.

As either the Grim Reaper, or "The Girl" you will battle waves of lesser yokai enemies before facing of against each of the included five stage's boss battles. No matter what the mode in question may entail. Each playable female character, which actually takes the place of traditional shmup ships, has their own bullet shot type that comes in both a slowed down and normal version. The slowed down version which activates the "Soul Collect" function allows for easier dodging, and more precise fire while the normal shot acts as a mean to cover a larger area, and rid your view of the lesser easier to kill yokai enemies. Aside from that there are no power-ups. At least not in the traditional sense. The games unique standout mechanic, or gauge which takes the place of said power-ups is the "Soul Collect" meter that fills up as you graze bullet hell. A close shave with death, as it were. Once the 'Soul Collect' gauge is completely filled, and a character surrounding gear connected you can press "L2" to boost the strength of the shot. This is done using up one of your Soul Attack bombs. The power can be increased as long as you press 'L2' again before the Soul Collect meter is fully depleted, and while there's at least one Soul Attack still available. You have a given stock of 4 'Soul Attacks' which are the game's version of screen clearing bombs, as previously mentioned. Of course these come in handy in unavoidable situations that might lead to you losing one of your lives. It should also be noted that on level completion you'll be given the option to restock lives or Soul Attacks for the next stage.

Modes in the game come in six mostly similar, but notably different options. You'll find a standard 'Arcade' mode with four difficulty settings including EASY, NORMAL, HARD, and EXTREME. Each mode in sequential order adding noticeably more challenging playthroughs in the form of enhanced bullet hell coverage, enemy resilience, and speed. After completing Arcade mode you can choose to tackle the nonstop series of boss battles in 'Boss Rush'. In this mode there are no lesser enemies to deal with. You'll only be facing off against the five main bosses, and both of their haunting forms. If you fancy a tailor made experience where things like how you build up Soul Collect, how your HP/lives are effected, and what your Soul Collect is allotted to (Bombs/more Soul Collect) then you'll more than likely enjoy the "Customize" mode. It includes three two choice options relating to the things I've just mentioned. With the Soul Collect gauge being filled with either close shave enemy/bullet hell encounters or by the killing of enemies, and the HP related to both hits and lives. That mechanic being tied to how hits effects the protagonist's Soul Collect gauge. Whether or not it causes a life loss plus reset or allows you to keep on playing without interruption despite the loss. Lastly you'll encounter two modes with multiplier bonuses. Novice mode, which is one of these, will have you playing through an Arcade-like playthrough, but with a score multiplier. Up to x8,000 depending on difficulty selected. Kind of like the Arcade. The other option which is "Hardcore" mode plays by the same rules except you only have one life to complete the entire playthrough. Both modes have the four tier difficulty option to ramp up or decline the onscreen bullet hell proportions as well as bullet hell speed, and the enemy resilience. Co-op play is also an option, but locally so. In "Co-op" each player will get to play one of the two available characters, and join each other in the fright ... er, I mean fight.

However you choose to play it, whether it be alone or not, Shikhondo is a challenge worthy of all bullet hell and shmup enthusiasts. The gameplay is fast and, frenetic with a theme that is truly appealing. Do be warned though. This game contains partial nudity, gore, and frightful images. It is not a game I'd recommend for children. If you are mature enough to handle it though DO NOT miss out on this gem of a shmup!!! Leaderboards are included via a "Rankings" menu. You'll even earn some cool PSN trophies for your efforts!!!

Detail I forgot to mention ...

You can continue as many times as you like in each mode. Each time you do though your score upon death resets to zero. Just a little FYI for all you high scoring hounds.