Shinorubi | PS5 Review

Bursting forth like a badass bullet hell ballet filled with a clashing of neon colors this futuristic shmup about a group of ruling elite, and the alien mercenaries that seeks to topple them brings all the challenges and then some. 

Featuring 8 different pilots with their own unique backstories, and ships you face off against the Shinorubi King and his generals of the planetary BAAA empire across several unique modes of play. Your target being the group of power hungry persons of interest out to nab the universe's most powerful and mysterious resource. 

With an army of supporting generals led by the lead King's own daughter they aim to stop you in your tracks. One legend tells of the BAAA rulers' success, and another the thwarting of that success by mercenaries. The latter of which holds true story-wise in this particular game.

Each mode of play within Shinorubi centers around a mappable three button mechanic, and alternative mode based gimmicks. Your chosen pilot which are each a different alien race with a unique name, and a varied ship with specific shot and satellite types utilizes, at base level, a basic shot, laser, and bombs to blast through the barrage of bullets as they make their way to each boss general. 

Basic shots from all piloted ships offer more range and cover wherein the laser is a focused beam that builds up a FEVER meter the more it's used. Enabling the collection of special star tokens that add to a growing score when the FEVER meter is filled up. However you choose to go about it the basic shot, laser, and limited bomb stock will help see you through to your end goal in each stage supposing you do not succumb to the bullet hell that so often fills the screen. Shinorubi is very much a traditional arcade style top-down bullet hell shmup, and plays by genre rules although the bullet hell patterns are unique to the game.

In the way of difficulty settings the game suggests you start off with some hand holding in the super easy difficulty setting. This can be changed later to easy, normal, hard, and very hard dependent upon your skill level, and how much of a challenge you want. Whatever difficulty you choose plays out in tandem with a completion medal upon defeating all the stage bosses, and a chance at a 1CC run for those looking for the ultimate challenge. All of which pertains to the main story driven mode of play where the characters story is shown after a series of completed boss inclusive stages that each end with a score tally.

Scoring in Shinorubi comes at you as varied as the game itself, speaking of scores. You'll be earning points for successfully shooting down enemy ships as well as for collecting dropped stars, and medals that happen by in sequential order. That, and the FEVER stars. 

The medals in particular increase in value the more you collect without missing or dying. Missing a medal will reset medal rank progress, and thus lessen the captured points for each. At a certain point said medals will max out in a glowing state giving a flat point value at that rank. As far as a perfect run in Shinrubi goes it is accomplished by not dying, collecting all the stars, and all the medals. All while not using a single bomb. A feat barely doable even on super easy difficulty.

Beyond the base mode of Shinorubi lies Boss Rush with three difficulties, Caravan Mode for two stages with set mechanics/time limitations, and Arranged mode which is a collective of lesser modes that each have their own set of rules. You'll find modes in Arranged where you have shields, where you play like a kamikaze, where shot type is chosen on the fly, and even a mode where collecting pink pigs is among the laundry list of things to do. Journey mode also exists in that mode menu with three increasingly difficult playthrough loops to boot. That and a mode where difficulty ranking is selected prior to a run. Needless to say there are leaderboards with each and every mode. Showcasing, in kind, your skills or lack thereof.

The Verdict ...

Shinorubi is not particularly a newcomer friendly shmup at it's core. Even with it's super easy difficulty, and simple to learn mechanics it's the stages, and waves of enemies letting out mostly randomized bullet hell that impedes upon progress and perfection. I'm not saying it's a total turn-off, or impossible to get good at, but there is an obvious element of challenge within all the modes of play due to the game's sub-genre focus. 

As an intermediate shmup player I felt Shinorubi to be rather inviting, and less than abusive on my eyes than first predicted. Though the game is heavy on the neons, and has motion blurs everything is highlighted and outlined in such a way to allow for proper dodging. The added fact that controls are mappable to player's preference is icing on the cake. 

Overall Shinorubi is a robust game offering, and a complete package deal for a reasonable price. It earns my respect as a seasoned shmup player, and will no doubt be a good addition to the libraries of other shmup enthusiasts looking for something new. Let me not forget to mention that rocking soundtrack filled with heavy metal chords, and synthwave sounds! Top of the line stuff from Red Art Games!!! Slated for release sometime in January 2024!!!