01/23/26 - Video Games
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where the concept of danmaku began is much debated seeing that it is a subgenre of shoot'em ups. danmaku games are most notably recognized by their complex and often aesthetically beautiful enemy fire patterns that the player must avoid. in 1993, batsugun, an arcade game that was developed by toaplan, is noted to being the first to innovate in the genre by introducing mesmerizing and challenging bullet patterns to navigate. batsugan also introduced the concept of making a smaller portion to serve as the hitbox for the player rather than the entire sprite of the ship as it was known have in the vanilla version of the genre, and it remains as the core gameplay function of the danmaku genre, allowing a bit more leeway for the player to navigate these challenging arrangements. after toaplan went defunct former programmers and game designers went on to create the studio, Cave Interactive Co., which have continued to innovate the genre in later years.
Cave created many prolific entries in the genre and have a consistent library of games with familiar core gameplay also making room for new implementation to differentiate their series from one another. 1995's DonPachi and 1997's DoDonPachi (being the first of Cave's successful series of arcade games using the bullet-hell/danmaku formula) introduced a combo styled system likened to fighting games of the day which rewarded players with bonus points when they chained together attacks within a certain amount of time. This meant that high scores in this entry were incredibly large, even reaching into the hundred millions which is fantastical compared to games like Xevious and 1944 that predate it. With more time, titles like ESP Ra.De., Espgaluda, and Mushihimesama, break through the market all sharing the same general idea but having their own distinct gimmicks that made them shine on their own, my favorite being Espgaluda and it's sequel Espgaluda II, because of it's psychic power wielding protagonists and bullet-time gimmick that slowed the enemy fire down to allow players to carefully navigate the maze of obstacles.
Another interesting development in the genre arose being that these casual arcade games began to have dedicated narratives with dialogue that helped immerse players in the story's lore. While CAVE would do this in their later releases, notably, the independent doujin developed series Touhou Project (Eastern Project) would make the "bullet-hell" genre integral to the lore. These battles weren't something you were thrown into with a passive narrative, but instead danmaku becomes self-referential in this particular series. Danmaku has transcended from abstraction into a narrative that takes place in the game's realm "Gensoukyou", a land located in the far mountains where both humans and yokai reside. This land is where the main protagonists, Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame, who are sent out to resolve the incidents that occur in Gensoukyou. Touhou Project's structure from gameplay mechanics to lore and character choice is based heavily on aesthetic and beauty. ZUN, the developer of Touhou Project, noted that even his choice of making the entire playable characters female was because of the charm that would be invoked from their femininity. The story alone is poetic in that the developer stated that the elaborate details of each game are not expressed plainly, but in so much in the gameplay itself.
The bullet-hell genre is an evolution of the shoot'em up genre that took its own form in its extravagant aesthetics and challenging gameplay, but that I believe is what makes the games so enticing to play. These games were widely popular in Japan and I can see why. You boot up the game and you are up against hundreds of bullets on the screen at once. You're dodging and shooting enemies and bosses on the opposite side of the and racking up a huge score, you feel like you're the best gamer in the world because if someone walked passed you during this boss fight and saw the sheer amount of bullets that you had to navigate through they would be taken aback by your impressive precision and reactivity. The colors, the music (which is an incredible high point in the genre. please check it out if you don't believe me.), and challenge draws you in each time. The gameplay is simple in that you are often given a fire button and sometimes a special gimmick or bomb (or both), but it is quite easy to jump into. I'm not much of a gamer in that I spend a lot of time dedicated to one game, but these games I will always enjoy picking up and playing a few sets of because of how stimulating it is to play (and the music, i mean, please check out either of the espgaluda games' soundtracks and tell me what you think.) Have you ever played a bullet-hell game? If not, then have you played something that was both challenging and beautiful at the same time? It would be great to hear from you.
thank you for everything.
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