Kamikaze Lassplanes

The story goes on and on and on and on. You can't skip it and it's absolutely bog standard boring. If you want to speak to a woman, just go talk to one. If you wanna see a woman naked, well, stop reading this and get your browser up - you know what to do. Then to the shmup bit and, well, lets just say the first two bosses are identical.
So you play Arcade and, well, it's just not that good a game.
Feels like they made a below standard shmup, wondered what to do and decided to put huge amounts of chatty anime girls in it.
Would refund if I could.

We've had anime girls that were battleships, tanks, mobile gun platforms on a broom... so it was only a matter of time until we got planes what we've all been waiting for.

This game has beautiful artwork in the vn scenes, awesome cel shaded 3d models in the shoot-em-up parts, and a fantastically written story!
Highly recommend!

stranger>alba
a cool hybrid (mostly VN) with a smup of the olde days
getting the endings is kinda frustrating due to a lack of flowchart and the consequences from that decision which gives a vague icon, kinda felt the story kinda lacking (but the twist was cool) and the worldbuilding is meh (sorry i play trails that series spoiled me on that stuff) but i see the frame there
its nice

This game started out very tame and cute with fun side scrolling shooter elements but, goes from 0 to 100 real quick. I've really had a great time with it and I won't spoil anything but if you like cute girls and mysteries you're going to have a great time with a delicious sprinkle of sadness. You will be letting yourself down if you don't get it.

P.S. stranger best girl

A good game mixing VN and SHMUP.

A solid VN/schmup hybrid. They added skipping fights you've already done so my only issue with the gameplay has been solved. Decent fanservice and the flirting with Hannah, the blonde, was fun. Gets very melodramatic near the end but overall it's a decent romance with a mystery and war going on in the background.

TL;DR Рекомендую, но игра, в основном, визуальная новелла, а не SHMUP.

Интересное смешение жанров, которое будет интересно в первую очередь любителям визуальных новелл, которым хотелось бы больше геймплея. Чтения тут все равно гораздо больше SHMUP-миссий, но они здорово разбавляют процесс.Вот только было бы их больше.На момент написания рецензии мной получена 1 концовка ("C" Hannah best girl!) вроде как из 8, судя по меню, финальная миссия застала меня врасплох, я понял, что то был финальный босс, только после эпилога =)).Еще из минусов хотелось бы отметить саундтрек, он удачный, но слишком мало композиций.Тоже самое можно сказать про модели персонажей - очень хорошо, но очень мало. Хотя, учитывая бюджет игры и цену, наверное много просить неразумно.Главное достоинство - сюжет.Я играл после старфилда, вот честно скажу было гораздо интереснее (тут должна быть шутка про не очень большое достижение).В SHMUP я полный профан, но на NORMAL мне было комфортно, и после прохождения аркадный режим меня заинтересовал. Обязательно буду открывать еще концовки.Огромная просьба к разработчикам - сделайте возможность включать японский и английский текст одновременно, как в новых VN от японских контор, это очень удобно!

Итог 7.5 - Очень приятный сюрприз, учитывая, что купил просто по обложке в стиме =)

Good, retro-inspired game with modern beautiful graphic and artstyle. Adding story and visual novel elements to shmup gameplay is also a neat idea.

Since there is no neutral rating. I rather not recommend this game (for most of people). Here is why:

Game lacks of QoL features esscencial for a VN. Like flowchart, skip tutorial, skip all text (including mission intro), skip mission (is a waste of time for replayability), affection meter and inventory (we got a object that we should able to examine).
I didnt like this VN writting. The protagonist overthinks everything around him, this just adds more text. He doesnt have character development. He is just there to "make decisions", but is not necessary for the plot (IMO). Both girls could be better protagonist.
In this aspect VN with real life characters have gained popularity because they abandon this "old VN format", for one more fluid with more dialogues between characters, like theater. I think this old VN format is not appealing to most of users.

Now the Shmup. There are core features missing in this game. The hitbox is too big (Lassplane is too big), no bomb mechanic, upgrades are lost between missions (in the story mode could be ok, but there is no excuse for arcade mode), I feel like the screen is too small to move in (especially when there are many enemies that explodes and indestructible objects flying by). Game has interesting mechanics like "slow mode" and "assist", but we can only use it in ONE mission.

Overall this game could be better. It reminds me of games like Dead End Re;Quest (same tone, but less disturbing) or animes like Saikano: The Last Love Song on This Little Planet (background development).

Probably this game is not for everyone, even it was probably the target audience. I have patience, I was even making a guide, but after playing for 16 hrs this game has drained all my willpower to unlock the rest of the Endings, because the amount of time to explore all chat option feels too much.

Very well written SHMUP x VN.

The SHMUP component is very fun and pretty intense, with some segments really testing your movement and reactions, I love how active it feels with the powerups and both lassplanes are decent fun. There was enough variety with enemies and bosses that kept it engaging.

The VN component kept me engaged and wanting to know more. There was just enough twists and mystery to hold my attention without being too confusing. The girls are very adorable, and I love the dynamics each one presents. I still haven't tried the other story choices but I enjoyed what I've seen so far.

Really good fun for the price :D

I haven't finished the game yet, but I'm loving it so far! This is my first time trying a visual novel game, and I'm really impressed with the character design, voice acting, and story. It's way more fun than I expected. Big shoutout to everyone who worked on this!

It's very fun and engaging, the character designs are so cute! I got really invested in the storyline too. The graphics in this game are stunning, with vibrant, fantasy-like colors that draw you in, each scene is beautifully crafted, I especially love the landscapes in the background.

I came for Shoot 'Em Up, I stayed for Romance <3

The game is so good, I like the graphics as well as the voice acting of the characters.
The gameplay is also very fun and interesting.
The story is sometimes a bit long so the waiting time to enter the shooting game is also a bit long, the plus point is that the character emotions are well expressed.
I like the sexy scenes of the characters lol.
I hope the game will develop more and more and have more beautiful characters and planes.

Marriage between a SHMUP and a VN?

Yeah, it sounds unusual at first. The game turned out to be so much more than I initially expected though! After playing through the first chapter during Steam Next Fest I was captivated enough to try the full version and I am thankful to my past self for giving the game a chance! Prepare for a longer review :3

How's the story?

At first glance, this game is a cheerful novel about people (and well, people capable of transforming into planes) trying to defend their home. The story, as expected, given the premise, tackles the topics of war and the stakes of it - and with all its twists and turns (that I will gladly leave for you all to discover - as the game has EIGHT very different endings!) manages to sell the world very convincingly, weaving details about it here and there, for the player to piece together on their own, instead of bombarding with exposition dumps - for which I am very thankful.

Story manages to stay very grounded (I know how it sounds, when its about planes, but hear me out!) even while being about the greater scheme of things. The main focus is still on what the characters feel and experience, making them believable and multidimensional - even though we're talking about high ranked pilots and cute girls transforming into war machines - we're still seeing people having their insecurities, doubts, struggles and development arcs that are really captivating, making seeing them pursue their own motivations interesting.

Be ready for the questions though - the game will have your mind racing about different things as the story unfolds. And it won't answer most of them right away, hell, you might even need multiple playthroughs, but I like it about it. The game trusts me to piece the things together myself and provides me enough details to suspect things and then rewards me with those small "I knew it, damn it!" moments, thanking me for paying attention.

I also love the direction the story went into. It really delves deep into questions it asks and creates a believable turn of events to answer them. It made me fully immersed into it for the whole duration of the game.

Enough about VN, how's the SHMUP?

Surprisingly, goddamn good. I won't lie - I was hesitant at first. I was kind of used to VN's throwing gameplay phases to just made me less tired of the text. The game proved it's doing something more very fast.

I am good at games (and very humble too), yet Normal made me sweat in multiple instances, leaving me a little above the flow state, but very near to it. While the game started to get more and more chaotic towards the end, I was also getting more and more powerspike to compensate for it.

And then, progressing through chapters, it finally hit me.

I understood what game was aiming to do with the mix. You're not simply learning about the war from the passive dialogues explaining it - you actively partake in it. I do not know if I would bond with my Lassplanes as much, if I didn't actually guide them through the dangers with my own hands. You feel like you're actually doing something, the game conveys the fight in a very direct way, giving you agency over it. When I defended a city from an airstrike, I tried to get every missile before it hit, like my life depended on it. I felt the stakes being high and the game really made me invested enough to care - and then gave me the rudder to prove it.

The team was definitely aware that they do not have all the time in the world to do a lot of sequences if they want to ever release the game, so they definitely focused on making every each one of them count - and they succeeded in my opinion. (they also added an Arcade more for people like me, who appreciate the SHMUP part almost as much as a Hannah smiling). I want to give a round of applause here, because I enjoyed every single one of it. The gameplay shifted a lot of times, presenting a new challenge, and it all felt very bound to the story - each new mechanic was also a puzzle piece for a narrative surrounding it.

I also want to point out, that I even felt like the loadouts of the girls felt also like a plot device, reflecting the girls personality in a way. Albas shooting pattern seems more chaotic, less accurate and her ultimate power feels like a power she is not fully capable of controlling yet, while Hannah seems very measured and direct, but a little hesitant to go all in - her attacks are more precise, but lack the eagerness and raw force of Alba. I do understand I might be reaching here though :P

All that said, I have a nitpick to address. The gameplay seemed a little too dependent on power ups and delaying spending them though - which in very bullet-hellish landscape with some projectiles being indestructible, changed the war part into survival of sorts. I was hanging by a thread in multiple instances, rather than comfortably popping enemies like in my usual SHMUPs. It almost seemed... intentional? I was really at war, proud of every finished fight, thankful I was able to survive and really trying to defend my girls. Who knows?

Enemy designs being very nice made my skill check very enjoyable to watch though - mixed with a eye candy landscapes in the distance, created a very consistent art style to look at. And the fact that I was actually circling around those areas (very cool idea!) made me feel like I was actually guarding their airspace. (if only the plane didn't stop in some dialogues, floating in the air like a heli - I'm giving you a pass this time!)

Summing up all my yapping - I do think the devs succeeded in marrying those two genres together and convinced me that it wasn't just something placed there for me to click on, giving me a break from the text popping on my screen, but actual, conscious and measured plot device to deepen my enjoyment from the game as a whole.

This made my 9 hours of the first playthrough a time well spent. And I will be definitely checking other endings out, as given the one I finished as my first (C, of course, true chads end up with that one), I am really excited to see how different the story can unfold. To think there are 7 more to go through :D Definitely worth the price, wish I could pay more!

I hope Kamikaze Lassplanes fly off the shelves (hehe) so I can play another VN from Inky Dreams!

I have not yet finished the game, but from the perspective of being 3 chapters in, this game is certainly something more than an arcade-shooter with pretty girls. The story picks up with interesting plot points pretty fast, and the gameplay is very fun and at times pretty challanging. Looking forward to finishing it. Definitely something to pick up if you like chicken-invaders/touhou.