Разработчик: RebRank
Описание
HELLO, WORLD! RESTART… BOOT…
WAKEUP SYSTEM >
VIRTUAL CONTROL CONNECT… [OK]
LOGIN… [OK] CONSOLE... [OK]
DIVE SUCCESS!
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RefRain - prism memories - is an empowering, cyberpunk, bullet-hell shoot-’em-up that focuses on fast-paced, offensive gameplay. “Dive” into a hazardous digital world, cycle through 3 different attack modes, and delete the opposition with superior firepower.
Playing with light changes the world
Three richly-detailed heroines and five Central Keepers tell a story set within the M.R.S. computer network. Each of the heroines has their own reasons to reach the central core of M.R.S., but a fierce battle lies in wait with the Central Keepers on each layer of the network.And waiting in the deepest recesses of M.R.S. is...
Features:
- Three different ships with unique attacks: the balanced Must Viper, the close-range Blitz Lester, and the sniping Bronx Terror
- Damage enemies to charge your M.E.F.A2 gauge and unleash devastating special attacks
- Tactically use your Concept Reactor to turn harmful projectiles into prisms that you can shoot to increase your M.E.F.A2 gauge faster, then repeat the cycle with deadly efficiency
- Expertly designed enemies and bullet patterns challenge you but reward skillful and aggressive play
- Beautiful high-resolution character art
- High-octane electronica soundtrack that will quicken your pulse
Поддерживаемые языки: english, japanese
Системные требования
Windows
- OS *: Windows 7/8/8.1/10
- Processor: Pentium 4, 2GHz or later
- Memory: 1 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA Geforce 6600 or better
- DirectX: Version 8.0
- Storage: 200 MB available space
- OS *: Windows 7/8/8.1/10
- Processor: Core 2 or later (Core 2 Duo E8500 as a guide: 3.0GHz)
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 or better
- DirectX: Version 8.0
- Storage: 200 MB available space
Отзывы пользователей
Very stylish, the character designs are pretty, the soundtrack is mostly trance and techno and it fucking rocks. It's not as heavy on dodging as some bullet hell because you have a couple attacks that can destroy bullets. It works great on the Steam Deck so far, if you're going back and forth between PC and Deck just make sure to select the "Controller Layout Tool" at launch to set your resolution.
Great shmup!
Need to come back to this one. Fun gameplay, excellent presentation. The ship variety feels very good.
Every now and then when the stars of the universe are in perfect alignment, you'll discover a game, look at a couple of screenshots, and before you even buy it you'll nod to yourself and say "this is perfection." You might not even know why, but your heart will tell you that this is it. And after 150 hours, I am happy to report that my heart was right. This is perfection.
I've always considered "feeling one with your ship" (along with "player feedback") as the principal criteria of any shmup. If you're going to be investing dozens if not hundreds of hours into a shmup, not only do you need to feel in absolute control of your ship, you'll also need to feel some sort of connection with your character. And yet so many shmups get this wrong or even outright fail to consider it.
RefRain - prism memories - really wants you to connect with your character. While you'll only be introduced to one from the start, each character has their own unique desktop environment which you'll use to start your run, watch replays, and so on. I'm not sure I've ever played a game which so cleverly introduces its characters to the player as it allows the player to get to know each character much in the same way as how you're able to gain a little more insight into someone when using their PC by observing their desktop icons and wallpaper.
Even in-game you'll be seeing your character a lot. At the beginning of each run you're presented with a beautiful transition of your character diving into her virtual world with her ship, and your special weapons also trigger quick fading appearances of your character in and out and across your screen; something which I really truly wish more shmups did (Gunvein does this as well, but RefRain's implementation is more diverse, graceful, and refined). Not only does it give the game an awesome arcade feel, it really helps develop that player-character bond.
Even bosses are presented in similar fashion at the start or mid-battle when they unleash special attacks of their own, and this gives the game so much more character and soul as it elevates boss fights from you being up against some kind of soulless machine to feeling as if you're up against another person, and one with a purpose beyond merely existing.
RefRain's controls are also sublime. Apart from suffering from the classic doujin shmup problem of not being able to rebind your keyboard (thank goodness for AutoHotkey; my review for Danmakai addresses this issue as well), RefRain is ludicrously responsive, sharp, and tight. There's a certain immediacy you get from the game and not once did I have a "I totally did bomb in time" moment.
On tightness; RefRain's player hitbox is the tiniest of any shmup I've played, but don't think this will get you out of trouble because bullet patterns can likewise be extremely tight, and they will get you. Some players say RefRain is more "resource management" (of your special weapons) than dodging, and while somewhat true, being able to dodge well is still an invaluable trait that'll grant greater freedom in deciding when you can unleash your specials for maximum effect. This is where RefRain will become somewhat divisive though, because this game can at times be immensely obtuse. While the game does have a decent tutorial (and manual in the game directory); you'll still be left with a fair bit to figure out on your own especially on harder difficulties and routes.
RefRain has four basic difficulties (Easy, Normal, Advanced and Extreme) and two routes (Standard and Re:). The Re: route (which forces 1CC, introduces revenge bullets, increases boss health, and ultimately unveils the TLB) is unlocked after defeating the last boss for the first time. So because we effectively have seven difficulties in total (Easy, Normal, Re:Normal, and so on) RefRain should appeal to a broad range of player skill. That said, Re:Extreme is in a world of its own and the difficulty spike from Re:Advanced or Extreme to Re:Extreme is, well, "Re:ally" Extreme.
The aggressiveness of revenge bullets on the Re: route scale significantly with difficulty, and on Re:Extreme every single enemy type -- even popcorn enemies -- spam them with an unholy vengeance. Fun. I can't remember how many attempts it took me to 1CC Re:Extreme, but it took almost 148 hours of playtime to acquire the Re:Extreme 1CC No-Miss achievement.
Why "resource management" though? Because of how your weapons work in tandem with one another. Each character has two specials: the M.E.F.A2 (your traditional special, which can be charged up to six levels and unleashed up to four at a time), and the Concept Reactor (which converts enemy bullets into harmless prisms); and they work hand-in-hand in driving your offensive and defensive capabilities. Damaging enemies with your basic shot charges the M.E.F.A2, collecting coins from enemies charges the C.Reactor, using the C.Reactor accelerates M.E.F.A2 charging, and unleashing the M.E.F.A2 nets more coins.
It gets complicated, but that's the gist of it. On harder difficulties, or when playing for score, you'll be walking an extremely thin line on when is the best time to unleash your specials; because while RefRain does not have a chain counter, you'll want to build and maintain a natural chain of sorts such that you can keep your specials charged up through careful timing of their usage.
RefRain can be so tight with resources though that I've had entire runs fail just because I activated a higher level M.E.F.A2 by accident just once leaving me with less resources further down than optimally required. And this is a big part of what makes RefRain incredibly obtuse because you'll be spending a lot of time finding the best route for yourself and your route is going to be highly character and play-style dependent. Even with boss fights -- which make up a big portion of the game -- you'll want to be extremely specific with when you activate your specials because it's entirely possible to only partially cancel a bullet wave or pattern and then wonder why some pesky bullet managed to seemingly spawn out of nowhere -- or even behind you -- and kill you without any warning whatsoever.
You'll even occasionally be wondering why your M.E.F.A2 does more damage one time and less another (even at its maximum level), or why its stun is more effective on one occasion than another, even when you are seemingly doing everything exactly the same from one run to the next (hint: you're not); there's just a lot of micro details which matter a lot and are easy to overlook.
Where RefRain is at its absolute most obtuse though is with scoring and the leaderboards are evidence of this. As of the time of writing I'm only one of 15 people on the Steam leaderboards who have acquired the top scoring achievement for this game, and for good reason. RefRain has a lot of micro details crucial for scoring which are incredibly easy to miss.
That said though, I've never played a game which has managed to give me such consistent and immense satisfaction; and not just from my accomplishments, but also from how well RefRain communicates with the player and how its awesome music, visuals, mechanics, sound effects, and its technical performance come together with such grace, beauty and harmony.
The only criticism I have for RefRain is its lack of a practice mode. It's one thing for a game to be obtuse, but being forced to needlessly replay familiar segments of the game for the sake of practicing specific parts which escape your brain can be a test of patience. A "Retry Central" button does exist on the standard route, but this option is locked out from the last boss onward, and is outright unavailable on the Re: route. This is particularly annoying because Re:Extreme plays so differently that it's simply impossible to route Re:Extreme by playing on Extreme.
With all that said though: this is it. This is the peak. This is perfection.
Thank you so much.
<3
Very cool unique cyberpunk bullet hell. Definitely worth picking up for your collection. Amazing music and atmosphere
Blue like 2000s Pepsi!
Out of my attempts to develop the brain-worm for STGs this is one of the ones that managed to hook me despite how terrible I am. Funny to think I only came across this just going far down the "Shoot 'Em Up" tag and ended up with such a gem. Makes me wonder how many more great Japanese indie games I'm unaware of.
I very much look forward to C.C.S.B. when it finishes development and hope for an English translation.
Preddy cool counterattacking-type shmup. Can play as an attractive glasses OL.
Pretty great and unique game. Wonderfully nostalgic. I love this period of Japanese indies.
I just wish it had some better visual options and a stage select.
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Дополнительная информация
| Разработчик | RebRank |
| Платформы | Windows |
| Ограничение возраста | Нет |
| Дата релиза | 23.01.2025 |
| Отзывы пользователей | 97% положительных (63) |