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Wednesday 1 September, 2004
Every time I play this game, I appreciate the creator's craft more and more. This, folks, is a work of art.
I've been running Extra. The boss of the stage, as I've previously mentioned, is ridiculously hard, but a lot of her attacks have a "trick" to them - this does not make it EASY to play, just POSSIBLE. I've already figured out how to consistently "break" the first one (of about 20... :P ), and have got to the point where I've seen 2 more of her attack patterns. Both of these are quite beautiful in a peculiar sense; it's not just the visual aesthetic but the way they move - almost like dancing - and the way the player needs to interact with them.
Another thing about it is that the difficulty is perfectly tuned - each second of the game is just perfect, to the point where it is challenging (to a greater or lesser degree) but always scrupulously fair. Whenever something out-of-the-ordinary (bullets changing direction, insta-hit lasers firing, etc) happens, you ALWAYS have advance warning.
Whilst PCB is still not available in the West (unless you go through a Japanese online-auction proxy), the sequel 'Imperishable Night' is up for preorder at shop.himeya.com, and I've already booked my copy...
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