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To start off, this is a one shot review out of boredom, I've got no idea how this is going to turn out although if it generates moderate interest I may start reviewing games by independent developers on a semi-regular basis.
Hitogata Happa
Developer: Platine Dispositif
Console: PC
Price: $23.99 on import
Players: 1
Genre: 2D shooter
In Hitogata Happa you play as a girl named Rosa, who before the game starts has her family murdered by a mighty empire who control the world using machines. Being a young girl with no fighting expertise she has no way of fighting back until one day she happens to find a mysterious "doll" which looks like a young girl. Near by is a another girl named Kreutzer who asks Rosa to control the doll to fight the empire with her, wanting revenge Rosa accepts her offer and that's as 'bout as much back story as you get.
When the game starts off, it pretty much looks like your average vertical shooter, although with some rather charming graphics and an anime girl replacing what would usually be a ship of some sorts. What makes this game stand out compared to other games in the genre however is the Mana and Flow bars, which each have their own functions. Mana is used for activating your current doll's special ability, these abilities range from slowing time to firing barrages at whatever happens to be in front of you. However during the first stage you only have the one doll named Leaf who's ability is slowing time. As for the enemies, as mentioned in the summery of the back story they're all machines, In the first stage they take the form of flying ships although in later stages there's tanks, turrets, floating ships and the like, pretty much like what you'd expect from this kind of game.
When killed, enemies drop green gem like objects, I'll go into more detail about what they're used for later on although it's pretty much essential to collect as many as possible. The machines you fight also have a faint circle around them, known as the zone of control. While risky at times, getting into the zone of control can be pretty helpful as any enemy bullets that enter them will be slowed down, killing anything while in the circle will also give additional green gems so there's a lot of incentive to try and use them as much as possible. This also applies during boss battles, or some of them anyway.
Boss battles themselves have a completely different play style from almost any other shooter. While you can still shoot at the bosses to wear down their hit points the best way of hurting them involves getting up close and personal. Remember earlier in the review I mentioned there were two bars to fill up? While the Flow bar can be used outside of boss battles, it's during these fights the bar as at it's most useful. To fill it up, all you need to do is simply shoot your regular attacks at enemies. When full it allows you to preform a kamikaze attack, driving your doll headfirst into what ever is in your way, causing you to lose one of your doll stocks but also dealing great damage. Bosses however won't just sit by and let you drive in to them and have a variety of screen filling attacks making it quite difficult to get in close to deal the needed damage. To make matters worse, these fights are on a timer, if you don't finish them in time the boss will go berserk, flinging bullets, missiles and whatever it has available your way, making it almost impossible to win so it's in the player's best interest to finish off bosses as quickly as possible.
After each stage is finished, you get to use the gems to purchase different dolls which act as lives, although you're free to toggle between which one to use next during game play. As well as having their own special abilities they also have a nice selection of regular attacks, including but not limited to the standard straight firing bullets, constant laser streams, missiles, charged shots and there's even one doll with a melee option. Their stats also vary with some having faster movement speed than others while some have higher focus damage so it all comes down to your preference and play style and even some strategy while deciding what doll to use for which situation which gives the game a little replay value due to the different options.
Besides the main game, there's also a few other game play modes including the self explanatory score attack mode and the slightly more vague Solo Voyage and Destiny 13 modes. During Solo Voyage, you pick one doll to play through the entire game as and collect gems to gain extra lives similar to most traditional shooters. Destiny 13 on the other hand gives you one of each doll from the get go without the ability to buy more or gain extra lives, making for a tough challenge with a lot of choices to be made in terms of what doll to use for which situation and when to sacrifice one.
The music on the other hand is not much to write home about although that's not to say it's bad just slightly average for the genre. Especially if compared to some of Platine Dispositif's other games "Bunny must Die" and "Engage to Jaberwok" they actually sound a little too similar at times although they're just catchy enough to get away with it, only just though.
Verdict:
Over all, Hitogata Happa is a pretty solid game and fans of 2D shooters and bullet hell games will eat it up. The difficulty and language barrier might put off some although with the variety of difficulty modes and the availability of translations online it's well worth a look for anyone who's interested as it's easy to pick up and play with a fair amount of replay value. That said though there are better shooters on the market so it's not entirely the perfect choice for people looking to get into the genre.
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Graphics: 6.5/10
Sound: 6/10
Play time: 7.5/10
Overall score:7/10
[Review] Hitogata Happa -
09-07-2009, 08:58 AM
Linear Mode
