What is Genuine Bullet Hell? Vampire Survivors | Enter the Gungeon | Rabi-Ribi | Review

Video Description

What is Genuine Bullet Hell? Vampire Survivors | Enter the Gungeon | Rabi-Ribi | Review. Be careful what you wish for Shmup players, because if you look on Steam right now, you'll see that the Bullet Hell genre is more active than ever ... EXCEPT all of the games on the top of the list using the Bullet Hell tag are not true to the core genre at all. This has been going on for a few years now, but in the wake of Vampire Survivor's massive success, this trend of using Bullet Hell as a marketing device for unrelated, often progression based genres, has become an outright goldrush. Trends in indie game design are extremely common, and everyone is always going to try to slot their game into the trending genre -- like Roguelike vs Roguelite -- but in the case of Bullet Hell, this trend is especially damaging because there is not a public understanding of what a genuine Bullet Hell game even is, where the subgenre comes from, and what dynamics of game design actually contribute to its beloved reputation. It seems that if you make a game and it has projectiles that vaguely resemble Touhou or CAVE, the game is now a valid member of the genre. Bullet Hell has become just an aesthetic for other more accessible genres to wear, rather than a core design philosophy. So the goal of today's video is to explain seven dynamics that I think synergize together to great a genuine Bullet Hell design (though the list isn't definitive by any means) and how many of these trending games, especially the "Bullet Heaven" genre, are not remotely connected to shmups and are often antithetical in terms of the focus of their design. The three subjects for today's review are: Vampire Survivors, Enter the Gungeon, and Rabi-Ribi. I selected Vampire Survivors because it is really causing a lot of confusion in terms of the genre's game design values, Enter the Gungeon because it's been at the top of every Bullet Hell list for years now, and Rabi-Ribi because my Patrons voted for me to look at it, because it is a metroidvania with more legit Bullet Hell design sensibilities. Awesome Thumbnail by the legend @boghogSTG Patreon https://www.patreon.com/electricunderground [$2 tier = Monthly Game Review Vote, Name in Credits, Exclusive Monthly Podcast] [$5 tier = Double Monthly Game Review Vote, By Name Shout-out, Name in Credits, Exclusive Monthly Podcast] Website: https://theelectricundergr.wixsite.com/the-electric-undergr Electric Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ElectricUnderground/ STG Revision 2020 Discord (Shmup Community Discord): https://discord.gg/snRueeH 00:00 The Irony of Bullet Hell Popularity 03:15 Bullet Hell is Becoming Just An Aesthetic 05:21 Bullet Hell Dynamic 1 - Bullets Create Level Design 06:27 Dynamic 2 - Bullets Are a Meaningful Threat 07:20 Dynamic 3 - Emphasis on Micro-Dodging 08:00 Dynamic 4 – Player Hitbox Disjoint (Small Box) 09:01 Dynamic 5 – Cluster Attacks, Dodge-able Gaps 10:00 Dynamic 6 – No Forced Hits or I-Frame Dodges 11:00 Dynamic 7 – Proximity Damage (Pointblanking) 12:22 Vampire Survivors Has No Bullets or Enemy Design 14:36 Survivors is a Progression System with a Game Attached 16:31 Skill-Based Design is “Friction” to be Removed 17:42 Gambling Game Design IS Modern Game Design 19:35 Survivors Deceptively Implies Skill-Based Bullet Hell Design 21:55 I Don’t Respect the Meta-Progression Hustle 24:10 The Purgatory of Meta-Progression 26:10 Skill = Score/Time, Save = Progression 28:00 Optimal Grinding is the Core Skill of Meta-Progression 29:11 Progressionhell Should be on the RPG Wiki, Not Shmup 29:50 Enter the Gungeon is a Cover Shooter, Clearly 31:18 Dodge-Roll is a Cover Shooter Mechanic 31:58 Macro-Dodging is the Gungeon Meta 32:48 Procedural Generation Undermines Bullet Hell Routing 34:50 Love the Speedrun Mode, But Needs Static Floor-plan 37:25 Gungeon is Cool, But It’s Not Bullet Hell at All 37:57 Potential Bullet Hell Metroidvania Synergy 41:49 GRINDING Undermines Bullet Hell Challenge 44:24 The Boss Fights are Legit Bullet Hell 45:00 Most Rabi Players are From Metroidvania 46:13 UNLOCK the Boss Rush Please 47:32 Rabi has Heart, But Not Focus 50:15 Rabi Earns the Bullet Hell Tag #vampiresurvivors, #bulletheaven, #brotato