Gundemonium Recollection is another game made by the Japanese one man game developer, Platine Dispositif. We reviewed another one of his games here recently in the very enjoyable Metroidvania styled Bunny Must Die, and I was more then happy to take a look into other games this man has put his sweat and tears into. Thanks to Rockin’ Android, Gundemonium Recollection has been brought to the states for American fans to experience the joy of hardcore Shoot-em-ups (also lovingly called SHMUPS in gamer speak). Available by itself on Steam, or as a part of a collection with all three games in the series on PSN and Steam, this game is a great deal and worth a look by anyone. I have decided to give each game in the collection its own review, since it is only fair to give the series a worthwhile look as I take on the ridiculous titles one at a time.

Gundemonium Recollection is the first game in the series, and just like the name (Gundemonium makes sense when you play it, recollection… not so much) it is a bit crazy. I remember playing a bunch of SHMUPS when I was younger and went to arcades in bowling alleys, or movie theaters, or malls, or back when there was such a thing as arcades and they mattered. I would drop coins in these games and pretty quickly watch a game over screen come up. They were always fun, but I just couldn’t afford such a short journey. These type of games are notoriously difficult, and having accompanying memories of wanting to destroy a controller after some time with the R Type series, I kind of had an idea what I was getting into when I got my hands on this game, I’ve played these before!

Wait a second, this isn't anything like R-Type

That is until about… 2 seconds into the actual game, then I had no idea what I was doing. Gundemonium Recollection is apparently one of many Japanese indie titles out there that follow this style, and it has become quite a big genre back in its native homeland. Here in the states, though, this type of experience is wholly unique; it is chaotic, it is insane, it doesn’t make a lick of sense, and it makes for one of the more enjoyable experiences I have had with an indie game. Apparently this game is a part of a newer type of SHMUP sub-genre called “Bullet Hell.” Doesn’t that sound pleasant?

As for a story, I’m not sure I have an opinion. There is one, I know that much, but I wasn’t given much time to really consider it, and I’m pretty confident no amount of writing will make me understand why a Victorian steam punk style female anime character is flying around with a bevy of large guns and bombs, and the ability to summon other such big lasers, or cannons, or large mini-guns, or a destructive rain of doom. All while battling against other cute anime girls with similarly bad-ass weapon summoning abilities, and flying pumpkins that shoot things and summon force fields? and bunny ghost things and sword missiles. I honestly don’t know what’s going on, and like I said, there can not possibly be an explanation for it, nor do I want one. It is not important, and that is what helps make it all such an experience.

The game is ridiculous and it is all kinds of fun. There is so much depth and detail put into the gameplay and the experience, that there is a lot of replay that comes out of the same six levels. With different set-ups on different difficulties in combination with the ever changing dynamics of the levels, there is a lot to play-through here. The controls are tight and responsive once you get a controller instead of the keyboard (I highly suggest downloading joytokey since the game sadly doesn’t support joystick integration natively on PC, and the keyboard is just not a good tool for such a precisely controlled game) and the amount of customization that can be done to the secondary character is rather impressive. Playing as the standard girl (as I did my first time through) is a bit of a hard mode in itself, but worth it.

See all of that on-screen. All of that can kill you. Bullet Hell indeed.

The game moves briskly and is unrelenting, I also made the mistake of playing in Regular difficulty my first time out and was quickly invited to start over many times. I highly suggest players take a look at the easiest difficulty first to get a hang of things. The mechanics are at first surprising, and without much explanation of what is going on, it can be difficult to understand all the options you have as a player, and that is a bit of a drawback. The interface is not particularly user friendly, and can take some toying around with to really get a hang of things. Such as, I didn’t know that by summoning your bomb attack (you are limited in number on how much you carry and can often re-stock with progression) when hit, you can save yourself from taking damage until I played on easy mode, and the game did it for you. I got the idea, switched over to regular mode, tried it, and saw that “hey, it wasn’t just a gimmick for easy mode!“Another thing that took a moment to get the hang of was where you took damage. Given the large anime sprites that you play as, their form takes up a large portion of the screen, but the only place you can take damage is from a small area on the chest of the sprite (a heart icon will pop up when hit or moving into a new zone to point that area out). This can be strange at first since you will be staring closely at that area to try and make sure it is not hit while the rest of the sprite phases through a ton of attacks unharmed.

Experimentation is key, and since the levels move along so briskly that it is possible to run through the entire game in about 30 minutes or less if you don’t die, it isn’t hard to think that the game might get boring quickly. That is not the case, with achievements (or trophies) to attain, and the fact that there is a cleverly implemented phase gauge meter that increases how much appears on screen the better you do (think Left 4 Dead’s director), the dynamics of each level can change each time you play. Plus the ballistic speed is addicting, wanting a higher score and gaining the different achievements while toying with the multiple combinations of weapons gives it a high replay value.

Then there is the remixed soundtrack by Rockin’ Android, this is a soundtrack that I absolutely loved. It is just as intense and epic as everything going on on-screen, and I can see myself listening to it when I’m not even playing the game. Which is a big deal, I don’t do that with game soundtracks, most of the time they are just there and I don’t pay much attention, but I caught myself many times thinking, “holy crap, this is freakin’ awesome.” I bow in appreciation to whomever was behind it, it seriously helps the experience and makes passing through the smallest of openings in a hail of bullets when you only got one life left that much more intense.

Now, as a fair warning. This is a Shoot-em-up in a sub genre called “bullet hell,” it is as hard as all of that sounds. It is likely playing on normal your first time out will lead to being brutally destroyed, the game only gives you three lives (you can bump it up to 5 in the menu) and you must get through multiple phases in order to get to the next level with those lives in-tact. If you die on a new stage, you can continue on that stage, making things a little less brutal than they could of been. Everything about this game on normal difficult and above is pure precision and timing your bombs (since they will wipe out incoming attacks and save you from taking damage), the amount of stuff going on, on screen can be easily overwhelming, but once you get the hang of it and get to a point of dodging through a wall of missiles, pellets, and other crap through the smallest of holes, you will feel like a king. Yet, if your ego gets ahead of its self, feel free to play on the hardest difficulty to set yourself straight. I’m pretty damn confident it is impossible.

Where is that girl on the right shooting all of that from!?

Final Call: I am not our typical indie game reviewer. I have grown up on the mainstream and only dabbled in the indie scene a bit based on suggestions, but I am very glad I was turned onto this game. I have looked at the indie scene fondly lately as it has been the place for originality and innovation, as well as the place to find games that fit old and forgotten genres that have no business being forgotten. The SHMUP is one of those genres, and Gundemonium Recollection (why is called a recollection if it is the first in the series? can someone tell me that?) is a great experience, while the menu and options aren’t really explained and not all that user friendly, once a player dives into the first few levels, I guarantee the “holy crap! What is going on’s” will suck them into a very fun experience.

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