Psyvariar 2 - Area 3 Hard

Psyvariar 2 - System

Buzz:
The action of a shot ("cartridge") passing through your mecha's Buzz Field.

The Buzz Field is the highlighted circular area surrounding the player character, this field represents the area of effect of the Buzz System. The player's destructable hitbox is only a few pixels dead centre of the Buzz Field Each time a shot or object passes through the Buzz Field it counts as 1 Buzz. The key to Psyvariar is to learn how to interact with enemy shots and surf them rather than evading - you have to un-learn a lot from playing past games. Buzzing shots increases the Neutrino gauge explained next:

Neutrino:
Buzzing enemy shots will fill the Neutrino Gauge, each time the gauge completely fills a short shield will activate and the player character will gain 1 level. Each time a shield activates, the Neutrino Gauge will reset to a value of 0. However it is possible to refill the Neutrino Gauge and activate another shield, while your current shield is still active - this is a Shield Chain. The rate the Neutrino Gauge fills is determined by the gauge's colour; Red is least active while Blue is most active. Buzzing shots while the Neutrino Gauge is closer to Blue will rapidly fill the gauge and allow for Shield Chains in quick succession - enabling the player to dive into the heart of enemy attacks in safety. A Red Neutrino Gauge will fill very slowly, during this period the player must carefully adjust the Neutrino Gauge position in order to trigger a shield at the precise moment an enemy attack commences.

Rolling: (2 types)
A Buzz normally occurs the instant an object 'leaves' your Buzz Field. With Rolling activated, the action of an object entering OR leaving the Buzz Field will count as a Buzz - this effectively doubles the Buzz rate. Rolling is triggered by rapidly opposing movements on the stick; up/down, left/right or any of the diagonals. There are 2 types of Rolling movement available;

* Soft Rolling: This is when you trigger the rolling action quickly then hold the stick in any direction, the rolling will only stop if the stick is returned to neutral. This Rolling method is useful against the screen egde, holding the stick in one position against the edge of the screen will allow the player to spin on the spot.

* Hard Rolling: is an art and something you REALLY need to get to grips with to get good at Psyvariar. With Hard Rolling, you keep the opposing joystick movements going while moving. This jittery moth-like movement greatly increases your speed and rate of Buzz.

Bodily crush:
The most accurate and effective weapon against the enemy is the player mecha itself, ramming into an enemy while a shield is active will deal very heavy damage. As the aim of Psyvariar is to maximise Buzz, the trick is to only destroy enemies once you have Buzzed as much out of their attacks as possible.

Point Blank Buzz:
This is a major gameplay change over Psyvariar Revision - now you get a massive Neutrino boost if you Buzz an attack at point blank. The first good place to do it is during the stage 0 boss against it's red orb attack. During Green or Blue Neutrino phases, position the character directly in-front of the boss, activate Hard Rolling as the orb attack commences and you will activate multiple shields in quick succession to pass through the attack safely. The rule of point blank is that if done right you get a shield as soon as the shots contact your field so you are in no risk or death.

Cartridge Break:
Contacting an enemy shot with your character's hitbox during a shield activation will destroy the shot.

Stage Difficulty Gates:
Area 1, Area 2 and Area 3 are split into 3 difficulties. The better you do through the earlier Area the more Buzz will be made available for you in the next, after a couple day's worth of play Easy and Normal become distant memories:

-------------NOR----HARD
AREA-1 ↑LV24 ↑LV35
AREA-2 ↑LV48 ↑LV64
AREA-3 ↑LV88 ↑LV120

Transformations - your ship will evolve at these levels:

LV28 ↑LV118 ↑LV288 ↑LV348

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• サイヴァリア
• Psyvariar
• PS2
• DC
• Dreamcast
• Gameplay
• Game
• Play
• SHMUP

[Saur]

@wmotamedi Yes I LOVE PN03! The concept is fantastic, I loved every minute of it! Same with Bayonetta, I cannot sing that game's praises loudly enough, but it doesn't get even a fraction of the recogition it deserves. I'd love to start playing PN03 again actually, I better get my act together and dig my Gamecube out again. Working on the official guide for Bayonetta kind of ruined it for me, I still haven't played the retail version despite buying it :( - I will though, it's sheer genius.

[wmotamedi]

@Saur Have you played P.N.03 for Gamecube? That game should be right up your alley. Odama is also worth looking into, but the ball/paddle physics are terrible for accomplishing the goals you need them for. It's not impossible to beat the game, but the controls are hardly intuitive (We're talking 300 times more infuriating than Gunvalkyrie's controls...and at least those can be learned). Anyone else I know would have given up at the third stage, but I played through to the end, flaws and all.

[wmotamedi]

@Saur Dude, that is totally how I feel about Bayonetta. Most games I get sick of and never return to after beating them 100%, but that game is way too immersive/addictive. It puts even Devil May Cry to shame.

I've only made it to the 5th stage boss and died, but in that battle I could tell that with practice, the patterns are very manageable. It only looks hopeless, but staying in between those pink bullet lines until your shield activates/ repeat should get the job done. 4th boss was a bitch.

[Saur]

@wmotamedi I'll always love this game, it never gets old for me. I've recently been playing Psyvariar Revision after many years and trying to get some degree of skill back. How are you faring against the Psyvariar 2 final boss on Stage 6?

[Saur]

@wmotamedi Yes the auto-roll is only on the PS2 version, I forgot about that. I have not noticed the graphical changes, it's not something I pay attention to - but if you want to discuss strategy feel free.

[wmotamedi]

@Saur I've also noticed that there are subtle differences in the 2nd and 3rd boss' bullet patterns. The first boss was not changed at all, though.

Anyways, I just beat the fourth stage boss for the first time and made it to the fifth stage boss easily (the stages themselves are not very challenging and quite short for a somewhat recent danmaku shooter, save the third stage if you don't know what you're doing) and it was effing exhilarating. I love the fourth and fifth stage boss music!

[wmotamedi]

@Saur Yeah, you're totally right. I was ignoring the mechanics of the colored orbs.

As for differences between the versions, it looks like the Ultimate Final version is the graphical facelift for the DC port. In the PS2 version, I've noticed that the mecca has a more polished, even shiny-metallic look about it. Play them side-by-side to see what I mean. Moreover, I'm almost 100% certain that the auto-roll button is only featured in the PS2 version (I can't speak for the Xbox one at all.)

[Saur]

@Saur PS; Ultimate Final plays identically to the Dreamcast/arcade original, nothing within the game has been altered in any way. The optional differences are;

1. Boss energy gauge - this makes it a lot easier to maximise Buzzing the origin of patterns.

2. Mission Mode - breaks down individual sections to aid training.

3. Stage Select - aids training.

[Saur]

@wmotamedi At 00:24 you will notice that an 'orange orb' enters the screen, this shifts the Neutrino towards 'red', I destroy this immediately. Then at 00.25 a 'blue orb' enters the screen, which I ensure I do not destroy, this shifts the Neutrino towards 'blue'. Then continuing through the section I immediately destroy 'orange orbs' while leaving 'blue orbs' alone. These banks of orbs appear in Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 - ensure you use them to shift the Neutrino towards blue.

[Saur]

@wmotamedi This is Ultimate Final. Are you using the orbs correctly?