Hey all!
This topic is an idea that has come to mind before, and now seems like a good time to get it out there, so I figured I'd post it.
I've enjoyed a lot of games over the years; racing games, shooters, various types of RPGs, interactive visual novels, strategy games, and others, of course. Naturally, everyone seems to gravitate toward a handful of genres, and typically will tout a few as their favorites. Two genres which I have not really been able to 'get myself into', however, are SHMUPS and fighting games. Back in the day I enjoyed Tekken games, and I certainly enjoyed the demo of Einhander as a kid, but as a young adult I've never really been able to 'get into' these two genres very much.
Normally, I might just avoid these genres, but it's very hard to review a genre you don't know how to appreciate/enjoy. So it made me think that creating this thread might be useful in the future, or at the very least provide a little bit of insight and some fun discussion.
So, the question is; how do you play/enjoy a SHMUP/Fighting game? It's not just a question of what makes one good or bad, but also a question of how these games are 'supposed' to be enjoyed (before we get to the argument, I'm well aware that many different people play/enjoy many different games in many different ways, but I do feel that each genre has it's own set of player expectations/attitudes which the makers of these games generally keep in mind.)
I do have some SHMUPS and a fighting game or two, but I guess I don't really know how to enjoy them. For example, I've already beat the main story of DeathSmiles; it only takes perhaps 20 minutes to do so. However, this is obviously a game that is meant to be replayed, keeping in mind things like score and deathcount. So I might, for example, as the question "what do I do next?" Is it all about getting a high score? Speed runs? Etc.? Are there goals that SHMUP players tend to go for when playing?
As another example, I have Persona Arena, and will probably get Skullgirls. But how do I get the most out of my experience? Learning movelists and mastering characters? Beating arcade mode at the highest difficulty? What do fans of the genre usually do?
I hope I've been clear enough, I realize that my words are probably a bit murky. ^^; I'd like to be a fan of and enjoy these two genres, but I'm not really sure what the typical way of doing so, is. I'd like to learn more about how people play these games, and how to get the most out of them.