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[Oemenia]

I recently got round to play Nex Machina and it was simply amazing, I didn't appreciate just what made it so special at first but after multiple goes I good enough with to finish with 2 continues. The best aspect of it was that I saw myself improving every time I played it which meant that not only getting passed a bit that I was stuck on very satisfying, but it meant that I could do earlier parts of the game even better than before.

Most importantly it gave me an appreciation for Arcade games and their philosophy. In fact I see myself playing retro games even more now and I play them differently too knowing their arcade routes.

So fans of SHMUPs (and other Arcade style games), just what do you think of the game? Is it too easy, too modern, or only really good for the newbies like me?

 

[Catphish]

It's pretty good, but ultimately failed to keep my interest. I probably only played a total of a couple hours.

 

[Dazrael]

It’s probably the best game Housemarque have done in my opinion. Resogun is also great but relies too much on micromanagement, that game is stressful as all hell to play for score.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

It's really good, and if I invested more time it might dethrone Super Stardust HD as my favorite Housemarque title. The fast pace, the secrets, the multiple avenues for scoring, the music, etc. all mesh really well.

 

[Acidizer]

Didn't like it as much as Resogun for whatever reason.

Platinum trophy feels so far out of reach that I didn't even attempt it, so where as I plugged away on Resogun for weeks until I got the platinum, and had an absolute BLAST in the process, Nex was done after I completed it once. Getting knocked back down to no power ups when you die was a killer, it felt unduly unfair, so I just avoided the frustration.

It plays great, but I enjoyed Alienation and Resogun way better.

I think they fucked themselves with the hipster-hard difficulty barrier. Most of us, these days especially, have been conditioned to easier gameplay without punishment mechanics. Dying once and the difficulty shooting up due to losing your weapons is bullshit.

They could have balanced it much better. They complain no-one is buying their games, but it was a self inflicted injury.

 

[deriks]

It's ok for newbies. It's not easy, but not that hard.

But I'm not a fan of top down shooter, so I could pick any Metal Slug than that

 

[marcincz]

It’s probably the best game Housemarque have done in my opinion. Resogun is also great but relies too much on micromanagement, that game is stressful as all hell to play for score.

Agree. The best game in Housemarque library.
Played and beat a few months ago. It was a pleasure. Their #1 for me.

 

[Deleted member 471617]

Great 8.5/10 and another amazing twin stick shooter from Housemarque. Still have Alienation (also 8.5/10 on my scale) and Ruiner (also 8.5/10) ranked ahead of Nex Machina.

 

[KàIRóS]

I skipped it, would you guys say it's better than Resogun? I don't tend to like Twin Stick Shooters.

 

[kikonawa]

i was hooked for months

 

[Oemenia]

It's really good, and if I invested more time it might dethrone Super Stardust HD as my favorite Housemarque title. The fast pace, the secrets, the multiple avenues for scoring, the music, etc. all mesh really well.

I was hoping you would reply.

How does it compare to the Japanese SHMUPs in terms of difficulty.

 

[Acidizer]

i was hooked for months

How far did you get?

Some of the trophies look impossible, but I think this is the kind of game where you eventually master it sooner or later with enough play.

 

[nowhat]

I think it's a love letter to a particular type of twin-stick arcade shooters - the graphics (gotta love those voxel explosions), music, controls all play into this.

Whether that is your thing is entirely subjective. Personally, I think it's a damned good game, and if Housemarque is really going to go for a BR game on Unreal next, there's something wrong with the world. The studio may work on a niche, but they handle that niche like no other.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I was hoping you would reply.

How does it compare to the Japanese SHMUPs in terms of difficulty.

It's still really hard in comparison. I can only get to the third stage (but not beat it) on one credit.

One might argue that Japanese shmups were the ones attempting to imitate Western difficulty. I think Nex Machina should be held up to both the Japanese and the Western arcade standard, since it draws from both sources for inspiration.

 

[Hudo]

I skipped it, would you guys say it's better than Resogun? I don't tend to like Twin Stick Shooters.

Well, if you don't like Twin Stick Shooters, then I wouldn't say it's better than Resogun. However, if you like Twin Stick Shooters (like me), then Nex Machina is easily the best game Housemarque have done so far. It is very good. However, at certain times, there's a bit too much going on on screen. Doesn't happen too often but there were situations were I was disoriented for a bit. But that's actually what makes a Twin Stick Shooter good (for me), haha.

However, I would still say that Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions is the best overall Twin Stick Shooter I have ever played.

 

[KàIRóS]

Well, if you don't like Twin Stick Shooters, then I wouldn't say it's better than Resogun. However, if you like Twin Stick Shooters (like me), then Nex Machina is easily the best game Housemarque have done so far. It is very good. However, at certain times, there's a bit too much going on on screen. Doesn't happen too often but there were situations were I was disoriented for a bit. But that's actually what makes a Twin Stick Shooter good (for me), haha.

However, I would still say that Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions is the best overall Twin Stick Shooter I have ever played.

Hmm I guess I'll have to try it, it's been awhile since I played a twin stick shooter anyway.

 

[Oemenia]

It's still really hard in comparison. I can only get to the third stage (but not beat it) on one credit.

One might argue that Japanese shmups were the ones attempting to imitate Western difficulty. I think Nex Machina should be held up to both the Japanese and the Western arcade standard, since it draws from both sources for inspiration.

Interesting, I did find the game very forgiving though. Enough so that if you are playing crap you won't get anywhere even with infinite lives, but at the same time it gives you chance to replay a section of the game to get it just right.

 

[Bubba77]

reading about this just makes me want to play resogun again. Nex was good, but resogun is still my favorite ps4 game! Love it soooo much

 

[grainflavour]

Nex is great fun. Sublime graphics and with solid input from Eugene Jarvis, the arcade legend. In fact it should have made it into the arcades - would have been a blast.

 

[kikonawa]

How far did you get?

Some of the trophies look impossible, but I think this is the kind of game where you eventually master it sooner or later with enough play.

finished on multiple difficulties, but on hard .. its very hard . if you check replay of complete playtrough of the top5 players....its kinda crazy how they do it

 

[JSoup]

I bought it just for the OST and got a great game as well. Good deal.

 

[Holammer]

Only played it for three hours. It's not a bad game, but the overly stylized graphics bored me.

 

[dirthead]

I feel really bad about Nex Machina because logically it does almost everything right and yet emotionally I just have no desire to play or recommend it. Maybe it's the forgettable and bland graphics like Holammer said.

 

[Grinchy]

It's extremely good, but the gameplay mechanics you're supposed to figure out on your own take a long time to figure out on your own. I imagine the vast majority of people who tried the game don't even know about the human rescue chain multiplier.

I got to a point where I could score very well on the first couple levels and just didn't have the drive to get to the point where I could beat the whole game without dying.