ESPER//EXILE
Z: Primary Fire, X: Reflect bullets (hold)
There is an "extra lives" option in the pause menu!
/// What future do you believe in? ///
ESPER//EXILE is a full-length vertical scrolling shmup for the Pico-8 fantasy console inspired by my love for Solar Striker and ESP Ra.De!
It features:
- 5 stages with unique art and bosses!
- a sincere story about a hunted psychic who has abandoned the earth!
- a HEAT system where your shots power up the more you graze by enemy bullets!
Purchasing the game gets you the game's binaries to run them locally on your machine, and is primarily a way to show your support for me! The full game is playable in the browser.
You can also support me on Patreon!
Enjoy! 💖👽
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $1.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Comments
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cute!!!! score was 5899. the tech here is crazy, I've done enough to pico 8 to know you worked some magic here. awesome work.
Had a fun time with this shmup. I like the emphasis on grazing, which I rarely see being encouraged so much in a survival clear. final boss was a lot of fun.
Some small thoughts;
-was a little confused by the hud, which makes it look like there are two separate values because of the >100% gauge.
-hard time figuring out what does good damage (is it worth it to burn my heat and absorb bullets? most of the time it felt like a waste to do it offensively). I also originally assumed the 100-125% range bullets were weaker (the red ones) to encourage players not to hoard heat, but I never really figured it out.
-Stage 4 boss was completely trivial... a secondary pattern on top of the waves would be fun. then again, i suppose he's supposed to be a miserable lad.
Probably one of the top pico-8 shmups or even pico-8 arcade games in general. Thanks for making it!
thanks for playing! that's some great and useful feedback. since I might make an additional update, would you mind me asking further about some of your points?
- can you explain what you mean more by the hud? is it that the dark red bar had a confusing purpose?
- that confusion makes a lot of sense! maybe I should add some feedback or additional instruction. between adding an explanation somewhere in the game or visual feedback, do you feel like you have a preference? (also: the red shots are indeed weaker and score less! though not by a lot- I didn't want it to be too punishing)
- i'm glad the narrative side of that boss came through at least! maybe it wouldn't harm the narrative too much to make it a bit cooler :) I was a bit conflicted on it myself!
I'm really glad you enjoyed the game, and thank you for the excellent praise!
for the first point: I kinda misread it even by the end it seems; the 100-125% part of the heat gauge is darker and it looks like a second gauge. it's hardly a major issue but I kept wondering how I could fill it up. I guess having that bg color for the 0-100% range and an even deeper one for the 100-125% range would help make it read like a single gauge?
for the second: I suppose either would be fine to be honest! a dinky-er sfx or something.
banger game!! i like the risk/reward and light resource management of the heat system. Grazing to up your attack power at the potential expense of shot accuracy past a certain threshold, but striking the balance feels pretty intuitive and unobtrusive. i like the brief story bits that reinforce the story told by the gameplay. will continue working at getting my score up in this one
Still working my way through a clear, but this is really cool! Your influences are super recognizable in a nice way (the Solar Striker-ness of it all makes me very happy :3). I like how the stages set you up (and, in a way, require you) to really learn/use the heat and reflect mechanics. Two relatively small twists to a familiar shmup setup with more depth than one might assume.
I haven't made it past stage 3 yet, but I've gotten farther with each attempt. Latest attempt had me die just before the stage 3 boss (that final stretch is scary!!!). My strategy so far has been to chase the 1up as efficiently as possible at every opportunity, even if it means making some encounters last a bit longer. Can't always stick to it when things get dense, but it's nice going into stage 3 with 2 lives in the bank. Now if only I could stop taking a death on stage 2...
I'm still figuring out the reflect mechanic. Most of the time I use it, I either miss and get punished with heat drain, and/or I get a face full of bullets as soon as it releases. I think I'm subconsciously moving up while I charge the reflect, which may be putting me in a bad position. I suspect there are some subtleties to how the mechanic works that I should figure out though... hmmm...
Lovely work, friend! Looking forward to working through the rest of this! Great job with the music btw!!!