Nandeyanen!? - The 1st Sûtra Reviews

I want to like this game but the controls aren't tight enough.

In a shmup, I take three things into account: theme, sound design, and art. Nandeyanen!? hs=as an interesting, well fleshed out theme, that theme being Japanese folklore, specifically, yokai. The art is... decent. The sprites, both of you and your enemies, are nice looking, but far from amazing. They do, however, complement the theme pretty well. The backgrounds are stunning, though. The only plae the game really falls behind is sound design. The music's great, but the sound effects kind of f-cking suck. There's no real audio feedback when yout hit an enemy other than a faint, unsatisying beep. It's not enough to ruin the game, but it doesn significntly lessen the experience. All in all, buy it if you like shmups because it's real cheap and worth your time for the most part.

For two dollars, Nandeyanen!? - The 1st Sutra is a steal. Don't let the idea that it has "only three stages" dissuade you from purchasing it. You'll get more entertainment from Nandeyanen's three stages than you would from games that are twice its length (and far more than twice its price). When it comes to gameplay, Nandeyanen!? nails it. Controls are tight and responsive, and everything necessary for dispatching foes is provided right from the start: standard bullet stream, companions to summon, a charge beam, and the ability to "counter" enemy shots. Among these skills, the "bullet counter" is especially notable for its orginality. Functioning much like a "parry" would in a fighting game--specifically Street Fighter III, for those old enough to remember--a successful counter deflects incoming fire. Managing to deflect a torrent of bullets feels pretty satisfying, and using the other skills efficiently is fun, but you'll have to play on "normal" or "hard" to appreciate the cleverness of Nandeyanen's mechanics. The easy difficulty setting oversimplifies countering bullets, making the game *too* easy. As for the game's visuals and music, Nandeyanen!? doesn't miss a beat. The game creatively draws upon Japanese mythology to produce a dream-like, immersive world. The stage backgrounds have a lovely hand-painted look to them, and the sprites populating the stages are vibrant, featuring a degree of animation uncommon in bullet hell shoot 'em ups. The game's soundtrack perfectly compliments its visuals, smoothly blending traditional Japanese instruments and vocals with contemporary beats. I haven't experienced such an effective adaptation of Japanese folklore and music in a game since Okami. As with that classic, some familiarity with Japanese culture may enhance appreciation of the game, but thorough knowledge of all things Japanese is not required for enjoyment. Anyone who enjoys beautiful art and music will more than likely be pleased by the game's unique aesthetic and mystic atmosphere. Tchagata Games really has made something special. Yes, it is a short game. But that's typical of the shoot 'em up genre. What's not typical is that Nandeyanen!? offers not only sound gameplay but also a well-imagined world that has all the appeal of a folktale. This is clearly a labor love by a small indie team invested in crafting a game worth playing and a tale worth telling. Buy it.

A unique hard-as-balls shmup style game with a brilliant soundtrack and some great visuals. Played it a lot when it was on Xbox Indie Games Live, was impressed by how good it was. Glad to see it make the break to PC!

A Parodius-style sh'mup by Swiss people with an amusing Kansai-ben inspired title. It's pretty fun and a bit peculiar, easily replayable; and at £1.59 you can't really go wrong can you?

Really great Shoot-them up/bullet-hell game. the graphics are clean and the art style is great, the bullet patterns are really great and hard yet not impossible to avoid which makes it more fun and accessible to everyone. the game has also an interesting mechanics like the ability to parry/counter the bullets coming your way, and some enemies have a shield which only breaks if you use your special attack on them then you can hit them with your regular bullets. the soundtrack is also great and suits the game very well. my only minor complaint is sometimes enemies come from the back of the screen without warning which makes them hard to avoid. overall highly recommended for sure. P.S. it would be awesome to have the option to make only your hitbox appears instead of the whole character.