Psyvariar Delta (Switch) Review

Every so often I like to try out a Bullet Hell game. Not a huge fan of the genre, but I do like ot break up my games with something different from time to time, and I do enjoy these. This particular game goes the route of not even having a story at all, not even so much of a synopsis of why you are shooting things on the back of the box. Honestly, that's okay, I've said before that if a game isn't going to put effort into a story, don't bother at all with one.

For those unaware, Bullet Hell games are where you are moving around on a screen while you are being assaulted by an incredible amount of projectiles to avoid. Some of you older gamers may remember those old airplane arcade games that were like this, though those are a bit simple compared to what the genre is on console or possibly even Japanese arcades. The goal is first to find out where your hitbox is, the part of you that takes damage when you are hit with a bullet. It's not really the entire sprite you control on-screen, so figuring that part out is a bit tricky.

What Pysvariar does that separates itself from other Bullet Hell games is you gain levels incredibly fast, and that is how your weapon upgrades. By narrowly dodging enemy fire, you trigger a 'buzz', which quickly builds up experience points. Each time you gain a level not only do you get a stronger weapon, you gain a small timer of invincibility to allow you to more actively cause more Buzzes, or to keep yourself safe from particularly hellish moments.

You can roll to reduce the size of your hitbox temporarily, and I discovered that by rapidly moving side to side, effectively staying in on spot with minor shifts to the side, you begin to spin and your fire becomes more concentrated, allowing you to do more damage quickly to a target directly ahead of you. This is quite a few small design ticks that make the game quite enjoyable.

The visuals are pretty straight forward and neat, but nothing to write home about. The music, however, kind of feels like something you would hear in an arcade. It's really quick and pumps you up as you go forward through the level. Again it's nothing special, but it does exactly what you want the music of a game like this to do. Overall it has a really solid aesthetic.

This is the point you would think I would recommend the game, as there is only a small amount to talk about but everything I have to say about it is positive. Even the controls handle very well, and I never felt like I was cheated out of victory by some unfair scenario. But here is the problem, the game is forty dollars. And there is very little content to be had here, you can experience pretty much every stage in a few hours.

There is only one reason to play this game, and that is you enjoy mastering it. You can't really lose, as the game gives you a seemingly endless supply of continues, at least I never ran out, so even if you lose all your ships you can proceed. The whole objective is to get a higher score than before, and nothing more.

That is fine, but even then I feel like the price point is a lot higher then it should be when compared to the content you actually receive, even if that one goal is enough to motivate you to play a game like this. So if you are a huge fan of Bullet Hells, and really want to try something a little different from the other games out there, you may be able to justify the purchase, though waiting for a sale may be the better option. For anyone else, there are cheaper games to try out to see if Bullet Hells are your thing or not.