\u2022 Bodacious Bullet Hell Bosses:<\/strong> What helps Rabi-Ribi<\/em> to differentiate from the myriad other Metroidvania action-platformers are its bullet hell shmup influences, especially when it comes to the boss showdowns. When you reach a boss encounter, the level locks down to a single screen–somewhat similar to a classic Mega Man<\/em> game–where your opponent leaps around and unleashes various attacks that spray the screen with lasers and magic projectiles in chaotic patterns to quickly memorize and avoid. There’s an interesting cat-and-mouse dynamic to attacking, leaping and sliding to dodge the bullet hell onslaught until there’s an opening or the boss takes a momentary breather, and then moving in to strike again. The bosses aren’t the only ones doing the shooting either. A short way into the game, Erina gains the companionship of a magic fairy named Ribbon, who flies around by Erina’s side and offers a dedicated projectile attack to complement the Piko Hammer. You can tap the shoot button to fire standard projectiles or hold the button down for a charge shot, while different magic types are discovered along the way to offer alternate attacks, from laser beams to healing particles. Attacks also add to the Boost meter, and once the meter is above at least 50% special Boost Attacks unique to each magic type can be unleashed.<\/p>\n

\u2022 A Touch of Fan Service:<\/strong> For a game about cute anime girls with bunny ears and other animal likenesses, it’s only appropriate that a little fan service is in order. I haven’t seen anything yet that would stir up controversy as games with Japanese sensibilities like this tend to do, just scantily clad young ladies frolicking around or, say, falling headfirst into a chest pillow of over-inflated breasts (see screenshot above). The in-game graphics are pixel art sprites mixed with dialogue boxes and character portraits, though on occasion full-screen still artwork is used solely as a fan service delivery vehicle. It brings a visual novel sensibility to the storytelling more than anything.<\/ol>\n

Parting Thoughts:<\/strong><\/font> Rabi-Ribi<\/em> ticks all of the main boxes one has come to expect in a good Metroidvania, while the bullet hell and fan service elements add a unique flair that will mostly appeal to the anime crowd. Although I’m only a few hours in, I can tell that the game has a ton of content. By the numbers, I’m only a quarter of the way through. Achievements are a whole other ball of wax–I’m currently sitting on just 13 out of the game’s 112 total achievements. Additionally, there are four primary difficulty settings to cater to all skill levels (plus two more to unlock), unlockable boss rush and speedrun modes, as well as a gallery of the fan service artworks. All told, hardcore Metroidvania fans are probably looking at a couple dozen hours of gameplay to do everything the game has to offer. This is exactly the type of game that tickles my completionist impulses, and if my backlog wasn’t so packed I’d be playing religiously toward 100% completion. My only complaint so far is with the story, which becomes bogged down at times by a lot of overbearing dialogue that just isn’t that funny or interesting. Thankfully, this isn’t the type of game that needs a captivating narrative to succeed. There’s more than enough frenzied fun to extract from the gameplay to carry the day. I’ll be playing with these bullet hell bunnies for a long time to come.<\/p>\n