Play through the tutorial for this vertically scrolling shooter and you’ll be duly informed how to move, shoot, and unleash a smart bomb. Then, mere seconds later, you’re abruptly thrown back to the main menu. This sets the tone for Nephenthesys perfectly, with this being an incredibly straightforward entry in the genre that has little in the way of nuance.
The only gimmick here, if you can call it that, is that there’s a choice of spacecraft, each with a unique shot formation and various smart bombs. The ship select screen notes their differences in text only, so you’ll need to try each to observe their formations firsthand, and more spacecraft can be unlocked periodically. Chances are, though, that you’ll end up alternating between just two – some have such slow rates of fire that it seems close to impossible to make steady progress.
Nephenthesys’ sci-fi storyline is set across five slow-paced stages, presented in widescreen, and each ends with a boss battle. There’s nothing in the way of checkpoints and just three continues are at your disposal, so if you die at a boss you’ll be placed back at the start of the stage. The continuous amount is so few that if you die during the first stage – a drab looking battlefield, with downbeat music – you may as well exit and start anew.
The difficulty level is one of the more noteworthy aspects as Nephenthesys presents a tough but fair challenge. It’s quite a methodical example of the genre, with enemies swarming the screen in Galaga-style waves, either firing slow homing shots indicated in pink, or blue shots on a fixed trajectory. Over time you’ll easily be able to predict patterns, and there’s nothing here too overwhelming. It also helps that the crafts are speedy enough to dart around incoming fire.
Take down a larger enemy, or enemies highlighted in yellow – which often appear at the end of a wave – and a power-up will appear. These haphazardly bounce around the screen for around ten seconds. When a lot of projectiles are in motion, nabbing one can be tough – which adds an extra layer of skill to manoeuvring. Some power-ups will replenish health, while others boost firepower. Only when health is full can a smart bomb be activated – an odd choice, considering most players will be accustomed to relying on smart bombs to escape death.
With all these old skool sensibilities in play – especially the fact that just three continues are granted – you may be surprised to learn that Nephenthesys features 3D visuals, both for backdrops and enemies. The majority of enemies have a spindly, skeletal, look, helping to induce personality, and the bosses are varied, ranging from supersized UFOs to mechanical octopi. Their health bars take a while to whittle down, and attack patterns are altered once the bar is halfway depleted, sometimes catching you off-guard.
To say anything more about Nephenthesys would be to merely reiterate anything already said. It’s a very textbook shooter, but the slow pace and reliance on learning enemy attack patterns make the difficulty level the right side of challenging. Unlike a lot of eastasiasoft’s shooters, with Easy Mode difficulty settings and generous amounts of continues, this one will take a while to beat too.
Workmanlike and not very exciting, this is just about worth the £5.49 asking price – but only just. Knuckle down and you’ll get your money’s worth, but even then, expect it to test your patience more than your shoot’em up mettle.
Let’s Dev Studio’s Nephenthesys is out Jan 17th on all formats. Published by eastasiasoft.