The cool feature in Caladrius is weapon variety; the game lets you choose between several characters, and each one has four unique weapons. In addition to your standard shot (which has a unique spread for each character), they each get three elemental weapons. Most of these are offensive, however some have defensive properties as well to absorb or deflect enemy bullets. These each have their own power gauge that depletes as you use them.
Elemental shots recharge when not in use, or collect certain items to give them a boost. Also available are bombs, which clear the screen of bullets and do good damage to all on-screen enemies, and a "burst" attack that uses all of your elemental powers in a grand display of fireworks.
Each of these attacks gets a separate button, although you can also activate a burst attack by pushing multiple elemental buttons at the same time. Take care not to accidentally trigger bursts this way if you want to conserve energy.
The scoring system is easy to understand: defeat enemies with any of your elemental shots to raise a multiplier, and avoid getting hit which resets it. This is held in check by your limited use of elemental shots. Elemental shots typically won't recharge fast enough to keep using them non-stop unless you're doing a good job of finding all the recharge items in the stage. In a pinch, you can weaken large enemies with standard shot and the finish them off with an elemental shot for the same benefit. Also adding to your score are point items released by enemies, which add to an end-of-stage bonus, and raise a meter that awards powerups between stages.
Also hidden in the stages are small purple crystals which award an extra life once you collect enough, and towers that award bonus points (Moss shows their heritage here as they are very similar looking to Raiden DX).
Boss fights are huge and very cool, with multiple hit locations you can damage and destroy independently. Certain attack points will release a hidden item, so experimentation here is useful. Destroying the boss quickly results in a "cutin break" which gives extra point items and some alternate boss graphics. Interestingly enough, enemies can do this to you as well if you die while holding several point items.
As you finish the game with each character, you unlock their elemental shots for customization. This is where the game gets even more awesome! When starting a game, after you select a character you are given a choice to take their default weapons or to customize. You can mix and match any weapons from any character you've finished the game with. You can go all-out with powerful offensive weapons, go defensively with a bunch of anti-bullet shields, or any combination in between. There's a lot to try out an experiment with here. Also note there are two DLC characters, if you want to splurge a bit and increase your weapon variety further.
The difficulty selections offer a good variety of easy and hard modes. On normal or higher, don't expect to pass boss fights unhurt the first time you see them. The very easy setting, on the other hand, lives up to its name and makes most enemy bullets destructible. Caladrius has an extra stage if you can finish the game without using any continues, so practicing the game is definitely worth it.
Caladrius is a very fun game that's fully customizable, with lots of bonus content and artwork to unlock as you play it more. If you have the ability to play Japanese games on your 360 and are interested in shmups, this is a great buy.
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I'm a lifelong (34 years) shmup fan, so I thought it would be appropriate for me to write a review on Caladrius seeing as nobody else has yet. First off, the game is region locked to Japan/Asian XBOX 360's, make sure you have one or you won't be able to enjoy the game.Now, for the game itself. What a terrific little surprise this was. The game plays like a cross between the developers other shooter Raiden IV and (in my opinion) the excellent Radiant Silvergun. Instead of just a shot/bomb system, you also have three unique elemental shot types for each character, essentially making this a six button shooter (rare these days). Score multipliers depend on the use of these elemental shots so it's important to manage each effectively (they run out/auto replenish once they drop to zero). Chaining shots together while keeping an eye on your resources is part of the excellent gameplay challenges you can experience if you are a more hardcore shooter fan. The boss battles are lengthy and feature some of the best visual designs I've seen in a long time. Bullet patterns change and sweep across the screen and require you to use your elemental attacks in creative ways to protect yourself. The music is beautiful (sort of upbeat/classical/goth) and the graphics are superb. Lots of color and unique environments. For less hardcore players, the game features a cute storyline and easier difficulty modes if you aren't concerned with scoring and just want to play to see the "end".
Also worth noting is a separate DLC music pack featuring a total redo of the game's music (even menus) in an old school 8-bit soundtrack. It's AWESOME. a little pricey but definitely fun for people looking to customize a bit.
Moss created a great little surprise here, Caladrius definitely flew under my radar but I'm very glad I picked it up. My only complaints about the game are that you can't switch to a vertical orientation for vertical monitors (like you can with most 360 shmups ala Dodonpachi/Mushihimesama). But it's a minor gripe.
If you are interested in the shmup genre or are a hardcore fan, this is a great title. (I bought mine new on EBay for far less than Amazon is charging...look around before you plop down the cash).
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