Just how tough is the Gal*Gun Platinum?

[AihaLoveleaf]

This post is for Gal*Gun (2012, PS3) and is not to be confused with Gal*Gun 2 or Gal*Gun Double Peace

 

So, Gal*Gun is a series I've been meaning to get started on for a long time now. I need another sticker for my Culture Card, if I want to maintain my membership at the Gentleman's Club. 

 

As always, I do my research before starting a game, including having a look at PST's Platinum Difficulty Rating thread. Votes sit between 4 and 7. Ignoring the 10 vote as it was obviously cast by a troll. Additionally, time estimates for the game sit between 25 and 50 hours, which feels about right for this type of game.

 

Japanese games like this tend not to get as much talk, despite the language barrier not being as much of an issue compared to other games.

 

As of the time of writing this post, Gal*Gun is sitting at 6.69% Platinum rarity with 224 completions. If any of the 224 (or anybody who has given the game a fair effort) are reading this: what are we in for with Gal*Gun? Looking over the trophy guide, the most intense part of the game seems to be Arcade Mode (more damage taken, less health regeneration, less damage output). I do feel like I can finish the game once I start it, but it would be nice to know if the game spikes in difficulty ahead of time, rather than being surprised by it once I've already taken the plunge.

 

Thanks for reading.

[CelestialRequiem]

Pretty difficult since you have to play one-handed. 

[Deadly_Ha_Ha]

1 minute ago, CelestialRequiem said:

Pretty difficult since you have to play one-handed. 

What do you mean : )

 

If someone doesn't only have one hand to begin with, what could possibly make them play with only one hand while playing a game such as Gal Gun?

[Honor_Hand]

Really want to give this series a go sometime soon and, since I own this very first entry on the PS3 as well, I was looking forward to hearing some inputs on here too.  I haven't really had that much experience with rail shooters in general, but the trophy guide on PST makes it seem as if this one is considerably hard. Maybe not House of the Dead or Time Crisis hard but it's kinda up there too, and given that this entry is only in Japanese, well, it'd be great to have some more info about it.

 

And aye, we all know the game is hard to play when playing one-handed. That's the entire point of it, no? 83

[mecharobot]

At least the Switch version is a bit tougher than Double Peace even just getting true ends. Everything is faster in the game with stricter choice requirements. I think it was compatible with move controller on ps3, but dunno if it would be easier or harder.

 

edit: also while the plat might be appealing, I think this GalGun 1 was the weakest game of the three. I'd heavily recommend Double Peace on ps4 (switch has weird aim sensitivity issues with the games) over it any day of the week

Edited May 20, 2022 by mecharobot

[AihaLoveleaf]

9 hours ago, mecharobot said:

At least the Switch version is a bit tougher than Double Peace even just getting true ends. Everything is faster in the game with stricter choice requirements. I think it was compatible with move controller on ps3, but dunno if it would be easier or harder.

 

edit: also while the plat might be appealing, I think this GalGun 1 was the weakest game of the three. I'd heavily recommend Double Peace on ps4 (switch has weird aim sensitivity issues with the games) over it any day of the week

Thank you mecharobot for sharing your experience, I appreciate it. ?

 

Was not aware that Gal*Gun was remastered and localized in English for the Switch (Gal*Gun Returns). That's pretty cool. Gal*Gun (PS3) is indeed Move compatible. I've experienced a couple of PS3 rail shooters before this one, and Move controls make speed and accuracy significantly easier - for me at least.

 

It's pretty much already decided that I'll be playing Gal*Gun 1. I've been on a good streak lately with enjoying the "worst game" in a particular series, so I'll hope to get lucky here as well. I'll definitely play out the rest of the series, though it will be done entirely on PlayStation.

 

Considering the fast pace of gameplay, combined with the difficulty modifiers of arcade mode, I'll go in expecting the higher end of previously voted difficulty, rather than the lower. Thank you again.

[Jigsy1]

On 2022/5/20 at 2:58 PM, AihaLoveleaf said:

Was not aware that Gal*Gun was remastered and localized in English for the Switch (Gal*Gun Returns)

 

From what I've heard from other people, they changed a bunch of stuff, so it's not the same as the PS3 version.

[lain11644]

I'm giving up. I agree that the most difficult part is the score attack, specifically the all route one, where you clear every single stage in the game including 4 boss battles, with significantly increased difficulty. The bosses are the problem. It took me upward 20 tries just to get past the first boss. The second boss took me 2 tries, but still not good enough. At the current rate, it will probably take me 50 tries just to get good enough to clear this once. To platinum the game, you need to clear it 8 times. Each successful run of all route score attack takes an hour. It really depends on your skill, and I just don't have it in me anymore

Edited May 21, 2023 by lain11644

[lain11644]

I spent a little more time today trying to get the remaining score attack trophies at least. Turns out the first boss was actually the hardest. Once you're past the first boss, the others are not that bad, though some latter stages can be tricky (I failed in the 38th stage the first time, there are a total of 40 stages, each run takes 2 hours). I successfully cleared it on the 2nd run. I think getting the title isn't as difficult as I thought because you can actually get multiple titles in one run, and you don't need to successfully clear the whole thing to get the title. That will significantly reduce the time required. Worse comes to worst, titles can also be acquired in underwater mode, where the game runs at half the speed, but also takes twice as long. I can see a path to platinum now ?

[CottonModem]

I'd say it's a 4 at most, difficulty wise. I only remember some girls being tricky to catch in the split second you see them. And the game being tiring and more difficult to play with the PS Move, so I switched to a DS3 after 10 minutes. Your mileage may vary in that respect.

 

It's more involved than Double Peace due to having to collect all titles and see all endings, as has been mentioned. It's just a bigger time investment and isn't really any harder than Double Peace.

 

As for the quality of the game, I think it's the best in the series. They put less effort into each sequel.

 

Double Peace is roughly on par gameplay wise, but has less content. The original has more varied minigames and 4 girls with their own theme songs. Shinobu and Maya share a theme song in DP.

 

Gal Gun 2 is by far the weakest, gameplay wise. It's a VR shooting gallery (with no VR support on PS4) instead of a rail shooter, it has no Kurona route, (arguably) no minigames, no Kurona route, no character stats, no Kurona route, choices no longer matter, no Kurona route, tedious copy-pasted side missions (mainly the defence ones), score is meaningless... The characters, music, and graphics are still great though. The graphics in particular are a big step up.

 

(Slight tangent; I just wanted to defend Gal Gun 1)

[AihaLoveleaf]

28 minutes ago, CottonModem said:

I'd say it's a 4 at most, difficulty wise. I only remember some girls being tricky to catch in the split second you see them. And the game being tiring and more difficult to play with the PS Move, so I switched to a DS3 after 10 minutes. Your mileage may vary in that respect.

I appreciate the overview on GG1 and the series in general. I've been in touch with a couple of friends that have played the game within the past year, which helped address some of the unknowns I had with the first game at the time. Based on past rail shooter experience, I feel like I may play better with Move, but we'll see how that goes when I actually get started.

 

It would be unwise of me to miss out if the first in the series is the best. I try to play most new (to me) franchises in order nowadays, so I will be sure to experience Gal Gun eventually. I come back to this game every now and then, but just end up putting it off for whatever reason. The time is not quite right yet, with more pressing projects in gaming and real life on my plate, but I hope to finally bring some closure to the "OP" of the thread and rank the game in comparison to other Move experiences I've had - and hopefully sooner than later.

[Honor_Hand]

Interesting to hear that GG Double Peace has less content compared to the first game in the series. I had the chance to experience that one not too long ago for my 200th milestone and it honestly seemed to me like it was packing so much stuff to do in it.

 

So, the thing with the original GG is not so much that it's difficult, but more like it requires a big time investment from the player. That's comforting to know because the difficulty score in the PST guide makes it seem as if there's some sort of small challenge to the game. If it mostly requires time to collect all those titles and see all the endings, then it's something that can be handled with enough practice and knowledge.

 

Lol, seems like I'm going to be leaving GG2 for last if there's no Kurona route in it. I had already heard that one removed the rail shooter mechanics, which sounds kind of disappointing in my opinion as that is part of what gives the series its own unique charm. I still want to play, though, even if it's just to have a whole picture of the franchise on PS.

[CottonModem]

GG on PS3 also has a postgame mode not present in the 360 version that continues the story. You proceed through a flowchart with multiple branches, each node consisting of voiced dialogue with side characters and a doki doki minigame. You need to complete all branches for trophies. There's a decent amount of dialogue there.

 

On the other hand, GGDP has the Unseen Destiny route, which is basically just playing through the same content over and over again just to hear a few lines of dialogue from a girl/woman at the end. Though it does mean you get to hear more of the nurse's voice... 🤔

 

I do think enjoyment of the first GG depends on one's knowledge of Japanese though. My Japanese wasn't great when I played it (and still isn't, but has improved a bit), but most of it is standard anime lines you hear all the time. I didn't completely understand some of the character backstories, but was able to cry at the confession/ending scenes, so good enough I guess, lol.

 

You can play them in any order really. GGDP's story is basically the same and only really references the first game in a "this is just like that other time this exact thing happened" sort of way.

 

(GG1 also has no Kurona route, by the way, since she wasn't introduced yet)