Q1. What’s your favourite segment from Hellsinker and why?

A1.

Segment 4 Boss and 8 is my favorite.

Segment 4 Boss because of the pure bullet hell experience. I think this is the only place where you have to keep dodging and fighting constantly.

Segment 8 I have some emotional attachment to, because this is the only stage that I created a perfect scoring pattern from scratch.
The other segment has been broken down by other players in the past already, but Segment 8 has been the one that suffered serious scoring problems for SOLIDSTATE DEADLIAR, due to supression field problems.
I believe I single-handedly raised this stage's potential for SOLIDSTATE DEADLIAR for around 150 Million points (15,000 on screen).

Q2. Do you think the length of the game is a good thing and should there be more longer single-loop games out there?

A2.

I think it depends on how the game is designed, and I have some mixed feelings about it.
Hellsinker. takes 45min ~ 1hour for single-loop, is too long IMO because of 2 following reasons.

1. Most people don't have that much time to perfect a 45 minutes long game. Being a shmup as it is, and how technical things differ from other games, you have to KNOW this game to even survive, which takes time to understand. I took 1 month just to clear this game.

2. You would be nerve wrecked in the latter half of the run due to serious difficulty bumps and harder patterns to dodge. Nothing hits hard when you lose your best runs to a peanut bullet in Segment 7, Shrine, or 8.

Howerver, I think this game holds its purpose by being long because of the strong background story.
It has it's reason, purpose of why I'm moving along the sewers or some large library, or some fricking tower. (SoF i dont know lol)

Should there be longer single-loop? I think 30 minutes is good enough.
If there were to be a longer shmup, it shouldn't be just a long gameplay, but it should have it's reason why it's long.
If there are reasons or story of why it's looping, or why it takes long, it's easier for yourself to comprehend or sink in that feeling of "Why am I playing this game."

Q3. What’s your opinion on the story and how TONNOR tells it (fragmented, complex language, multiple endings, etc.)?

A3.

I think it was clever that there can be multiple ways to comprehend the story, and I think it's stupid that there can never be an answer until TONNER says so explicitly. (And I think we will never reach the answer.)

The interlude was interesting for a shmup game and due to how it explains whats happening, you can get immersed to the game even more which is a very nice addition to the game.

The complex language though, is terrible even for a Japanese guy. (Everyone says it's written in Tonnor-language (ひらにょん語))
The manual doesn't serve as a manual, but as a novel book which explains the inner details of what can happen in-game.

Multiple endings is a fun extra bit for experienced players, and a disaster for novice players I think. (Especially Garland LV.2)

Q4. What is your #1 tip for beginners trying to pick up Hellsinker?

A4.

Don't try to understand everything from the beginning.
Just play. And play, and play and play again.
Try holding down the button, or tapping it really fast.
This game is an experiment on it's own, and everyone has their own way of surviving this game.

It's hard and cryptic and mumbo jumbo of information at first.
But try to understand what is going on when you are watching other player's stream or vods.

Why did he/she bomb here, why did he/she use a subweapon here... etc.

If you get a glimps of what's happening, you've done a great job.

And a bonus tip for Deadliar players.
"Always deploy tobari in front of you, and smash everything with the blade".
You can win this game just by doing this lol.

Q5. What’s your favorite piece of music from the game?

A5.

There are many, but if I were to choose one, Segment 6 Part 2.

Seg 4 Boss, Seg5 SOL Boss, Seg 6, Seg7, SoF, Seg 8 Boss is great too.

I like the latter half part of the game music.

Q6. Is there anything you particularly like or don’t like about the SPIRIT scoring system?

A6.

3 things I like.

1. It's fun. Just pure fun. Grazing is fun, beating up enemies with blades and everything feels good, playing the mind games to find out what route is optimal is fun.

2. It makes you feels like you're a god when you execute things perfectly.

3. Since the Spirit system shows how good you are doing, it's very easy to notice where you did bad, or where you did good.

3 things I don't like.

1. FINELINE (Grazing) is inconsistent because it depends on how close you're core(Hit box) is to the lazers. If you chicken out for just 1 or 2 pixels, you lose like 10 spirits. It requires near perfect positioning which is hard.

2. Shrine of Farewell is not a fair game for each character, which is a VERY bad design choice IMO.
   LIMIT difference and item collection disadvantage for Minogame and Kagura is kind of a let down for those trying to score Spirits with their favorite character. It should've been a fair game.

3. Death takes serious toll on you & Death and Shrine has a very bad synergy. You lose about 2400 Spirits just by dying in Segment 1~7. Dying in Shrine bosses permanently takes away near 2000 ~ 3000 Spirits you gained.

Q7. Is there anything else you’d like to say to the viewers?

A7.

Thanks for watching, and if you have or gained slight interest in this game, buy this on Steam right now. It's 30% off today.

The population for this game is so low, so join in the fun while its still underground.

I'm happy to help anyone who is willing to play Deadliar (since I can only play this character), so reach out to me if you need any advise.