User:M.Knight/sandbox

Game Title

Game Logo

Developer:	Alfa System, Skonec
Music:	Youichi Shimamura, Kouta Nakashima
Release date:	Arcade JP : Feb, 2006 Windows JP: 29, Sep 2006 X360 : JP : 13, Dec 2007 Wii JP : 13, Dec 2007 US : 13, May 2008 PAL : Cancelled
Previous game:	Shikigami no Shiro Nanayozuki Gensokyoku
Next game:	Sisters Royale

Shikigami no Shiro 3 (式神の城 III), also known as Castle of Shikigami 3 or Shikigami no Shiro Episode-3, is the third main installment in the Shikigami no Shiro series. Co-developed by Alfa System and Skonec (developers of Psyvariar and Homura), this game was initially released for the Taito Type-X arcade board in 2005, and then received multiple home ports on PC, X360, and Wii. The Wii port was localized by Aksys Games for the NA region. It was also supposed to be released by pQube for the PAL market, but this release ended up being cancelled.

This game keeps most of the mechanics from the previous entries and also adds several new characters, as well as a brand new Hi-Tension Max system, which is similar to a hyper mode. This new mechanic and the more generous extend thresholds change the game's scoring dynamic from a primarily graze-based affair to a resource management-oriented playstyle with cycles of self-destructs for bombs and then consecutive Hi-Tension Maxes for score.

Gameplay Overview

• The game is played with an 8-way stick and 4 buttons. (Diagonal movement is not normalized in arcade-compliant settings)

• Two people can simultaneously play

• The default extends are : first at 200 mil, then one very 400mil

• Each player can only carry 3 lives and 5 bombs at the same time. They start a run with 3 lives and 3 bombs.

• The game features 5 stages and no loops

• A full run lasts around 30 minutes

Controls

• A (Tap): Shot
• A (Hold): Shikigami
• B: Bomb
• A+B (Simultaneous Tap): Hi-Tension Max
• C (Hold): Shot
• D: Hi-Tension Max

Notes :

• Since the shikigami button also acts as a shot button when tapped, immediately holding A will still make the player character fire a few shots before summoning their shikigami.
• The arcade version of the game does not have C and D activated by default. Go in the service mode menu and activate C and D from there.
• As holding C simulates A tapping, it is likely that pressing B to bomb while C is still being held will instead activate a Hi-Tension Max because of the game actually registering an A+B input where the A is being simulated by C. There is no option to disable the A+B input entirely, so letting go of C when pressing B is recommended. This is fixed in the PC port but not the Wii version.

Weapons

While the specific behaviors of each character's weapons can differ a lot, every character in the game (save for one exception concerning Munchausen) has a similar toolset at their disposal, with a shot, tension shot, shikigami and bombs.

Shot

When tapping the shot/shiki button or holding the dedicated shot button, the player character will fire a normal shot. Most of the shots have straightforward movement, but some have homing or adjustable angle properties.

Tension Shot

When the player gets close to a hazard while using the shot, said shot will change into a powered up red-colored version. This is the tension shot.

Tension shots' additional damage can be useful in order to destroy enemies faster, and can be part of survival strategies. However the tension shot requires continuous grazing of a hazard to stay active, which also presents a risk.

Shikigami

By holding the shot/shiki button, the player will summon a shikigami. Depending on the player character, the shikigami can take many different forms such as a familiar that will auto-attack enemies, a laser beam, a shield that reflect bullets, floating swords, etc. Most of the characters move more slowly when using the shikigami but this is not the case for everyone.

The behaviors of the shikigami are much less standard than the shots, but they are the key to scoring efficiently. Some characters' shikigamis (such as the aforementioned shield) can also be very useful for survival.

Each playable character can choose between two types of shikigamis. Most of the characters have two variations on a similar weapon type, however some of them feature more pronounced differences between their two shikigami types. The shikigami choice is done before starting a run and cannot be changed through the run.

Bomb

Bombs are powerful attacks with limited use counts that can be activated in order to save oneself from a hairy situation. They instantly cancel every bullet on screen, provide invincibility to the player, and inflict heavy damage to enemies they hit.

Each playable character has a different bomb type, with distinct duration, range, visuals and effects. Munchausen is the only character without a bomb, in its place is a teleport move which does not consume any of the bomb stock.

The player starts with 3 bombs, and 5 can be simultaneously carried at max. A new bomb is awarded every time they get an extend or lose a life.

Interface

For player-related information, the following locations apply to the 1P side. Mirror them for 2P side.

• Bottom left's top rectangle row : Player bombs
• Bottom left's bottom rectangle row : Player lives

The leftmost empty rectangle for both bomb and life counts progressively fills to show score progress towards the next extend+bomb. However, there is no partial life/bomb in this game.

• Bottom left's yellow text : x8 action count. Number of times the player collected a coin or killed an enemy with a x8 multiplier active. This counter is reset after every boss.
• Top left corner number : Player score
• Top left corner red bar : Hi-Tension max gauge (only visible when using a Hi-Tension Max)
• Top purple bars : Boss HP bars (only visible when fighting bosses)
• Top middle white number : Remaining seconds before boss timeout (only visible when fighting bosses)

Characters

Shikigami no Shiro 3 features 10 different characters, each having two different shikigami variations. This brings the total of different playstyles to 20.

For details on each individual character, refer to Shikigami no Shiro 3/Characters

Note : The character profiles have been taken from the official US localization

Reika Kirishima

A female police officer. Number 0, division 0 in the metropolitan police department. She is known as Time Gal. She has long, silky green hair, wears a bare mid-riff outfit, and has long slim legs. With her anachronous costume and mouth, she strives to be a first-class time criminal.

She really has time jumping capabilities as she says, but most people don't believe her (to her dismay). Incidentally, she is only 17 years old. She is a high school student as well as a police officer. Reika travels anywhere from the years 1888 and 2145, and she can be seen appearing in various locations (like in the background).

Shot : A dual stream of ripples. The crystal emitters are side-by-side if Reika moves sideways, but move on top and bottom of Reika when she moves on the vertical axis, making the shot narrower but more focused

Shikigami Type 1 : The crystals stay on Reika's left and right and fire forward shots that slightly angle towards her front. Moving up and down slightly adjusts the angle but the general behavior of the dual shots remains similar.

Shikigami Type 2 : The crystals fire shots that travel in the direction opposite to the one Reika was moving in. The crystals also rotate around Reika when adjusting their shots depending on her movements.

Bomb : Reika freezes time for a few seconds. Enemies and bullets will not move, and Reika can fire her shot in order to erase bullets and damage enemies. The shikigami can not be used either. Any enemy killed during the time stop will not spawn any coins.

HTMs can't be triggered during the time stop. If an HTM is active when the time stop was triggered, the HTM gauge will freeze as usual, but the tension shot will not be available.

Emilio Stanburke

A good-looking young boy with black hair and suspenders.

Only 10 years old, he is a member of the noblest of the royal families in Alcaland and detests foreign intervention into its domestic matters.

He is a high-spirited boy who said, "Our country has the strengths of its own traditions." After stating this, he went out to investigate on his own.

He always has a worried look on his face, what some people refer to as a Majar melancholic. He uses a demon known as Devour, which can change into various shapes. (In Christian countries, they are called shikigami.)

He is very stubborn and proud, and though he has a good personality, he is fixated on authority and has a slight tendency to look down on commoners.

Shot : Fires two streams of homing shots that target enemies. Each of those streams can target different enemies.

Shikigami Type 1 : When initiating the shikigami, Emilio will cast an anchor point in one of three directions : forward, top-left, or top-right. The direction depends on Emilio's movement when the laser is being activated. If Emilio is not moving sideways, then the anchor point will be thrown forward. Otherwise it will be thrown in the direction opposite to Emilio's. In other words, moving right will throw the anchor at Emilio's top-left, and moving left will send it to Emilio's top-right. The vertical direction of Emilio's current movement does not have an influence on the anchor point location, and there is no way to throw the anchor behind Emilio or on the same horizontal axis as him.

Up until he gets hit or releases the Shikigami, this anchor point will stay in place while Emilio fires a pink laser that travels from its wand to this anchor point. It is therefore possible to change the trajectory and length of the laser by moving Emilio around.

Shikigami Type 2 : When activating the shikigami, Emilio will start firing a fixed-length pink laser in the direction he's currently moving in. All 8 directions are available for the laser to be facing. The laser's length and orientation will remain consistent for as long as the shikigami is active.

For both shikigami types, the most damaging part is the halfway point of the laser. Furthermore, Emilio will actually move faster when its shikigami is active.

Bomb : Emilio fires a powerful frontal laser beam as angelic wings appear behind his back.

Kim Mihee

A fighting doctor from Seoul, Korea, holding her head while on a plane thinking, why me?

Her left hand trembles and is said to be able to kill anyone who touches it. When her hand trembles in the operating room, patients often plead for their lives. Because of this, she has the misfortune of being called a quack, even though she is a skilled surgeon.

Due to her bold, free-spirited nature, she did not get along with her conservative parents and left to study abroad: she has not returned to her homeland.

Mihee's an avid traveler, but when she went to visit some relatives in Japan, their dojo was closed and they were in prison... As she stood there stunned, a well-dressed investigator saying he was a friend of the relatives approached her. She somehow ended up going to Alcaland.

(Note : The imprisoned relative is Kim Daejeong from Shikigami no Shiro 1 and 2, and the "well-dressed investigator" refers to Gennojo Hyuga) Shot : Kim fires a large forward shot that has a thicker stream in the center and weaker, less frequent forward fireball shots on the left and right sides of the main shot. Kim Daejeong in previous games had a similar shot type, but his fireballs had a homing property. This is no longer the case here.

Shikigami Type 1 : Kim summons three swords around her that create an upside-down Y shape. The swords inflict continuous damage on enemies when touching them. Depending on the direction Kim moves in, the Y shape will rotate as to always have the crevice between the two top branches of the Y be in the direction Kim is facing. In other words, this means the bottom sword of the Y will face the direction opposite of the one Kim is facing. If Kim stops moving, the sword rotation will match the last direction the player has input, including diagonals.

It is possible to simulate a rotating attack by quickly moving in circles. The spinning movement will move the three blades around in a circle motion, damaging enemies around Kim in the process. This is not a special hard-coded property of the shikigami, but simply a natural effect of the sword's directional properties.

Compared to the same shikigami type that was featured in Shikigami no Shiro 2, the movement speed when using it is noticeably faster.

Shikigami Type 2 : Kim summons two swords in front of her. The swords can rotate around Kim, each of the swords on their own side. If Kim moves upwards, the two swords will rotate downwards, and vice-versa for downwards movements. The swords will not rotate if Kim moves sideways.

Bomb : Kim slows down a bit as she charges a poisonous short-range punch, and then unleashes it. This attack has very limited range and the slower speed during the charge-up makes it harder to aim at far away enemies, but has decent power if it connects. Additionally, any enemy that survives the attack (most likely bosses only) will suffer from a poison aliment, flash in green, and regularly take small amounts of damage regardless of most player actions.

The poison effect persists even if the player loses a life or uses another bomb, however it gets disabled if the player loses all lives and will not persist upon using a Continue. In the case of a boss with multiple life bars, the poison effect will also dissipate once the current life bar is emptied.

Since the poison effect is part of the bomb, an enemy/boss that dies due to the poison damage will be considered as a bomb kill and therefore not give any coins.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtKRVnKjryk ]

Batu Harai

A brooding exorcist hired by Emilio Stanburke.

He is an apostate priest that wields an extending spear in the shape of a cross.

He is tired of Emilio's nationalism and wants to hurry and get the job done. He considers the foreign guests demons and has written a petition to headquarters asking for orders to subjugate (i.e. punish) them.

He likes hard liquor. Shot : Batu fires a disc-shaped shot in front of him while two other disc-shaped shots spin around him. Getting closer to an enemy can therefore deal more damage even without the tension shot as all those shots hit it.

Shikigami Type 1 : After charging the shikigami and then releasing the button, Batu performs a powerful forward stab with his spear. The length of the stab attack depends on how long the shikigami has been charged.

Shikigami Type 2 : After charging the shikigami and then releasing the button, Batu will spin his spear around him, causing damage to enemies around him when the circling attack touches them. The spin attack will last longer if the shikigami was charged longer.

However, an advanced trick allows Batu-2's spin attack to keep going. Whenever Batu is spinning his spear, it is actually possible to buffer another shikigami charge. By charging and releasing the button again with the correct timing while the previous shikigami spin is still ongoing, Batu can extend the duration of the attack. Continuously repeating this charge and release process is necessary to keep the shikigami spinning over and over and is also key to high score play with this character.

By charging the shikigami to the max level before spinning, the duration within which the next charge can be buffered is higher, while the charges that the player buffers have to be shorter if the initial charge was shorter, as to be able to properly release the charge before the spin stops.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRTI9pb8qVs ]

Bomb : After a short animation, Batu plants its spear at his feet and creates a small exorcism circle around him. The attack also summons a few spiral effects around said circle and which cover the screen. Both inflict damage but the circle is where most of the damage potential is concentrated.

Nagino Ise

She is a nuclear attack-class troublemaker, messing with the relationships of Gennojo and Kohtaro, who she both calls papa, and Fumiko and Sayo, who she both calls mama. She is 9 years old and is a happy elementary school student who isn't going to school.

She has the mystical power of turning the words she says into reality. As a guardian, she carries the rabbit deity known as "Strider" in her backpack.

Shot : Nagino's shot is a wide spread attack. Due to its shot limit, there can be a noticeable pause between salvos depending on the player position relative to enemies and top screen edge. As her tension shot also increases the speed of the projectiles, the shot limit becomes less restraining.

Shikigami Type 1 : Nagino's rabbit will spawn a blue frontal shield while the shikigami button is held. It will be deployed for a limited duration. A circular gauge will appear on the character to indicate how long the shield can still be kept deployed. While active, this shield is able to suck up all enemy bullets that touch it. It can also damage enemies on contact.

When the shield timer runs out or when the player releases the button (whichever one happens first), all bullets that were absorbed will be then be fired back on enemies. The shield will also stop being active with a very short cooldown before it can be reactivated. The shield stop will occur even if no bullets have been absorbed.

Shikigami Type 2 : When holding the shikigami button, a multi-directional purple shield will be deployed. This shield will not exclusively cover the front, instead it will orientate itself in the same direction as the player. There is no limited duration for this shield as the circular gauge instead fills up when bullets are being absorbed by the shield. Enemies that touch the shield also get damaged but do not fill the jauge.

If the player releases the button, all absorbed bullets will be reflected at enemies. The shield will then deactivate with a little cooldown before a potential reactivation. However, if the shield gauge is maxed out from absorbing too many bullets without a release, it will get overloaded without firing back any of the absorbed bullets. An overloaded shield will not despawn, instead it will become transparent and be unable to absorb bullets for a second before becoming active again, as long as the player keeps holding the shikigami button. It is also possible to release the shikigami button when the shield is overloaded and hold it again to summon a new, fresh shield.

Summoning the shikigami for both variations will make Nagino Ise move faster than her regular speed.

Bomb : Nagino Ise fires a directional bubble shot for a few seconds. Moving in a direction will make Nagino shoot the bubbles in this specific direction as well. The bubbles are narrow at first and spread out the further they travel.

Kohtaro Kuga & Sayo Yuuki

Kohtaro : The hero of the series.

Due to the death of his longtime shikigami, Sazae, he has come back weaker than before. He still makes the mistake of calling out for Sazae and causes blunders for those around him. This is the story of his rise back from his loss.

He has grown taller, and sadness and frustration have cast a shadow over him. But once an incident occurs, he takes action more passionately than before. He has gotten rid of his school uniform and appears in a cool new outfit chosen by Fumiko.

He also works as a translator and interpreter.

Sayo : A shrine maiden that was resurrected when she was fused together with Kohtaro's shikigami, Sazae.

She feels jealous (and guilty) watching Kohtaro disheartened due to the loss of his partner. Her blunt attitude toward him has changed, and she now tries to be helpful - while rejecting him at the same time.

Since her former shikigami, Yata, is a national treasure and cannot be leased out, she has gone out on her own.

Since their battle potential is only half when alone, Kohtaro and Sayo travel together. Whether her fusion with Sazae is the cause or not, Sayo's kimono has a tendency to slip off of her shoulder.

Shot : A standard forward shot with medium width and power.

Shikigami Type 1 : Kohtaro summons Sayo as his shikigami, who will then move alongside him for as long as the shikigami is active. Whenever enemies appear on screen, Sayo will then rush towards them and attack them one after the other.

Sayo's appearance with this shikigami type is closer to Sazae (who was Kohtaro's shikigami in previous games)'s look.

Shikigami Type 2 : A blue summoning circle spawns at Kohtaro's current location when the shikigami was activated. Sayo appears on this summoning circle and will stay on it until enemies appear. As with type-1, Sayo will automatically attack enemies; however she will mostly focus on the enemies closer to the summoning circle instead of those near Kohtaro.

Letting go of the shikigami button and then pressing it again can be used in order to place the summoning circle elsewhere on the screen

Bomb : Kohtaro charges some energy and creates a fiery explosion around him. Four diagonal blasts also spawn, each dealing damage to anything they touch in their path.

Roger Sasuke

An American ninja.

At this point, Japan's international contribution, psychic abilities, and investigation have nothing to do with him, but Roger looks forward to this trip and participates on his own dime. (He even created the travel pamphlets and handed them out.) From one perspective, he's one of the people that participate in this case with the impurest of intentions, along with Fumiko.

He is Kohtaro Kuga's good friend and a serious **Wapanese**. However, his ninjutsu and methods are authentic, having learned them from the real deal - even his ninja sword is genuine. Because of this, he's as useful as Gennojo, a professional investigator. He is bummed that he is the only one Nagino doesn't call **papa**.

Shot : A forward volley of spinning shurikens.

Shikigami Type 1 : Roger's shikigami will appear alongside him and she will summon floating mines around her while the button is being held. When the button is released, the mines will be launched in the direction Roger is moving in. If Roger is not currently moving, the mines will be thrown upwards by default. Upon contact with an enemy or a wall, the mines will explode, causing massive damage. Mines that fly offscreen without touching an enemy or wall will not explode upon touching the screen edges, so it is possible to completely miss your mine throw.

Shikigami Type 2 : When holding the shikigami button, Roger's shikigami will charge mines around her. When releasing the button, the mines will be dropped around the location where Roger is, scattering around a little bit. They will then explode on contact with an enemy/wall, or on their own after a few seconds. These mines explosions can deal tremendous damage to enemies and bosses.

Bomb : Roger Sasuke starts spinning around while swinging his sword. The spin deals damage to enemies it touches. While its range is limited, the player can freely control Roger's position while swinging in order to hit the enemies on screen while being invincible through the entire bomb duration.

Fumiko Odette Van Stein

A gorgeous witch, in many different ways.

She is said to be more of a villain than the greatest enemy in the series. Her hobby is to steal the men of other women. Her second hobby is trampling upon people.

She has arrived in Alcaland to return to her homeland - and go on a honeymoon.

For Fumiko, Alcaland is a memorable place she visited a number of times when she was a young girl. She looks around her surroundings with fond memories and can't help but feel melancholic.

Shot : A crystal shot which can be angled by moving sideways. By default the shots will be launched forward, but moving to the right will make Fumiko shoot towards the right, and vice-versa for the left side. The shot's current orientation is not reset when letting go of the shot button, so resetting the shot direction actually requires the player to move in the opposite direction regardless of whether they are shooting or not.

Shikigami Type 1 : When the shikigami button is held, Fumiko will stop moving and a targeting cursor will appear on screen, as well as a portrait of Munchausen on the top corner on the player's side. The player will actually move the cursor, and when the shikigami button is let go of, a powerful explosion will appear where the cursor was. It will remain on screen for a few seconds and damage anything that touches it. Fumiko can resume moving as soon as the shikigami button is released.

Unlike previous entries in the series, Fumiko can also summon other explosions while the current one is still active if the player can quickly summon them. This can be used to quickly destroy bosses or stronger enemies.

Shikigami Type 2 : By holding the shikigami button, the player will stop Fumiko from moving and summon a targeting cursor which can be moved around. Whenever said cursor overlaps an enemy, a lock-on reticle will appear on them.

Upon releasing the shikigami button, a lightning bolt will be fired from Fumiko's wand and attack the locked-on enemies one after the other. If the player holds the shikigami button again while the lightning is still active, enemies that are targeted with the newly spawned cursor can also be attacked by the lightning from the previous attack, even if the player's second lightning attack hasn't been released yet.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loKQXbM7ips ]

Bomb : Fumiko casts a spell that creates multiple powerful explosions on the entire screen. Despite the delay between the bomb button press and the summoning of the explosions, Fumiko is invincible right as the button is pressed.

Munchausen

He is like a young uncle to Fumiko, and is Kohtaro Kuga's good friend. He shows another side of himself as the versatile butler, and this time around, you can even see him looking cool without his glasses.

"I will educate you. Please prepare yourself."

Shot : Munchausen's shot is the same as Fumiko's. A forward crystal shot that gets angled left or right if the player moves in the same direction. Interrupting and restating the shots will not reset the current shot angle, only moving can readjust it.

Teleport : Munchausen is a special case as he does not have any bomb. (HTM are fine though) Pressing the bomb button will instead trigger a fast teleport dash in the direction Munchausen is currently moving in. The cooldown between consecutive teleports is around a second. If Munchausen is not currently moving, the teleport will not happen. If an obstacle or bullet is between the initial and final Munchausen positions, the player will not be damaged by it as Munchausen is invincible during the teleport.

However, the character can take damage as soon as the teleport ends. An implication of that property is that any invincibility that the character was granted, either due to a life loss or thanks to a HTM activation, will be instantly revoked at the end of a teleport dash. As a result, it's possible to chain-death very quickly by teleporting into a hazard right after dying.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXlROyURmVY ]

Shikigami Type 1 : When the shikigami button is held, a cursor will appear. Munchausen will remain immobile while the player instead moves the reticle around. Letting go of the button unleashes a big explosion on the cursor location.

This explosion is bigger than the one caused Fumiko's Type 1, however there is a limit of one explosion on screen max.

Shikigami Type 2 : Munchausen summons a pink spinning disc which can be freely moved around to damage and kill enemies. Munchausen is unable to move while the shikigami is deployed, as the directional inputs will control the disc instead. If the player lets go of the shikigami button, the disc will despawn and Munchausen can move again.

If Munchausen uses the teleport while the disc is active, the disc will despawn and then respawn on Munchausen's new location.

There actually is a special trick which allows the player to keep an active disc in one location and still be able to move Munchausen at the same time. This trick requires the player to summon the pink disc, move it at the desired spot, teleport and let go of the shikigami button in the middle of the teleport. If the glitch was correctly pulled off, the disc will no longer be visible but its hitbox will still remain active where it last was, as long as the player doesn't summon it again, gets hit, or until the pre-boss invincibility occurs.

While this invisible shikigami is active, the player can thus move around, teleport again, shoot, and activate HTMs. This is an essential asset for Munchausen-2 scoring, and a helpful addition for survival play too.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdqMJQRNhsg ]

Gennojo Hyuga

A psychic private investigator. He is one of the **tsukigamizoku** (Moongod tribe) living in Japan and is an **okami** (great deity, wolf).

At first he was against going on this mission because it was a request from the government, but since he was in dire straits with his living expenses, he finally gave in to the compensation and went on his first trip abroad. Whether it is due to pride or not, he tries to act like an avid traveler by acting like he knows it all, reading guidebooks, and studying foreign languages. He's a rather adorable middle-aged man who likes to call himself a young man.

Once again, though his character has changed, he partners up with Mihee to solve the incident. He is a proud and stubborn man who always ends up volunteering to take on the most difficult of tasks himself.

Shot : Gennojo shoots two streams of circular shots that crisscross multiple times in a helix-like shape. The width of the shot starts off large and decreases as it travels upwards.

Shikigami Type 1 : Gennojo summons a lightning ball in his hand as well as three lightning balls ahead, with one in the center and one of each side. These energy balls all travel alongside Hyuga and copy its movements.

The lightning ball in Gennojo's hand will damage anything it touches. Once any of the three forward lightning balls touches an enemy, it'll lock on to it until said enemy is killed or leaves the screen. Multiple lightning balls can lock-on to a single enemy to inflict more damage. When a ball loses its lock on an enemy due to kill or leave, it'll try to move towards its default position in front of Hyuga, but if it catches another enemy on the way back, it can also lock on to it.

Shikigami Type 2 : Gennojo summons two lightning balls, one in his hand and the other one in his back, as well as three lightning balls in front of him (one in the center, and one on each side) and two balls behind him (one of each side). To compensate for the additional lightning balls compared to Type-1, the three forward ones are not as further away here with Type-2.

The two lightning balls on Gennojo will damage anything they touch, while the three forward lightning balls and the two back ones can all lock-on to enemies just as with Type-1.

Jolts of electricity will connect Gennojo to the lightning balls for both shikigami types, however those do not deal damage and are only there for aesthetic purposes.

Bomb : Gennojo temporarily transforms into his wolf form and automatically attacks enemies on the screen by ramming into them at full speed. The player cannot control the wolf's movements during the bomb, but the wolf form is also completely invincible.

Stage structure

The game's 5 stages are divided into two halves, each half having one stage portion and one boss. For instance, Stage 1 has 1-1 Stage, 1-1 Boss, 1-2 Stage, and 1-2 Boss. The ports' practice modes respectively refer to those 4 subdivisions as Area1, Boss1, Area2, and Boss2.

The first boss in a stage will be a mechanical boss with destructible parts, while the second boss will be a human character without destructible parts. Those character boss fights can also be preceded with short dialogues if the story segments have been activated.

5-1 and 5-2 are exceptions to the formula. 5-1 Boss features both a human boss and a mechanical boss back-to-back. 5-2 does not feature any stage portion and throws the player directly into a multi-part boss fight.

Boss fights

Each of the game's boss fights require the player to empty multiple life bars within the time limit. The time limit is a global per-boss one rather than per-life-bar. Additionally, there is no individual lifebar timeout and the only way to progress from a phase to another is to empty said lifebar.

If time runs out while the boss is still alive, a specific sound effect will play and red invincible timeout Oni will start spawning. These flaming heads will try to chase the player around, and spawn in larger and larger amounts. Eventually, the boss will self-destruct on its own.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y-S9pX-hlg ]

If the player game overs, the Oni will despawn. If a Continue is used, the timeout Oni will not reappear. The boss will still self-destruct as usual after some time.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MGhhL2OpzU ]

End of stage

At the end of each stage, the player will be granted a Class. This letter-based rank evaluates player performance and can range from F to A and then S and SS. The class will be prefixed with a minus sign in case the player game-overed and then used a Continue.

Scoring

Scoring well in Shikigami no Shiro 3 mainly relies on two factors : keeping a tension multiplier at x8, and collecting coins whose base value can be increased up to 10 000.

Tension Bonus System

The tension bonus is a score multiplier going from x1 to x8 which gets applied to any score bonus the player can get, with the exception of post-boss bonuses. It can affect enemy kills, boss part/phase destruction, and collected coins' value.

This multiplier increases depending on the player's proximity with a hazard : bullet, laser, or an enemy itself. The closer they are, the higher the tension multiplier will be for any score action (kill, coin collect) that occurs at that same time. Continuously grazing the same hazard for multiple score actions is also perfectly fine, as there is no limit to how many times said hazard can provide tension multipliers.

The tension multiplier also affects the specific amount of coins that are spawned from enemies/bosses.

Coins

Whenever an enemy, boss part, or boss phase is killed with your shot or shikigami attack, the game will spawn coins. If the shot was used, the amount of coins will be the set base amount defined for the enemy or boss in question. If the shikigami was used, the amount of coins spawned will be multiplied by the tension bonus multiplier. However, any kills gotten through bomb use will not spawn any coins at all.

These coins will then be auto-collected and increase the player score. The initial base coin value is 10, and every collected coin that was spawned thanks to a Shikigami attack will increase the base coin value by 10, up to a maximum base value of 10 000. Coins spawned with the shot attack will simply not increase the base coin value. The coin value carries over from stage to stage.

The actual value for each collected coin uses this base value and can then also be affected by the tension multiplier. Whenever a coin is collected, a small text will appear above the player character that indicates the base coin value and tension multiplier. (Thus, the max that's shown will be "10 000 x8") If the tension multiplier is at x8, the text will be red. Otherwise, it will be blue if the coin was spawned with a shikigami attack, or purple if it was a shot attack.

Whenever the player gets hit, the base coin value drops back to 10, no matter the current base value of coins. The player also visibly drops some coins which slowly fall off the screen, which can be collected again for points by touching them. Dropping coins does not decrease the score nor make the player lose the points said coins initially gave.

Hi-Tension Max (HTM)

New to Shikigami no Shiro 3 is the Hi-Tension Max. This novel mechanic works akin to a hyper mode and requires a bomb in stock to be triggered since it consumes one upon activation. The HTM will temporarily make the player be at maximum tension multiplier and get access to the tension shot regardless of their proximity with enemies or bullets. Any enemy destroyed or coin collected will therefore be at x8 multiplier for the duration of the HTM.

Additionally, when an enemy is killed during HTM, the amount of coins it spawns is being multiplied by x1.5 . Since the x8 tension multiplier also multiplies said amount of coins for shikigami kills, the player spawns 12 times the amount of coins in this scenario.

An HTM activation will spawn a visual circular red effect around the player for approximately a second. The player is invincible during said activation animation, and as such it is possible to include this property into routing, as to bypass a wall or wave of bullets and get closer to some enemies before killing them at max tension for example.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bijd6a9xSvc ]

However, if the player uses an HTM while being near the end of a post-death invulnerable state, this 1-second long invincibility period can be cut short by the post-death state ending during said second.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE9ArnSqMV8 ]

If the player uses a normal bomb while its HTM is already active, the HTM timer will freeze while the bomb is being used, and it then resumes.

A second HTM cannot be triggered if one is already active

When reaching a boss or killing one with an HTM active, the game will prematurely stop it right after the kill. The properties on tension multiplier and coin spawning still apply to the boss kill, but not necessarily on the coin collection if it occurs afterwards.

Bonus enemy waves

The game's stages feature a slight caravan element to them : by killing enemy waves quickly, it is possible to trigger the next waves faster, and thus more score that can be gotten from a stage portion. This behavior can be seen in all stages except 3, since the existence of walls make the enemy placement fixed instead of dynamic.

General scoring loop

In order to score high, the recommended strategy is to self-destruct twice at the beginning of the game to get two more bombs, and then continuously use the bomb stock as Hi-Tension Maxes while quick-killing enemies. This will grant optimized point counts for the waves and replenish the lost lives through score extends. Upon reaching the end of a boss, the player should self-destruct any excess lives they have gotten right before killing said boss in order to replenish the bombs as much as possible and repeat the cycle of continuous Hi-Tension Maxes in the next stage or stage portion.

Grazing bullets/enemies while killing enemies and collecting coins, just like the previous Shikigami games, can still be important during moments where the HTMs aren't used such as some bosses.

Version Differences

The game's playing configuration can be modified by changing the difficulty and/or by changing the game modes. Difficulty settings were already available in the original arcade release while game modes are new tweaks introduced in the home ports.

Difficulties

Easy

Easy features toned down attack patterns and triggers an autobomb when the player is hit. However, there is no bomb restore when the player is hit, and the game ends after stage 3 is completed.

Other tweaks to the level-design also make the stages themselves easier. For instance, stage 3 walls are less dense and the moving walls are slower, and some enemies have been removed.

Arcade

Arcade is the regular arcade difficulty and the default choice when starting a run

Extreme

Extreme is a difficulty setting where every enemy or boss part killed will spawn revenge bullets on the player. Additionally, bosses will routinely fire a fast aimed spread shot on top of their regular attack patterns.

Several levels of Extreme exist : 1, 2, and 3. Each of those increase the amount of revenge bullets and the speed at which those revenge bullets and the additional boss bullets are fired.

Arcade/Director's Mode

The game's home ports feature a "Game Mode" setting in its options. The two choices are "Arcade Mode" and "Director's Mode". While Arcade Mode matches the original arcade game, Director's Mode adds a lot of smaller tweaks to the game, some aesthetic/QoL, some directly affecting the scoring. As a result, players who want to submit scores that can match the arcade version should select "Arcade Mode", whereas Director's Mode can be used for a smoother, more polished and accessible experience.

This choice is independent from the difficulty selection, therefore it is possible to freely combine difficulty selection and Arcade/Director modifier selection.

Here are the known changes that Director's mode provides :

• The HUD disappears in Director's Mode if you are on top of it instead of hiding your character like in Arcade.
• Director Mode allows you to move your character and hitbox much closer to the screen edges' horizontal sides than the Arcade Mode.
• The diagonals in Director's Mode are normalized, which isn't the case in Arcade Mode.
• Yellow wall blocks in stage 3 are changed to a darker shade of orange in Director's mode, which helps seeing them better even when hidden.
• Killing enemies and bosses give you more coins in Director's mode. The coin spawning animation is also different as Director's mode has them more spread out, versus the more packed coin stacks in Arcade.
• On-screen bullets are not canceled when a boss is killed in Director's Mode so the player can more easily get the x8 on the coins. The player is still granted invincibility as soon as the boss dies.
• The final phase of 5-1 boss is worth 100 mil points, which means a x8 can replenish 2 lives and refill 2 bombs. It's worth absolutely nothing in Arcade Mode.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI9flIiGnZg ]

More may exist.

Additional game modes

Modes are alternate ways to play that have been added in the Wii and X360 ports. (They are not available on the PC version) The choice between modes is decoupled from difficulty selections such as Easy /Arcade/Extreme and the Arcade/Director's Mode choice, and thus can be combined according to player preference.

These bonus modes are 1-player only

Dramatic Change Mode

Dramatic Change Mode is a feature which allows you to play as two characters instead of only one. Contrary to double play modes one can find in some other shmups, here the two characters are not simultaneously displayed on screen. Instead, the player can assign a dedicated button to switch from one to the other, and then use that to freely change between the two characters during the run.

There are only a few specific moments when characters can't be switched :

• While a bomb or Hi-Tension Max is active
• Whenever the current character is invincible, either due to boss spawn/kill animations, post-damage recovery invincibility, or the initial invincibility when entering a stage

The character dialogue that occurs in Dramatic Change Mode is exactly the same as the dialogue that would be triggered with two players, so this mode can be used to see said dialogue without a second person or controller available.

While 2P runs have each player get their own stock of lives and bombs, Dramatic Change Mode has a shared stock. Both scenarios have a single, combined score.

At the end of the run, the regular score tally screen will be shown, however the score will not be permanently saved in any in-game leaderboard.

Boss Attack

This mode lets a player consecutively fight every boss in the game in the order in which they are fought in the regular game.

Unlockable Secrets

The arcade mode features a few unlockable settings hidden behind specific codes. All of these unlockables are immediately available in the ports with minor or no specific input requirements.

Munchausen

Immediately after entering the test mode, enter the following commands within 10 seconds :

→, ↓, ↓, 1P start, ↑, ←, ↓, ↓, →, 1P start, ←

If you successfully enter the command, you will be able to select and use a hidden character in the "Game Settings" menu. The effect is permanent.

If you make a mistake in entering the command, you will need to restart the test mode and enter the command again.

Once the character unlock code has been entered and the setting has been switched on, Munchausen can be selected on the character select screen by putting the cursor on Fumiko and pressing down. This will switch from Fumiko to Munchausen.

Pressing down on Fumiko is also needed on the PC version, however there is no need to enter any code beforehand. In the Wii and X360 ports, Munchausen is immediately available for selection without any manipulations nor codes and as such isn't a secret character in those versions.

Besides, due to the required manipulation on the character selection screen on the Arcade and PC versions, it is not possible to play a co-op run with one player as Fumiko and the other one as Munchausen there.

S3-Mix

The game feature an alternate soundtrack known as the S3-Mix where stage themes are replaced by remixes of their Shikigami no Shiro 2 equivalents. All boss themes remain the same as the original Shikigami no Shiro 3 soundtrack.

In the arcade version, this mix is accessed by holding A+B when pressing start to begin the credit. In the home ports, the mix is one of the options the player can freely choose from when starting a run.

Extreme difficulty

In order to access Extreme difficulties on the arcade version, the player needs to input the following series of inputs on the title screen, after having inserted a coin :

↑, A, ↓, ↓, ←, →, ↑, ↓, B, B, A, A+B

A sound cue will confirm the code has been validated. With Extreme difficulty on, the option to choose it will replace the Easy difficulty when the credit actually starts.

It is also possible to access Extreme 2 and Extreme 3 by pressing A+B again on the title screen once the Extreme code has been validated.

Misc. tips and info

• 2-2 Boss's first phase features a pattern with giant two-handed spinning blades. The handle in the middle of each blade is actually harmless and can be crossed safely when dodging the attack.

• As per Shikigami no Shiro tradition, stage 3 features walls. In this installment of the series, the walls are almost invisible (but still dangerous in that state) by default, and the player has to hit specific lanterns scattered through the stage to temporarily uncloak them.

• When clearing one of a boss' lifebars with the shot or shikigami, coins will be spawned. It is possible to get a x8 multiplier on said coins by staying close to the boss when collecting them. However, this can not work in Arcade Mode for the boss' last phase since the boss hitbox gets disabled afterwards and all the on-screen bullets get immediately canceled.

However, a trick allows you to get said last lifebar coins with the max multiplier. By positioning yourself on top of the coin spawn point, located on the boss itself, the coins will be instantly collected when killing the boss, and the multiplier will be the one active when dealing the finishing blow. Instantly collecting the coins requires the player to be in its invincible state since that's the only way to be on top of the boss without getting collision damage, and getting the x8 multiplier needs the boss to fire a hazard that can be grazed.

Given the requirements, this trick should be done right after self-destructing on the boss' last lifebar and by finishing off the boss while the post-hit invincibility is still active. The self-destruct down to one life is something the normal score routes will do anyway since they replenish bombs that can be used as HTMs for the next stage, so no score potential loss should occur when setting up this technique.

[VIDEO SHOWCASE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADrmNZZlfyA ]

• Pressing Start on the character selection screen will display a marker for the hitbox location. This marker is only seen in that screen and will not be carried over to the run itself, but the hitbox will shine and show its size whenever the player's tension is high (either due to being close to danger, or by having an active HTM).

Trivia

• In the original arcade release's art, Nagino Ise's backpack prominently features the Bubble Bobble dragon and logo. This reference has been edited out of the console ports, except for the key art that was used for the JP Wii cover and X360/Wii booklet cover which shows Reika and Nagino. In it, the Bubble Bobble logo can be faintly seen, partially hidden by Nagino's hair. Additionally, the initial concept art for Nagino Ise had the entire backpack be in the shape of Bub.

• Reika Kirishima originally comes from the 1985 Laserdisc game Time Gal. Her time freeze bomb is a reference to it, and Reika's dialogue also makes a reference to directional arrows that were used as QTEs in her original game.

• Near the very start of stage 1-1 is a brown robot resting in the background, on the left side of the screen. This robot is a reference to Triangle Service's Trizeal, in which a similar robot lays dormant in stage 2. However, the original robot can wake up and throw a rock at the player which can be juggled for bonus points, whereas the Shikigami no Shiro 3 variant is a purely aesthetic addition.

References

Links

• Alfa System's official Shikigami no Shiro 3 website : http://www.alfasystem.net/game/shiki3/
• Arc System Works (JP Wii/X360 version publisher) website : https://www.arcsystemworks.jp/shikigaminoshiro/
• Archived version of the Cyberfront (JP PC version publisher) page : https://web.archive.org/web/20090105072646/http://www.cyberfront.co.jp/title/shikigami3/index.html
• Archived version of the Aksys Games (US Wii version publisher) website : https://web.archive.org/web/20081211204124/http://aksysgames.com/shikigami/
• JP Wikipedia page on the Shikigami no Shiro series : https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BC%8F%E7%A5%9E%E3%81%AE%E5%9F%8E
• Dedicated page on the Shikigami no Shiro wiki : https://shikigaminoshiro.fandom.com/wiki/Shikigami_no_Shiro_III

Scoreboards

• System11 scoreboard : https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18288
• Restart Syndrome scoreboard : https://www.restartsyndrome.com/board.php?id=191
• hiscores.shmup.com board : https://hiscores.shmup.com/games/136

Replays

Refer to Shikigami no Shiro 3/Video Index

Player	Character	Score	Platform	Stage	Video	Comment
KDK-Takeyuki	Batu2	11.504.381.410	PCB	ALL	Youtube	Appreciate DVD run
EOT	Emilio2	10.067.979.710	PCB	ALL	Youtube	Appreciate DVD run
Koohan北尾	Fumiko2	9.850.534.640	PCB	ALL	Youtube	Appreciate DVD
XIQLO	Hyuga1	9.206.345.010	PCB	ALL	Youtube
Hige-SADAM	Hyuga2	9.862.512.570	PCB	ALL	Youtube	Appreciate DVD run
Oroshi (ORS)	Kuga1	10.091.260.550	PCB	ALL	Youtube	Appreciate DVD run
TZW-ART?	Kim1	10.547.590.060	PCB	ALL	Youtube	Appreciate DVD run
IML-星白金-YUJ	Kim2	11.407.026.000	PCB	ALL	Youtube	Appreciate DVD run
Owarabi	Munchausen	9.384.193.220	PCB	ALL	Youtube
T3-CYR-WIZ	Nagino2	11.415.626.810	PCB	ALL	Youtube	Appreciate DVD run
Yusemi SWY	Reika2	11.104.038.960	PCB	ALL	Youtube	Appreciate DVD run
Dame K.K	Roger2	10.656.934.140	PCB	ALL	Youtube	Appreciate DVD run
IML-星白金-YUJ & T3-CYR-WIZ	Batu2 & Nagino2	12.101.705.530	PCB	ALL	Youtube	Appreciate DVD run - 2 players

List of official superplay materials

Refer to List of superplay Materials#Alfa System

Shikigami no Shiro 2 Appreciate DVD (2004)

This 3-DVD set contains a run for every character in the game with the exception of Fumiko OV, as a Chibi Fumiko run is featured instead. All the videos in the DVDs have standard non-rotated footage, but also alternate 270° rotated vertical versions. A booklet also comes with the DVD.

DVD #1 has the following runs :

Player	Character	Score
Oroshi (ORS)	Kuga2	6.529.866.050
Hige-SADAM	Hyuga2	6.252.394.990
Yusemi SWY	Sayo1	7.103.884.810

DVD #2 fas the following runs :

Player	Character	Score
KDK-ASK	Kim2	6.879.535.480
T3-CYR-WIZ	Niigi2	6.667.763.600
Dame K.K	Roger2	6.558.937.500

DVD #3 has the follwing run :

Player	Character	Score
EOT	Chibi Fumiko2	5.659.184.630

This DVD also features footage of each character's single-player story segments.

Contents of the booklet :

• Score breakdown for each of the featured runs
• Superplayer interview

Shikigami no Shiro 3 Appreciate DVD (2006)

This 3-DVD set contains a run for every characters, as well as bonus footage and an informative booklet. While most characters simply have a single run with one of their two shikigami types, Kim Mihee is featured in two runs, each with a different shiki type. Besides, a 2-player run features Batu Harai and Nagino Ise, albeit with the same shikgami types as their solo runs.

DVD #1 has the following runs :

Player	Character	Score
Oroshi (ORS)	Kuga1	10.091.260.550
Hige-SADAM	Hyuga2	9.862.512.570
Yusemi SWY	Reika2	11.104.038.960
T3-CYR-WIZ	Nagino2	11.415.626.810

DVD #2 has the following runs :

Player	Character	Score
KDK-Takeyuki	Batu2	11.504.381.410
Dame K.K	Roger2	10.656.934.140
T3-Sanchasame	Munchausen2	8.856.996.410
IML-星白金-YUJ	Kim2	11.407.026.000

DVD #2 has the following runs :

Player	Character	Score	Comments
EOT	Emilio2	10.067.979.710
Koohan北尾	Fumiko1	9.850.534.640
TZW-ART?	Kim1	10.547.590.060
IML-星白金-YUJ & T3-CYR-WIZ	Batu2 & Nagino2	12.101.705.530	This is a 2-player run

The DVDs also contains a total of 45 short clips of strategies and tricks that aren't necessarily shown in the full runs. DVD #1 has 15, DVD #2 has 16, and DVD #3 has 14.

Contents of the booklet :

• Superplayer interview
• Comments for each of the 45 short clips

Archived version of the official publisher page : https://web.archive.org/web/20070605095026/https://m-cs.co.jp/sikikami3/store_info.html

Story

[First half from Aksys website, second half is machine translation]

The story takes place in a small country called Alcaland, in Mid-Eastern Europe.

Alcaland is populated by an ethnic group called Majar. Other inhabitants include German, Slav, and Hebrew, among many others. This small country (about the size of Delaware), was once annexed by the Soviet Union; however it gained independence in 1992. A beautiful country that has radiant lakes and wheat fields that shine in the sunset; its major industries are pasta and livestock.

The 1.84 million denizens of Alcaland are ruled by a constitutional monarchy (similar to Sweden).Since this country has little economic worth, it has no relations with Japan. While it does have its own borders, it is a desolate country that only has a consulate in neighboring Apfelland and relies on electricity from Russia and Bostonia. Alcaland is a backcountry, but put nicely, it's a quiet, forgotten kingdom.

However, the peace has been disturbed due to a recent series of disappearances and comatose persons. These incidents would have been overlooked had Princess Maako not decided to try and solve these difficult cases herself. This is interesting for the people since they believe that Princess Maako Doroneia Edilius possesses the power of illusion.

Before Alcaland had been annexed into the Soviet Union, the country's many psychics were commonly employed to investigate such issues. However, psychics were oppressed while Alcaland was part of the Soviet Union, which caused the psychic population to dwindle to what it is today. As a result, Alcaland had to ask for outside help to deal with their problems.

To help her decide on whom to ask, the princess used twenty-year-old documents which showed Japan as having the greatest advancements in the field of investigation. Based on this, and the fact that Japan has a very deep history, the princess assumed that the country had very powerful psychics and asked Japan for help. Basing such a decision on incorrect assumptions and outdated reports may seem ill-conceived to most, however this truly shows the modernity of Alcaland.

The princess felt that help would be appropriate given the great sacrifices that Alcaland had made for Japan in the past. In the shallow history of Alcaland, it is said that a small (and possibly overlooked), armed yacht was sent to aid Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. Because of this, Alcaland considers itself, even today, Japan's number one ally. It is appropriate to send aid to your allies when they are in need. Although, given this example it would seem that Japan may have many allies that it is not aware of.

How would you react to an ally who asked for serious aid in the form of psychics? Not having the resources to fulfill such a strange request, the Japanese Foreign Ministry was at a loss for what to do.

When a ministry representative contacted the metropolitan police department regarding this issue, the police responded harshly asking "Two things: Where would we get the resources for that, and why should we care!?" The representative felt that even a country such as Alcaland deserved help when it was in need, yet this meant that the ministry was, again, at a loss.

---

The crisis was saved by a bipartisan group of Diet members. They were not so unsympathetic as to forget their debt of gratitude after a single defeat in the war, and they had loosened their heads enough to have some understanding of psychic powers. At their own expense, and with a little help from some very generous sources, they set the Agency in motion. The culture of self-financing is always so beautiful.

The trouble is the Agency. The agency has refrained from dispatching psychics outside the country due to its relations with neighboring countries. In addition, there was no criminal investigation ability. However, the Japanese family art is not only self-financing.

There are also subcontractors and bellyaching.

The Shinrei Agency used Suzuki, a returnee, to contact and contract with private psychics to help the police force. He succeeded in sending them.

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a fax to Alcaland stating that they would take good care of the situation, and exactly five minutes later the Spiritual Agency sent a fax stating that they would send psychics. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not break precedent, nor does it offend its neighbours. But the Japanese nation as a whole has done its duty.

Thus, Japan's face was saved again.

With a great diversions and a few grimaces.