• Nice, always wanted a few of those weapon skins. Would've like that HOT LIMIT costume to go with the Mikawadanuki, but I guess the Gakuen BASARA costume will do.
• The enemy generals using their Basara Arts is tied to them being on their last life bar, right? Still, better than locking them to the highest difficulty...
• Sounds like they didn't quite think things through for the slower hitters. Unless I'm seriously missing something about them (this is very possible because I suck with Power types).
• I'd time the Sanada Trials as a single segment run. Don't see much of a point in having checkpoints, and that little bit of starting at 59 and stopping right after.
• Haven't seen the very beginning nor the credits so no comment on that... Maybe I'll have something to say once it gets in.

From Raindrops' site, seems like you need to clear all the Six Coin Challenges for the Sanzu River difficulty. Think it only needs to be the normal, red, challenges and not the "other" ones (gold).

Not surprised at IGT being that much lower than RT. They've always been pretty bad about it. Seriously has been a gripe since SB3, especially if you manage to accidentally trigger dialogue. But looks like stage timing stops once the last target's HP is equal 0.

No Bloody Palace leaderboards here. Haven't played DMC4 in a while, but I remember there were leaderboards for points built into the game itself. Don't remember what 2 and 3 did for ranking. Also, nice. It's like with the tournaments in 2/H, going through the stages and having optional objectives.

Yeah, they had no excuse for not having Ujimasa, other than possible asset import issues from 3U -> Yuki-den and hooking it up with gameplay with the engine change. But even then, they should have the raw data to work with... Eh, maybe they thought that 47 is an ugly number. I miss playing as the silly old guy (and all others that haven't been playable since 2H).

So that new difficulty and Trials further encourages no damage runs. As if we weren't trying to do that already, even more incentive.

The players I was watching weren't exactly good, so I would expect the time to be much lower once upgrades and skill are factored in. The one decent player was going at it with Kasuga, but was also going for all the challenges and Rainbow Chances. Didn't see much of the Ueda stages because of work being rather chaotic throughout the day (game dev can get crazy). Might be possible to trigger dialogue faster? Secret Stories were played quite a bit on the streams as well, didn't see much of going through the main story with Yukimura.

Could take a poke on the PS3 once that gets in, but the official site says that it's only the 4S save that will get you the loyalty bonus. The other option is to have a dummy account if you want to go with NG while avoiding the bonus. Still doesn't help with the whole "one save only!" bit. Judging from how the others do their runs, even if it's not purely for speed, NG+ has always been the case. Too many fun options to pass up once the game is opened up.

I would like them to as well since I do like using the DS4 after adjusting to it. Plus, it's what I use for work whenever I can (hate the buttons on the XB1 controller). And if they ever port over the HD Collection, maybe fix up a few perf issues! But the thought of grinding through all 5 games again... And HD Collection being the 3rd time for those games...

Yeah, just waiting for my copies to arrive (just shipped yesterday), then going to compare load times between platforms because they were quite noticeable in 4S. Was checking out a couple of streams, and it's definitely straightforward. Most I've watched, assuming they're not constantly dying to the secret stories, have been averaging around 30 minutes? It shouldn't be too long of a run. Could always differentiate between NG and NG+. I prefer NG+ because starting off is always a bit of a grind. Plus, I'm interested in seeing that new difficulty...

And the completion timer on the results screen is back! I missed it... Have you had a chance to go through the Sanada Trials yet? How feasible would it be to have a leaderboard for that?

Also recently grabbed the Game Archive version of SB1, but haven't gotten around to playing it yet because lol HDD space. Well, that and the other game I run.

It's not just against Animalcule's Silence. I actually don't care for the most part if my Blackout union is stopped. I care if Irina's union can't revive + top up HP, Emmy's union stuck unable to deal 20K+ damage per turn, and my morale union unable to change their role mid-battle. I want to be able to kill off the final boss in less than 12 minutes. It might not be completely necessary, but definitely nice to have. And the soldiers are right there. I'd rather not waste turns twiddling my thumbs while they recover. With a Bard (or Blocter after the Wonder Bangle request), they're right back in the action with no union ailments.

My unions tend to be set up something like this: Blackout: Rush¤/Torgal/Caedmon/Arcmane/Kraliss - 8000~9000 HP Morale: Texthon/Agipur/Kimberly/Deacon/Mattis - ~5000HP Physical/Resonance Edge spam: Emmy/Faye/Laverne/David/Lars - ~7000HP Support: Irina¤/Blocter/Sutherby - ~5000HP ¤ - replaced with Lavelle during specific battles. Rush -> during the Gates of Hell for Turn 1 Blackout. Irina -> Darken Forest, although Rush's union should be able to Turn 1 Blackout the fight anyways.

Namul Niram is generally OK. Rush with Restore + Restorative Herb. Emma with Nimble Devil's Due II, with an upgrade to III during the battle itself. Fiery Idol is just... no. Other than having more HP, I'm still unsure about the whole Turn 2 Inferno Insignia thing.

I'm working on them, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get them done in the next 2 weeks. I'm also trying to fine tune the route, streamlining some stuff (mostly equipment requests), and trying to figure out reliably how to not wipe out against the Fiery Idol.

The basic gist is really wiping out as many things with Blackout, keeping up morale with a morale union, and having Emmy smash things with Swift Resonance Edge V. And maybe having a recovery union hanging around to help out. You'll also want a Bard or few in the off chance that Animalcule is used, and definitely against Curse.

I'll just post info and thoughts for now.

SB HD Collection is SB1 + SB2 + SB2H, so it would make sense to have a PS3 designation for the 3 games, rather than grouping them together as 1 title. Recently noticed that SB2/H works much like the Wii version in that it uses a unified save system. Anything that happens in 2 is shared with 2H, and vice versa. I don't have the Wii versions, so I can't really say if there are timing/lag differences between them. Haven't touched the PS2 versions in quite some time (the discs are probably hiding somewhere), so I don't know if the PS3 versions are possibly emulating lag/frame drops from the originals or if it's co-op that's doing it. Thoughts on 3/U and 4/S will be later...

Currently working out some rules and runs with a friend while playing and gathering some info. I do know that for SB2 and SB2H, there are stories that you can run through in addition to the Conquest and BASARA Tournament modes. Most are 5~6 stages, while for 2H, there are also 3-stage Gaiden Stories. For the Tournament modes, definitely allowing for NG+ because like hell you want to be kiting everything from Lv1 for 100 stages, especially since one of them throws 3 bosses at you at Stage 1. 2H has an additional Tournament Mode that's timed. I don't remember unlocking it way back when, but the guide book says that the stages are the same. A Stage Gauntlet is a possibility, even though there are 48 stages in 2 and 64 in 2H, ordered by difficulty. One of the problems with that is it being rather long since there's practically no movement tech like in 3/U and 4/S.

Being aggressive is one thing. Playing to the character's strength is another. Tends to mostly end up as a 6-stage run, 7 if you're unlucky. Border Patrol is a 4 minute stage, which is somewhat unfortunate, but it's still faster than dealing with Zaan. There are other quirks, like Puff almost always being the last stage when playing as Q-Ball (ideological rivals). The priming stuff is also kinda awkward. Some of the moves or even combos make sense. For others, I'm seriously going "wth" at their decisions. Oh well. Need to adapt.

Definitely need to learn the map. It's faster for me to choose stages in SB1 because it's Japan. I know where all the daimyo are from. DK... it's the same "layout", but the warped map is awkward looking. And good to know exactly where the splits are. Guess I'll have to play with the audio on. It's a bit of a bad habit, playing games while listening to my own playlists... Might do a test run this weekend. Still relearning characters I've barely used before.

The funniest thing is that SB2/H actually has most of SB1's stages... and Ujimasa's (or Orwik as you know him) was tweaked to be faster. Instead of having to do an escort mission, you get on a horse to race to the gate.

I'm mainly a Kojuurou/Kenshin/Matsu player since SB2H. So the switch to Kenshin isn't too bad, but I do favour Kojuurou's style a lot more. I also tend to have Kojuurou in my pocket during normal playthroughs if things get a little rough. Been practising parrying so I don't end up eating a Basara art by mistake. And yeah, I think they attempt to use it once you're in range or sometimes right after recovery.

Well, maybe not outright categories, but rather denoting if the run uses play books or not. I think some games have runs with columns with differentiating details. Maybe things will get a little clearer after playing some more.

I almost always get to the skill test because I don't lower her HP fast enough (don't have any weapons with the Open inscription, never use play books unless for getting points). Beat enough Nadeshiko for a comfortable time limit against Naotora, beat her within that time limit, then it goes straight to the final duel. It's part of the reason why I'm pretty "eh..." for her stage. Some of the slower characters can't kill fast enough even in the first wave, so they're practically forced into the skill tests (it's impossible to force the last duel with 4 seconds!). Another killer is trying to fight Naotora with 2 tigers running around. Not sure there's a reliable way of doing it with Shimazu...

Bell hunting in co-op is awesome~ Although I should make my friend do the platforming for once instead of ringing the bells for me. I think I've played the stage enough to sorta run through it with a rough idea of where all the bells might be.

Kenshin doesn't one-shot everything on Heaven, but he may as well combo everything to death. I think the only ones who can possibly do that are Shimazu/Kojuurou/Masamune (with massive charge times), and even then, there are exceptions (Ashikaga changing phases, letting Yukimura getting completely fired up, etc). Kenshin's gimmick and PI can destroy stages pretty fast. There's also the Divine Slash x3 -> Divine Speed combo. In 3U, it puts him as the 4th fastest overall under most circumstances, behind Matsunaga, Sorin, and Kotaro. Don't know if it's changed much for 4/S.

Ice elemental, just needs the first hit to start chaining things to activate God Region. Or counter. Or run in while it's still active. Either way works. But yeah, one of my concerns is really the potential for lack of character diversity. I highly doubt there are going to be runs from characters like Kingo since they're a bit lacking when it comes to taking out the main commander. The tag system also makes a mess of things since you can't really disable it like in 3U. I guess what I'm getting at is letting all characters have a chance in their own little "categories". Who knows, maybe we'll see some really good "joke character" players.

Maybe have sub-categories for with and without modifiers? Some of them can be pretty big game-changers and there are players that simply don't bother with them. I kinda feel the opposite with the Matabei Intrusion stages. Include them and skip the normal versions... but that might be because I like beating up Matabei for making me hunt for those stages. The Shingen and Naotora Dojo stages are other stages I feel a bit "eh..." on. Moreso Naotora's since it's skill based. But at the same time, I do like that it's skill based, which could make or break a run depending on the starting point. Agreed on having no roulette. Way too much RNG, even if it does make stages a bit more fun.

In the meantime, I'll be focusing on the older titles with light 3/U and 4/S practice with a friend until setting up something for console capture and a PS4 for 4S. Some of the stages had serious frame drops in co-op on the PS3...

I sorta run SUMERAGI... But I have no way of capturing console output at the moment. Creation mode is pretty much locked to 6 stages, which itself is nice, but getting a bunch of duels is even nicer. And yeah, the grinding. But at least finding the special inscriptions is a lot easier in 4S than in vanilla 4. Nearing 200 hours in the original, and I'm still missing 2 of them.

I'm not sure if character optimization is really a thing. It's almost certainly going to be Kenshin + some other character of choice (probably the ninja for fast air travel) if going for pure speed. Inscription loadout is going to be the interesting bit. I do like the "All Stages" type of run and would probably be one of the ways to do it. Would like some parameters though, to at least encourage running with the slower or less frequently used characters. All of them are interesting in their own ways.

Another interesting bit with 2H onward is co-op. Probably going to be quite rare, but co-op runs could be fun. (Yes, I have a co-op partner, even if he's usually Kanbei).

Saw a couple of your runs. Definitely interested in running the series, not just the one game. Primarily playing SB4 at the moment though. Still kinda de-rusting SB1 and DK after not playing it since 2009!

Do have to question why Sengoku BASARA and Devil Kings are grouped as a single entity. SB1 has 4 extra characters to play with (Shimazu Yoshihiro/Zaan, Maeda Toshiie/Lark, Matsu/Bramble, Akechi Mitsuhide/Reaper), you need to use those 4 to unlock Honda Tadakatsu/Iron OX, and the EXP multipliers are different for the 3 difficulties (they're slightly higher in SB). There's also the HD Collection, which has a built in "cheat" that unlocks everyone at Lv19, which effectively grants them all their moves from the start. The JP versions would already be about 2 hours longer. Only really asking since I prefer playing SB over DK.

I do have to note that the HD Collection is likely a bit slower for RTA runs due to saving since the game has to access the HDD rather than a memory card.

Have a little more on my mind, but I think this might be enough for now. I do play the entire series, so...