I have never been a fan of bullet hell games reason being is that I always can’t keep up with the action that is going on the screen and I usually give up if it is too hard but as for Sora I liked it in fact I loved it and it is quite addictive, because it is manageable for me and I could say I did have a great time playing Sora. Sora tells the story of its namesake: the lone enhanced human, Sora, and her struggle to protect a fading world. Enjoy breathtakingly fast-paced combat in the Suguri universe, with improved game system and graphics along with original trance music by DEKU.

Onto the gameplay elements, I absolutely adore the “customization” that you can bring in 3 weapons of your choice which could be unlocked by progressing in the game which will be stronger than the stock weapons that is provided when you start out, and you can either use the unlocked weapons or just use the stock weapons to make the game more challenging.

In Sora sometimes you may find yourself using a sword or a melee attack which at first glance seems dangerous but it is a high risk high reward type of attack because when the attack connects, a short term and small barrier is formed that blocks off incoming attacks and that is what made the melee attack useful and usable.

I am playing Sora on PC with a keyboard and the controls are good. The default settings are are well thought out and it can be fully customize allowing you to bind any buttons you want on the keyboard. [no cramping of 2 hands onto 1 side of the keyboard] I think having a good controls are very important because who wants to play a game with 2 hands overlapping each other? That would be pure discomfort and a hassle to play.

A element you will take notice off is the soundtracks, the soundtracks are really great they fit into the battle that is happening in your screen it just makes the whole game feel more immersive and “cool” like you are really part of the fight, I absolutely love the soundtracks.

Do i recommend Sora? Yes, I definitely recommend you to pick it up if you are a fan off bullet hell and great soundtracks.
In addition, everyone who owns Sora will receive a free bonus character in 100% Orange Juice on Steam.

Click here for the full review there is videos and images

Amazing game. Played it years ago, and willing to shell out more money to support the developer.

Tons of weapons, nice music, good gameplay, and great overall presentation. Amazed it took this long for this game to be released on steam.

Video of me showing off the Special version of bosses with weapons. Don't worry, you can put the game on easy and anyone should be able to enjoy it as well.

https://youtu.be/4xdQcWnQ-yo

At the time of this writing, I have completely beaten Sora on easy mode in a span of 2 hours with the default loadout, no I’m not kidding.

So I think it’s time for me to write a review on this particular type of schmup game that is Sora. Also note that I initially bought another version of this game on GamersGate a year ago which explains how I was able to beat it so easily. The game (on GG) is unpurchasable as far as I know. Of course, this version easily takes that juicy cake.

To begin with, Sora is basically a unique 2D side-scrolling bullet hell game similar to Suguri from the same company that made the popular board game 100% Orange Juice where you play as a young biogenetically enhanced/engineered human girl and defected soldier named Sora through 9 stages (including tutorial and extra stage) in the Suguri/Sora universe and let me warn you, this thing is ♥♥♥♥ hard even on easy. I only managed to beat it because of the countless hours I spent on the Ωth’s version.

Now what makes this one different from the Ωth’s is that now it has better translation, window/fullscreen/borderless mode support, better visual quality and all that other fancy smancy stuff.

To the actual review:

I am quite familiar with the Suguri/Sora universe and thus I could absorbed some of the scenes and reference they made. I don’t believe you need to pick up Suguri first if you haven’t yet since there are little said scenes in these 9 stages. Though if you did get Suguri first then you’ll probably able to piece the timeline together. *cough* Sora is a prequel of Suguri *cough*

One word: “repetitive”. Since even on easy you’ll get rained on by a lot and I mean A LOT of ♥♥♥♥♥torms coming for Sora’s head, you will inevitably die from turning to a wrong corner. Expect much rage on this one. Heck I even screamed because some boss had a speck of health left and turned ♥♥♥♥ing Rambo before I had time to shield up. Though by reaching a certain milestone, you can unlock different weapons.

Can even run on a potato-powered toaster(not really) and looks better than Suguri. The colorful sparks and light effects from beams and explosions are also enjoyable to watch and add to the fast-paced and intensity of any battle. Epileptics be warned. Also for those who played on a potato-powered toaster, things may get clunky if you have too much bullets filling up your screen.

There are tracks that I am not fond of and there are tracks that are one of my most favorite track of all time. Sometimes you just don’t pay attention to the music at all since the high paced gameplay gives you no room to enjoy them. If you get the chance, try to listen to some of them it’s possible to rip them off from the .dat file but don’t ask me how. There are music tracks with English vocals too. For me those are a nice touch.

There are Japanese voice acting but limited only in the final boss fight. This is just frostings on the cake but you’ll get to hear what the deadpan Sora sounds like. Easily 10/10 out of me

You can play it on a keyboard or a standard XInput controller or even a DirectInput controller. I used the latter (I live in the Stone Age I know). I recommend playing it on a controller. It allows for easier controls and may reduce difficulty significantly for most people since you’ll become more nimble. Keyboard works… but stupid. Just stop… please.

My Verdict (8.5/10)
A fast-paced bullet hell game that will guarantee you some sort of rage if you don’t have what it takes to dodge any sort of projectile coming towards you. Also requires a lot of reflexes and hand eye-coordination skillz. The game is enjoyable for a few hours and the repetitiveness will get to you eventually except for those who enjoy unlocking new weapons and achieving high scores or just enjoy spending time with Sora in general. *cough* like me *cough*
Minus one because of a certain bug involving the big ♥♥♥ sword and half a one for repetitiveness.

Check out my nifty Sora-related artworks over at my profile gallery

don't let my play time fool you, i played a lot of hours in this game before it was release on here. prequel to suguri(and suguri 2) series and tells the story how earth was almost destroy by the human race. near the end of the war, a female soldier appeared on the battlefield. her name was sora(named after the sky for Japaneses) and the most advanced cyborg on earth, sora ditch her army and goes out and save the earth before its too late.

best story in the series, being more darker than "suguri" and way better music thanks to Deku, who returns to do the music(i highly suggest buying the game ost. its a must and you won't be disappointed).

the art is more up to date than suguri(maybe one day oj will release a remaster of sugurui and QPshu1) and the background is very beautiful(being the stage you fight sham).

if you played suguri, then its pretty much the same but now you can have 1 extra weapon this time around and sweet weapons to unlock(zapper being the best weapon).

unlike other bullet hell games, suguri series has a health bar. so no 1 hit kills.

if you love bullet hell games, then buy this gem.

if you love oj games like QPshu or suguri, then buy this game.

sora my waifu. THERE I SAID IT :V u happy ♥♥♥♥♥ u weebs?

ps: the bug with old ios(xp and vista) is fix. it's safe to buy for XP/Vista now. no more odd hitboxes.

so don't have fear in buying the game if you have xp/vista

Sham is a cutie <3

Bullet hells are typically fairly formulaic in fashion, mostly being based around pure dodging in a vertically-oriented screen space with focused movement, small hitboxes allowing for grazing and oftentimes you have your standard bullet-cancelling scoring tricks. Orange Juice had subverted most of these tropes in Suguri, and continue to polish their style of danmaku gameplay in the sequel Sora.

The main nuance to this series is that instead of the standard focused movement, you can perform a dash that sends you flying quickly across the screen. This dash allows you to phase through bullets and standard lasers, but you are still susceptible to physical obstacles such as rockets, dashing also builds up your heat gauge which makes you take even more damage (up to 3 times more damage at 300%). This along with the dashing being used to cancel out shot inputs makes most of the depth in this game, as fighting becomes a visceral mix of shooting and dashing around enemy bullets and rockets, as you try to destroy everything as fast as possible. The potential of these mechanics are realized as each boss plays differently and demand different skills and understanding of mechanics from the player. For example, Tsih can temporarily go invisible meaning that you cannot lock-on to them during this time and you will have to use melee attacks against them, whereas Sham surrounds you with smaller swarming enemies which require switching your lock-on frequently.

Although you can phase through most projectiles, this game is in no way easy. If you are new or relatively new to the series like I was when starting this game, it will take you a while to get used to the fast pace of enemy attacks and the sheer density of projectiles at certain points. The game has quite a steep learning curve that will challenge those experienced with bullet hells along with a grading system at the end of each stage which makes the act of playing Sora feel rewarding and addictive.

Like its predecessor, Sora oftentimes feels like a blend between a fighting game and a shmup, especially due to the addition of swords and other melee weapons that you can use. The scoring system capitalises on this, as it rewards players who can play aggressively and take out hordes of enemies swiftly without taking damage. The addictive mechanics are topped off with an improved visual presentation from Suguri and a great trance-style soundtrack that succeeds in giving each boss a lasting impression.

All in all, Sora feels like an ideal sequel to suguri, as it further expands on the innovations made by suguri with new weapons, abilities, boss fights and certain balance changes. If you are at all a fan of the doujin circle Orange_Juice you would be doing yourself a great disservice by missing out on Sora.