Well, you may know the flaw in that. There are games like Galaga and Digdug, that have pretty much no information at all, with simple very simple gameplay as well. You learn pretty much nothing about who is fighting and why in the confines of the game. This is mostly because of the "arcade" feel of the games. They are intended to be a fast game, and a story would only waste quarters.
Which is why this game in particular is rather interesting...
Symphony is a rhythm game mixed with Galaga. The background music is your music, and the levels are built around it. Meaning you could be fighting sound-demon-polygons to classical music, rock, polka... As deep as your music library.
That's the main pull of the game. But as for the game itself...
The game is similar to a "bullet hell" type game (a game that has tons and tons of projectiles everywhere, and is completely frantic). Except that there aren't a ton of bullets coming your way. It's a whole bunch of enemies. If you ram into them, you're more than likely dead. If you get hit by one of their bullets, you're dead. You do have infinite lives, but it comes out of your score, which is used to upgrade your weapons and make fighting the enemies easier.
There are several different types of weapons in the game.
You start out with normal blasters. They shoot in a straight line and don't level up, they are very basic and are best replaced ASAP.
After the first song, you'll unlock the subwoofer. It is a music based weapon, that fires based on the song, and the strength is based on the song as well. It is actually very underwhelming compared to the other weapons. It might be cool to fight a boss with only subwoofers, but it'd be incredibly difficult.
Then there are rockets which you can set to fire off as soon as they reappear (the spawn time is about a second, probably less.) or let them all spawn for a powerful volley, cannons that can either: shoot powerful single bursts, a stream of weaker beams at high speeds, or medium bursts that will shoot forward and back (very useful when the enemies will be all around you). There is also a shotgun which fires off beams that scatter, and a "sprinkler" type cannon that shoots as it flails about. There is also a electrical charge attack, which is absolutely devastating... to whom it devastates depends on whether you planned for it's use or not.
Each weapon (and even the pick ups, which are bombs and invincibility (the bomb is called 1812 symphony. Invincibility doesn't get a special name.)) can be upgraded by spending points earned from songs. However, there is a special class of weapons: Furio. These weapons are stronger than the normal ones. Their level 3 is equal to the level 4 of the normal, and are significantly stronger at level 5 than the normal.
But, never mind the weapons... I mentioned something in the intro about story and arcade games. Why did I do that?
Because, this game that has gameplay that only lasts as long as a song, has a plot.
A demon is trying to enter the world through your music, he has captured 5 of the world's greatest composers and turned them into demons, and you have to fight the demons and their weird polygonal-light-spaceship minions and free the composers and your music!
Yes it is a simple plot, but it is unique since the game like this usually doesn't have a plot. And, strangely enough, the plot does make you want to keep playing. It actually makes you want to beat this demon/Elder God.
Well, that and the gameplay itself is addicting.
The enemies are quite fun, often forcing you to think on your toes and act strategically to survive an encounter.
The only thing I can say that is negative, is that the enemies tend to blend in with the environment too much. It'd be better if they would act inversely to the background, like red when it's blue and blue when it's red. That and it feels like the enemies should be "Mickey Mousing" ie, acting with and appearing with the music. But, it is an indie company, and they did a lot with what they had. Hopefully if they make a sequel, they'll make the adjustments. ^^
This has been Fixer Sue, finishing a review I wrote more than 2 months ago!
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