Bullet hell style games have never been my thing. I find them really stressful and hard to actually beat. That’s why I was so surprised that I had a good time with Parry Nightmare, which feels like a bullet hell that is stuck in slow motion, giving you a helper and allowing you breathing space as you play.
You get to play as Honno-chan, who is trapped with her friend in her nightmare. Instead of actually firing out bullets in Parry Nightmare, you are stunning enemies that are then completely destroyed by the little flame that is helping you. This flame isn’t very fast or very slow, instead just capturing the enemies once they are stunned at their own pace.
You can build up a combo through attacking the enemies around you, and even throw out larger blows which revert all of the bullets flying your way and instantly eliminate the enemies on the screen. Often this can get you out of a pinch, as the screen does become completely overwhelmed with enemies and slow moving bullets, inching towards you.
You are collecting light in Parry Nightmare and once you fill the bar completely, you are able to finish the level and wake up. The whole story behind this game is that you are currently in a nightmare, asleep but trying to wake up so that you can go back to your real world. The enemies are sleep-related monsters, at first appearing as open eyes.
Over time, you can also transform Honno-chan, to become more powerful and enraged. The little fire friend of yours doesn’t change as far as I can tell, and is just dutifully by your side the whole time. I got to play a bit of Parry Nightmare at Gamescom, where I enjoyed my time fighting through waves of enemies.
Parry Nightmare currently doesn’t have a release date, but you can wishlist it now on Steam.
