Another review of a Japanese game with fan service, while it's true that Deathsmiles can't be compared with Otomedius Excellent when it comes to suggestive content, I can't deny that the game has at least a little of fan service, the playable characters are possing suggestively in several menus, despite the fact that all the girls are under the age of 18, for the most part the girls are dressed decently however, for the most part, Follett and Rosa wear outfits that reveal some cleavage. Anyway, Deathsmiles was my third Xbox 360 game, I know that right now a review of Deathsmiles 2X would make more sense considering that the game takes place at Christmas and it's December...but, I haven't played Deathsmiles 2X, in fact, I don't have a single digital game for my Xbox 360, I can't review Deathsmiles 2X if I haven't played it, the sequel was released physically in Japan, but not the rest of the world...with all that said, this is my review.

Story: Perhaps this category barely reaches an 8 because this is a Shoot 'em up, but regardless of that, this game has a great story, more or less. The game is centered on the world of Gilverado, a world to which the playable characters arrive after disappearing in the real world, the manual mentions the tale of the Lost Children, ''Every day, children go missing, all across the globe.'' Some children are victims of circumstance, others are victims of crime, and then...''There were those who have opened the door to another world.'' Although it's not the most complex story of all time, it's an emotional story where every playable character used to live a normal life in the real world, and then somehow they arrive to another world ''where the power of the supernatural had not been forgotten,'' after defeating the final boss, you have the option of returning to the real world...or staying in Gilverado, it doesn't matter which option you choose, the ending is kind of sad, and if the different endings don't make you cry, then the song ''Saihate no yume'' (used during the credits when you play on Xbox 360 mode) probably will...the game is at least a little melodramatic, so...yeah, the game has a great story.

Graphics: Deathsmiles still looks great, to this day it's a 2D game with beautiful graphics, especially on Xbox 360 mode, the levels are varied in appearance, a graveyard, a volcano, a swamp...the levels look great, and some enemies are a little intimidating, the gothic style of the game was unique for its time, this game was released before Caladrius Blaze. The 2D art still looks great and the art style is fitting and unique, it's not my favorite art style but still, I really like the character designs. Overall, the game has amazing graphics, despite the fact that the game was developed originally for arcades, and also the fact that the Xbox 360 version was released before other games of the genre on the same console (Dodonpachi Saidaiojou was released after this game, for example).

Sound: The game has a better soundtrack than other 2D shooters, I think I like the soundtrack of Caladrius Blaze better, but I can't say that this game doesn't have great music at times, the final boss theme is a great use of classical music, I'm talking about Toccata and Fugue in D minor, the famous piece written by Johann Sebastian Bach. Most of the original music was composed by Manabu Namiki, said composer has also worked for other games developed by Cave, the themes composed by Manabu Namiki are sometimes great, the use of electric guitar and organ fits the game really well, overall the soundtrack is very fitting for the game considering the gothic style, Deathsmiles is a great game to play on Halloween. The song ''Saihate no yume'' was composed by Ryu Umemoto, and...it's a good song, it's far from being the saddest song of all time, but even so it has made me shed some tears...more than once. The fact that the game doesn't have an English dub bothers me, it might just be me, but that's something I definitely considered for this, especially because Aksys Games published another game of the same genre with an English dub before publishing Deathsmiles (Castle of Shikigami III)...it's not a big deal, but an English dub would be nice, Aksys games didn't even had a lot of dialogue to dub, unlike Castle of Shikigami III which has many lines of spoken dialogue, Deathsmiles has very little voice acting...why they didn't dub this game into English is unknown and definitely a little strange, especially when the game was released, in 2010.

Addictiveness: Unlike other 2D shooters, you don't have to unlock anything in Deathsmiles, everything is already available from the get go, some people might think that the game doesn't have a lot of replay value because of the lack of unlockable content, but in my opinion, the game is really fun to play and that is enough to make me play the game over and over again, not to mention the several modes of play. Deathsmiles has less playable characters than Otomedius Excellent but the gameplay itself is more fun and satisfying. You move two characters in a 2D environment, both characters can shoot in two 2 directions, left and right, and also, when you play on a specific mode (Ver 1.1 if I remember well), you can control the partner (familiar) of the playable character independently, holding down two specific buttons makes the characters move slower, but the attacks are also stronger. I've beaten this game more than 16 times, even though the game doesn't have unlockable content...Deathsmiles is a fun game and not much else, I don't have a problem with that.

Depth: You can beat this game in less than an hour, but the different endings and modes of play make you come back for more, it might not be the biggest game of its genre, but the game offers a lot, for what it is, it's a good package.

Difficulty: The game has unlimited continues, but beating this game without continuing is definitely a challenge, the highest difficulty, level 999, is incredibly challenging...at least for someone bad at 2D shooters like me...even if you play the levels on level 1 or 2, the final boss, Tyrannosatan, will be more difficult than the previous bosses, and that's without even mentioning the boss just before that, Jitterbug...he is also a difficult boss to defeat without taking damage more than once. Deathsmiles is more difficult than Otomedius Excellent, perhaps everyone can agree with that.

Deathsmiles is very fun to play, I can recommend this game more easily if you are a fan of 2D Shooters/Shoot 'em ups, if you aren't a fan of 2D shooters or have never played a game of the genre before, I recommend Otomedius Excellent...you can play this game even if you aren't a fan of the genre of course, I recommend this game to anyone who is interested, Deathsmiles is an amazing game after all...keep in mind that this game can be very challenging however...