Shm'up meets RPG - Recommendations

[ThePurplePantywaist]

(Classic) Shmup + RPG (or roguelite with permanent progression)


You do your "classic" (eg R-Type, Gradius, Twinbee etc) Shmup-Levels, collect resources or currency, upgrade or buy new weapons, do news Shmup levels etc (or redo old levels to grind), until the campaign is finished.

[ThePurplePantywaist]

Black Paradox
Fighting evil forces in 1980s space
(sidescrolling shmup with rpg (unlock more and better chips) & roguelite elements (enemies in stages are random, bosses are fixed)
Overall ok

Ginga Force
classic shmup in a JRPG-setting, can buy different weapons and equipment. if you earn a bonus life in a stage, you keep that it, when replaying the stage (and can get another one etc).
Great game, although very light on the RPG/Roguelite. The mechanic that you keep bonus lifes for later tries is great.

Soundfall
Saving the world of music in ARPG-style
a rhythm game (you have to shoot with the beat) and twin stick shooter with xp and equipment
It is pretty good at what it does, however I was whelmed at best

Xenoraid
fighting evil aliens in spaaaaaace
4 ships, which you switch on the fly and upgrade
Not very long, and the upgrade paths are fixed, but a competent game

Natsuki Chronicles
Improved sideway view version of Ginga Force, just the bosses are not that great.

Patch Quest
researching a mysterious island, finding remnants of lost civilization and cataloguing unknown species
Twinstickshooter meets Roguelite and Metroidvania
This one is pretty great and rather child-friendly, although too drawn out.

Jets'n'Guns
This game was kind of my gateway into this topic and genre. It is as described above - classic shm'up vertical shooting, but you can outfit your ship with a lot of different weapons and equipment.
somewhat parodistic setting,

Jets'n'Guns 2
More of the same, however the game is rather short, but you are supposed to play it several times through to unlock more whatever. I did not do it.

Cosmonator
classic shmup, get currency upgrade to weapons and equiment (health, shield) and buy spells (like more damage for some time, shoot a big fireball). There is clearly a lot of thought and love by the makers, but still I did not enjoy it that much - maybe because the shmup-gameplay was rather slow and not very extraordinary, or maybe because many upgrades did not have much effect during the levels.

Gear Shifters
car shooter on highways in post-apocalyptic Europe
You drive a car in topdown view along a road, and you shoot at other vehicles and they shoot at you. You can also ram them. You get money and can buy upgrades and different types of weapons.
The concept is rather limiting.

[ThePurplePantywaist]

The following games have been recommended do me, but I have not played them yet:

Drainus

Nier Automata

Nova Drift

[ThePurplePantywaist]

Honorable mentions


Undertale
It does have Shmup and RPG mechanics

Jet Lancer
It is a "gravity shooter" (like Luftrausers, no idea how that sub-genre is called). You get different equipment, and with the right equipment you can get a different ending (in a second playthrough)

The EDF-Franchise
In most of those games you defent Earth against giant athropods. They drop health, which is permanent, and new weapons, which you can equip. Wind Diver is a (really short) horizontal shmup, while 4.1 is a 3rd person shooter, which probably is better in coop. I haven't played the others, but at least 5 is supposed to be pretty similar to 4.1.