okay! hellsinker is maybe one of the coolest, most secretly influential shmups of all time. it takes a lot of cues from more outright action games, by having your characters do different moves based on things like button combos and timing. this combined with its focus on story (i always joke that if tonnor's writing were in an 80 hour vn instead of an 80 hour shmup it would be a titan of the genre) and mystery (the game genuinely leaves so many things, both minor and major, a complete secret until you see them in action) that it feels totally unique and captivating. this comparison doesnt work on the story level but if you ever got sucked in by la-mulana's focus on an intricate totality and always leaving the next surprise up its sleeve, it feels like that.

also zun totally copied it for subterranean animism