Rockin Android isn't a stranger to the shoot em up genre, but many of them are often of an on-rails nature. Diadra Empty forgoes such a structure for an arena, and that makes for some crazy times. But perhaps it's a little too chaotic and unforgiving.  

The game is fairly simple. You are a magical girl who rides a broomstick and shoots magic at monsters. There is a story, but it's told in tiny snippets in between levels, so it's not the main draw. Instead, you will be too busy dealing with the hordes of enemies coming into the map. The game screen is one big arena where you have to deal with waves of monsters and dodge bullet hell attacks. Defeated enemies drop coins, which you can draw towards you by not attacking. 

As far as combat goes, there are a number of options that one can use to survive the enemy. The coins are used to buy upgrades in-between levels like reduced damage, stronger weapons, or speed increases. It's pretty fun to improve your combat capabilities and destroy waves in a horde mode like setting. However fun the game might be though, there are some harsh design choices that keep it from being more enjoyable than it is.

While the game makes weaving through enemies easy with a dash button, and while you can launch bombs, the bombs themselves aren't instantaneous. But more than that, the sprites are just a bit too small. When there's a million things on screen, it's often hard to see where you are, leading to some accidental damage. While the game does try to buffer damage taken with a shield which regenerates after awhile, it's not very lenient towards failure. Death means either continuing, of which you only get two chances, or a game over. Worse yet, any leveling up you have done is wiped clean. Your only sense of improvement comes from the various unlockable weapon types that are gained through repeated play and the improvement of skill. Without a strong story urging players to get better, it's mainly obsession and spite that will see a player continue with the game. It feels more like a horde mode, and it's even somewhat treated like one. It's mainly a game for hardcore enthusiasts who want to challenge themselves. But for those wanting that challenge, it's not a bad deal for six dollars. 

The Bottom Line: A fun but insanely hard shoot em up that might have benefited from having more continues being available. 

Acquisition method: Digital code was provided by Rockin Android.