Characters

Sachiko and Yumi
Attack Power – 3
Attack Range – 5
Lock-on – 8

The game states this as the beginners choice thanks to their long attack range, wide bullet spread and rapid fire. I probably wouldn’t go with them period, myself, the other characters simply seems far more effective.

Shimako and Noriko
Attack Power – 4
Attack Range – 3
Lock-on – 10

The intermediate choice, and my prefered choice. Shimakos boomeranging crucifix fire has a decent range and a good coverage area, whilst Norikos shotrange bomb-like (or is that Jizu bead-like?) shots are really damaging – they may have a lower attack rating than Rei and Yoshino, but its pretty hard to actually see – if anything, you’ll probably find yourself sapping bosses energy gauges far more quickly with this pair, particularly with the ‘shot’ power-up.

Rei and Yoshino
Attack Power – 5
Attack Range – 2
Lock-on – 12

Expert choice. Reis attacks are really short-range without a ‘shot’ power-up. To attempt to make up for this they’ve given Yoshino a homing shot. The homing shot does make them good for picking up those stray enemies if you are going for a decent score, though its not very rapid fire. The high lock-on value seems to come at a cost – their lock-on attack seems weaker than the other
characters, some enemies other characters knock-out in a single attack takes two for them.