Thanks for replying! That's pretty fair about Ren'Py, I suppose. I like it personally but it would be tough to make something like this in it. All depends on what your goal with the project is I guess.
Huh, I definitely would not have picked up on those being inspirations if you didn't mention them, although that does make sense now. Certainly not ones I would've guessed but again they've made this a much more interesting experience in that case.
I'm fan of both VNs and shmups/bullet hells so I can't complain about that - I hope that all goes well and I'll be looking forward to it!