I struggled internally with this, but I decided to go with a more traditional shmup approach and not have a slow down feature, and the player speed was adjusted to allow for delicate-ish dodging without feeling too slow. This game is more Ikaruga than Tohou, I guess. If the screen was really filled with bullets like in Touhou games I would have went for it. Totally agreed about the intro being annoying upon replay. One of those quality of life improvements I just couldn't squeeze in. Thank you for playing!