I played Ultra Extra and I got a shitty failed run which lost to Sengo's final (2nd phase) here.I subsequently cleared Ultra Extra with 2 lives left!(I haven't played maingame and I probably don't intend to :V)
Some of my impressions on the whole thing (I'm just one voice of many so don't trust my opinion too much):
I particularly liked Sengo's first few nonspells, they were difficult but doable for the most part. The last two nonspells were less dodgeable for me, but then again it's ultra so I'm not expecting to be able to read everything.
The spells were quite well done for the most part, particularly Sengo's. The only spells I had to attrition (I don't have much experience with this patch, though) are Double Sacrilegious Nyuudou and Higan River Deluge. The rest mostly had good places to bomb and shotgun to ease the pain on your resources, so well done in that respect.
However, Sengo's survival continues to be a massive drain on resources; I'd rather not spend 7 or 8 bombs and 3 or 4 lives on a single spell. I don't want it to be nerfed either because it's, well, an ultra patch after all, so I was wondering if it would be feasible to lower the bomb piece requirement for a bomb to, say, 4 (or maybe 3? I have no idea how balanced it'd turn out). Maybe it'd give people slightly more resources for a better chance to clear. Then again, this is just my first impressions. Maybe it's perfectly fine and I'm just too scrub to be able to clear this lol (Turns out it was just me not managing my resources properly, it's fine as it is. No need to change anything.)
That's really it. I quite enjoyed it honestly. I'll probably come back and try to clear it when I feel like it. (And I did!) Nice patch!