Polarity shift not always registering?

[v4l1k1r0]

I don't know, but I was a white ship fighting the first boss on normal, which is white, shooting white bullets, with minor black enemies shooting smaller black bullets interspersed with the white rain, i was white, so i absorbed all of the white and dodged the black ones, released fully charged shots once i could, and kept it going.

Until the second phase started, and i could see the boss charge something that looked to be black bullets, and I also thought, the boss has to change things up, so I pressed the polarity shift button, which should have made me black and prepared for the black bullet hail from the boss, but I died...and i looked the instant I died, and I was white after all...but I only pressed once. I should have been black at that point, and I pressed it at least 2-3 seconds before the shots came, and the transformation only takes like 60-70 ms.

And I swear this has happened other times as well, I press the polarity shift button, but I am still killed by the bullet I my preemptive shift was supposed to allow me to absorb, so what is going on? I am using a dualsense. But that works perfectly for everything else, so it can't be that, and I KNOW I pressed that button, I even saw the ship do the shift animation, but I still died...I just started playing this game, and I mean, I am not saying it is not a nonzero probability that I messed up, but i have been gaming for 30 years, I think I know what I am doing and I know the dualsense like the back of my own hand.

I did press the button, I did shift, but from white to white...I didn't become the opposite at all.
And that doesn't feel like something I did wrong, has anyone else experienced this?

I won't play it on steam if this is something that sometimes happens, how am I supposed to play it then. I will try dolphin and see if it happens there, seeing as I already paid for it.

[RAWRmonger]

I have never experienced shifting to the same color, and am wondering if giving the multiple (even) inputs could have this effect, if that is even what happened.

A window of 70ms (0.07 seconds?) seems short, but I could be wrong.
Just to be clear the (shield) absorption is not immediate, and that's why even pro players move downwards in sections like this (time: 21:33):
https://youtu.be/gss84eIGVWw?si=_KN7-yLeAUOJJTWw&t=1293

You are using direct inputs from the pad, like the game itself allows it, right? You're not, like, mapping the keyboard to the button keys, right?
Because the default keyboard binding - ZXC keys - produces ghosting on some keyboards, which means one key won't register while the others are pressed. All my laptops have had this and that's why I prefer the ZSDV keys. It's what I initially thought was your problem.

And finally, which Dualsense button are you using for the polarity shift? Not a trigger, I hope?

[v4l1k1r0]

I have not touched the input configuration at all, just the absolute default, so polarity shift is circle for me, while shooting is likely x, if i remember correctly. And it works like a charm whenever i do it, like 95 % of the time, enough to make me believe that this is instant and works perfectly.

But suddenly I am killed by a bullet I actually intercepted correctly and shifted accordingly, but I died anyway, because no shift happened...it's odd. So, I guess it's less of my shifting into the same color I was, and more like, just nothing happens at all, but I was looking at the bullets, not myself, so I didn't see fully if I did the shift animation into the same color, I also kind of doubt that happened, but I can try to do a recording, and see if it happens again, and I can post a link or something, if it actually does that. Would be interesting to see, but again, I doubt this is what is happening, I don't think the game is broken or anything, but I definitely pressed the button.

Perhaps just using keyboard and mouse is better? More precise and less prone to oddities like this?

But I can always just try again, but if this keeps happening, there is something weird keeping me from actually proceeding with the game...which would just be bad, i suppose.

[RAWRmonger]

I prefer keyboard alone because I game on laptops, so I can do without the peripherals. And I like their shallow keys.
The WASD + mouse scheme may be helpful, but moving the mouse it shows a "+" shaped cursor, and it can be distracting.
The pad will still be better for circular movements, and if you intend to get good at the game, it'll be the optimal choice.

I would suggest using the shoulder buttons (L1/R1, not the triggers) to shoot and switch instead, and a face button for homing. If you also intend to get good, you will need precise control over the rapid shot, and IMO those buttons tend to be best.

[v4l1k1r0]

Thank you. I will stick with the controller, and I do intend to get good. I will switch those buttons for the l1/r1 and see if that feels better for me.

Have a great day.