[big]Disclaimer: Regional differences might apply. This guide will be based on the Japanese version of the game. For more information about the differences between versions, click here to get to my "Region Differences Guide".[/big] ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Who Is This Guide For? I will assume that you've played the game at least once and thus I will won't need to explain the very basics. Therefore I will then instead talk about information in addition to the basics. I might still cover basic stuff however then I deem it important enough that anyone needs to know about it.
What Is The Focus of This Guide? The aim for this guide is to simply be a well detailed
The focus is simply to provide a well detailed guide with all information one might need to start running this game. Since this game is rather obscure and might not be well know it then lacks a ton of information. Therefore I will try my best to compile as much valuable and useful information I can while still keeping everything structured and easy to follow.
I will try to ignore as much unrelated topics and information as possible that might not involve speedrunning. Also, I'll start with the more basic topics and gradually progress towards the more advanced ones as this guide progresses.
Any Questions? If there are any issues with this guide, whether something is misspelled or explained poorly, do notify me and I’ll fix that. Furthermore if you feel there is something that should be added or expanded upon, don’t hesitate to let me know.
I’m open for questions from anyone, regardless what you may have troubles with I will try my best to help you!
**[big][section=The Setup][/big]**This section will cover the setup and introduce what emulator to use, version of the game and whatnot. If you don't play on emulator, feel free to skip those topics.
[big]What Emulator Is Best?[/big] There are always a bunch of different emulators to use for each console. Because I don't know about the accuracy of all different emulators I will at least mention the two most popular ones that I know of.
• DEmul - Recommended • NullDC - Another Option
I Recommend DEmul The reason I recommend using DEmul is because I have since the start used it and experienced no issues with it. I'm not saying it's the best, I'm simply sharing my experiences with the emulator. However if you feel there is an better option, feel free to try different ones.
[big]What Version Is Fastest? (JPN/USA/EUR)?[/big] Japanese Version Is Fastest I don't want to go into the details of why this is the case. If you want the reasonings why the Japanese version is the fastest, head over to my "Regional Differences" guide that you saw at the very top of this guide. To make a long story short, you deal more damage on the Japanese version compared to the others. Therefore the Japanese version is the definite and fastest version to speedrun this game.
[big]Button Configuration[/big] This is simply what works for me and may not be what suits you the best. I thought I should at least share what configuration I use when speedrunning. Try it and see if it works for you otherwise just change it around until you are comfortable. • [big]Button Configuration.[/big]
**[big][section=Controls & Moves][/big]**Here I will go through all of the basic controls and equipment as well as the more hidden attacks and moves that you may not know about. I will also talk about each and everyone of them to provide further knowledge.
[big]Terminology:[/big] •** Attack 1** (Vertical Attack) = 1 •** Attack 2** (Horizontal Attack) = 2
[big]Basics[/big] The general basics will be talked about here. Anything from moving, jumping and the basic attacks.
Movement If you change direction shortly after moving you will do so very quickly without having to turnaround. However if you are too slow you will notice your character doing a slow turnaround instead. To by-pass this issue you can then make sure you move in smooth circular motions when you want to turn around.
Additionally, if you run while unarmed you will move at a faster rate than usual.
Jump You can get different lengths on your jumps depending how early or late you perform the jump while into a run. If you do it shortly after starting to move you will perform a shortjump forward. Likewise if you were to wait a bit into your run you will then instead jump forward and cover more distance.
Also, when you land you will go into a specific landing state. While in this state you can perform a "Low Slice", Guard or Side/Forward/Backstep. This means you cannot perform certain actions right away after landing and thus need to wait a short moment before.
Attack 1 (Vertical Slice) This is the fastest as well as strongest attack you can perform (excluding equipments).
Because of this attack being vertical, this is great to use when in narrow or tight areas where your other attack otherwise would easily hit walls. This attack is also perfect to attack grounded enemies that you would otherwise have a hard time hitting. While it does have good damage, speed and such, it is open for attacks from your sides as you won't hit horizontally. This is needed to be thoughtful of as you use this attack.
Attack 2 (Horizontal Swing) This is a much slower attack than the previous one. It is a bit weaker however it will be very useful to hit multiple enemies at the same time. Therefore this is your best tool to keep large groups of enemies at bay. Keep in mind the slow startup which will leave you open to getting interrupted by enemies if you're not careful.
Toggle Sword (Sheath/Unsheathe) You can only sheath your sword while standing still and thus you will be open to attacks doing so. If you unsheathe your sword while running you will perform a large slash in front of you.
Also, while unarmed you will in general do actions much faster. This is using equipment, running faster and greater distance on side/forward/backsteps.
Equipment (Hold) This is not a toggle, so you will need to hold the button and then press the corresponding button depending which one of the four equipments that you want to use.
Guard (Hold) You can perform the Guard both unarmed as well as armed, however the results will vary. If you Guard unarmed you will still take damage, albeit less than normal, but gain no Berserk Meter at all. However if you Guard while armed you will take no damage at all. Furthermore, it does not matter where you get hit, the results are all the same. This means you can still get hit behind you and still be completely safe.
Keep in mind you can still get grabbed and certain attacks, generally Charge Attacks, will still be able and damage you and in rare cases even knock you down.
You can also cancel attacks with Guard, although only the very startup of the moves so you'll need to be fast.
Side/Forward/Backstep If you input a direction (left/right or up/down) while holding Guard, you will perform respectively either side/forward/backstep. You don't need to be fully guarding, just the tiny bit of startup is enough. Keep in mind if you do this unarmed you will get greater distances on your steps.
Slide If you input Guard while in the process of moving you will perform the slide. This is a very useful tool to get quickly forward as well as low-profile enemies and get past them. If you slide into an enemy you will do very slight damage but the more useful thing is you will usually knock them down. This is the case for mostly the smaller enemies as the larger ones usually only gets slightly staggered. Sometimes you can re-launch already downed enemies with your slide, this is useful if enemies seems to block your path.
You can cancel the slide at any time into any attack as well as your jump.
[big]Equipment[/big] Keep in mind if you are unarmed you will use your equipment faster, this is at least the case for the Arm Cannon.
Fairy Dust This is used to fully restore your health. There will be situations that you cannot use it, this is commonly while being grabbed and a slight moment afterwards. Therefore you should heal up before if you fear of getting grabbed than might kill you but then you cannot heal and thus you die.
Arm Cannon The most powerful attack you can use in this game. It will almost always one-shot enemies, and even bosses depending on difficulty. It has great range and hits in a fairly large area. It seems to also hit all around you, although the enemies needs to be fairly close for that to occur. The Arm Cannon will also "snap" and track nearby enemies which is very useful.
Firing the Arm Cannon will push you back after used. If you also use it while running you will carry some momentum before stopping and firing your shot. It seems that if you fire it while being armed you will experience greater pushback after use. This pushback is also similar to Slide/Tackle on bigger enemies, which means that it will stagger enemies as well as damage them slightly.
Bombs These explodes in an area that is fairly large and therefore is very useful against large groups of enemies. The damage is also pretty high, although not quite as damaging as the Arm Cannon.
If you stand still you will simply throw it forwards, however if you use it while moving you will drop it behind you without having to stop. It also has the properties of sticking to a surface. This means if you hit a wall or enemies, it will stick to it until it explodes.
Throwing Knives You will always have infinite amounts of Throwing Knives but is because they don't deal very much damage.
If used while standing still you will merely throw it but if used while moving you will lunge forward and throw it and then come to a stop.
[big]Unarmed Attacks[/big] Unsheathe Slash If you unsheathe while moving you will do a fairly large horizontal swing in front of you. This is quite useful when you want to run unarmed but then quickly get back into action.
Punch (Attack 1) If you don't feel comfortable swinging your sword in narrow areas you can consider using your fists. Your punches will not be affected by walls which makes it much easier to fight although the damage is rather weak.
Repeater Crossbow (Attack 2) If you press it once you will only fire 2 shots, however if pressed a second time it will fire a total of 9 shots. Additionally, if used while running you will come to a stop while firing 9 shots, covering from left to right.
Tackle This requires you to be running for a moment before able to tackle, otherwise you will simply stop and perform a normal punch instead. Similarly to the Slide it does a small amount of damage and knocks over smaller enemies and stagger larger ones.
[big]Jump Attacks[/big] Keep in mind that you can combine many of these, like you can do an "Up Slice" to "Down/Low Sweep" if you want.
Up Slice You will need to jump and then before reaching the top of your jump, use Attack 1. You can do it early or late. It will also usually launch smaller enemies and knock them down.
Down Slice You will need to jump and then when you get to the top of your jump, use Attack 1. This will perform a downwards attack while falling down. This is useful to hit downed enemies.
This can be combined with the "Up Slice" into a combo to first launch and then "spike" them down.
Low Sweep You will need to jump and then after you start fall down for a short moment. At this point you can either there and then use Attack 1 or simply wait until you land and perform it as well.
This will perform a low attack when you reach the ground. It can be useful for hitting downed enemies.
Down Metal Punch This is done like the "Down Slice" except you are unarmed instead. In other words while falling downwards after your jump you use Attack 1.
Similarly to the "Down Slice" you will then instead use your Metal Arm and attack downwards.
[big]Hidden & Special Moves[/big] Whirlwind Attack You must press Jump and Attack 1 simontainsly or it won't come out. It does work regardless if armed or not and doing so you will do a "Whirlwind" attack that then ends in a forward attack.
This is a great option when surrounded by a bunch of enemies and you don't know what else to do. Do not overused this as when you hit an enemy your health will be slightly drained.
You can use this while guarding too, simply press the buttons and you will go from a Guard into the Whirlwind Attack. Great to block all damage and then clear the enemies to get out of a bad situation.
360 Charge Spin All you need to do is hold Attack 1 for a short time and then it will be charged up. Letting go of it will perform the attack where you will, similar to the "Whirlwind Attack", do a 360 swing into a low attack.
It is fairly risky to go for because of the fact you need to charge it up and that leaves you wide open to attacks to interrupt you. This requires your awareness of your surrounding to be effective with.
**Arm Cannon into Whirlwind ** First you need to start the Arm Cannon and once it's started, simply do a Attack 1. Then you will perform a similar attack to the "Whirlwind Attack" but you will instead moving slightly backwards and not drain any health for doing so. It does however have plenty of recovery frames afterwards and it's very situational if at all. This is unless you are shooting someone in front of you and have enemies behind you and it might work to be useful.
[big]Combos[/big] Terminology: •** X,Y** = X then press Y •** Attack 1** (Vertical Attack) = 1 •** Attack 2** (Horizontal Attack) = 2
Armed Combos 1,1: Two-Slice 1,1,1: Three-Slice 1,1,1,1: Four-Slice 1,1,1,1,1: Five-Slice
2,2: Double Swing 2,2,2: Triple Swing
1,2: Uppercut Swing 1,1,2: Three-Swing Backstep 1,1,1,2: Overhand Chop 1,1,1,1,2: Uppercut Finisher 1,1,1,1,2,2: Uppercut into Horizontal Swing
Unarmed Combos 1,1: Jab into Gut Punch 1,1,1: Uppercut Finish
**[big][section=Advanced Concepts][/big]**Here I will feature information that might not be basic but more advanced. This is where you progress even further and get a deeper understanding of the game as a whole.
[big]Berserk Mode[/big] The best way to talk about what happens while getting into Berserk Mode, is simply with a list.
Berserk Enhancements • Attacks Are Faster (Including Arm Cannon) • Increased Damage Dealt • Greater Resistances To Attacks • More Resistant To Stagger/Interrupts/Knocked Down • Damage Drains Berserk Meter Instead of Real Health • Attacks Are Not Affected By Walls
Keep in mind that Berserk Meter is reseted between stages so use it well.
[big]What Affects The Berserk Meter?[/big] There is many different ways that increases your Berserk Meter and some that doesn’t, below I’ve listed everything I’ve found works and doesn’t. Keep in mind that all methods to increase Berserk Meter are all the same amount of gains, except taking damage which is way more gains.
No Berserk Increase • Guard • Equipment • Repeater Crossbow
Berserk Increase • Taking Damage • Normal Attacks • Slide/Tackle
Rapid Berserk Decrease • Standing Still Doing Nothing
Normal Berserk Decrease • Movement/Attacks
[big]Cancelling Attacks[/big] After you start an attack you can cancel the startup of it into either a side/forward/backstep as well as Guard. This is extremely useful if you have accidentally swinged in the wrong direction or if you notice that you started a combo that has too many attacks than you need to kill the enemy.
Instead of waiting for the attacks to finish you can then simply cancel it. Keep in mind you can only cancel the very startup of moves and not those who have already started it's attack.
[big]Canceling Slides[/big] You can cancel slides into pretty much everything, the exceptions being another Slide as well as Guard. This means you can cancel your slides into a jump and thus you can perform jump attacks. You can also do any form of Attack 1/2 or even equipments such as Arm Cannon or Bombs.
[big]Breaking Grabs[/big] This will only cover the grabs that you actually can escape from. Grabs from bosses cannot be broken from.
Results • Spinning Control Stock = Works • 2 Button Mashing (A/B/X/Y) = Works • Individual Button Mashing = Doesn't Work
Conclusion: It seems that you either have to spin the control stick or mash a minimum of 2 buttons (A/B/X/Y) to escape a grab. Then we can conclude that the fastest and safest option would be to combine these two methods and do spin the control stick while simultaneously mashing all 4 buttons.
[big]Knockdown Cancel[/big] There are certain attacks that will knock you down after you get hit. However you can get around this by simply mashing any attack that can be done while in the air, which is only Attack 1. This can be performed both Armed and Unarmed as seen in the video.
Why this works is because you will be considered in the air for a short period of time, therefore we can perform an Attack 1 during this short state and get out an attack to avoid getting knocked down.
Therefore the conclusion is to simply mash Attack 1 if you feel you are going to get knocked down and you will have a high chances of avoided this.
[big]Faster Getup[/big] It might be hard to tell if it's actually faster as it's very minimal. However it doesn't really matter as you cannot do much anyway, therefore you should always spin the control stick to get up that tiny bit faster than usual.
**[big][section=Not Essential But Useful][/big]**Here I will mention things that are good to know about but will not necessarily be the most important in terms of speedrunning.
[big]Equipment Capacity[/big] I will from here on and out refer to the equipments as follows: Fairy Dust/Arm Cannon/Bombs
You will always start with the same amount of equipment at all times, regardless of difficulty. This means you will also start with 1/1/3 at all times.
Likewise with the max capacity will not change regardless of difficulty and they will also be a max of 5/2/9.
[big]Hidden Items & Breakable Objects[/big] While playing the game there will be certain breakable objects, these comes in forms such as barrels or clay posts, etc.
If you were to destroy these objects, given they actually can drop an item, you will then be rewarded with said item. Not every object will have an item, even if you can destroy it. In other words, there are no randomness involved.
Furthermore you will only get a drop if you have below the max capacity of that item. If you have max you will get nothing at all.
[big]Stage Clear[/big] After clearing a stage you will have the text “Clear” come up on the screen. You will always get your health fully restored and also get your Berserk Meter drained. In certain stages you will also receive some rewards along with you. Keep mind if you play with “No Limit Mode: On” you will never get a reward, it will always display “Clear” only as stages with no rewards does.
You will receive a maximum of 1x Fairy Dust, 1x Arm Cannon and 2x Bombs. This is only if you don’t already have the max capacity of the equipments. If you already have full it will give you 0x of that item and likewise if you have for example 8/9 Bombs, you will only receive 1x Bomb in that case.
Stage Reward List[/big] I won't include the final boss as it's obvious you will not get any reward from completing it.
I made a list below featuring all stages (except last boss) that will show if you get a reward or not. This will in return be very useful so you can plan ahead and use items which you might otherwise already have the max capacity of and thus waste a chance of restock.
- ** Hijack!** - No reward 2.** Boss: Job** - Reward 3.** Castle Dungeon** - No Reward 4.** Night Streets** - No Reward 5.** Cemetery** - Reward 6.** Forest** - Reward 7.** Mandrake Town** - No Reward 8.** Boss: Great Tree-Niko** - Reward 9.** Boss: Zodd the Immortal** - Reward 10.** Night Streets Revised** - Reward 11.** Boss: Baron Balzac** - Reward 12.** Boss: Great Tree-Casca** - Reward
[big]Equipment Management & Rewards[/big] This is simply meant to remind you to actually use your equipments and not waste the chances of free restocks after clearing certain stages.
The most notable example of this is you will normally be at Great Tree-Niko where you usually have a full capacity of 2x Arm Cannons. However you will always get 1x Arm Cannon after the fight regardless, therefore it is crucial to use it during the fight when you will get it back afterwards anyways. This type of planning will help take your runs to the next level, the idea of managing your current equipment numbers and rewards.
[big]Enemy Spawn Invincibility Frames[/big] This is crucial to be aware of as otherwise you might put yourself in a dangerous situation by swinging right through an invincible target.
I don't know exactly how long the invincibility frames last, but usually when they move it should be alright to start attacking. Therefore it’s recommended to either target an already spawned enemy or simply wait a little bit before going in on them.
[big]Trigger For Doors/Gates/Bridges[/big] In many areas across the game you will need to kill a specific amount of enemies in order to open up something that blocks you from progressing further. This is usually in the form of standard doors, gates or even a bridge but can also trigger cutscenes and even QTEs.
For this purpose I want to focus on the physical things that opens up.
This is the issue, even if you have done the prerequisite for opening the doors and whatnot it might still not open. This is because you can actually block and stop the opening of such objects from happening. This is usually if you are too close while also already killed the enemies needed. Therefore you can either finish off your enemies a bit away from the doors or simply just move away from it and then approach it again to restart the trigger for it to open.
This is a must to be aware of as otherwise you might sit there waiting and wasting tons of seconds where you otherwise could simply just have backed away and made it open.
**[big][section=Playlists][/big]**This section will feature my playlists for the game, both collections of all categories as well as some tips and tricks.
[big]Speedruns[/big] This is merely my playlist with all of my speedruns of the categories for this game. I made this for easy access so you won't have to go through all different runs to find the videos.
[big]Tips and Tricks[/big] This playlist contains various helpful videos that may cover obscure game mechanics that might help you in your runs.
**[big][section=Links & Resource][/big]**Here I will list useful and convenient links that will be helpful with additional information.
[big]Resources Page[/big] The most resources you need will always be found on the "Resources" tab on this site. This will range anything from download links to emulators, BIOS, ROMs, Save Files, etc.
[big]Discord Link[/big] I truly recommend you to join the Discord since it's the perfect place to ask questions and get help with various problems you may face.
[big]GameFAQs[/big] There may be some information that I've decided to not include due to not being relevant or for whatever reason. It might still be useful to some and therefore I've included the link here.
[big]All Unlockables Guide[/big] A guide I made which will show you how to unlock various content in the game.
[big]Difficulty Differences Guide[/big] This guide will show the various differences of all difficulties in the game.
[big]Regional Differences Guide[/big] Even though this is mentioned at the beginning of this guide I still want to include it here just for convenience sake. This will obviously teach you about the regional differences (JPN/USA/EUR) and how they affect speedrunning this game.
