Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 - S+ Rank Run [Part 3]
12This is part 3 of my Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 S+ rank run. Some rather lengthy stages await as both characters begin infiltrating The Garden. Here are my notes.
-Gunvolt's trek through Garden 1 is a harrowing experience; the stage is home to numerous precise Crashbolt combos, with the last one near the wall of spikes being quite the stickler for ending attempts. The long array of conveyors over bottomless pits do you no favors either, optimizing combos while standing on the belts demands a great deal of care. The cherry on top is fighting Desna as Gunvolt, which, in my opinion, contends for the title of the hardest fight, at least within the main story.
Unlike Copen, Gunvolt lacks the luxury of Bullit Dashing and rolling past Desna when she uses Neo Wolf, so you’re unfortunately left out in the cold to deal with the brunt of the attack the good old-fashioned way. Avoiding Neo Wolf as Gunvolt requires very specific movements; the kicker is that whether you choose to bait the move and dash away or attempt to jump over, you’ll always be subjected to luck in two distinct ways. Starting in phase 2, Desna can delay her lunge without notice, potentially causing attempts to jump over her leap to instead result in crashing right into her. For those who want to lure the lunge, Desna may choose to execute Neo Wolf twice in a row, pretty much mandating that you jump over her anyway.
None of this would be an issue, but depending on your perspective, you could describe Desna’s hitboxes during Neo Wolf as either hilarious, mortifying, or a combination of both. Oh, and her other attacks, while less threatening, still require attention: her hair drills have a nasty habit of wantonly barreling toward you whenever a phase change occurs, so stay frosty. If there was ever a fight that justified the triumvirate of the Michael Clip, Lover’s Lens and Septimal Surge, this would be it. Evidently, I’m too much of an obstinate masochist to alleviate the pain for myself.
Copen fares better, though, the first half of his Garden 1 is an ode to Doppler Stage 2 in X3 with its profuse love for vertical sections teeming with spikes. Climbing past the various elevator sections without dropping your Aerial combo is an ordeal, but it can be mastered given enough practice. Thankfully, Copen’s duel with the future leader of Team Aqua is significantly more tepid than what poor Gunvolt is subjected to.
-Garden 2 as Gunvolt is a tale of polar opposites. The opening 2 minutes are of commendable quality—highly reminiscent of something you'd see in the EX stages. Brush-Saws are strewn about, demanding well-calculated use of Crashbolt and especially of Dragonsphere. The second half, however, devolves into pure tripe: three sequential enemy arenas are thrown at you, resulting in a long stretch bereft of the rumination the first half required. Had the boss fights come right after the opening sector, nothing of value would've been lost.
Copen's variant of Garden 2’s first half is primarily a platforming section with a dash of combat. For some mysterious reason, you're awarded 2000 Kudos for merely completing it, I can't say I understand the logic; in Gunvolt's case, the 2-minute limit exacts pressure to execute a series of complex combos timely, so the reasoning holds water. I digress, despite also consisting of arenas, the second half as Copen is less offensive purely because his first half isn’t exactly illustrious.
The most perplexing part of the stage has to be the absolute smorgasbord of stairs prior to the boss fights. I can only surmise that Inti Creates must’ve taken inspiration from the Metal Gear Solid 3 ladder climb; the length of the run-up to the Hexapyle is well beyond unwarranted.
-Plasma Legion is a neat boss; none of its attacks are overly complex, but the presence of its Hexapyle-like barrier extends the fight just enough to keep you on your toes. When playing as Copen, his aerial superiority shines through once again; flying above and behind Plasma Legion allows you to spend nearly the entire fight repeatedly bouncing off its head. This isn’t wholly risk-free, Plasma Cannon can still clip Copen if you mistime your Bullit Dashes, and tagging Plasma Legion’s head so you can actually shoot it is surprisingly exacting. Because of these caveats, I find it questionable whether fighting normally or using this exploit is more expeditious. Nonetheless, it’s an interesting tactic, so I recommend giving it a shot if you haven’t. As an aside, the fact that this giant battle tank gets an SP Skill cutscene is oddly endearing, it gives the otherwise lifeless hunk of metal a modicum of personality.
Timestamps:
00:00 - The Garden | Desna [GV]
06:32 - The Garden | Milas [C]
12:34 - The Garden 2 | Asroc | Plasma Legion [GV]
19:59 - The Garden 2 | Teseo | Plasma Legion [C]
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