Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 - S+ Rank Run [Part 5]

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DZ3

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Published on November 3, 2023 9:00:09 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6EK1Clun3o

Game:

Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 (2016)

Duration: 18:30

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This is part 5 of my Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 S+ rank run. The Secret Missions begin, with Gunvolt and Copen taking on each other’s exclusive stages. Here are my notes.

-Gunvolt’s Downtown houses a few Buzz-Saw Throwers; they act as stalwart guardians, protecting any enemies lurking behind them. Without movement-enhancing gear, Skill jumps serve as a reliable way to hop over them and gain access to more optimal combos. I find Crashbolt to be the easier candidate to work with in terms of timing the jump, but using it over Dragonsphere for this purpose carries the risk of outright destroying any enemies in its vicinity. I recommend experimenting with both options during any scenario that calls for a Skill jump to assess the viability of each. Aside from that, Fazent’s pursuit as it attempts to gun down Gunvolt is trickier to handle than with Copen, owing mostly to the few enemies floating about as you escape. Ignoring them is fine, but it’s not too difficult to chart a path for getting Kudos out of them either; use the nearby checkpoint for easy practice.

-Copen's flight through the Seraph Interior sees the reintroduction of the Mini MRLS; presumably absent from Gunvolt's intro stage due to Inti Creates feeling oddly altruistic. Thankfully, Copen's flight and automatic Flashfield invalidate whatever threat the irritating tanks could pose; instead, they're relegated to GCEX fodder. This stage is also one of the few where the time limit can come into play, there are several instances where soldiers, especially the missile launcher ones, can be pushed around to create lucrative scoring opportunities. I finished with just under a minute to spare, so in hindsight, I could’ve taken the time to group the two poor fellows near the first Brush-Saw together for a Twintail Bunkers GCEX. At the same time, it certainly would’ve been pace-breaking, especially considering I already implemented a time-consuming tactic at the start of the second half with unlocked Stellar Spark. As always, striking a balance between speed and score is key, particularly in levels with more stringent time demands.

-Gunvolt’s rapid vertical ascent of Babel is a blast; it’s easily one of the best-paced levels in the game, even with the oddball 5-Strike I spend a chunk of time on near the end. Highly evocative of the Neo Arcadia Tower from MMZ, both halves contain several perilous platforming sections laced with spike pits and disappearing platforms, accompanied by oddly spaced enemy groups that lend themselves to complex, highly precise movements and tagging schemes. Also like the Neo Arcadia Tower, some enemies are sequestered in ways that naturally pique curiosity regarding how to go about approaching them, something not every stage achieves quite so effortlessly as Babel does. The aforementioned 5-Strike is the predominant example of this, but the 3 Catchers lined up perfectly near the spike wall just past that practically beg for a leap-of-faith Crashbolt. The first half of the stage also contains multiple sections where you can really push the extremities of Gunvolt’s tag range. In general, players are afforded the freedom to get creative with avenues for crafting combos by combining tags, enemy pushing and skills in a multitude of ways. I consider Babel to be one of, if not the best examples of stage design within GV2; it expertly balances all of the facets that make playing as Gunvolt entertaining.

-Copen’s variant of the Mysterious Manor isn’t quite as much of a time sink as Gunvolt’s. In an odd twist, there isn’t a single opportunity to get a GCEX in the entire stage; all of the Grenade Launchers are replaced by enemies of other types. Whether that’s good or bad depends on the individual player’s sensibilities. Thankfully, the Flying Orbs are absent, their presence would’ve only served to annoy when playing as Copen. In terms of the navigational challenge, some parts of the stage do feel at odds with each other. Vertical sections where Gunvolt had to rush up a series of stairs have enemies conveniently waiting in just the right spots for Copen to tag them, greatly heightening the sense of speed. Conversely, multiple narrow, spiky halls have Sonic Shooters acting as barriers of sorts; to my knowledge, there’s no way to tag these without meeting a prickly fate, so slowing down to shatter them with unlocked EX Weapons becomes the solution. The coffin hall is a bit more intense this time around too; it’s worth going after all the enemies present in the maze as Copen, so practice your preferred route until it’s seared into your memory. Oh, and that lone blood spike present on the last set of stairs can’t be interpreted as anything other than raw malice. Real nice, Inti.

Timestamps:

00:00 - Secret Mission 1 | Fazent [GV]
02:45 - Secret Mission 1 | Proto Legion JB [C]
06:06 - Secret Mission 2 | Desna [GV]
12:22 - Secret Mission 2 | Gibril [C]

Thanks for watching! Any comments and questions you may have are welcome as always.

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