Azure Striker Gunvolt - S+ Rank Run [Part 3]
24This is part 3 of my Azure Striker Gunvolt S+ rank run. The last few missions of the main story await, so without further ado, here are my notes.
-Urban Run is a bizarrely short interlude that serves more of a narrative purpose than any concrete gameplay-related one. I suppose it does introduce the Red Mantis Tank; get used to seeing those guys ad nauseam when attempting Eridu.
-Eridu is in contention with the Biochem Plant and Stratacombs as the toughest regular level in the game, so naturally, it stands to reason that I lost 3 perfectly good S+ runs to recording issues. Bitterness aside, the stage boasts a phenomenal pace, particularly in the latter half where Gunvolt soars with the wind at his back. Were the number of Red Mantis Tanks truncated to just one, I'd easily favor Eridu as the quintessential example of action; as it stands, the otherwise blistering tempo is marred somewhat by the inclusion of three of the jumping joyrides.
-The Mini MLRS—tank-like units which fire a persistent stream of missiles—present a conundrum regarding fairness. Their presence hinders progress by way of acting as a large physical obstruction, but also by precluding players from easily tagging anything residing behind them. Two scenarios are common: the first, significantly lesser evil is when they're placed in front of a long "runway" so to speak. Gunvolt has ample time to trigger their attack routine, fire tags, then run up and blitz over with his usual lightning speed. However, all too often, Inti Creates expose their predisposition for sadism by placing them on minute ledges at awkward elevations, forcing players into waiting until the missiles begin spawning before attempting to tag and jump over. To ascribe any manner of consistency to this action is laughable; unless I'm missing something, which I concede is more than possible, this scenario is ostensibly one of pure chance. If you wish to pass by unscathed, you'd best get friendly with a deity of sorts.
-Merak’s rematch at Eridu can be fairly unnerving. Taking some inspiration from Pegasolta, the battle occurs on a small platform with blustery winds pushing to the left. Thankfully, there are no mid-fight wind direction changes to worry about, but Merak’s otherwise simplistic pattern is elevated by the terrain. Visual clutter can overwhelm at times, so I recommend dropping the Flashfield momentarily when observing Merak’s sprite to accurately read the direction of his large punch. Lazy Laser demands tighter movement, though, still nowhere near the degree of Merak EX in GV2.
-Boss rushes, when executed poorly, or when combat lacks depth or otherwise enthralling elements, can be rather insipid. Thankfully, Babel skirts this somewhat by borrowing from the Mega Man Zero 2 school of thought and actually presenting players with some well-seasoned food in the form of unique boss fights. The first three fights are textbook, but the triple Elise fight and a fully-fledged duel with Copen salvage things.
-Jota’s forward charges during Flash Stinger and Zero Blade can be slowed by rapidly firing bolts. His drills can also be knocked off course by bolts, but this property ends up more useful against Copen than Jota himself.
-Triple Elise is where things start to get Rospark levels of freaky; her third persona is interesting, to say the least. The same applies to the battle; it's amazing how the addition of energy-based projectiles mutates the make of the fight. Her usual kunai-snake hybrids still face staunch rejection via Flashfield, however, they don't dissolve instantaneously; hasty movements to escape the lambent purple kunai will be punished by the fleeting hitboxes of her standard fare. Slow and steady is the motto to abide by here.
-Copen receives a nice augmentation, gaining the ability to chain multiple stolen adept moves in a row as the fight wanes. EP management thus takes center stage; knowing when it’s safe to recharge becomes the crux of the battle. Doppler Desire is nothing special, but the flashiness of the whole deal meshes well with the rest of the fight, creating a simple yet entertaining showdown.
-The first half of Firmament vies with Urban Run for the title of pointless busywork. The only interesting aspect of the stage is that I finally showcase using Orochi to tag the Ninjas. Given my incorrigible inclination to mess with bosses when given the leeway to do so, I dance around with Nova's attacks in a manner that invites failure, with my intent being to showcase dodging his repertoire in odd ways. Wasting time can and will reduce your score multiplier to 1.2x instead of the usual 1.5x, so the Ninjas act as a buffer. Didn't need the extra points this time though.
00:00 - Urban Run | Mantis Legion Tank
00:49 - Eridu | Merak
06:12 - Babel | Boss Rush | Triple Elise | Copen
13:18 - Firmament | Nova
Thanks for watching! Feel free to leave any comments and ask any questions you may have.
Other Videos By DZ3
Other Statistics
Azure Striker Gunvolt Statistics For DZ3
There are 3,193 views in 9 videos for Azure Striker Gunvolt. The game makes up 1 hour of published video on his channel, roughly 12.17% of Azure Striker Gunvolt content that DZ3 has uploaded to YouTube.