Eschatos - Revision history

User account at 00:52, 25 April 2024

2024-04-25T00:52:47Z

Schwarzgeist: /* Difficulty Modes */

2023-12-01T18:06:10Z

Difficulty Modes

Schwarzgeist: /* Gameplay Overview */

2023-12-01T18:04:51Z

Gameplay Overview

Schwarzgeist: /* Version Differences */

2023-12-01T17:52:30Z

Version Differences

Schwarzgeist: /* Version Differences */

2023-12-01T17:50:36Z

Version Differences

Schwarzgeist: /* Version Differences */

2023-12-01T17:50:23Z

Version Differences

Schwarzgeist at 17:47, 1 December 2023

2023-12-01T17:47:40Z

Schwarzgeist at 17:23, 1 December 2023

2023-12-01T17:23:00Z

Schwarzgeist at 15:04, 28 November 2023

2023-11-28T15:04:50Z

Trap15: Video index link

2023-11-21T09:13:14Z

Video index link

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:52, 25 April 2024
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−	~~{{Stub}}~~
	[[File:Logo_eschatos.png\|300px\|center]]		[[File:Logo_eschatos.png\|300px\|center]]
	----		----

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 * '''Medium:''' Average bullet density and speed. More aggressive attack patterns are used by bosses and minibosses.
 * '''Hard:''' High bullet density and speed. More aggressive attack patterns are used by bosses and minibosses.
-* '''Hardest:''' Outrageous bullet density and speed. Even more aggressive attack patterns are used by bosses and minibosses.
+* '''Hardest:''' Outrageous bullet density and speed. Even more aggressive attack patterns are used by bosses and minibosses. This mode must be unlocked for Original and Advanced by achieving specific option levels.
 * '''Endless:''' Starts out as an Easy playthrough, but loops back to Stage 1 when the game is cleared and moves up to the next difficulty level.

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 ''Results for TIME ATTACK will not be added to the TOTAL SCORE within''
 ''the player Report submenu.''
 === Controls ===
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 ==== Time Attack ====
-Time Attack mode operates similarly to Original mode, but on a time limit. There is no score or multiplier, only the total time used for the game session. There are infinite lives, but dying removes five seconds from the clock. Time is added when clearing a wave or collecting a 1UP. The clock pauses in-between waves, mainly when the camera is maneuvering to another angle. There are no continues for this mode - if time runs out, a game over is triggered. After defeating the final boss, the time left on the clock is subtracted from the current playthrough time to establish a final time.
+Time Attack mode operates similarly to Original mode, but on a time limit. There is no score or multiplier, only the total time used for the game session. There are infinite lives, but dying removes five seconds from the clock. Time is added when completing an area or collecting a 1UP. The clock pauses in-between waves, mainly when the camera is maneuvering to another angle or the wave is just entering the screen. There are no continues for this mode - if time runs out, a game over is triggered. After defeating the final boss, the time left on the clock is subtracted from the current playthrough time to establish a final time.
 == Strategy ==

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 == Version Differences ==
-* The version for the Nintendo Switch eliminates the loading pauses that occur between stages. The Switch version also comes with ''Judgment Silversword'' and ''Cardinal Sins'', the predecessors to ''Eschatos'', as bonus games that can be played.
+* The version for the Nintendo Switch eliminates the loading pauses that occur between stages. The Switch version also comes with ''Judgement Silversword'' and ''Cardinal Sins'', the predecessors to ''Eschatos'', as bonus games that can be played.
 == Trivia ==

@@ Line 231: / Line 231: @@
 == Version Differences ==
 * The version for the Nintendo Switch eliminates the loading pauses that occur between stages. The Switch version also comes with ''Judgment Silversword'' and ''Cardinal Sins'', the predecessors to ''Eschatos'', as bonus games that can be played.
 == Trivia ==

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 [[File:Logo_eschatos.png|300px|center]]
 ----
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 == Story ==
-While there is no in-game dialogue or exposition, the Steam page offers some clues about the lore:
+The game offers no in-game dialogue or exposition, instead relying on environmental storytelling and small bits of description given in the manual.
-''The year is 21XX. A mysterious alien force, known only as "Purple Erosion", has taken over the Moon! From the captured lunar base, alien UFOs begin their invasion of Earth! Using your advanced space fighter, you must repel the alien invasion, beat them back through space, and finally recapture the Moon to end the alien menace once and for all!''[https://store.steampowered.com/app/378770/ESCHATOS/]
+In the year 21XX, a mysterious alien force codenamed "Purple Erosion" has taken over the Moon, covering it in a mysterious purple mass and using it as a base from which to invade the Earth. A squadron of fighter pilots controlling advanced aircraft (retroactively called the FV-30MZ Arcam by Qute's next game, ''Ginga Force'') are scrambled to a city where three UFOs are releasing Purple Erosion forces. The player's Arcam blows through the enemy forces and takes on the first of the UFOs, destroying its turret nodes and critically damaging its central core to force it to retreat. From there, the Arcam squadron flies through the skies, away from the city to a grassy ruins, following the enemy forces to a pyramid resembling a Mayan temple, where purple spherical "eggs" were either excavated or planted by Purple Erosion. The enemy forces attempt to secure eight of the eggs, but the player destroys five of them, forcing a transport UFO to take the remaining three and flee to low orbit. The player's ship chases after them using the pyramid as a vertical takeoff ramp, eventually confronting the transport UFO, destroying the eggs it was carrying, and soon after the machine entirely. The squadron then begins to approach the Moon in their mission to reclaim it, with the third of Purple Erosion's UFOs catching up to them and deploying a myriad of strange fighters, from giant spiders to a floating heart to a large battle-craft. After fighting through everything the UFO can throw at them, the UFO confronts the Arcam and is subsequently destroyed. Now having arrived at the invaded Moon, the squadron begins flying through trenches in the moon, destroying more of Purple Erosion's defenders until they come across a pit within the Moon blasting lasers outward, presumably trying to artillery strike Earth cities. The player's Arcam flies into the pit, dodging lasers until they come across a mysterious disc-like life-form and a wall of eggs, the life-form presumably being Purple Erosion's commander, which detaches itself from the wall and engages the Arcam. After a long-fought battle, including a transformation where the life-form turns red and gains a screaming human-like face, it falls into the wall of eggs and self-destructs, causing a chain reaction within the corrupted moon. The player's Arcam escapes the pit just as the purple mass covering the Moon begins to dissolve and explode, and is rejoined by their squadron as they fly back to Earth and twirl in celebration, with a Moon free of Purple Erosion's influence shining behind them.
 == Gameplay Overview ==

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 === Items ===
 ----
-UP - After destroying a set number of enemies, a 1UP will drop from an enemy after death. After collecting the 1UP, the kills required for the next 1UP increases. The counter and requirement reset after using a continue. In Time Attack mode, 1UPs drop as normal, but extend the timer by 15 seconds.
+UP - After destroying a set number of enemies, a 1UP will drop from an enemy after death. After collecting the 1UP, the kills required for the next 1UP increases. The kill counter and requirement reset after using a continue. In Time Attack mode, 1UPs drop as normal, but extend the timer by 15 seconds.
 Blue Flash - Collecting the blue Flash item will destroy all bullets on screen. If playing on Advanced mode, the Flash item also reduces the power level and multiplier by 1.
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 * Hardest - +1 multiplier every wave, no maximum
-Dying will reduce the multiplier, as will failing to destroy an enemy. Using the flash item to accomplish this is possible, and incurs no penalty.
+Dying will reduce the multiplier by 1, as will failing to destroy an enemy. Using the Flash item when it appears incurs no penalty.
 ==== Advanced ====
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 While Advanced mode uses a multiplier similarly to Original mode, there are some important differences. (dumping all of this here for now, some of it belongs in another section most likely)
-* Your shield is weakened to these values with each respective powerup: 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 30.
+* This mode enables the power meter and power-ups. The power meter affects various statistics of the ship's main and wide shots - range, screen coverage, and fire rate - and increases by 1 each time a power-up is collected, up to a maximum power level of 6. The ship starts out weaker than Original mode, but is significantly stronger than Original at maximum power (Original mode locks the player at a power level of 4). Collecting either type of Flash item will reduce the power level by 1, as will taking a hit.
-* Shielding bullets will create purple gems that act as an offensive barrier around your ship.
+* Multiplier speed and cap are similar to Original mode, but the multiplier is separated into two different types: power-up and enemy multiplier, which increase and decrease by different means. These two multiplier values are additive, so the value shown at the left side of the screen is the sum of the power-up and enemy multipliers.
-* Each powerup will increase your multiplier by 1, up to the maximum multiplier. Collecting a Flash item will reduce the multiplier by 1.
+* Enemy multiplier works identical to Original mode, increasing based on waves completing and decreasing when an enemy escapes.
-* Multiplier speed and cap are similar to Original mode, but appear to be increased somewhat.
+* Getting hit will reduce the enemy multiplier down to one. This means extra caution should be taken during boss encounters, as a 26x multiplier can go crashing back down to 6x should the player get reckless and take a hit. For this reason, and this is merely opinion, I don't think picking up F-bombs in Advanced mode should be stigmatized. It's obviously preferable to yo-yo between 26x and 25x, if you think you're in danger, instead of taking a hit due to your pride and receiving a 6x multiplier as a reward.
-* Most enemies that escape the screen will not drop the multiplier (it's inconsistent as to which do and don't).
+* The power-up multiplier is directly tied to the ship's power level, ranging from 0 to 6. A fully powered ship will always have at least 7x multiplier unless the power level is reduced by taking a hit or collecting a Flash.
-* Getting hit will reduce the multiplier by 1 and, if over 5, will drop it down to that value. This means extra caution should be taken during boss encounters, as a 25x multiplier can go crashing back down to 5x should the player get reckless and take a hit. For this reason, and this is merely opinion, I don't think picking up F-bombs in Advanced mode should be stigmatized. It's obviously preferable to yo-yo between 26x and 25x, if you think you're in danger, instead of taking a hit due to your pride and receiving a 5x multiplier as a reward.
+* Your shield is weakened to these values with each respective powerup: 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, and finally 30 at maximum power.
 * There is no time bonus in Advanced mode, which means speed killing isn't prioritized. There are two ways you can abuse this: waiting for item carriers to give you powerups/F-bombs at a safer time or waiting for a more lucrative bullet cancel. I've provided a list below for when you might want to stall a bit for bullet cancels.
-* Yellow Flashes appear only during the stage, while blue Flashes only appear when the power meter is maxed. The pods that drop items do so in a pattern: the first two drop power-ups/blue Flashes, and every third will drop a gold Flash.
+* Yellow Flashes appear only during the stage, while blue Flashes only appear when the power meter is maxed or during boss encounters. The pods that drop items appear to do so in a pattern: the first two drop power-ups/blue Flashes, and every third will drop a gold Flash.
 * Wonder witches cancel bullets into purple gems, just like yellow F-bombs - however they do NOT power you down like yellow F-bombs. Good luck finding any decent opportunities to cancel with witches, though.
 ==== Time Attack ====
-In Time Attack mode, there is no score, only the total time used for the game session. Dying removes five seconds from the clock, but there are items that add to the available time. The clock will also stop if you eliminate waves quickly enough.
+Time Attack mode operates similarly to Original mode, but on a time limit. There is no score or multiplier, only the total time used for the game session. There are infinite lives, but dying removes five seconds from the clock. Time is added when clearing a wave or collecting a 1UP. The clock pauses in-between waves, mainly when the camera is maneuvering to another angle. There are no continues for this mode - if time runs out, a game over is triggered. After defeating the final boss, the time left on the clock is subtracted from the current playthrough time to establish a final time.
 == Strategy ==

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 === Items ===
 ----
-UP
+UP - After destroying a set number of enemies, a 1UP will drop from an enemy after death. After collecting the 1UP, the kills required for the next 1UP increases. The counter and requirement reset after using a continue. In Time Attack mode, 1UPs drop as normal, but extend the timer by 15 seconds.
-Blue Flash
+Blue Flash - Collecting the blue Flash item will destroy all bullets on screen. If playing on Advanced mode, the Flash item also reduces the power level and multiplier by 1.
-Yellow Flash
+Yellow Flash - Advanced mode exclusive. Operates similar to the blue Flash, but converts bullets into point items.
-Wonder Witch
+Wonder Witch - Hidden collectibles unearthed by shooting various environmental details throughout the game, which reward points when picked up.
-Power Up
+Power Up - Advanced mode exclusive. When collected, raises the power level and multiplier by 1.
 Bonus Point Item
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 ==== Original ====
-Scoring is relatively straightforward - each wave of enemies, as well as the bosses have timers that give a bonus once complete. For each wave where all the enemies are completely destroyed, the multiplier increases from one to a maximum of five. Dying will reduce the multiplier, as will failing to destroy an enemy. Using the flash item to accomplish this is possible, as well.
+Scoring is relatively straightforward - each wave of enemies, as well as the bosses have timers that give a bonus once complete. Each wave completely cleared will increase the multiplier to a maximum, with the speed and cap of the multiplier varying depending on difficulty:
 ==== Advanced ====
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 * Your shield is weakened to these values with each respective powerup: 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 30.
 * Shielding bullets will create purple gems that act as an offensive barrier around your ship.
-* Each powerup will increase your multiplier by 1, up to a max of 7x multiplier which will never drop unless you die or collect an F-bomb.
+* Each powerup will increase your multiplier by 1, up to the maximum multiplier. Collecting a Flash item will reduce the multiplier by 1.
-* Unlike Original mode which will drop your multiplier by 1 if you die (not taking into account enemies that might escape during the respawn time), Advanced mode punishes each death the same way: let's assume you are at 26x multiplier during a boss and you die. Instead of dropping to 25x multiplier, you will drop to 6x multiplier. For this reason, and this is merely opinion, I don't think picking up F-bombs in Advanced mode should be stigmatized. It's obviously preferable to yo-yo between 26x and 25x, if you think you're in danger, instead of taking a hit due to your pride and receiving a 6x multiplier as a reward.
+* Multiplier speed and cap are similar to Original mode, but appear to be increased somewhat.
 * There is no time bonus in Advanced mode, which means speed killing isn't prioritized. There are two ways you can abuse this: waiting for item carriers to give you powerups/F-bombs at a safer time or waiting for a more lucrative bullet cancel. I've provided a list below for when you might want to stall a bit for bullet cancels.
-* Yellow F-bombs appear only during the stage, while blue F-bombs appear only during the boss. I might be wrong here, but it seems likely enough from what I've seen.
+* Yellow Flashes appear only during the stage, while blue Flashes only appear when the power meter is maxed. The pods that drop items do so in a pattern: the first two drop power-ups/blue Flashes, and every third will drop a gold Flash.
 * Wonder witches cancel bullets into purple gems, just like yellow F-bombs - however they do NOT power you down like yellow F-bombs. Good luck finding any decent opportunities to cancel with witches, though.
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 == Trivia ==
-While the sparks when grinding bullets look like they indicate a bullet-grinding mechanic, it is just there for visual flair.
+* While the sparks when grinding bullets look like they indicate a bullet-grinding mechanic, it is just there for visual flair.
 == Gallery ==

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 '''Eschatos''' is a vertical 2.5D shooter developed by Qute. It features 2D control with fully rendered 3D objects and backgrounds which occasionally change perspective. It has several modes and difficulty levels, each mode and difficulty level combination having its own dedicated online leaderboard.
 __TOC__
 {{clear}}
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 Eschatos manual 6.png|Credits Section
 </gallery>
 == Other ==