MU Collaboration: Rosenkreuz Stilette

[Double]

The following is a MU Collaboration.

Intro: What do you get when you combine the German Language, Christianity, Satanism, and MegaMan mechanics? You get Rosenkreuz Stilette. You play as Spiritia in your quest to kill your sisters and save Iris from your creator who is a vampire.




Gameplay: First of off RS has the gameplay elements of the later 3 MegaMan games, in other words unlike MegaMari you can both Slide and use Charge Shot. With the exception of a few cases *cough*Freudia*cough* the game is also much less projectile intensive than MegaMari and instead relies more on the stage elements to kill you, taking cues from all the NES MegaMan games. E-tanks are back, now Cross Tanks, but they don’t save with passwords… My main major gripe with this game is that you cannot revisit stages you have already cleared. This makes E… excuse me C-Tank farming much harder to do. Also this means you miss an optional upgrade in one of the stages *Hint: Think about wires, where did MegaMan get his?*.
18 out 20

Music: Very well done, no real complaints.
15 out of 15

Translation: It’s in Japanese and German dumbasses.
0 out of 0

Length: This game uses the MegaMan 4-6 two Fortress system. That means 16 regular stages and an optional prologue stage.
15 out 15

Rehash Factor: Unfortunatley, this game isn’t as creative in its bosses as many of them are takes on bosses throughout the MegaMan series. Yes I used the word series there is one boss from a non-classic MegaMan game, watch out for that one it surprised me. But anyways if you want a list, spoilers.

Trauare may be a water boss, but she attacks awfully similar to the “impossible” AirMan from MegaMan 2. She also however has her own more aggressive attacks.

Luste might be hanging out in the AirMan like stage, but she’s an awful lot like MetalMan, only she knows how to walk forward. And yes in the rematch she is extremely weak to her own weapon.

Sichte is the bastard love child of BrightMan, having his default buster attack and all, and that knife throwing maid from MegaMari. Oh and of course she can stop time. Strangely her Stage is based on ToadMan's from MegaMan 4 it even has the midboss.

Liebea is ToadMan, no seriously she even jumps after being shot at. She has wind abilities and a projectile too though... but is she a Communist?

Schwer has shield abilities, and when she uses them the squid on her head shoots ink upwards… yeah she’s WoodMan guys. Her shield however behaves more like Junk Shield though. Getting hit by the ink obscures your vision by the way.

The first Fortress boss a wall is Mecha Dragon from MegaMan 2, you even go through virtually the same stage as Wily Castle I from MegaMan 2 only stopping for a brief detour to Cossack Citadel I from MegaMan 4.

The Second Fortress boss, is awfully similar to Picopico-kun, the second Fortress boss from MegaMan 2.

Graf Michael Sepperin’s is actually a ripoff of Dracula from Castlevania.

The first second Fortress boss is Bospider from MegaMan X! Seriously what the hell. He’s still weak to ice.

You knew it was coming, the second second Fortress boss is your favorite giant yellow blob that attacks by splitting himself up. Apparently though he ate GravityMan and acquired his powers. Oh I did mention there is not Electric weapon in this game right?

Wily Machine II is referenced (at least this time it isn’t a giant Death Teapot), as is the Wily Capsule styled battles. Strangely it’s still easier then Wily Machine VII.

Barring bosses, the game also has a few areas in some of the stages where you might say “déjà vu”. The most noticeable example of which is Schwer’s stage which is designed to be the most WTF stage ever, with a general MetalMan theme going on in the stage design with a slight detour to Mario and Evil Eddie and Evil Rush (Rush-X?). Half way through the stage you’ll find yourself in the first screen of MetalMan’s stage from MegaMan 2, E-Tank and all. One of the bosses has a weapon similar to Bomberman’s bomb and even does the “Hurry up!” thing as the battle starts. If you think that’s a coincidence, there is also a super secret Bomberman room somewhere in the game have fun finding it. Other examples include Sichte's stage being a knock off of ToadMan's from MegaMan 4, mid bosses included and Liebea's stage is awfully similar to ElecMan's.
7 out of 15

Plot: Iris has been kidnapped by demons (no not that Iris you twit), are you a bad enough dudette to save her? But anyways, the vampire guy created you and your sisters one day for shits and giggles and it took years before regular society would accept you or something. Spoilers: Vampire guy claims to be related to Iris and stole her to protect her or something. And then Iris promptly shoots him in the back and tries to kill you. Lumine called, he wants his plot twist back. Thanks RPM's thread about this game.
8 out of 10

Difficulty: The game is generally less difficult than MegaMari, but is still much, much harder than any of the NES MegaMan games. Force beams are back, but this time they mean business, serious business.
15 out of 15

Total: 78/90 = 86.666666666 %

Positive: Schwer’s stage is seriously the best thing ever. Also this game supports screenshots and replays, unlike some other games.

Negative: The whole not being able to go back into stages thing.

Overall much better than MegaMari just a heck of a lot less creative in boss patterns, I’d recommend this game first.


















BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE!

After beating the game you get a code* that lets you play as one of the bosses, Grolla the sword using boss. You DO see where this going right?

RS: Grolla Mode




Gameplay: Grolla is Zero circa the Zero series minus all weapons that aren’t a Z-saber. She can do the triple slash, wall kick, dash (this time dashing also dodges things like a slide), charge her sword (actually less powerful but has increased range), and apparently can counter if you attack as your hit… or something. But Grolla can’t copy weapons, so you’re kind of screwed on bosses, stages are ridiculously easy though. All the other gameplay complaints from above are still valid.
17 out 20

Music, Translation, Length, Rehash Factor: See above.

Plot: Iris has been kidnapped by demons are you a bad enough dudette to save her while avoiding the actual protagonist?
8 out of 10

Difficulty: HAHAHAHA. Enjoy dying, no seriously good luck on the first Fortress boss. Also of note… because you’re playing as Grolla then that means there must be a different boss in your place. Said different boss is much easier than Grolla was in Spiritia’s mode.
15 out of 15

Total (Grolla Mode): 77/90 = 85.55555555555555 %

Positive: Easier to get through stages.

Negative: You will die. A lot.

Not as good as the normal mode but it’s still pretty fun, albeit hard. Yes, that’s what she said.

*Left, right, Right Weapon change, Left Weapon change during the games boot up screen (before the title screen).

[UHMEEEEBA]

Positive: Schwer’s stage is seriously the best thing ever. Also this game supports screenshots and replays, unlike some other games.

[youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AqhHXcL0QJw[/youtube]

Related.

[Jesuszilla]

... What's up with the Star of David?

[UHMEEEEBA]

It means you're doing a charge shot.

[Jesuszilla]

I can see that, but why the Star of David?

[UHMEEEEBA]

I dunno.

[Double]

Update:

They're making a sequel, and it already seems to have a GeminiMan ripoff.

[Jesuszilla]

Why yes, I certainly would like to fuck that.

[Vans]

LOL IT HAS A STORY

[Double]

Update Mk II:

They plan on releasing a free trial version in the future at some Comiket thing (which apparently takes place in late December so says Wikipedia) and the full version in the summer of 2009, given how far away that is this is likely the last time I will bump this thread.

However, also of note three boss characters from the first game have been announced to return in some form, they are the Bomberman girl, the ToadMan girl**, and Grolla the second playable character from the first game. Their weapons are listed as being the same from the last game and with the exception of the Bomberman girl their designs seem to be the same. Grolla however does seem to be wielding the sword one of the fortress bosses in the first game used.

*I'd laugh if they put it in a Splash Woman rip off and made it male.

**Obviously someone in that company realizes the awesomeness of ToadMan.