Uploaded March 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Hopefully I have the colour balance correct on this one - some areas will have bad bit-rates thanks to a certain attack.
I'm pretty sure if I was not employed, I would have done this clear so... SO much sooner. Certainly not two full seasonal Festivals after I first unlocked this mode. ANYWAY worth warning again, this is an unlockable mode for Void Stranger way deep into the game, and which deosn't match standard gameplay for Void Stranger. Consider watching this video to be a big spoiler.
Also, plenty of flashing at times - the limits of 2-bit colour palettes.
Compared to the first video I linked of this bonus game, this is a CLEAR video, where I get a final score of 3,553,126 points. Not the best, but certainly my best! This shows how to get all the secrets, as well as where you can find all the cats - some are based on your own position, so you need to be wary when trying to find 'em! With the statue fight, it's possible to minimize its bullshittery by weakening all the spheres equally, then popping them in rapid succession - the number of orbs remaining denotes attacks used, so you won't get ridiculous nigh-undodgeable patterns if you time things right.
As for the follow-up, the "What if..." section that comprises the whole second half of the fight, the first two sections have a hard time limit of 2:30 each... but you likely won't run across these unless you actively try to do so. This gives the music enough time to fully complete a loop (once on the first phase, twice on the second phase), and gives you limited time to practice those dodges. Zero-ranging is your best bet for clearing as quick as possible - the fewer random patterns you need to work around, the better! And the duo WILL try and revive each other if one is left dead at the end of a pattern - you'll know they're close to death as they change to a dark shade when they take damage.
The final phase (whose name is probably somewhere in ZeroRanger) is mostly the same all the time - streaming bullets, then 23 sets of eight diamonds (with the 12th set onwards getting smaller slashable diamonds - but watch out), and finally whatever the gosh dang happens with the transition before BoWaP and shifting bullets in a direction. The phase with the background can be cheesed when the bullets freeze, as all the bullets fired from the boss only spread outwards. From the third phase onwards, she starts firing shots inwards, stopping you from using this strat. And whilst these patterns CAN be dodged and slashed through... I've been trying to clear this on-and-off for five months. My patience is not high at this rate lol.
it's very nice of the game to reward me six points at the end as well. quite symbolic, indeed.
Timecodes:
0:00 Intro
0:11 Restart - ♪ HARD SPACE
4:06 Boss - ♪ The False Ruler of All Heavens
5:06 What if... - ♪ Sky Gray Days, Pt.1
6:24 What if... - ♪ Sky Gray Days, Pt.2
7:04 Despair - ♪ Sky Gray Days, Pt.3
8:33 Results - ♪ Silent Envy
Hopefully I have the colour balance correct on this one - some areas will have bad bit-rates thanks to a certain attack.
I'm pretty sure if I was not employed, I would have done this clear so... SO much sooner. Certainly not two full seasonal Festivals after I first unlocked this mode. ANYWAY worth warning again, this is an unlockable mode for Void Stranger way deep into the game, and which deosn't match standard gameplay for Void Stranger. Consider watching this video to be a big spoiler.
Also, plenty of flashing at times - the limits of 2-bit colour palettes.
Compared to the first video I linked of this bonus game, this is a CLEAR video, where I get a final score of 3,553,126 points. Not the best, but certainly my best! This shows how to get all the secrets, as well as where you can find all the cats - some are based on your own position, so you need to be wary when trying to find 'em! With the statue fight, it's possible to minimize its bullshittery by weakening all the spheres equally, then popping them in rapid succession - the number of orbs remaining denotes attacks used, so you won't get ridiculous nigh-undodgeable patterns if you time things right.
As for the follow-up, the "What if..." section that comprises the whole second half of the fight, the first two sections have a hard time limit of 2:30 each... but you likely won't run across these unless you actively try to do so. This gives the music enough time to fully complete a loop (once on the first phase, twice on the second phase), and gives you limited time to practice those dodges. Zero-ranging is your best bet for clearing as quick as possible - the fewer random patterns you need to work around, the better! And the duo WILL try and revive each other if one is left dead at the end of a pattern - you'll know they're close to death as they change to a dark shade when they take damage.
The final phase (whose name is probably somewhere in ZeroRanger) is mostly the same all the time - streaming bullets, then 23 sets of eight diamonds (with the 12th set onwards getting smaller slashable diamonds - but watch out), and finally whatever the gosh dang happens with the transition before BoWaP and shifting bullets in a direction. The phase with the background can be cheesed when the bullets freeze, as all the bullets fired from the boss only spread outwards. From the third phase onwards, she starts firing shots inwards, stopping you from using this strat. And whilst these patterns CAN be dodged and slashed through... I've been trying to clear this on-and-off for five months. My patience is not high at this rate lol.
it's very nice of the game to reward me six points at the end as well. quite symbolic, indeed.
Timecodes:
0:00 Intro
0:11 Restart - ♪ HARD SPACE
4:06 Boss - ♪ The False Ruler of All Heavens
5:06 What if... - ♪ Sky Gray Days, Pt.1
6:24 What if... - ♪ Sky Gray Days, Pt.2
7:04 Despair - ♪ Sky Gray Days, Pt.3
8:33 Results - ♪ Silent Envy
