=============================================================
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[] [][][] [][] [] [[] ()()() ()() ()()() ()
[] [] [] []^^^^ []~~[] () () () ^^() () ()
[] [] [] [][][] [][][] () () ()()() () () ()
=============================================================
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=============================================================
[][][] ()()() ()()() ()()() ()()() ()()()
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TWISTED DREAMS: RISE OF THE OWLVERLORD
=============================================================
The "Owl Pellet" FAQ
=============================================================
Contents
I) About this FAQ
II) About the game
III) How to play
A) Controls
B) Basic actions
C) Advanced actions
D) Gem collection
E) Enemy handling
IV) Game types
A) Tutorial
B) Normal/Hard
C) Score Attack
D) Time Attack
E) Hardcore
F) Uber Hardcore
G) Specials
V) Characters and obstacles
A) Characters
B) Obstacles
C) The Owlverlord
VI) Walkthroughs for each level
I) Skychase Forest
II) Floating Ruins
III) Mistral Reefs
IV) Airborne Factory
V) Black Forest
VI) Spring Tide Bay
VII) Owlverlord's Fall
HS) Halloween Special 2013
CS) Christmas Special 2013
VII) Special strategies
A) Score Attack enemy dashing frenzy
B) Tracking properties of dashing into enemies
C) Ideal twirling height
D) Intentional shield loss
E) Saving shields
F) Hardcore-specific strategies
G) Uber Hardcore-specific strategies
H) Most consistent "gotchas"
VIII) Other info
A) Major differences between 'Normal' and 'Hard'
B) Bugs and quirks
C) Updates from Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams
D) Menu backgrounds
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I) About this FAQ
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This FAQ is Copyright (c) 2013 Christopher Allen. You may distribute this FAQ,
but please give me credit for any original information you publish elsewhere.
Consider this FAQ to be a logical follow-up to the other FAQ I have written,
"Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams Twisted FAQ." This document covers the
extension that Black Forest introduced to the main game, called "Giana Sisters
Twisted Dreams: Rise of the Owlverlord."
The FAQ provides what you need to know about succeeding at this 7-level
extension, although it does not provide maps.
Throughout the document, "Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams" is abbreviated "GSTD."
"Rise of the Owlverlord" is abbreviated "RotO."
My contact info:
chris@chriskallen.com
http://www.chriskallen.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
II) About the game
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GSTD and Rise of the Owlverlord were both made by Black Forest Games. The
concept and gameplay of the new game are pretty much the same as GSTD, so there
is not much new to learn if you had already played through GSTD. For people who
have never seen or played GSTD, they might find it easier to pick up and play
Rise of the Owlverlord.
This is because of several factors:
1) Tutorial
2) Re-labeling of "Adventure" difficulty settings
3) Generally less "cruelty" to traps
4) Smaller overall length of game
The plot in RotO is a logical follow-up to the outcome of GSTD. While the
first game was a rescue operation, RotO is all about escape and retribution.
Apparently, the owls were not altogether pleased with how many of their kind
had fallen victim to Punk Giana's trademark meteor dash. Never mind the fact
that those owls had allied themselves with Gurglewocky, because it's personal,
now.
Giana learns just how personal it is when she tries to snatch a gem, like she
has with so many others, only to learn it was a trap. She finds herself caged,
ridiculed, and awaiting some awful fate at the wings of the Owlverlord.
The dream-switching mechanic from GSTD is also present in this game. Giana
can switch back and forth between her "Cute" self, who can perform a special
twirl that allows her to fall more slowly, and her "Punk" alter ego, who can
execute a fiery dash into most enemies as a way of destroying them.
But the dream world does not just change in terms of background--characters,
terrain, and traps will change also. Parts of the dream world are navigable
with only one character or the other, so the player must switch between Cute
and Punk Giana at key parts of the level in order to proceed safely. Rotating
platforms counter-rotate on switch, spikes and brambles grow or shrink, gates
open or close, and platforms appear or disappear. Enemies can transform into
an easier version, or an even more dangerous version.
Well, Giana succeeded at this sort of challenge before, so this one should be
a piece of cake.
Right?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
III) How to play
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
A) Controls
-----------
The controls are extremely simple. Control stick or D-pad moves, A jumps, X
dashes, Y twirl-jumps, R-trigger switches characters (and twists the dream).
This assumes you have an XBOX 360-style controller. Nearly any modern
controller will do, and you can reassign the buttons if desired.
Of course, you don't need a controller when playing on the PC. Just map the
keys and you're all set.
There is one advantage to using a controller with two control sticks: the
second set of axes allows you to easily look around the level to see what is
up, down, left or right. This lets you spot dangers and hidden areas much
more easily.
You can also map the "look" keys to the keyboard, but this is somewhat more
clunky.
In this game, it is possible to map key or button configurations to require
the correct character to be selected BEFORE executing a jump or twirl (i.e.
switching characters is NOT automatic). While this could be useful for
devices with three or fewer main buttons available, it makes the game
significantly harder to play. You must react quickly in this game; things
that slow you down will force you into making bad decisions. This
walkthrough assumes you have selected automatic switching mode.
----------------
B) Basic actions
----------------
Running: Just push left or right.
Ducking: Hold down.
Jumping: Push A. Holding down A longer will make Giana jump higher.
Dashing: Push X. Only Punk Giana can dash. Attempting to dash with Cute
Giana will immediately transform her into Punk Giana. Holding down X longer
will make Giana dash over a greater distance. A dash will kill any enemy
that can also be stomped on. A dash will also break certain types of blocks.
Twirling: Push Y: Only Cute Giana can twirl. Attempting to twirl with Punk
Giana will immediately transform her into Cute Giana. Holding down Y longer
will make Giana rise higher in the twirl. Keeping Y held down will cause
Giana to float slowly downwards.
Switching characters: Push R-trigger. Switch between Cute and Punk Giana.
This can be done at any time, even right in the middle of another technique.
Swimming: Push A repeatedly to swim. While underwater, Giana cannot twirl
or dash.
Bubble floating: When Giana is bubbled, hold A to make the bubble rise
slowly. Releasing A will cause the bubble to sink.
Sounds simple, right? Like most single-mechanic games, though, it gets very
complicated as you learn more.
-------------------
C) Advanced actions
-------------------
Fall-jump: Fall off a platform, then push A. If no jump had been taken when
leaving the platform, a jump is possible from mid-air.
Double-jumping with twirl: Push A, then push Y. This double-jump allows Cute
Giana to reach higher places and jump longer distances.
Directional dashing: Hold a direction and push X. Giana can dash in eight
directions, and the dash can start from the ground or in the air. Note that
if a direction is not chosen, the dash will aim itself horizontally forward.
Fast vs. slow twirling: When a twirl is executed, Giana falls slowly while
Y is held down. She will fall faster if Y is released.
Ruby-red pirouette: Push Y, then push R-trigger while holding down Y. Punk
Giana cannot start a twirl, but can continue twirling if already in that state.
Citrine cannonball: Push X, then push R-trigger while holding down X. Cute
Giana cannot dash, but can continue a dash if already in that state.
Head stomp: Many enemies can be defeated by landing on their heads. This
will bounce Giana upwards.
Multiple twirl: Defeating an enemy in mid-air lets Giana launch another twirl
from mid-air. She will not be able to launch still another twirl until she
lands or if she stomps on another enemy.
Multiple dash: Defeating an enemy in mid-air lets Giana launch another dash
from mid-air. She will not be able to dash again until she lands, or if she
stomps on or dashes into another enemy.
Cancel twirl: While twirling, the dash button cancels the twirl, making Giana
fall at the normal rate.
Wall jump: If Giana touches certain types of walls (ivy or bookshelf), she
can jump, twirl, or dash again. By keeping pressed against the wall, she can
effectively "climb" it with repeated jumps, twirls, or dashes.
Wall bounce: Dashing into a wall will increase the overall length of the dash
as Giana bounces off the surface. This can be exploited if she launches at
an angle in a tight corridor--she will bounce as long as X is held down,
achieving a perpetual dash state.
Infinite wall bounce: Wall bouncing in a tight corridor at an angle
perpendicular to the corridor will make Punk Giana bounce forever. It does not
serve much of a purpose outside of looking really cool, but there is one
occasion when it can be useful: when Giana must remain off the ground for an
extended period of time.
Helicopter twirling: Impellers are present in some levels that will drive air
currents upwards. Twirling over an impeller will make Giana float upwards
instead of downwards.
Pinball bounce: Dashing into a pinball bumper will launch Giana in a specific
direction. The launch is often much longer than what would be accomplished
using an ordinary dash.
Trampoline bounce: Just before landing on a trampoline, hold A as Punk Giana
(trampolines do not work for Cute Giana). This launches Giana sky-high. Punk
Giana can also dash into trampolines for the same effect.
Spiky box trampoline bounce: After stomping an eyeball squid as Cute Giana,
switching to Punk Giana before it revives will ensure the spiky box counterpart
will also be in the knocked-down state. The spiky box will shoot its spikes
up, left, and right, but if the box is upside-down, the result will be to
launch Punk Giana upwards, instead.
-----------------
D) Gem collection
-----------------
The blue gems are collectable with any character. Punk Giana can get red gems
but not yellow gems, and Cute Giana can get yellow gems but not red gems.
To advance in the game, you NEED to collect gems. Certain rewards and level
unlockings depend on how many gems you collect. Note that the "Hard" mode
requires this, but the "Normal" mode does not.
Gems are normally placed strategically as movement guides. If you see a trail
of gems, it usually leads you in the correct direction. The coloration on the
gems also provides a context clue for which character to select (Cute or Punk).
Master gems (the huge blue gems) are out-of-the-way treasures that can be
picked up like an ordinary gem. A master gem is worth 10 gems, and rewards
the player with a gallery artwork image when collected for the first time.
-----------------
E) Enemy handling
-----------------
Most enemies will kill Giana instantly. If Giana has a shield (a pink star) and
then touches an enemy, then the shield disappears, Giana becomes invincible for
a moment, and then she is vulnerable again.
Stomping or dashing into an enemy normally works to stop it, but there are
enemies that cannot be beaten in this way. Caution is the better part of valor!
If you see an enemy, your instinctive response should be to avoid it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV) Game types
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
A) Tutorial
-----------
The original GSTD did not have a tutorial level. Veteran GSTD gamers will find
the tutorial level extremely unappealing, unless people want to collect every
gem in every level for some reason. Even then, it's kind of boring.
Nothing is hidden in this level, and every movement is spelled out, so it really
does not deserve a walkthrough. If you can't manage to get through the
tutorial, you should seriously consider avoiding the platform-jump
side-scrolling genre of video games.
--------------
B) Normal/Hard
--------------
The main game "adventure" mode just has you running from level to level,
collecting gems, avoiding dangers, and finding the level's exit. The level
exit will be a house on the "outdoor-type" levels or a draped doorway on the
"indoor-type" levels.
Exploration and experimentation are encouraged in this mode. The only strike
against you if you die is getting sent back to the last checkpoint.
We can thank gaming norms for this behavior, because there certainly are a lot
of gruesome ways Giana's adventuring career can come to an end. Slicing,
dicing, spiking, squashing, and dissolving, to name a few. And this is NOT
one of those games that has this strange thing called a "power bar" that
allows game characters to take "multiple hits" before dying.
One saving grace is the pink shield gem, which lets Giana take one hit from
spikes and most enemies. Yes, you heard right. ONE. And when the shield gem
is gone, it's gone. No more hits after that.
The differences in skill level are too in-depth to mention here; refer to the
individual level walkthroughs to obtain that information. In a broad sense,
though, the "Normal" skill level provides fewer traps, easier jumps, larger
tolerances when given time-sensitive running and jumping operations, etc.
Score Attack, Time Attack, and Hardcore modes do not unlock for the player
unless Hard mode is beaten for a level. This is because all other modes do not
use the "Normal" skill as a basis for the challenge; they use the "Hard" skill.
This seems like a serendipitous re-branding of the dual skill levels in GSTD,
which were "Easy" and "Normal." Since "Normal" in GSTD was widely considered
to be brutally difficult, calling it "Hard" in this new game is a subtle
migration towards some semblance of honesty.
I suggest trying out "Hard" skill first if you have already completed GSTD,
and "Normal" skill first if you have not. Just remember, on "Hard" skill, you
will be sliced, diced, spiked, squashed, and dissolved several times before you
reach your goal. It's par for the course.
For each level, you get stars based on your performance. Between one and three
stars are obtained based on gems collected. Collecting 95% or more of the gems
on the level will yield three stars. One or two additional stars are awarded
based on how many times you died. If you die 3-5 times or fewer, you get
two stars. Just think this: more deaths = fewer stars.
---------------
C) Score Attack
---------------
Each level you beat in Hard mode unlocks the level in Score Attack mode. Here,
you want to get through the level as quickly as possible while collecting gems.
This is a task for Punk Giana most of the time, although the correct combination
of Cute and Punk will net you the most points.
The level is not timed, but you will still want to rush through, exploring as
many secret areas as possible to keep your bonus multiplier high. Gems you
collect will boost your bonus multiplier, sending it from 1x up to 2x, then
3x, etc. but not exceeding 10x. If you fail to keep collecting gems, the
multiplier will gradually drop, eventually reaching 1x again. The multiplier
drops quickly when high, and slowly when low.
Most enemies you defeat will also yield points, which are also subject to this
multiplier. However, enemies will not boost the multiplier when defeated.
Needless to say, there are a lot of enemies in the game that you can't hurt.
If the enemy is the type that gets knocked down but gets up again later, you
will NOT get points for knocking it down. This applies to owl skeletons,
empty armor, eyeball squids, and spiky boxes. Ghosts don't count either,
because they technically eliminate themselves by touching light beams.
So who does that leave? Normal owls, normal devils, toads, and killer rabbits.
Thankfully, they are quite common, so you'll have plenty to stomp and blast.
If you are sent back to a checkpoint, resurrected enemies no longer count
towards your point total if beaten previously. Too bad, but it makes sense.
--------------
D) Time Attack
--------------
Each level you beat in Hard mode unlocks the level in Time Attack mode. Here,
you want to get through the level as quickly as possible, period. Gems act
as movement guides and little else.
Punk Giana's dash is the most obvious time-saving gimmick. But it is also
likely to get you killed. Assuming you know the shortest path through the
level, your skill in Time Attack is not all about just spamming the dash. It
means knowing WHEN to dash, WHEN to switch, and WHEN to be careful. If you get
sent back to a checkpoint even once, kiss that time record goodbye.
Time Attack mode is good practice if and when you get around to Hardcore mode.
The skills needed in this mode are needed in that one as well.
-----------
E) Hardcore
-----------
If you are the type that likes to brag about your skill, this is the mode for
you. The only difference between Hardcore and Adventure is that all checkpoints
are removed. If you die, you start at the BEGINNING of the level. Which means,
if you aren't good, you won't succeed. You just won't.
Hardcore does not reset everything about the level if you die. Gems collected
stay collected, so you don't need to revisit hidden areas; that is rather useful
if the hidden areas were dangerous to navigate.
However, collected keys WILL uncollect themselves, which even has the effect of
re-locking doors you have already unlocked. This is a departure from earlier
versions of GSTD, which did not remove key-collecting progress.
I should also note that when RotO was released, GSTD was also updated with these
changes. This means GSTD also now has a "slightly MORE hardcore" version of
Hardcore than it did earlier, which erases key collection progress. While this
would never faze an Uber Hardcore player, it can complicate some players'
abilities to unlock Uber Hardcore.
If you want to, you can try to collect as many gems as possible in this mode.
You get a medal based on how many gems you have collected (~95% gold, ~75%
silver, ~50% bronze). This roughly corresponds to the star system for
Adventure. Some levels are more lenient, and others more strict.
To unlock Hardcore mode, you need to get at least four stars when fighting the
Owlverlord. It's kind of brutal, unless you are well-acquainted with the
frighteningly evil difficulty of the bosses in GSTD...in which case, the
unlocking requirement makes perfect sense.
Guard that pink shield gem with your life. After all, it guards yours.
----------------
F) Uber Hardcore
----------------
Also known as "Ueber Hardcore" for umlaut grammar fiends. I am no friend of
umlauts, and I think Unicode should be banned by international treaties. In
all seriousness, though, it's easier to type and recognize the word if I call
it "uber" in this FAQ.
For those people who just can't get enough in the difficulty department, there
is a game mode for the high-rollers. If you beat all the levels in Hardcore
mode, Uber Hardcore is unlocked.
Here's how it works. Tomorrow never dies. Unless you do. In which case,
there is no tomorrow. How profound.
If you are wondering why this game mode actually exists, it's because hardcore
people exist. These are the "high-rollers," who try to get every possible
achievement, every imaginable bragging right, and every conceivable category
of skill mastery. Uber Hardcore might not appeal to you, but it certainly
appeals to somebody. So it's there. Like it or leave it.
Failing at Uber Hardcore mode gives you a "Game Over" screen. It's really a
polite way of saying that your gaming skills suck, and wimps need not apply.
Wimp.
-----------
G) Specials
-----------
The "Halloween Special 2013" is just a graphical variation on level 3-6 from
GSTD. The normal and hard versions of the special are the same as the easy and
hard versions of the same level in GSTD.
The differences from the main game are:
1) Master gems are replaced by clusters of gems.
2) Different costumes, such as Giana wearing a pumpkin mask.
3) Different background graphics.
There is also a "Christmas Special 2013" that is a substantially different
layout than its source material, level 3-1 from GSTD. Once again, remixed
graphics and different costumes.
No pressure to complete these; they're just fun.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
V) Characters and obstacles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
A) Characters
-------------
Giana: Needs no introduction. A girl who likes gems and kicks monster butt.
Walking devils / Walking owls: They walk back and forth along the ground. A
head stomp or dash attack eliminates them. The blue ones stay on platforms,
while the red ones fall off platforms.
Flying devils / Flying owls: These green airborne characters just flutter
around like they don't care. A head stomp or dash will finish them off. Pay
attention to what happens after dashing into them: Giana flies upwards and
gets another twirl or dash. This means multiple airborne characters can be
stomped or dashed into as a way to navigate parts of the level. Hint: look up.
Demonlord / Demowl: These purple creatures are covered in spikes, and CANNOT
be killed. No stomping, no dashing. They are found either on the ground or
in the air. When they appear as a phalanx, you need to run away, pronto!
Toads / Killer rabbits: These characters are rare, but dangerous. They sit by
idly and blow either venom (toad) or a heart-kiss (rabbit) towards Giana
horizontally, which is quite lethal. I guess Punk Giana doesn't like being
kissed. A head stomp or dash attack eliminates these foes, scoring Giana some
instant frog legs or hasenpfeffer.
Pufferfish / Jellyfish: These underwater beasts are invincible. They follow
a specific swimming track. Switching worlds will cause them to switch
directions.
Horned skulls / Happy spiked balls: These lethal, invincible foes appear in a
variety of formations, such as rows or rings, and they move in specific
patterns. Sometimes they reverse their patterns when the character switches.
Owl skeletons / Empty armors: Cute Giana will encounter only owl skeletons,
while Punk Giana will encounter only empty armors. Switching worlds will swap
skeleton for armor or vice versa. An owl skeleton throws bouncing bones at
Giana, which hurt. An empty armor charges with an ax when Giana gets close,
which also hurts, but the armor often ends up smashing itself into a wall. A
head stomp or dash knocks these characters down, but they will revive after a
few seconds.
Piranhas / Turtles: Cute Giana will encounter only Piranhas, while Punk Giana
will encounter only turtles. Turtles are harmless and serve as platforms for
jumping; Punk Giana can even use a turtle's shell as a platform for a bounce.
Piranhas, on the other hand, constantly leap out of the water and take a nice
healthy chomp out of Cute Giana if she dares get close. Switching worlds will
swap piranha for turtle or vice versa. Take note about what happens when a
turtle is unexpectedly swapped into existence in mid-air: could this be
useful to Giana?
Eyeball squids / Spiky boxes: Cute Giana will encounter only eyeball squids,
while Punk Giana will encounter only spiky boxes. An eyeball squid can be
knocked down with a head stomp, but it will revive after a few seconds. A
spiky box, on the other hand, will try to kill anything that touches it with
telescoping spikes. Switching worlds will swap eyeball squid for spiky box
or vice versa. Take note of what happens if a knocked-down eyeball squid is
swapped for a spiky box: does the box look a bit different now?
Ghosts: The two types of ghosts in the game, purple and white, behave the
same way. The white ones chase only Punk Giana, and the purple ones chase
only Cute Giana. If not being chased by a ghost, Giana can pass through the
ghost with no trouble. If the ghost IS chasing Giana, ouch. Beams of light
(the heart-shaped light columns) will kill pursuing ghosts.
Spiders / Snails: These creatures crawl along the surface of a platform
horizontally, vertically, and even upside down. The snails tend to move
slowly, while the spiders move quickly. Punk Giana encounters snails, which
are harmless, while Cute Giana encounters spiders, which are quite harmful.
Neither type of enemy can be beaten; it is best to avoid them entirely.
------------
B) Obstacles
------------
Bottomless pits: Usually denoted by a sign with a skull on it. If you are
not 100% sure of this, use the look controls to see if there is anything below.
If still not convinced, you can jump down and find out. Not that this is a
recommendation or anything.
Cracked walls / Bricks: Useful platform. Punk Giana can dash through these
like they aren't there.
Collapsing floors: Not all that useful as platforms. Stepping on one will
cause it to collapse one second later. Given enough time, floors will repair
themselves, but don't wait up.
Ivy / Bookshelves: Giana can lean against this type of wall surface and slide
down slowly. While sliding, it is possible to jump.
Water: If it's blue, Giana can swim in it.
Trampolines: Punk Giana can hold A before landing on these to jump sky-high.
Dashing into a trampoline will also launch her. Note that dashing sideways
into a trampoline forces the jump to head in that direction; be sure this
vector is desired.
Pinball bumpers: Dashing into a pinball bumper will launch Giana on a specific
trajectory. Keep X held down and you will find areas you never knew existed.
Keys and doors: Doors must have five keys inserted for them to become
unlocked. Giana often needs to collect fewer than five keys to open a locked
door because some keys had already been inserted.
Bubblegum machines: Stomp on these to release a gumball. Collect it, chew it,
blow it up, and then fly! Unfortunately, the bubble pops if Giana touches
something. Even more unfortunately, Giana is very vulnerable to air currents
from impellers while bubbled.
Teleporters: Self-explanatory.
Twirl activators: Some platforms, pumps, gates, etc. can only be activated by
twirling onto a twirl activator disc.
Moving platforms: These move about. You can jump on them provided they don't
have a payload already, such as a hunk of freshly-mined amethyst.
Switchable platforms: These move or rotate in one direction for Cute Giana,
but move or rotate in the opposite direction for Punk Giana. You will know
about this behavior because there is a yellow or red light attached to the
platform, which changes color based on the selected character.
Rail platforms: These follow a specific track. Sometimes these are also tied
to selected character. Other platforms must be stepped on before they move.
Balloon platforms: There are two types: orange, which rises, and blue, which
falls. Both are activated only when stood upon. After some time, the
platforms will reappear in their original locations.
Circular platforms: These continuously rotate. Switching characters will
change the direction of rotation.
Phasing platforms: Half of these will support Cute Giana, and the other half
support Punk Giana. If unsupported, Giana falls through.
Fluffy clouds: Clouds can be stood upon briefly. Punk Giana can remain on
a cloud for a few seconds before falling through. Cute Giana will need to
leave a cloud immediately--they are stormy and don't like her!
Gates: Portcullis-style gates will open or shut based on specific contexts,
but the most frequent context is which character is selected. Some are open
for Cute Giana only, and some are open for Punk Giana only. Watch out for
closing gates--the spikes look painful, and they are.
Crushing blocks: Periodically, the ceiling smashes anything flat underneath
it, and then retracts upwards again. Timed movement is the key (Punk Giana's
dash usually works).
Pincer walls: Some walls close in from the left and right sides, forcing
Giana to ascend or descend a vertical passage very quickly. Vertical dashing
and wall-jumping will help ascend quickly, while unarrested falling will
help descend quickly.
Rolling balls / Giant pumpkins: They come out of seemingly nowhere and roll
down slopes. The further they roll, the faster they go. Giana will not be
able to clear one of these with a normal jump in most circumstances, so a twirl
or dash is almost always necessary.
Amethyst and diamond clusters: Gems aren't just pretty. They're also lethally
sharp. In the dream world, they are everywhere, and they don't appear or
disappear by twisting the world. If it looks sharp, it's sharp. Avoid.
Spikes and brambles: These spiky hazards will extend or retract based on the
character selected. Cute Giana will encounter spikes but not brambles, and
Punk Giana will encounter brambles but not spikes. You will know if one of
these hazards is present because of the green mist that hovers above the area
where the sharp stuff comes out. If you see the mist, BE CAREFUL about
switching characters.
Buzz saws / Pinwheels: Rotating blades, found either on poles or on tracks.
Sometimes these change direction when switching characters. Others chase
Giana through a tight passage.
Gargoyle turrets: Stone statues that breathe fireballs horizontally. They are
indestructible. Fireballs are not launched with a regular pattern. This makes
these turrets deadly when they appear as a stacked column. However, Punk Giana
has an advantage: while dashing, she is immune to the fireballs!
Cannons: Turrets with a wide firing arc. Note the color of the cannonballs--
blue balls must be dodged at all costs, but cannonballs of other colors (red or
yellow) disappear when the appropriate character is selected. Cute Giana will
not be damaged by yellow cannonballs, while Punk Giana will not be damaged by
red cannonballs.
Impellers: These blow a current of air that only affects Giana when she is
twirling. Most blow up, but some also blow sideways or downwards. The impeller
itself is deadly to touch if it is not caged!
Windy air: Some areas are so windy that Giana can freely twirl as long as she
needs to. Watch out for falling cannonballs, though.
Acid / Lava: If it's green, purple, or glowing orange, no swimming allowed!
A pink shield gem will not protect Giana.
-----------------
C) The Owlverlord
-----------------
Giana can change into different characters by twisting the dream, right? Well,
isn't that something. Looks like two can play this game. The Owlverlord, the
master of the owl menace, also has the ability to morph.
The Owlverlord has two incarnations: a "pirate" version, and a "ninja" version.
GSTD players will recognize the Owlverlord from some of the unused concept art
from GSTD's gallery artworks.
Both of these versions are dangerous. What makes the Owlverlord especially
dangerous is that its patterns are highly irregular. There is no way to be
sure what technique it will try next.
The techniques are as follows:
(Pirate):
Peg-leg cannon multi-fire #1: cannonball splits into many additional balls upon
each bounce off a wall, eventually filling the whole arena. Some of these
cannonballs are blue, while some are yellow or red. For those that are yellow
or red, selecting Cute or Punk will phase out the appropriate color of ball.
Peg-leg cannon multi-fire #2: cannonball splits into many additional balls
after reaching the middle of the screen. But before these fragments move very
far, they shine beams in all directions. When the beams stop, Giana has only
one second to get away, because the beams will fry everything in their paths.
Some beams are blue (always lethal), while others are yellow or red (lethal
only to Punk or Cute, respectively).
Peg-leg cannon burst-fire: a burst of three small cannonballs are shot directly
at Giana. These are relatively easy to dodge.
Thrown cutlass: the pirate's blade tracks Giana, periodically re-aiming at
her if it misses! It will never actually stop unless it hits something. This
makes it difficult to dodge the Owlverlord's other attacks.
(Ninja):
Spin-fire #1: four "walls" of shurikens are lined up, presenting Giana with
an instant-death trap unless she morphs into the correct character.
Furthermore, the "phasable" portion of the shurikens (marked in yellow or
red color) is often present in only one part of the "wall," which means Giana
must avoid the "blue" part of the wall, aiming for the "yellow" or "red" parts
of the wall as needed. Switching must be rapid, and it must be timed
impeccably.
Spin-fire #2: two displacements of the Owlverlord appear in the center of the
arena, rapidly spinning. Between four and eight streams of rapidly thrown
shurikens are thrown from the Owlverlord, which gradually rotate, pinning
Giana down and "sandwiching" her between an endless barrage of sharp metal.
The left set of beams turns counterclockwise, while the right set of beams
turns clockwise. Giana must move in the same direction as the blue streams,
while constantly switching between Punk and Cute to phase out the yellow and
red streams.
Triple shuriken throw: the Owlverlord throws three shurikens in a split
formation, forcing Giana to slip between two of them at long range to avoid
getting hit. Not as easy to dodge as peg-leg cannon burst-fire.
Thrown large shuriken: the ninja's blade tracks Giana, periodically re-aiming
at her if it misses! It will never actually stop unless it hits something.
This makes it difficult to dodge the Owlverlord's other attacks.
So, what can you do?
At no time during the fight can you attack the Owlverlord directly. No
stomping, no dashing. The only way to hurt the Owlverlord is to let it harm
itself with its own thrown weapons.
But there's a catch: the pirate is not vulnerable to its own thrown cutlass,
and the ninja is not vulnerable to its own thrown shuriken. The form must
change before the vulnerability is present: ninja must be hit by cutlass,
and pirate must be hit by shuriken. Simple, but not easy to accomplish.
The one thing you must NEVER do is touch the tracking blade (cutlass or
shuriken). The Owlverlord just laughs and tosses even more stuff at you.
This is bad, because the attacks get harder and harder to dodge as time
goes on, eventually becoming nearly impossible to avoid.
Your focus should mostly be on dodging the attacks. Don't rush to place
yourself between the tracking blade and the Owlverlord, because such a
"sandwich" configuration nearly always causes Giana to be hit. It's best
to let the blade fly just past the Owlverlord; Giana can re-position herself
in a way that allows the blade to hit the Owlverlord from behind while Giana
is far away from the normal attacks. Easier said than done, of course: the
Owlverlord constantly teleports from one part of the arena to another.
You must damage the Owlverlord three times in order to win the game. It's
harder than it sounds...and I didn't make it sound easy.
Once you win, Giana sends the Owlverlord packing, to choke on its own owl
pellets.
If you don't know what owl pellets are, that's a good thing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VI) Walkthroughs for each level
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------
Symbols and abbreviations used in this section
----------------------------------------------
Z
Z : Easy Mode difference
E-Z
Oh, wait, did I say "easy?" I meant "normal." This just describes a notable
part of the level that changes when the game is played on Normal skill instead
of any of the other modes.
??????
? HA ? : Hidden Area hint
??????
Location of a hidden area. Different people will have different perspectives
on what this means. Some areas are a lot more "hidden" than others, so I am
assuming a somewhat open-ended definition of what "hidden" means. Any place
that you DO NOT HAVE TO GO to finish a level, and is not an obvious path to
take, is called a hidden area.
Areas that you can clearly see, but can't get to in an obvious way, are also
classified as hidden areas. Because the path to them is hidden, you see.
/\
/M \ : Master Gem hint
\ G/
\/
Location of a Master Gem. A master gem counts as 10 gems, which makes it worth
finding in Adventure and Score Attack mode most of the time. A master gem, when
found for the first time, unlocks a gallery artwork image.
On the PC version, there are 2x12 = 24 total images to unlock, represented by
that many master gems. Each level has a set number of master gems; you will
know the number because the gems appear on the level select screen. If you have
found one, it turns bright blue. Ones you haven't found yet are dark blue.
$$$$$$
$ SA $ : Score Attack hint
$$$$$$
This represents a tip for how to strategize for a Score Attack game. Remember,
even if you can locate each and every gem in the level, it isn't always in your
best interest to try to get -every- gem. This is because your bonus multiplier
will sometimes take a dive if you have to spend too long trying to collect the
more remote gems on the level.
These are just suggestions, of course. Score Attack allows you to miss quite
a few gems on the level and still get an "owl" trophy.
A note about the arrow signs posted throughout the level. If you are trying to
get maximum points, an arrow sign is usually the direction you want to AVOID
going towards until you've tried other locations first.
++++++
+ TA + : Time Attack hint
++++++
This represents a tip for how to strategize for a Time Attack game. Usually,
the tip is in the form of an important shortcut. Assuming, of course, you are
skilled enough to be able to take it. Certain time-saving moves require you to
have near-perfect finger speed.
You can avoid taking shortcuts and still stand a reasonable chance at getting
a "hare" trophy. If you don't die, that is.
A note about the arrow signs posted throughout the level. If you are trying to
get minimum time, the arrow sign is usually the direction you want to TRY to
go towards, ignoring other less-obvious branches.
!!!!!
! G ! : Gotcha! warning
!!!!!
RotO definitely has fewer just-plain-cruel traps than GSTD has, but it has its
share of "gotcha" moments, to be sure. If something is about to kill you
unexpectedly, this warning should clue you in. But don't take my word for it.
You could just carry on blithely and get killed.
Your call.
--------------------
I) Skychase Forest
--------------------
Total Gems: 777
Master Gems: 3
Giana starts the game in a cage. This method of capture would have been an
excellent move on the part of the owls if they had trapped an ordinary
little girl. But a morphing little girl who specializes in breaking things
on a massive scale? It leaves much to be desired of the bird-brains who
thought this one up.
Switch to Punk, burst the cage with a dash, and run to the right. A large
contingent of demowls immediately gives chase (Hard), or not (Normal).
Soon, you will run beyond the demowls, breaking a wall which shuts them out.
Dash into several pinball bumpers, making sure to hold down the X button.
Z
Z Failure to hit one of the bumpers in mid-flight does not result in
E-Z death; you only drop down to some collapsing floors.
?????? The left-hand wall is breakable. Dash into it to find many gems,
? HA ? both red and yellow. Be sure to switch characters to get them all.
??????
When you reach the end of the pinball bumper paths, the demowls return, and
this time they follow more closely than before. The floors collapse, and
you can't afford to stop for even a second. Also, cannons fire at you, and
you have no choice but to brave them head-on. Follow the path of gems for
the most intuitive route.
Ride rotating platforms around the gem spikes. You must switch characters
to change the direction of rotation. Hop towards the more centrally-
oriented platforms to reach the safest positions.
Z
Z This apparatus is much slower and mistake-tolerant.
E-Z
Twirl down, following the path of gems, until you land on a twirl
activator. This disc will move aside the floor below you and the wall to
the right.
/\
?????? /M \ Look down and left; there are additional gems, and a pinball
? HA ? \ G/ bumper also leads to your first master gem!
?????? \/
Now twirl up against the impeller; you will float up to a new area. Now
dash to the right and reach yet another cannonball gauntlet. This is the
most dangerous of all, because not only is the gauntlet long, but the
demowls come behind you full force. Now would be a good time to start
panicking.
$$$$$$
$ SA $ Follow the gems to get the highest score.
$$$$$$
++++++
+ TA + Just dash to the right. But watch the cannonballs!
++++++
!!!!! If you avoid getting hit by cannonballs, you will be able to take a
! G ! hit at the very end of the gauntlet if the demowls have completely
!!!!! closed the distance, which gives you enough invincibility time to
reach the end safely. But if you lose your shield early, there is
no room for error. Keep the shield while you can.
Z
Z Demowls move much slower, and cannonballs are easier to dodge.
E-Z
Break the final wall, and the phalanx is gone for good. The music
changes, leaving Giana to her own devices. The chase is over, for now,
but the challenge is just beginning.
A second twirl activator opens the floor to reveal a windy passage.
?????? Don't drop down yet--look above and find a breakable ceiling. Dash
? HA ? up into it diagonally, and you will find yourself in an area with
?????? many breakable blocks and gems. An eyeball squid can be used as a
trampoline to reach these gems. Here's how to use it: stomp on it
as Cute, then switch to Punk. Now it's a trampoline, but safe to
use only when stood upon--the sides and bottom are still deadly.
Z
Z No spiky box trick needed--a trampoline is present, instead.
E-Z
/\
/M \ If you use the spiky box trick and dash as high as you can go in the
\ G/ previous area, you will hit some hidden pinball bumpers, which will
\/ break the remaining ceiling blocks and wall blocks to your right.
In the process, you will find another twirl activator. Use this
disc to open yet another secret area, which is accessible by falling
down the shaft you used to enter this place, and breaking more walls
to your right. Twirl up to find a master gem.
Drop into the windy passage. Now you must collect several keys to unlock
a box nearby.
$$$$$$
$ SA $ There are yellow gems in the pit to the left. You can only get
$$$$$$ back up by using the spiky box trick.
Z
Z No spiky box trick needed--pinball bumpers are present, instead.
E-Z
The first three keys are easy to get; head down and right. Note that the
clouds are harmless to Punk, but deadly to Cute. You must switch to Cute
to move a special star formation of spiked balls/horned skulls away from
one of the keys. This means each cloud you step on must be abandoned
immediately. If not...ZAP!
Z
Z No clouds, and much less of a fall danger.
E-Z
!!!!! The next key requires you to twirl up from an impeller. Make sure
! G ! not to touch the impeller itself--it is uncaged and will hurt you!
!!!!!
Take the teleporter back to the area with the locked box, where you get
the final key. Unlock the box, and you receive a gumball machine.
Stomp the machine to extract a gumball. When collected, Giana blows a
bubble that completely envelopes her. Now you can reach heights you
couldn't before!
Using the bubble, fly right, between the gap just to the right, then
down, then right again. Now you will be floating above the impeller
and teleporter where you picked up the fourth key.
!!!!! The impeller will drive you straight into the spikes when you are
! G ! bubbled! Look out as you cross it.
!!!!!
Z
Z There is a second gumball machine right where you need to float up.
E-Z
Now you are in an area with phasing platforms, which appear or disappear
depending on the selected character. You will not need the bubble anymore,
but you should be careful about switching characters here.
Yet another twirl activator. This one opens the ceiling, where you must
twirl up against impellers past a series of cannons. Time the movement
intervals carefully, and you will then reach a pinball bumper with many
gems cycling along the line. Dash up to the next area.
Z
Z Fewer cannons; these are easy to dodge.
E-Z
From this point on, almost every part of the level is traversed in the air
using Punk. You must dash into pinball bumpers, owls, and trampolines
repeatedly, until you reach the top. When at the top, an "endless" ring
of pinball bumpers has a huge gem yield. You can switch to Cute while
dashing to collect twice the number of gems, since there are yellow gems
in this ring, too.
Z
Z Far more difficult to fall down from here--the owls and bumpers are
E-Z not your only "support."
/\ Just because you see the exit does not mean you need to enter it
?????? /M \ right away. To the right of the exit, some collapsing floors lead
? HA ? \ G/ to an area with breakable blocks, which actually mask pinball
?????? \/ bumpers. Ride these into several more owls, heading upwards into
the remaining gems (and master gem) of the level.
The first day on the job is always rough. But you have at least a week ahead
of you...
-------------------
II) Floating Ruins
-------------------
Total Gems: 462
Master Gems: 4
Giana tries to pilot one of the Owlverlord's airships, but she doesn't have
much skill. The excursion ends in a spectacular wreck, which is where the next
level starts.
Head right. There is a pinball bumper that takes you up to the main part of
the level, and some gems further to the right.
??????
? HA ? There are shafts below, which lead to more gems. Break the floors until
?????? you reach an "I love gems" stash. Pinball-dash back up.
When you dash up to the main part of the level, you must hold left or right to
press against the ivy, then wall-jump to the formation on either side. From
here, you must collect five keys, one located in the center, and the rest in
every direction, much like the final level of GSTD. You can get the keys in
these parts in any order; just pinball-dash into the corresponding bumper to
reach the passages.
Z There are far more platforms that support Giana. Also, throughout the
Z level, many ivy walls are "ribbed" such that wall jumping is less
E-Z necessary.
Note that most passages, when completed, open up an "easy backtracking" path
if you want to revisit the passages for some reason.
-------------------
Lower Right Passage
-------------------
This is probably the most dangerous of all, because so much of this section
requires precise jumping, dashing, and timing.
There are many red owls around here; eliminate them, collect the gems on the
platform above, and head right into the narrow passage.
?????? Just below, the floor is breakable. Dash down, then head left to get
? HA ? some more gems. But this place has quite a few dangers--alternating
?????? spikes and brambles, and a fast-moving ring of demonlords. Note that
this super-fast sortie slows to a crawl when transformed into demowls--
I wonder which one you would rather face? Anyway, use the spiky box
trick to trampoline back up to where you were, collecting more gems.
Z
Z Spiky box is replaced by pinball bumpers.
E-Z
Head right, and now you will notice that the ceilings and floors are closing
in behind you! You must hurry. Use Punk and dash through the breakable
portions of the wall, selecting the correct angles, and not wasting a moment.
Z
Z The trap is sprung more slowly. Directional arrows also flat-out
E-Z spoon-feed the dash directions you need to use.
Now you are in a place with rising acid. You must wall-jump up the ivy, using
Cute. With the brambles growing from the ivy walls, using Punk is out of the
question.
But now there are more spastic demonlords, who block Cute. The moment you can
safely stand on a column, just beyond the brambles, you must switch to Punk to
pause them. Now the demowls appear, and they move slowly. As long as you have
"paused" the demowls in an ideal spot, you can use Punk's upward dashing to
sneak by the owls.
Climb the ivy walls to the right, twirl left, and SWITCH TO PUNK before you get
to the next ivy wall--the spikes will kill Cute if you don't. From here, climb
the rest of the way up. Once you get to the blue owls, you are safe...for now.
Carefully jump up to the next area. Resist using Cute--there is one more fast-
moving demonlord that will ruin your day if you select Cute. Dash up and climb
the ivy walls using Punk.
!!!!! Now it gets really tough. Alternating brambles and spikes as you climb!
! G ! There is almost no clearance. You need to "pre-emptively" switch to
!!!!! Cute or Punk as you go up, ideally using their trademark twirl and dash
moves while leaning towards the corresponding "safe" type of wall. Don't
be hasty, and definitely don't panic and switch out of turn. If you do
either, you're dead.
Z
Z This entire area has been padded with bubble wrap. Ribbed ivy walls,
E-Z far fewer spikes and brambles, more standing area.
Here's the teleporter, which will take you to a key. But first...
$$$$$$
$ SA $ Some gems are to the right of the teleporter. Grab them.
$$$$$$
...and...
/\
?????? /M \
? HA ? \ G/ Climb the column above the teleporter and twirl left. Master gem!
?????? \/
Get the key, twirl on the disc to open the pinball path back, and ride the
pinball bumpers back to the hub.
-------------------
Upper Right Passage
-------------------
Not much going on here, so it seems...but suddenly, the entire floor starts
to rise, taking Giana with it. Numerous spikes appear above, which must be
dodged. At two points, Giana must switch to Cute to retract the brambles, and
at two other points, Giana must switch to Punk to break the blocks above
before being squashed against them.
Okay...that was actually pretty easy. Kill the two blue owls, get the key in
this area, and the teleporter will take you home.
Z
Z Elevator rises slower; arrows guide where Giana should go.
E-Z
/\
?????? /M \ Climb the column above the teleporter, go up and to the right, and
? HA ? \ G/ twirl for a long time, following the path of gems until you reach
?????? \/ a master gem.
------------------
Upper Left Passage
------------------
A single trampoline bounces Giana up into a pincer wall trap. This trap is
not actually very difficult to beat, unless you like dawdling for some reason.
Dash up, wall-jump, and proceed until you reach three owls stacked as a
column.
Z
Z Ribbed ivy walls make climbing easier.
E-Z
Dash into the owls (holding down X, you will eliminate them all at once).
Then, ride up several impellers to reach the exit.
Kill the green owls, then get the key. The breakable floors to the lower right
will take you back to the hub.
?????? $$$$$$
? HA ? $ SA $ Climb the column, twirl right, and pick up some gems.
?????? $$$$$$
/\
?????? /M \ Climb the column, twirl left, and pick up a master gem. Note that
? HA ? \ G/ the teleporter here just takes you back to the start of the pincer
?????? \/ wall trap; it's just one more way to get back to the hub.
------------------
Lower Left Passage
------------------
This passage is the most populated of the four. There are many devils/owls,
and also a new type of enemy: the spider/snail. The numerous columns with
ivy walls can be climbed via wall-jumping, but the spiders/snails also crawl
along these columns, and will surprise Giana if she doesn't notice they are
there.
The trick is to be observant, and look before you leap. If you have no
choice but to go near a spider, be sure to select Punk. This transforms
the spider into a harmless snail. The snail, however, can still push Giana
around as it crawls.
If you explore all the way to the left, you will see a pit filled with amethyst
spikes--this is the wrong way. The correct way is up, past the owls, devils,
and spiders/snails. Also watch the spikes and brambles--they will bait you into
selecting a character that will unexpectedly transform a snail into a spider,
at the worst possible time.
Z
Z Ribbed ivy walls and fewer spikes/brambles make this area much safer.
E-Z
When you reach a demonlord/demowl, carefully move beyond it, getting the gems on
the right side of the column, and then there is one more column to climb. Get
rid of the two blue owls in this area, and twirl off the left side of the
topmost column, following the arrow. This leads to where you must go.
Z
Z No need to twirl--you have stuff to stand on.
E-Z
Select Cute; head left, up the slope (the brambles make navigating with Punk
impossible).
?????? Keep going left, then down, and you will reach an area with many
? HA ? alternating spikes and brambles. The cave is gem-rich. It's also
?????? hazard-rich. If the return trip seems impossible, remember, you can
do some fancy dashing to get back up--dash left into one owl, then
up twice more to escape this place.
Z
Z Much more stuff to stand on here; not quite as dangerous.
E-Z
Climb the column, then dash up and left into owls to reach yet another column.
Jump up this one as well.
/\
?????? /M \ Take a long twirl-jump off to the right of this column, and you will
? HA ? \ G/ just manage to reach a hidden area with some more gems and a master
?????? \/ gem. Go back the same way you came here: a long twirl-jump.
Go left, and then down...oh no! Another phalanx of demonlords/demowls! You
must phase-out the floors below you by switching to the correct character, and
escape the bad guys. But you also face a more immediate threat: more pincer
walls! This time, there is not much room for error, and you can't waste a
second while descending. Use the pinball bumper to rocket downwards, and fall
as fast as possible (NO twirling). At the very base, you must break the floors
to escape the trap. Phew!
Z
Z The walls close more slowly...but not much more slowly. There are some
E-Z movement guide arrows here, too.
Go left, beat up some owls, and now there are some breakable bricks below.
?????? The arrow doesn't tell you this, but there are also some breakable
? HA ? bricks to the left near the ceiling. Go here and pick up some more gems.
??????
Dash down to an area where you must hit three owls in succession, then launch
yourself on a continuous pinball challenge. This is where the game starts to
resemble an actual pinball table to some extent, something the original GSTD
didn't have.
Z
Z More standing area; Giana is not "airborne" quite as much.
E-Z
Note that the phased-out walls will make Giana cycle indefinitely unless she
switches to Cute...but Giana will only escape and climb up if she switches in
the exact center of the figure-8 path. If your timing is off, you get to try
again...but the "pinball table" challenges later in the game are far less
forgiving if you screw up.
Now head right, twirl-jump to the right, and ride the final pinball bumpers
back to the hub.
------------
Moving Along
------------
Unlock the block in the center, which reveals a pinball bumper that bounces
Giana even further up. Once Giana reaches the top, she can repeatedly
dash into owls until she reaches the exit, just above. There are no gems
in this part of the level--if you missed any, they are below you.
Z
Z Rotating platforms are present; no need to use the owls.
E-Z
It looks like Giana has a replacement ship. But still no driver's license.
------------------
III) Mistral Reefs
------------------
Total Gems: 508
Master Gems: 3
Giana has a new ride, and this time, she knows a bit more about how to steer
these things. But now there's more to contend with than just owls in the
skies--the Owlverlord has sent an entire armada to take care of Giana. Which
means, this level is going to be FILLED with cannonballs.
The level starts innocently enough. A few gems, and some pinball bumpers that
lead to another ship, and a key. The owls here are easily beaten.
Hop to a third ship, where there are the remaining keys. The next one is a bit
hard to spot--it's below the raised platform on the poop deck. There is another
key up high, and a shield gem in the crow's nest. On to the next ship.
Dash into green owls to get to this next ship, and get the key up high. The
final key is all the way to the right, near the ship's bow. Unlock the box and
receive a pinball bumper, which sends you to the next ship.
!!!!! ...but not all the way there! You need to dash down into more pinball
! G ! bumpers, or you'll fall to your doom. But this path doesn't take you
!!!!! all the way, either--more dashing is necessary after you hit the next owl.
It just keeps going, and you can't screw up!
/\ What, that wasn't challenging enough? After you hit the last owl,
?????? /M \ twirl up and left, back the way you came, and bounce off a green
? HA ? \ G/ devil. Now dash repeatedly upwards at angles into many more owls
?????? \/ (if you screw up even once, you're finished), and eventually
reach another ship, located high above. Lots of gems and a master
gem, but boy, that was a keel haul.
Z
Z Not quite as dangerous...a few platforms save you from falling.
E-Z
Dash right repeatedly into more owls, and now you find yourself facing some
rapid-fire cannons. Don't rush forward; wait until their volleys pause, and
then run and dash ahead during this time.
Z
Z The firing rate is toned down significantly.
E-Z
Go up, right (more timed volleys), and now you are in a shaft where you can use
the spiky box trick to jump up. But you don't need to do this--a jump and dash
at the right time lets you scale this area without using the eyeball squid.
Z
Z No spiky box; it is replaced by trampolines.
E-Z
Now go left. These cannons are different--they have red or yellow cannonballs,
which fire continuously. There is no way you can go through without getting
hurt unless you select the same "color" of character. Cute can survive yellow
but not red; Punk can survive red but not yellow. Remember this.
Ride up, and look right. Now the game starts to really challenge your timing
and switching skills--these cannon volleys have blue cannonballs, which harm
every character, and small "gaps" of either yellow or red cannonballs, which
harm specific characters. Don't rush forward; select the correct character
and jump/twirl/dash your way through the gaps.
Z
Z There are no "gaps" on this skill; the volleys are either all red or
E-Z all yellow.
You will reach a twirl activator. Step on this, and note that this mechanism
is painfully slow...as in, you'll be in a lot of pain if you get hit by
cannonballs before it opens all the way. Drop down when it finally opens.
To the right, there is some windy air. You can continuously twirl here to your
heart's content, but there are many dangers to look out for.
?????? There is a serpentine path of gems below the windy air, which, if
? HA ? followed, leads to even more gems after you climb the ivy wall to the
?????? left. But watch out for the spider lurking around here!
The windy air is not very difficult to navigate; treat it like an extended
impeller ride. At times, you must switch to phase out cannonballs. The demowls
and demonlords are easy to dodge, unless you have a penchant for recklessness.
Break the wall to the right, and time your next dashes carefully. The cannons
here fire somewhat irregular patterns of yellow, red, AND blue projectiles.
Make sure you have the correct character selected. Note that red is the best
color, because dashing gets you past these obstacles quickly.
/\ Double-back and climb up to some phasing platforms. Go left,
?????? /M \ dashing into some green owls, and breaking a cracked wall to the
? HA ? \ G/ left. Now you are back to the windy area again, but the vector
?????? \/ here is different--it pushes you up and right. Ride this up to
a master gem.
Go right, climb some ivy walls, and watch out for the green devils/owls. When
you reach a sign with a key and an arrow, you can go in multiple directions,
but I'll cover the key to the right first.
Z
Z Ivy walls are ribbed; devils/owls are gone.
E-Z
There is a pinball bumper here. Before you get started, brace yourself: this
"pinball table" challenge is actually going to be really tough. Your trajectory
will lead you every which way.
Dash into the bumper, and you're off...into a continuous cycle. Notice the
phasing platforms? You must switch to change your flight path, which is another
continuous cycle. But this next one must be timed right--if your next switch
causes you to hit the lower platform, you will be sent back. But if you hit the
higher platform, instead, you will be sent to yet another area, with three
platforms and a whole smattering of bumpers, which will confuse the heck out of
you.
Now timing is everything. If you hit the left or right platforms here on your
way up, you will be sent back. What you want to do is hit the middle platform
on your way up--this sends you up into the next area, where the screen zooms out
by a huge extent.
!!!!! Perplexed gamers might be tempted to release X and land on one of the
! G ! platforms. This might work, but it's far more likely you will miss,
!!!!! and plummet to oblivion. Play smart--play X-smart.
Z
Z They just about neutered the danger by placing collapsing floors below.
E-Z
The zoomed-out view has an enormous "circular" path of pinball bumpers. Riding
this path leaves you wanting for some semblance of order. Switching at certain
times allows you to collect two keys relatively easily. If you can release X
while you are Cute near the upper left, you can land on the platforms and grab
the leftmost key.
If you end up falling, it's not catastrophic--just make sure you glide towards
the center of this setup, directly under the locked box, and you will land
safely. From here, you can dash back up and try again.
!!!!! The only key that is tricky to grab without getting damaged is the one
! G ! in the top right. There is a big star of amethyst just next to the key,
!!!!! and if you try to release X here, you will often hit it. This isn't all
that bad if you have a shield, but it's not ideal. Try to release X and
land on the platform beyond it from which you can twirl off and snatch
the key.
Z
Z Four keys are naturally collected without you even doing anything! Also,
E-Z switching to Punk will collect the last one. It isn't dangerous to get.
Once you have all the keys, riding the "outer ring" of bumpers will unlock the
box, and eventually send you to the area where you can get one of the keys you
need to proceed. Collect it, then ride back to the spot you came from.
Dash left and climb the ivy walls up to the next area. There is a spider
hanging out here if you use Cute, so try to stay as Punk as you climb, which
keeps it as a harmless snail.
Head right. Dash into owls and reach an area with alternating spikes and
brambles.
!!!!! There are a LOT of spiders/snails here! Look carefully at every
! G ! platform before you jump to it. Spiders are the most dangerous when you
!!!!! fail to observe them right away.
Z
Z No spikes or brambles, and no need to dash into owls to get there.
E-Z
Once you are past the spiders, collect some more gems, get a key, and dash
into an owl and some pinball bumpers to go back to the left again.
The last key you need is to the left, under a bridge. The setup here is
tricky, but not that tricky. Once under the bridge, Punk can safely grab the
key. DO NOT switch at the bottom of the bridge--there is a safe zone up and
to the right of the pit, but still under the bridge.
Z
Z No spikes under the bridge. This isn't a bridge over troubled anything.
E-Z
Unlock the box and pinball-dash up to the next area.
/\ On the right, there are many cracked blocks. If you break them all,
?????? /M \ you will find a hidden bumper, which leads further right to some
? HA ? \ G/ gems and a master gem. By now, you should know how to time the
?????? \/ switches to get the gems. Needless to stay, don't release X.
Go left and encounter cannons that shoot in huge spreading arcs. When this
happens, you must stay far away from the cannon; fitting between the cannonballs
is not an option. Several of the cannons alternate between blue balls (must
dodge) and yellow/red balls (switching to appropriate character will save you).
Z
Z The firing rates of cannons in this area are much reduced.
E-Z
Next, some continuously firing cannons occasionally switch from blue balls to
yellow or red balls; that is your cue to pass through.
More cannons, a demowl/demonlord, and a link to the ships overhead (go up and
turn right).
Z
Z Not a purple baddie--just a blue one.
E-Z
?????? At the far left, there is an eyeball squid. Use the spiky box trick to
? HA ? have it bounce you up into a pinball bumper, whereupon you can dash up
?????? again into an owl. Now you must act fast--dash diagonally in the narrow
space, and you will bounce up to another "I love gems" area. Sweet!
Z
Z The eyeball squid can't "escape" its area now.
E-Z
Go up and right, past some demons/owls. Oh, look! It's raining men. Just
kidding; it's actually raining cannonballs. Be careful moving forward; haste
will not help you from here to the end of the level. Dodge the rain and jump
to the right into several more owls, reaching another ship. Now it's on to yet
another windy area.
Z
Z It's not raining--just drizzling.
E-Z
This air is surprisingly dangerous. The blue cannonball rain keeps falling,
but now there are also sustained volleys of tight clusters of red and yellow
cannonballs that fall in specific locations. Usually, these clusters alternate
between yellow and red...but sometimes, they trick you, and launch two yellow
volleys or two red volleys. Be vigilant.
And be happy, because that's the end of the level.
---------------------
IV) Airborne Factory
---------------------
Total Gems: 865
Master Gems: 4
Giana bubble-navigates up to the entrance to the owl factory. If you remember
from GSTD, this factory was visible in the background in level 3-6. It is
shaped like a gigantic owl. But what is this factory making, anyway?
The action starts right away: you must jump from cloud to cloud, dodging wide
arcs of alternating red/yellow cannon fire. Next, you must sneak past blue-ball
cannons at two different altitudes, firing to the left. Time the jumps; don't
be reckless.
!!!!! Remember that the clouds won't let you wait forever when trying to time
! G ! your moves past the cannons. If you dally for too long, you'll fall!
!!!!!
Z From the start of the level to this point, they REALLY padded the walls.
Z Extra shield at the start, cannons fire more slowly, more clouds, one
E-Z fewer cannon to deal with.
Get some gems in this area, and then climb up to the crow's nest. Pinball-dash
to the left.
Now repeatedly dash into some owls to the left to get to the next area.
++++++ The second owl you dash into lets you skip to the ship above you right
+ TA + away, if you time a mid-air upward dash correctly. Failure to reach the
++++++ higher ship's deck means a drop, but not a long drop (you end up back at
the beginning). If that happens, of course, you're not doing much to
"attack" time, since you've wasted plenty of it.
Z
Z With all the extra platforms below the owls, the above shortcut is much
E-Z safer to try and take. Not that you're in Time Attack mode...
Switch to correct characters to get past the continuously firing cannons, then
climb some clouds and time a jump past a blue ball-firing cannon. Now you are
on top of another ship. Head right.
Now there are many demonlords/demowls. They move very fast for Punk, so the
only real option here is to use Cute--that slows them down. But this means the
clouds will shock you--step lively and quickly up and to the right.
Z
Z Not-so-fit demowls: they move slow enough to allow navigation with Punk.
E-Z
$$$$$$
$ SA $ Below the next ship to the right, there are many more gems (and cannons).
$$$$$$
Now you find some impellers that blow up into the factory. Twirl up these, but
don't be reckless in getting past the demonlords. They hog your airspace; wait
until they fly away before trying to squeeze past them.
Z
Z The demonlords don't block you! Some guards THEY are.
E-Z
Eventually, you will enter the factory proper. Ride up some more impellers,
dodging the spikes (and the impellers themselves, which are uncaged).
Z
Z On this skill, the impellers ARE caged. Yawn.
E-Z
Go right, dodging an owl skeleton/empty armor. Note that you must select Punk
to go up from here: this causes the shaft above to narrow, letting you bounce
diagonally up.
From here, collect all the gems in the area (several of them are located above).
Above is actually the safer way to go, because the ground has brambles, spikes,
and enemies on it. Go right, up, and left again.
Many devils/owls abound. Get rid of them.
?????? You can diagonally bounce up again to reach a hidden area, with a few
? HA ? more gems.
??????
Go left, and reach a tall elevator shaft. By timing your jumps and dashes, you
can visit many "floors" of the shaft, collecting many gems. Don't forget that
many red gems are located far above the top elevator.
The way forward is the shaft at the lower left. Break through the walls, then
switch to Cute to open the gate that leads back outside.
Jump to a rotating platform, then to a new airship. Unexpectedly, you are
mobbed by a huge number of ghosts. They are far more numerous here than in
GSTD! Try to remain as Cute, because there are more white ghosts (which chase
Punk) than there are violet ghosts (which chase Cute). If you must escape from
either type, though, you have a lifeline: a light column located at the far
left. This will kill ghosts of all colors...but the collapsing floor prevents
you from remaining there for too long.
Z
Z Much safer. The light column is a better hiding place, and the elevators
E-Z go down further, allowing easier ascent.
Ride an elevator up, then head right. Even more ghosts here--once again, try
to stay as Cute. Ignore the ghosts, then jump to yet another rotating platform.
If you did right and ran continuously, without stopping, you should have left
the ghosts behind. If you didn't do right, several ghosts will have pursued
you to the rotating platform, which will make your life difficult. Carefully
jump to the two elevators above you, and watch out for the owl skeleton/empty
armor waiting for you at the top. Once you reach the next light column, you
are home free.
Z
Z An extra light column fences in the ghosts after you leave the ship.
E-Z
Diagonally dash up in the next passage, collecting some red gems. Switch to
Cute to open a gate back into the factory again.
Jump to a switchable platform. Many gems can be gotten here with Cute, but
there is acid everywhere, so make sure you pick out good spots for landing.
This next jump is long and must be precise: jump from the top of the
switchable platform, then twirl for a long distance (watch the low ceiling)
to the next tight passage.
!!!!! The next passage has almost no standing area--just platforms that move
! G ! at odd patterns, and with low ceilings. You must twirl in a smart
!!!!! fashion, anticipating the platforms' next movements. If you make a
mistake, you will bathe in acid. The middle column has many spikes, too,
so don't lean against it as you are landing on the lowest platform!
Z
Z There are more places to stand on in this area, and the platforms move
E-Z much more leisurely and predictably.
Step on a balloon platform and ride it up.
?????? There are some breakable bricks to the left as you ride up. Smash
? HA ? through and enter a large, acid-filled open area, where you will find
?????? many gems. There are gems above you, all the way to the left, and to
the left and up. The rotating platforms are easily negotiated, but you
can still hit the acid if you switch at the wrong time. The best way
forward is to twirl, and switch in mid-twirl if you need the platforms
to rotate in the opposite direction in order to land safely.
Z
Z The hidden area can barely be considered dangerous--a layer of
E-Z collapsing floors runs the entire length of the acid.
?????? There is another hidden area reachable if you ride the balloon platform
? HA ? as high as it will go. Select Punk to retract the spikes, then dash
?????? up diagonally to reach the top of the shaft, where you will find a very
windy passage.
Z
Z No spikes in the shaft.
E-Z
++++++
+ TA + Ignore the above windy passage--just head right.
++++++
The windy passage eventually leads to a challenge with several demonlords just
waiting for you to try it--they chase you the moment you enter the shaft. Twirl
up, getting the gems, and not slowing down (the demonlords will kill you if you
delay).
Z
Z It's far easier to outrun the demonlords--the path you must follow is
E-Z more intuitive, and the gems are easy to get.
Continue right, then down, then right again. If you miss any gems during this
sequence, you will be able to go back through the gauntlet again, but only from
the forward direction--you can't double-back. The demonlords stop chasing you
when you reach the end of the wind tunnel (they fly up into a hole).
?????? How about this? A hidden area within a hidden area. Head right, and
? HA ? notice that there are breakable bricks above you. Dash straight up into
?????? them, and you will go to an area with many more gems.
Go right, then pinball-dash down. Now take a long twirl over a spiked pit,
collect some more gems to the right, and then drop down.
Z
Z The spiked pit has collapsing floors covering it.
E-Z
/\
/M \ It's right in your way--you can't miss it.
\ G/
\/
Fall further down, then head left. This is the junction point, where you would
have also gone if you had avoided the last secret area. Dash into the bricks,
collecting some more gems. Now dash down into another passage.
One you are here, take note that the walls all have spikes on them. Carefully
jump and twirl and get all the gems (including some on the right, although
these are somewhat dangerous to collect). Twirl down and left.
Z
Z A platform makes the gems on the right easy to collect.
E-Z
/\
?????? /M \ You will find a downward-leading shaft with retractable spikes.
? HA ? \ G/ Above the spikes on the left, there are more breakable bricks,
?????? \/ which, when dashed into, reveal a secret passage to a master gem.
Z
Z No spikes. Nothing to retract.
E-Z
Drop down the shaft.
?????? There is a gate to the left. Select Cute to open the gate, where you
? HA ? will find some more gems. The rotating platforms here are switchable,
?????? so time your jumps carefully (once again, acid is everywhere).
Z
Z Collapsing floors over the acid.
E-Z
/\
?????? /M \ Yet another hidden area within a hidden area! All the way to the
? HA ? \ G/ left, there you can jump up and to the left and reach a room that
?????? \/ will not seem like an obvious destination, because the scrolling
behavior misleads. But it is there--and there is a master gem.
Drop further down; the shaft narrows even more.
?????? A gate to the right, which is open only to Punk.
? HA ? Get some more gems here.
??????
?????? A second gate to the left, which is open only to Cute.
? HA ? Get some more gems here. Many dangerous spikes are around here.
??????
Drop down even more; watch the adjacent spikes/brambles that guard the exit.
Now you are at the shaft's bottom. Head left, to a place with many alternating
phasing platforms and clouds. Keep going left and down until a cloud is
reached, from which you can jump up.
!!!!! Don't switch just because you feel like it--it usually means you will
! G ! fall through the phasing platforms or make the clouds zap you.
!!!!!
Z
Z Fall danger? Not hardly. Clouds and collapsing floors are everywhere.
E-Z
Go up, left, down, and left again. Watch out for more owls and a demowl.
Take the teleporter to the next part of the level.
...which is quite dangerous. You must ride conveyor belts back and forth,
past pinwheels/saw blades. At several points, you must duck under the blades
while riding the conveyor.
!!!!! As you go down, cannons firing alternating yellow and red volleys at you
! G ! start to appear. But these don't have a guaranteed R-Y-R-Y pattern;
!!!!! there are often double-reds and double-yellows. React quickly!
Z
Z No ducking under blades required, much easier jumps, and much more
E-Z lenient cannon fire.
After three of these conveyor challenges, go down and find yet another conveyor
challenge, which is even MORE dangerous.
/\
?????? /M \ There is a hidden area to the right of the checkpoint. Dash right
? HA ? \ G/ through the wall, and you will find a master gem, plus many more
?????? \/ bonus gems.
At first, time your movements as you dash left, under several industrial
squashing machines. Hey, it's a factory, right? No factory would be complete
without some sort of deadly pressing device on a conveyor belt. The first one
is easiest; the next three are more difficult, but nothing to write home about.
Z
Z The triple-press apparatus has been reduced to only two, with the middle
E-Z one removed. Not so tough anymore.
When you get to a spot with two very low-hanging presses, just ignore them and
dash up, over them.
!!!!! The final presses are where it gets quite deadly. The exact timing of
! G ! them does not appear to be consistent from one game to the next--you
!!!!! will need to deal with some patterns that allow for very little clearance.
Use Punk's dash to get past them quickly.
Now, fall down several passages where amethyst clusters are being dropped and
conveyed, heading down and right. The clusters are not difficult to dodge.
Finally, you reach the main assembly line of the factory.
At last, you can observe what the factory is making. It appears to be
producing devils and owls! No wonder you had to face so many. If you want,
observe the cycle of these machines, and how raw materials are molded into new
creatures, whereupon they are colorized and presumably "shipped" to their final
destinations.
While this is going on, there is not much danger; just hop from one conveyor
to the next. Beware, though: spiders/snails are crawling along most of the
conveyors. Look before leaping.
Go through a teleporter, which leads to the factory's main power source. But
before you reach it, you must deal with a dangerous trap.
!!!!! The trap is in the form of a windy shaft, which must be ridden down
! G ! slowly, with Giana carefully twirling. Buzz saws/pinwheels force Giana
!!!!! into a tight spot. The tight spot is made especially challenging because
a whole mess of alternating yellow/red cannons will fire nonstop. Giana
must switch as she rides down, very frequently, and very precisely.
Z On this skill, the trap is completely changed around. The rotating
Z blades are still there, but the cannons now shoot continuous-color
E-Z streams, which are much easier to phase in or out.
And now...the power source. Pinball-dash into it, which sends the factory on
a downward spiral. Now Giana should focus on getting the hell out of dodge.
Take a teleporter to the right to a passage with many small circular platforms.
Jump between these dextrously; watch the spikes on the floors and ceilings.
Z
Z No floor spikes.
E-Z
Finally, pinball-dash to the right. You exit the factory for good. And not a
moment too soon...Giana has just become the Owlverlord's public enemy #1.
-----------------
V) Black Forest
-----------------
Total Gems: 851
Master Gems: 4
Great! The factory is disabled. But where is Giana now?
Oh, right, of course. She's in a trap-filled game designed by sadists. Hence
the level's title.
If you don't believe this, look no further than to the right. There are gems
and a shield on the left, but to the right, it's an incomprehensibly nasty,
vindictive trap designed for one purpose only: to kill players who, up to this
point, had the gall to say, "Hey, this game isn't that hard. At least, it's
easier than GSTD."
You will need that shield. But it might not help that much. You must dash to
the right repeatedly and quickly in order to dodge the rotating blades. The
average person, though, will get through without taking a hit about 1/16th of
the total number of attempts. And if you get hit, it might knock you back
just long enough to fall into the acid below.
!!!!!!!!!! The timing for this obstacle will be difficult to explain properly.
! G !! G ! You must immediately start running when the first blade comes down,
!!!!!!!!!! but don't dash to the right until the blade to your back gets very
close. Too early, and you will crash. Too late, and you will get
hit by the blade behind you. This pattern must be kept up for all
subsequent platforms, until you are done. It helps to release X to
shorten the dash to avoid crashing...but if that means your dash
won't reach the next platform, releasing X might kill you anyway.
Phew...now that it's over, pause the game and have a drink. That's the first
half of the level. The second half is a breeze. What's that, you say? You
say it was only the first obstacle? Well, the division is correct...in terms
of difficulty.
Z
Z Forget everything I just said about this trap being difficult. On
E-Z this skill, the trap is barely worth a mention.
?????? With some long twirling to the left, you will find some extra gems
? HA ? over the area of the rotating blades, located on boards suspended
?????? from the cave roof by ropes.
There is another rotating blade trap after this, which has slow-moving
platforms and slow-moving rotating blades. This is also dangerous, but nowhere
close to the level of danger as the one just passed. You must periodically
switch characters to reverse the directions of the blades, which gives Giana a
decent but tenuous pocket of breathing space. Finally, dashing to the right
will cause Giana to reach an ivy wall, which is climbable.
/\
?????? /M \ Go all the way to the left, through the wall, and get a master gem.
? HA ? \ G/
?????? \/
Just above, there are switchable platforms. Rotating blades move counter to
the platforms when a switch occurs, which means that the jump order should
always be this: wait until platform is stopped, jump on it, then switch, then
jump to next platform.
Z
Z The blades and platforms move more slowly, and there is much more
E-Z to stand on.
After you climb past that obstacle, you will find a long "track" of rotating
blades, which snake throughout the area above. Collect the gems here, but
don't be too hasty, because the blades are everywhere.
/\
?????? /M \ To the right of this "track" area, there is a breakable wall,
? HA ? \ G/ which hides a master gem.
?????? \/
++++++
+ TA + The fastest path is taking the above secret--it's also a shortcut.
++++++
?????? Up and to the left of the "track" area, there is a passage with a long
? HA ? formation of skulls/spiked balls. Run under these to get through them.
?????? Getting the gems safely with just one pass is another matter--there is
not much time to get them all (with switching).
Z
Z The skulls/spiked balls move a lot slower.
E-Z
If you took the hidden area, you must jump on a turtle. But you still won't
be able to reach the platform above by standing on it--you must "raise" the
turtle by switching from Cute to Punk as the Piranha is in mid-flight--you can
then use it as a stepping stone to reach higher.
/\
?????? /M \ Yet another hidden area within a hidden area! Ascend and go right
? HA ? \ G/ until you reach some phasing platforms. By jumping and dashing up,
?????? \/ you will find a secret cave with a master gem.
Heading back to the right, you will get a shield and drop down to a boulder-
filled challenge. Be warned: you will want to keep that shield as long as
possible.
The first boulder challenge isn't tough--just switch to Punk, run and dash
forward, and jump over the pit, switching to Cute as you do. There is actually
a small safe zone located just beyond the pit on its right side, where the next
boulder will not touch Giana. This gives you some rare time to think.
Z
Z There are very few hazards along the boulder paths, allowing you to go
E-Z about as fast as you want.
?????? There are several owls in the shaft above. Dash into them and find a
? HA ? secret treasure trove--a genuine bonanza of gems.
??????
!!!!! Now things get harder. You can't dash through the next boulder challenge,
! G ! because of the spikes--you can only run. Jump over the next pit, and now
!!!!! you're at the worst boulder challenge--alternating spikes and brambles.
You need to be both precise to avoid getting skewered, and fast to avoid
getting flattened by the boulder to the rear. If that is not enough, you
must jump to an ivy wall and climb the next shaft pronto, or else the
boulder will tag you.
Climb the ivy wall to the next area.
?????? Breakable wall to the left--this leads to two "rectangular" formations
? HA ? of skulls/spiked balls, and switchable platforms that allow you to
?????? collect many additional gems.
Z
Z Only one formation of skulls/spiked balls exists.
E-Z
Avoid the owls, then twirl down a passage with amethyst spikes. Drift between
the nodes, and then make sure to land directly on a flying devil.
!!!!! There is no floor down here--you must now repeatedly stomp or dash into
! G ! the devils/owls to the right to avoid taking a bath in the acid.
!!!!!
Z
Z Actually, there is a floor. A collapsing floor, but a floor, all
E-Z the same.
Eventually, you will reach an eyeball squid. Use the spiky box trick to bounce
up, where you must dash into another owl, then reach yet another eyeball squid.
Again, use the spiky box trick, bouncing up to a narrow shaft, where you must
diagonally dash to reach the next part of the level.
!!!!! Now you're in big trouble, although it doesn't look like it at first.
! G ! This must be the place where all the ghosts went after the Ghostbusters
!!!!! busted them, because the cave is filled wall-to-wall with ghosts! No
matter how careful you try to be, it is nearly impossible to avoid
touching a ghost. There are many violet ones, and many white ones,
and both types are everywhere.
?????? Dash into an owl up and to the right to reach a hidden area, with more
? HA ? gems and a light column (which you will be extremely glad to see). You
?????? will also find a ton of ghosts here (which you won't be extremely glad
to see). If you come here, try to lead all the ghosts over to the light
column to eliminate them. With some tricky movements, you might also be
able to lead a few ghosts to that light column from the main part of the
cave; this will make it easier to deal with the rest of them.
++++++
+ TA + If you have a shield, simply dashing left as quickly as possible is the
++++++ best strategy, even though you will likely lose the shield.
Z
Z Nowhere close to that number of ghosts on this skill level! Don't be
E-Z mistaken, though--this place is still dangerous.
When you reach two light columns at the far left, you're safe. You must
diagonally bounce up to the next part of the level from here.
$$$$$$
$ SA $ At the far right, you can use Cute's twirl to pick up some gems strewn
$$$$$$ among the collapsing floors.
To get up from this point, you will dash into pinball bumpers, and then
IMMEDIATELY switch to Cute while holding down X. This phases in the walls,
which allow Giana to bounce up further.
Z
Z No instant-switch necessary; you can stay as Punk (but you won't get
E-Z the gems along the path).
From here, dash into some more owls. When you strike the final owl, diagonally
dash up yet another shaft, then go right.
!!!!!!!!!! More proof that the level designers hate you. This challenge is
! G !! G ! similar to the low-clearance platform dashing challenge in level
!!!!!!!!!! 3-9 of GSTD, but you have a few more options here. With the
crushing ceilings, you have two options for jumping from platform
to platform:
(1) Fall-jump just over the acid, then a twirl.
(2) Fall-jump just over the acid, then a diagonal dash upwards.
The phasing platforms also make it tricky, because you must make sure to have
the correct character selected when you land, or you will fall into the acid.
In part, that should influence whether you should pick option (1) or (2).
Z
Z The crushing ceilings move more slowly, and the platforms are not the
E-Z phasing type.
!!!!! After that ordeal, you must face switchable rotating platforms, which
! G ! enter acid and amethyst clusters at their highest and lowest points.
!!!!! This isn't really too tough...unless you panic, in which case, you will
get killed very quickly. Try to use twirling whenever possible, and
do not switch characters unless you absolutely must change the direction
of the platforms.
?????? It isn't obvious, but it's there: an ivy wall all the way to the right,
? HA ? over a pit that you will need to go to eventually. You can only reach
?????? this wall by dashing into it. The ivy wall, when climbed, leads to a
passage with piranhas/turtles (try to stay as Punk for those), a cluster
of "heart" gems, and another "rectangular track" of gems and skulls/
spiked balls. Not a bad haul, but not totally free of danger, either.
Z
Z Ribbed ivy walls, more floors over acid, skulls/spiked balls have a track
E-Z that differs from the gem formation.
Twirl down into the pit, drifting to avoid the pinwheels/saw blades. When you
land on some collapsing floors, you must react quickly--dashes to the side
just a moment after you drop. It's a bit tricky, but the pattern is easy to
get down.
Z
Z No dashing required. Just fall.
E-Z
Now jump past the "stepping stones" among the acid-filled pond to the left.
!!!!! Go down and left, and twirl down a shaft filled with rotating blades.
! G ! This obstacle is very much like the second saw blade challenge you got
!!!!! past at the beginning of the level, but now you must time the jump such
that you can fit within the "gaps" as you twirl. You must switch several
times to reverse the direction of rotation. This isn't too tough once
you get used to it, but this type of trap tends to make you panic, and
therefore, screw up.
!!!!! That wasn't too tough, right? You don't have any time to reflect. Now
! G ! a barrier of blades will chase you as it moves right, and you must run
!!!!! and dash past several obstacles quickly. The hardest to get right is
near the start of the challenge: using Punk, dash to the right, and
then switch to Cute QUICKLY to phase-in the next platform. The rest of
the gauntlet is more intuitive. Still, you need to be careful.
Z Falling isn't the end of the world--you land on collapsing floors.
Z Don't wait forever, though--the rotating blades chase you more slowly,
E-Z but they will catch up to you if you take too long.
Climb the ivy walls in the next shaft.
?????? Break the wall to the left in this shaft. There are many circular
? HA ? formations of skulls/spiked balls, gems, and switchable platforms. Get
?????? the gems in this area.
/\
?????? /M \ Very hard to spot--in the hidden area, dash into the topmost owl,
? HA ? \ G/ dash up again, and now you can climb another ivy wall, which leads
?????? \/ to a master gem.
Z
Z The master gem is easier to find due to additional platforms.
E-Z The skull/spiked ball formations are much easier to dodge.
Climb up the shaft. Go right, and now there are many impellers to ride. Twirl
up, stomp on several devils, and twirl up some more impellers. These last
impellers need to be observed carefully--you cannot freely twirl up in this
passage; only specific columns allow Giana to twirl up. This means you might
unexpectedly fall into amethyst spikes if you expected to twirl up.
Z
Z Fewer spikes; all impellers are caged.
E-Z
Now for a difficult ride. Step on the switchable platform as Cute, and you're
off. Dodge the skulls/spiked balls. Remember, if you switch to Punk, the
platform turns around and goes back--you must stay as Cute!
!!!!! When the platform takes a right turn, you must dodge saw blades/pinwheels
! G ! that run on their own tracks counter to the platform's own track (the
!!!!! tracks used by the blades appear to be invisible). Be extra careful that
you don't hit the blades on their way back (they are near the top of the
cave), and remember that the blades don't follow the platform's own path;
they follow a path just ABOVE the platform's path.
Z
Z The rotating blades are gone--completely. Amethyst spikes have replaced
E-Z them, which are far easier to deal with.
!!!!! The platform turns down again, and then right again. But what's this?
! G ! It goes under the acid. This means you must jump to the right, doing
!!!!! some long twirls with low ceilings over the acid, from collapsing floor
to collapsing floor, until the platform pops back out of the acid at the
far right, allowing you to climb up. Tempting as it is to switch
characters, you can't do that--the platform will reverse itself, leaving
you with no standing area when you reach the far right!
++++++ A quicker way through, if somewhat suicidal, is to jump off the platform
+ TA + right away, twirling and running forward without regard to the
++++++ platform's ultimate ETA. When you do reach the area where you should
have needed it, select Punk and take a maxed-out jump, and then a
maxed-out dash upwards, and you will reach the checkpoint--by a nose.
Z This skill has one extra platform--the original ride stops when it gets
Z near the acid. The next area has more solid floors, and a switchable
E-Z platform that stays only at the far right (it does not enter the acid).
Climb the ivy walls, dodging the demonlords (the best time to jump them is when
they are at the lowest point of their flight paths). Now go right, and find a
mess of platforms, demonlords/demowls, and rotating blades on tracks. Use Cute
to time the jumps and twirls past them.
Z
Z Fewer rotating blades, fewer demonlords/demowls, and wider platforms to
E-Z stand on. Piece of cake.
!!!!! The final jump will have you pulling your hair out. Use the look control
! G ! to observe how it moves--it is low, just above the acid, and you only
!!!!! stand a chance of landing on it if you twirl when it is at the far right,
and moves into position to the left by the time you reach it and hook
under the wall in front of you. Chances are you won't figure out the
proper timing on your first attempt, or second, or third.
Z
Z On this skill, you will keep your hair. Just a quick jump from an ivy
E-Z floor to the low platform will work.
You're almost done. The final part of the level requires you to pinball-dash
through two sections, which will kill Giana if her timing is off. But the
timing is fairly intuitive. When the devils/spiked balls are aligned sideways,
that is the time to dash. When the demowls are far apart, that is the time to
dash.
Congratulations; you just got through the Black Forest. No worse for the wear,
I hope, apart from acid burns, broken bones, and multiple lacerations.
--------------------
VI) Spring Tide Bay
--------------------
Total Gems: 1206
Master Gems: 3
The introductory animation to this level just has Giana wantonly destroying
every owl she sees. Perhaps caging this little girl wasn't the best plan.
The bay is where most of the Owlverlord's ships are docked. It means you are
close to finding the boss. It also means there are booby traps out the wazoo.
Like the rotating blades at the start, for instance. Several "columns" of
blades slowly move around the climbable surfaces, which makes gem collection
dangerous. Spikes and brambles also fringe the lower parts of the surfaces.
These traps severely punish recklessness, so take it slowly and carefully.
Z
Z Ribbed ivy walls, and half the rotating blades are removed.
E-Z
$$$$$$
$ SA $ If you want to collect every gem, you will need to spend a lot of time
$$$$$$ being careful. Still, some gems are better than nothing this early.
Twirl down and collect some gems, drifting to avoid obstacles as needed. Now
you will reach another track with rotating blades, moving next to conveyors.
/\
?????? /M \ Dash and twirl up, minding the alternating spikes and brambles in
? HA ? \ G/ the platforms above. Break some walls and arrive at a master gem.
?????? \/ Get some more gems to the right, and pinball-dash back.
!!!!! The rotating blades and conveyors present another challenge that punishes
! G ! hasty people. This time, though, the blades are so tightly packed that
!!!!! you must be sure that there is ample clearance before moving. Be
especially cautious about dashing when you are Cute, for that will reverse
the direction of the blades unexpectedly.
Z
Z The rotating blades are not as densely packed, making this place safer.
E-Z
Below the conveyors, go right and arrive at a pond with switchable water level.
?????? Dash up, above the pond, to get to a secret area with some owls overhead.
? HA ? Dash into them in sequence, then twirl to pick up the remaining gems.
??????
The pond's water level works like this: Punk's presence fills it, and Cute's
presence drains it. Starting out, you will want to select Punk to collect the
gems and get close to the brambles. Then, switch to Cute to open the brambles,
diving further down to avoid having the water level's drop force you into the
amethyst spikes.
At one point, you must use Punk to refill the pond, then switch to Cute again
to retract brambles overhead. From here on, switching should occur as a matter
of navigational convenience, since you should have the pattern down.
Z
Z There is more clearance here when swimming around the spikes.
E-Z
Switch to open the gates to the right.
$$$$$$
$ SA $ Going right, there are many gems strewn throughout a formation of
$$$$$$ skulls/spiked balls. Collect them carefully.
Swimming up from here, you now find a barricade of skulls/spiked balls. This
is tricky to figure out at first, but it has a quick solution: have Punk
selected, switch to Cute, swim up, select Punk again to refill the pond, and
finally, select Cute again to retract the final skulls/spiked balls. You must
now jump out of the water, of course, or you'll get hit.
Z
Z Extra platforms to stand on; your reaction time can be slower.
E-Z
Exit the pond to the right, dash up into owls, and go right again. The proper
direction from here is down and to the right, but there are many areas to
explore if you want.
?????? Switch to Cute, and twirl down to the grotto below your feet on the
? HA ? left. There are many gems down here. You can only escape by dashing
?????? into pinball bumpers (the grotto must be drained first, hence Cute).
?????? Get gems around the scaffold on the right, then climb the scaffold.
? HA ? Being mindful of the gargoyle turrets in the column above you on the
?????? right, dash up into an owl, then twirl to the left until you reach yet
another owl. From here, dash into the owl, then into a complex pinball
bumper array.
Z
Z The gargoyle turrets are gone! It's just an ordinary column.
E-Z
?????? It's not over yet--release X just before the last bumper sends you back.
? HA ? Hook left and land on an outcropping. Go left, and find many trampolines
?????? to jump on. Bounce up, dash into another owl, use the spiky box trick
to jump even higher, and hook right to land on a new ship. This ship and
the one just above it have more gems, but beware: they also have many
dangerous cannons.
Z
Z No need for spiky box trick--trampolines are present, instead.
E-Z The cannons also fire much more slowly.
/\
?????? /M \ Whoa...yet another hidden area. It just keeps going. On the far
? HA ? \ G/ left of the higher ship, drop down and pinball-dash into a bumper
?????? \/ to find a master gem.
?????? There's more. Dash into some more owls overhead, and reach a third ship.
? HA ? Get more gems near the crow's nest, avoiding the three demonlords/
?????? demowls. Now, at last, you can go back to below the scaffold, which
resumes your mission.
Dive into the water below the scaffold. There are many fast-moving ring
formations of skulls/spiked balls. Dodge them, collecting the gems. Note that
the water level changes according to the previous "rules:" Punk fills, Cute
drains.
Z
Z This formation moves slower.
E-Z
Dive even further. There some gems in a cave below, but getting there requires
you to time your movements to a slow-moving pincer floor/ceiling. If you only
want to go right, this pincer floor/ceiling pair isn't that dangerous.
?????? Just beyond the pincer floor/ceiling, there is a breakable ceiling.
? HA ? But you can only break this if you had drained the pond all the way,
?????? which allows Punk to break the surface, then dash upwards. This leads
to an area with more gems. Note that the platforms require very
dextrous movements around amethyst clusters. These are best handled if
you take a jump off a platform, then wait until you are falling from the
apex of the jump, then dash upwards to land on the platform as it rises
above the amethyst. Do this twice, then twirl to the right for more
gems. Eventually, you will pinball dash back to the pond again.
Z The platform-riding section is much easier, because the amethyst
Z clusters are smaller. Giana can squeeze past them by staying on one
E-Z side of the platform.
There is another pincer floor/ceiling to the right; go past it. Now you see a
trio of twirl activators. Switch to Cute and trigger them all; switch back to
Punk to make the water level rise again. Don't forget a few gems in the lower
right corner.
Look sharp: up and to the right, there are a few toads/killer rabbits. GSTD
had many of these, but these two are the only ones in RotO. Dash into them,
but wait until just after they had spit projectiles at you.
Go up and right; you are now at a locked door, which requires gathering several
keys. Go further right and drop down into yet another pond. Watch out: this
pond has ghosts of both colors in it! Switch as you descend to phase out the
ghosts. As you head down, right, and down again, you will have to keep
switching to stop nearby ghosts from chasing you. The water level here, once
again, fills with Punk and drains with Cute.
Z
Z Only a few ghosts are here, so it won't feel so tight.
E-Z
You will reach a spot with several light columns; you need to go here because
there is a key around these columns. Lead as many ghosts as you can over to
this area; it will ensure your safety.
?????? There is a breakable wall to the left, which can be broken only if the
? HA ? pond is mostly drained. There are lots of gems in the cave beyond.
??????
You will need this pond mostly drained anyways to expose a pinball bumper here.
Dash into this bumper and ride it up to a spot where you can repeatedly dash up
into owls.
?????? Dash up long enough, and you can reach a ship up and to the left. There
? HA ? are a TON of ghosts on this ship; give them the slip to the best of your
?????? ability. Note that nothing of interest is to the left--you must travel
up, instead, and then left, to another ship. Travel further up, and now
you have just struck it rich with a "ship" formation of gems. Congrats.
Z
Z Not as many ghosts, and more light columns. No need for panic.
E-Z
One of the keys is below you. Diagonally bounce down into this crevice, then
back up, plus one key.
Now go right and down, into another pond. More ghosts here, and the pond level
rises and falls based on character. Switch smart--you will be surrounded very
quickly in this tight area. Swim right, up, right, and down again. Once you
have reached a "safe zone" with light columns, select Cute and drain the pond
all the way, allowing you to dash into a pinball bumper, which leads to another
part of the bay.
?????? There are some red gems loitering just down and to the left from your
? HA ? destination after taking the pinball ride.
??????
Alternating yellow/red continuously-firing cannons are here; select the correct
character and twirl or dash past them.
Now, another pond with changing water level. This is one of your tightest
challenges yet; the spikes are narrowly spaced, and the bramble retraction,
when it occurs, gives Giana little time to move before the water level drains,
forcing her into the amethyst. But by now, you have figured out how it works.
Z
Z Fewer spikes, and more underwater standing area.
E-Z
Drain the pond and pinball-dash to yet another area. Go right, then drop down
into the final pond. Unlike the others, this one DOES NOT change its water
level based on selected character. It has plenty of danger, though. There are
many nodes of spikes and brambles. Also, there are pufferfish/jellyfish, which
move in preset patterns and switch directions based on character. Make sure
you know what will happen when you switch!
Z
Z The fish move only half as fast. More importantly, ALL the spikes and
E-Z brambles have been taken out. Handy, if you're tired of spikes.
The only direction you need to go is straight down. If you want some gems, you
can also explore the rest of the pond.
/\
?????? /M \ At the far right of the pond, jump out and jump up to some
? HA ? \ G/ collapsing platforms, then take a long twirl to the right to get
?????? \/ some more gems. Now drop into the water again, dodging some
pufferfish/jellyfish. When you find a master gem, a wall opens to
the left, leading back to the main part of the pond.
At the bottom of the pond (at the left side), you will find the final key, plus
a teleporter that takes you back to the door you need to open. Fall down to
the door, open it, and you're done. And if you got all the gems, you're rich.
----------------------
VII) Owlverlord's Fall
----------------------
Total Gems: 69
Master Gems: 3
Some people must have complained that GSTD had boss fights that only happened
after incredibly long levels, which made things frustrating beyond belief after
so many deaths, especially for Hardcore. For this game, the level is short
and sweet. Only a few gems, and the boss is right next door.
Pinball-dash up and eliminate the owls in the area. The first pit has nothing
in it, but the second pit has another "I love gems" cache. Get them and head
right, into the Owlverlord's hideout.
The pinball bumpers inside here, if ridden out, will take Giana directly to the
boss. But if X is released near the right side, Giana can land on the spikes
(assuming you kept the shield from the start of the level), and then dash right
before the invincibility wears off. Giana can -barely- reach a spot where the
remaining gems in the level are clustered together.
In case you are wondering, it IS possible to reach that spot without losing the
shield. To do this, you must release X and fall on the lone owl in the
antechamber before the boss. Now, Giana can twirl to the right, landing on
another owl far to the right, and then have just enough time to dash into the
breakable wall. If you can manage all this, you should feel bad for all the
pathetic peons of the Owlverlord who meticulously planted spikes all over their
boss's house. All that overtime, and what did it accomplish?
/\
?????? /M \ Three master gems, all in one spot. Brilliant. It's quite a haul
? HA ? \ G/ for just one secret. Ride the pinball bumpers to the right back
?????? \/ to the original chamber, which leads to the boss.
The Owlverlord's arena has eight floating platforms and two bookcase-walls,
which support wall jumping. Both you and the Owlverlord will hop between the
platforms, although the Owlverlord has the ability to float in mid-air, while
you need to land on something eventually.
Don't land on the spikes (ceiling or floor), because they hurt.
Z Spikes? Where? That's no fun. And three more shields. And four
Z more platforms. The only thing the designers forgot to do was to
E-Z place a lace doily with the words "Welcome, Giana" on each platform.
To see details about the Owlverlord (Strigus Imperatoris Duplex), go to the
section "V) Characters and obstacles."
After Giana wins, she sends the Owlverlord packing. More specifically, she
sends the Owlverlord packing to Davey Jones' Locker.
--------------------------
HS) Halloween Special 2013
--------------------------
Total Gems: 699
This is based on level 3-6 (Breakneck Passage) of GSTD. Unlike some of the
other specials, there is no real difference in level design between that level
and Halloween Special 2013. The "Hard" version is the same as the "Normal"
3-6 in GSTD, and the "Normal" version is the same as the "Easy" 3-6 in GSTD.
Only the master gems were replaced; they have become clusters of normal gems.
The major difference, of course, is in the background design. Giana is wearing
a pumpkin mask, and the theme is all-in-all much creepier.
Which is fitting, because this level's difficulty is grotesque. If you want
details about how to get through it, you should look them up in "Giana Sisters
Twisted Dreams Twisted FAQ," which I also wrote.
---------------------------
CS) Christmas Special 2013
---------------------------
Total Gems: 506
This is based on level 3-1 (Fluffy Cloud Mountain) of GSTD. There are lots of
changes from that version of the level; navigation is completely different.
Whereas 3-1 of GSTD mostly focused on bubble navigation, this has more emphasis
on running and jumping. It also seems much easier than 3-1 of GSTD.
All the owls wear Santa hats, and the bright world has a wintery, "Christmas-y"
look to it. Also, there are frozen rivers at many spots: ice that Punk Giana
can skate on. ONLY Punk Giana--Cute will discover that this skating rink turns
into a deadly river of molten lava!
Cute doesn't seem to think this level is very Christmas-y, because everything
looks barren and dangerous, like the rest of the dark world. The designers must
have thought so, too, because they chose to start you as Punk instead of Cute
for this level only.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VII) Special strategies
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------
A) Score Attack enemy dashing frenzy
------------------------------------
There is no way to be sure if all game platforms will support this feature
indefinitely, but it should be mentioned: respawning enemies can be killed as
a way to rack up a lot of points in a short amount of time, possibly with no
upper scoring limit.
Given enough time, your bonus multiplier will drop, so it only makes sense to
pursue this strategy when the bonus multiplier is still relatively high. If
you can't get a trophy any other way in Score Attack, it might be possible
to take advantage of respawning enemies. But few would doubt that it's more
gratifying to storm through the level like there is no tomorrow.
----------------------------------------------
B) Tracking properties of dashing into enemies
----------------------------------------------
Under normal circumstances, dashes last a limited duration in any direction,
and the time cycle "resets" when a wall is struck. When enemies are nearby,
though, dashing behaves slightly differently. If an enemy would not inflict
immediate damage on contact, dash-tracking can occur.
The length of the dash is sometimes extended further than normal if the
enemy is -just- out of reach of a normal dash. I guess this is to ensure
that precise timing and altitude considerations should be less important than
simply knowing where an enemy is and making a decision. This is okay most of
the time, because the alternative would be a lot of just-missed enemies and
dashes that come just a bit short, resulting in death upon impact or falling.
But dash-tracking is not entirely a good thing. Sometimes you really don't
want to hit an enemy--you want to move past it, usually in the upward
direction. You must be careful about trying to do this if the tracking
behavior might occur instead--that owl you had hoped to "save" is now gone.
Even worse, dash-tracking appears to ignore the presence of obstacles between
Giana and the target. Walls, floors, or spikes in the way? Too bad--Giana
recklessly smashes into them. This can get annoying in spots that require
a lot of dash precision.
So, the best strategy when dealing with dash-tracking is to be wary of what
is around you before dashing ahead recklessly.
------------------------
C) Ideal twirling height
------------------------
The vast majority of the time, it is not very important when deciding when the
twirl should occur when performing a mid-air twirl.
Sometimes, though, it matters quite a lot. It depends on what Cute Giana is
trying to accomplish by twirling:
1) Maximum height: when at the apex of the jump, twirl.
2) Maximum air time: when the jump is well into the downward arc, twirl.
3) Long jump: when ALMOST at the apex of the jump, twirl.
Use #1 to get to higher platforms, #2 to wait for gates to open, platforms to
move into place, etc., and #3 to jump for the longest distances.
--------------------------
D) Intentional shield loss
--------------------------
Throughout the walkthroughs for each level, I seriously recommended you do
this only once: on the final level, to get the master gems. Any other time,
though, pink shield gems are to Giana what mushrooms are to Mario. Not
absolutely necessary, but you will miss them -dearly- when they disappear.
You rarely want to intentionally put yourself in danger by losing your shield.
But there are some challenges that require you to be extra careful, and if you
are rushing through areas in Score Attack or Time Attack, this can be a drag
on your desired progress. So, if it seems too difficult or time-consuming,
just throw caution to the wind and hop straight across those spikes or enemies.
The temporary invincibility lasts for several seconds. During this time, you
will be able to walk across areas that would normally kill Giana, such as
floors covered in amethyst spikes. As long as you can reach your destination
safely, it might actually reduce your stress level, if not improve your time
or score.
Crushing blocks, shifting blocks, gates, bottomless pits, acid, and lava just
ignore the fact that Giana has a shield. That's because it's a shield. Not
an amulet of life-saving.
Shield gems, as we understand, are kept for a long period of time only by the
best of players. Hardcore and Uber Hardcore players are the ideal candidates
to invest in this strategy. For everyone else, it's not very likely you will
have a shield gem to spare all that often!
-----------------
E) Saving shields
-----------------
If you are a truly awesome player, you'll save a shield from an earlier part
of the level and then come across yet another one, later in the level. Giana
will not pick up a shield if she already has one. If you happen to lose
your current shield in a moment of carelessness, you can backtrack to the
second shield and keep on going.
Although this strategy could apply to any game mode, it is most handy for
Hardcore and Uber Hardcore. You only live once. Or three times or more,
if you can save your shields.
-------------------------------
F) Hardcore-specific strategies
-------------------------------
There are two ways to play a level in Hardcore: for progress, and for medals.
It is aggravating to get a gold medal in most Hardcore levels because you face
more dangers and challenges getting the gems in the level.
So, most of the time, you just want to unlock progress by using a similar
strategy as Time Attack, which favors discerning the shortest path through the
level with reasonable safety. The main difference between Hardcore and Time
Attack strategies is that you can afford to wait with Hardcore, but you cannot
with Time Attack.
The length of the level and the number of its hazards will influence how hard it
is to complete a Hardcore level. This means you will only have to repeat an
extremely long series of dangerous jumps and dashes on levels two through six,
because the first and final levels are not as long or difficult.
If you are going to die, make it be near the beginning, because you have little
to lose. This is probably the reason that the "deal-breaking" rotating blade
trap at the start of the Black Forest level is at the start. If it were at the
end...yikes.
If you are playing for medals, don't be too concerned about taking risks to get
gems. Gems do not "uncollect" themselves if you die; you simply have to go
through the main level challenges to get back to the point where you can
continue your progress. Those hidden areas need only be visited once, even if
you die 50 times.
Be warned: locked doors will re-lock if you die! For example, if you need
five keys, and you got only three before dying, you'll need to get those again.
If you got all five and unlocked the door, you'll need to get all five again.
So, Hardcore has its ups and downs. Mostly downs. If you're going to beat
Hardcore, you must be very skilled.
------------------------------------
G) Uber Hardcore-specific strategies
------------------------------------
How many levels in GSTD? Twenty-three. How many in RotO? Seven. This makes
Uber Hardcore in RotO the easier challenge to complete, by far.
At first, use the same strategy as Hardcore for each level, playing for
progress.
If you want an additional challenge, try getting all the gems in a level...if
you are feeling unusually suicidal today.
Since progress depends significantly on being careful, you should figure out
ways to avoid unnecessary confrontations with enemies. Even if it seems like
you can stomp or dash into them easily, something can ALWAYS go wrong. If it
works for Snake, it might also work for Giana.
Guard that shield gem to your utmost. If you lose it, watch out!
The most dangerous period in any level is at the very start, BEFORE you have
encountered a shield gem. During this time, there is no margin of safety.
You will not get a shield gem in the second level. Bearing this in mind,
you should exercise some elevated caution when collecting the lower-right key,
since it has many "race" traps and alternating spikes/brambles.
Invest in caffeine! You can't save your progress in the middle of an Uber
Hardcore game.
If you have played through four or five levels in succession, pause the game.
You become less careful and less situationally aware if you are in "the zone"
for too long.
Take notes about what seems to kill you consistently, and commit these areas
to memory.
There is a time and a place for exploration. That would be Normal mode.
There is also a time when you should not explore. That would be Uber Hardcore.
Deviating from your practiced strategies will throw off your concentration.
Heavily practice the later levels (whose difficulty just becomes brutal) in
Hardcore mode. This will build up skill for when you need to blast through
them all at once with little hesitation.
If you don't manage to complete Uber Hardcore for one run, go ahead and proceed
through the rest of the levels, in order, in Hardcore. This will maintain the
"flow" you are looking for during the next go-around.
Make sure you can beat the Owlverlord! After so much effort, you do -NOT- want
to lose. You wouldn't want to repeat a grade in school, since it means a
year's worth of extra labor. So start studying.
----------------------------
H) Most consistent "gotchas"
----------------------------
1) Releasing X at the wrong time
There is a fine art to dashing. Sometimes, a short dash is needed to go a short
distance. Other times, a long dash is needed to secure hitting all enemies in
range and maximizing wall-bounce and pinball-bounce distance.
If you are dashing into enemies, don't release X unless you are certain it's a
good idea to do so.
2) Alternating spikes and brambles
This normally comes down to being observant. Complacency leads to sloppy
switching, which in turn leads to death.
3) Ghost mobbing
They really went overboard in RotO on the ghosts, way more so than in GSTD.
Try to lead them far away, preferably into light columns. Try to avoid having
multiple colors of ghosts chase you such that the ghosts can all get close.
The trick is to lead all the ghosts of one color far away, and switch
characters only at the last moment. Divide and conquer.
Another point to remember with ghosts: they take time to reverse direction
horizontally. For example, if they are chasing you right, and you slip past
them left, they will pause for a moment while they turn around. Take advantage
of this pause when possible.
4) Alternating phasing platforms
Once again, it comes down to being observant. Look before you switch, dash, or
twirl, because the floor might disappear. Followed quickly by you.
5) Vertically-stacked owls
Owls that fly horizontally pose a threat to dashing when they are stacked on
top of each other momentarily--you might accidentally release X, resulting in a
cheap death.
Vertically aligned stationary owls are not as dangerous because they tend to be
spaced apart more reasonably, with a specific "upward navigation" mechanic in
mind. It's the horizontally flying (or walking) owls you should worry about.
6) Owl skeletons harder than empty armors
When in doubt about these types of enemies ahead of you, select Punk. An owl
skeleton throws bones, but an empty armor has to charge in order to hit you.
The empty armor telegraphs its attack, charges blind, and is easy to defeat.
Most of the time, you want to face an empty armor over an owl skeleton.
7) Hasty climbing with spikes, brambles, or buzz saw blades in the way
Just memorize the parts of the level where it is not safe to rush due to
danger. There won't be any warning if you move too fast (usually via dashing).
There will be much more warning if you move slowly.
8) Ignoring cannon fire
You would think cannons would be hard to ignore, but some obstacles divide your
attention. The pattern tends to alternate between yellow and red balls, which
means you should switch characters instinctively to match the timing of the
volleys.
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VIII) Other info
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A) Major differences between 'Normal' and 'Hard'
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The differences usually occur in level design. Most of the "gotcha" areas are
either far easier or removed altogether in 'Normal.' Even some areas that are
not all that difficult to figure out have been neutered in terms of difficulty.
Puzzles are easier to solve, jumps require less precision.
One aspect that made a lot of sense to tone down was the speed of the moving
hazards in the game. High-speed platforms now have reduced speed, rotating
blades and pincer walls move slower, and acid that rises or falls will now do
so at a much more tolerable speed than before, depending on context.
In general, Giana stands a much greater chance at falling to her death in 'Hard'
mode. In contrast, 'Normal' mode often places platforms, collapsing floors,
etc. to stop this from happening.
Since most game modes use 'Hard' as a basis and not 'Normal,' consider how much
of an accomplishment you have really obtained by playing on 'Normal.' This is
not a game that favors a player with a glass jaw.
------------------
B) Bugs and quirks
------------------
Any game is bound to have flaws. Just like any FAQ.
Here are a few of the bugs and quirks in RotO that I have been able to find.
These are gameplay-related; graphics-related quirks might not be noticeable on
every game system.
Mysterious missing gems: Getting 100% gem collection on any given level will
not work on occasion. This might be because the gem collection algorithm seems
to operate in a somewhat "lazy" fashion: when Giana gets close to a gem, it
moves towards her, but only counts as collected when it arrives dead-center to
her position. But given her movement speed at times, gems sometimes "miss"
Giana and get lost after being collected. It is unknown how to prevent this
from happening.
Mysterious squashing deaths: The tendency of some players to speedrun games
encourages them to experiment with how various game elements can be exploited.
One experiment is to see how little time (and how little opening) must exist
with a semi-open gate before Giana can squeeze through. Dashing through some
of these gates sometimes gets interpreted as a squash-death. The one that
seems the least fair (and most odd) is the never-opening gate beyond the final
teleporter in the Airborne Factory, which sometimes kills Giana if she dashes
beyond the teleporter, overshooting it. Really? It's just a wall...
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C) Updates from Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams
----------------------------------------------
There were not many updates to gameplay or visuals, but subtlety counts for a
lot in a platformer like this. These updates also affect GSTD as well.
The most obvious change to the gameplay is the dashing behavior. It is now
possible to "hook" a dash by modifying the aiming direction while X is pressed.
This isn't all that helpful, but it can come in handy when trying to dash up
and then leaning to one side to land on a platform.
Also, a stationary dash (no directional movement at the time X is pressed) now
selects a horizontal direction. The original behavior selected a diagonal
forward-and-up direction. I'm sure most people think that the new horizontal
vector is more intuitive.
Shields are no longer picked up automatically when Giana is already shielded.
Hardcore is now more hardcore than before; keys uncollect themselves after
death, and locked doors re-lock. Bosses don't act as checkpoints; they now
send the player back to the level start.
"Easy" skill became "Normal," and "Normal" skill became "Hard."
Gem count and gem total for level remain onscreen now, rather than reported
at the end of the stage. This can be useful if the user wants to track
incremental gem collection progress.
Red ghosts (the ghosts who chase Cute) got a wardrobe change, and are now a
red-violet color. Why change the color, exactly? The only explanation I have
is an extremely tenuous one, which is that the red ghost's appearance loosely
resembles that of a KKK hood. It might not be the reason, of course, because
the concept art ghost color was not changed (that color remains red). Also,
there have been many depictions of ghosts in literature over the last century
that featured crimson, hooded figures, which DEFINITELY had nothing to do with
the KKK. Whatever the reason, red has become purple.
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D) Menu backgrounds
-------------------
The default ship's cabin background is shown on the title screen. However,
game completion will show this room with the sisters sitting on a mountain of
gemstones liberated from the Owlverlord's private stash. Don't forget, kids:
if the goods are stolen, it's still okay to steal it yourself, because it's
stealing from bad guys. That cancels everything out.
Unlike GSTD, there is no real bonus for completing Uber Hardcore except for
the mother of all achievements in the game. In RotO, the last level is
followed by the "hard" 2013 Halloween Special level, which is followed, in
turn, by the 2013 Christmas Special level, after which, the Christmas Special
loops indefinitely. There does not seem to be any particular reason to
do this; it might be a mistake.
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(END)
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My name is Christopher Allen (a.k.a. Appetite4Deduction)
and I approve this message.
chris@chriskallen.com
http://www.chriskallen.com
