Overview
Guide to the basics of the game – mechanics, weapons, abilities, loot, etc. Discusses strategies rather than stats.
General Gameplay Notes
I started this guide becomes I couldn’t find any other manuals or guides on steam. I’ve stuck with it because this game is worth it. 🙂
That said, the game isn’t that complicated, so a guide isn’t essential. Much of the information shared here is taught in-game. The game likes to expose the player to a feature, but not explain it right away (to give us a chance to figure it out ourselves I guess?), and then tell us how it works a few levels later. For those like me who have an OCD about understanding things right away, this guide may save you a bit of frustration. 🙂
So, with no further ado, some things that are not immediately obvious about the game, but worth knowing:
– The player has infinite lives, but each death will cost money, and cause Cally to respawn at the last checkpoint. (Looks like a TV monitor.)
– This is inconvenient, but don’t worry… you can replay levels as many times as you like to level up weapons and collect more money. This takes off a lot of pressure; a bad start doesn’t doom the rest of your game. In fact, this is one of the big selling points of this game.
– Once you have unlocked a checkpoint, you can return to it at any time via the map.
– It’s also possible to return to previous maps via the doorways at the start of the level.
– When a map is left, it resets.
– Soon after beating the first boss, you’ll encounter your first shop. Right after that is a checkpoint, which means you can hop backwards one doorway to access the shop. This means you can access a shop at any time from that point onwards… so long as you are willing to give up progress towards the next checkpoint. It thus follows that whenever you clear a checkpoint, it’s a great time to visit the shop if you need to.
– Cally herself gains experience and levels by collecting blue orbs, and this is how additional health hearts are unlocked. Unfortunately “empty” hearts are not shown, so you’ll have to remember what your max health is and if this is a good time to use healing items. Once you have a full row of pink hearts, additional levels will turn hearts silver.
– Cally can jump up through the thin gray floors, but not down through them.
– When falling into lava (and possibly, water, before one is able to float), it’s instinct to try to jump out. Unfortunately, when Callie first touches lava, she has the reverse instinct to flinch backwards from it. The net result is sometimes to stay in one place. As it turns out however, lava has a current, so the fastest way out may actually be to stay in it, and let the current carry you to the edge of the pool.
Loot and Items
If you feel like it, you can go back and forth between two levels that have loot but no enemies at their starts and ends to endlessly collect loot. I wouldn’t recommend it, it’s boring, slow, and you could just redo levels instead to collect loot in a funner way, but the option is there. It might even be useful if you’re just a few coins short for a purchase.
If you do feel the need to farm coins, the best place I’ve seen for it is one of the bear levels between level 75 and 76. It’s a maze with no enemies, and at the end of the level there are 11 diamonds in a row, most of them inside the destrucbile banners. By leaving the level and then coming back via the exit, and just grabbiing the 11 easily accessible diamonds, one can collect coins rather quickly.
Cally has an inventory! It holds up to six healing items / power-ups, and is accessed using ESC. Food that is purchased or found goes here, rather than being used immediately. (With the exception of hearts I believe, which are instant healing.)
If your inventory is full, new items dropped as loot will appear a darker shade.
Since one can always re-do levels for loot, there’s no need to take extra risks to get that one hard to reach coin over a lake. At the same time, there are collectibles (diaries, records, orbs, and momentos) hidden here and there, so exploration is worthwhile. (I’ve not yet found a way to read diary entries, assuming it can even be done?)
Most collections of collectibles require reaching New Game Plus, records being the exception.
Collecting all records unlocks a bonus level with the Final Assault Rifle.
Collecting all diaries unlocks a bonus level with the Final RPG.
Once you get all collectibles, the counter resets and you can get them again.
If you see an inaccessible item or area, record the location. You may later get a skill that lets you access that area.
Weapons
Most weapons have a niche in which they are useful. Weapons go up in damage each level, and unlock new forms with new abilities at levels 4, 7, 10, 14, and 17. Some weapons that are initially awkward to use become much better when they change to a new form. Since weapons level up faster at their lower levels, I would recommend unlocking at least level 4 of each weapon to see what ways it can change.
Most weapons fire faster if you tap the fire button instead of holding it down.
The weapons I’ve seen so far, and my impression of them:
Pistol – your basic straight-line shooter
Shotgun – wide spray shot, good for hitting targets in an arc above or below you
Assault rifle – like the pistol, a straight-line shooter, but best used with the button held down. I prefer the feel of it over the pistol, but it seems to level slower than the other weapons.
RPG – has a slight area of effect. At level 10 it gets the very useful heat-seaking ability.
Bomb – an excellent weapon for hitting enemies that shoot back at you. Avoid getting hit by targetting enemies that are above or below you. (Mostly below.)
Spike Gun – possibly the most useful tool in any game ever. 🙂 Not only can you build ladders with it, but (with some difficult timing) it is even possible to glide on a spike as it’s moving, gaining an imitation of flight. Longer (higher level) spikes are easier to glide on. I’ve also occasionally seen spikes stick to other spikes, creating a double-length spike. Once you have the spike gun, climb every wall you can, you never know what secrets may be out of sight. Because the spike is a physical object, it can have odd interactions with the world: enemies can jump on spikes, and spikes can be used to block bullets, particularly ones from turrets.
Boomerang – can go through walls. Since it homes back on you, you can direct it’s return path by moving Callie. I found this a bit slow to level (due to the projectile limit), but it’s incredible in the slime boss fight, and levels very quickly there.
Flamethrower – short range, does damage rapidly, destroys crates. A bit dangerous to use when you first get it, due to short range + no stunlock, but it goes through walls and fires slightly upward, allowing it to reach otherwise inaccessible enemies. I found the safest way to level this was to chase after retreating wolves that had a long travel path. Once you get the range upgrade at level 4, this isn’t an issue. Has the unique ability to penetrate enemy riot shields.
Mines – this work kind of like the bombs, but they drop straight down, and they have a much longer timer. If you place too many you’ll have to wait for some of the older ones to blow up. Mines can be placed vertically along a wall to target fliers.
Blade Gun – shoots discs that bounce and curve slightly upward. I found this weapon awkward at low levels, but each new form significantly improved it.
Laser Gun – shoots through objects, has a long range.
Sniper Rifle – a gun twith a moderate homing effect. I found I used the RPG more, because it can home in any direction (including backwards), and has an explosive effect that goes through thin platforms. The sniper rifle on the other hand, has a longer range, so each has a niche.
Each weapon can be upgraded to level 19, and (once you find the final form of that weapon), level 20.
Weapon can be upgraded with a special effects at the item shop. The effects are:
cold – freezes (paralzyes) some types of enemies. Useful if facing that type of enemy.
poison – slowly does damage to living enemies. The effect is so slow it’s not worth using.
fire – extra damage to (all?) enemies. Generally useful.
shock – extra damage to (all?) enemies. Generally useful.
Sword – your only melee weapon. My first impression was that I preferred the various guns over the sword, due to their range, rapid fire, and ability to level up. With practise, I discovered the sword has a number of unique uses:
– It can stun lock enemies.
– It can attack through walls. (Barely, due to the short range.)
– With correct timing, the sword can parry, deflecting enemy projectiles back towards the attacker.
The sword is upgraded with shop purchases, and I thought this would be very useful, but it actually seemed to be of limited value. Tests with the level 2, 3, and 4 blades showed that the sword got stronger but not longer. Unfortunately this means it’s utiltiy value – going through walls and parrying – do not get any stronger, and there are plenty of strong missile weapons that don’t cost money.
Abilities
Callie will gain additional abilities along her journeys, allowing her to go more places and do more things than before! Some of these include:
Triple Jump – jump a 3rd time in mid-air for extra height
Dodge Roll – roll left or right. Use this to dodge attacks or to get through short crawl spaces.
Water Wings – float in water
Charge Shot – wait for the timer to charge up a single extra-strong shot. The damage isn’t a big deal (you can just spam shots), but the ability to shoot through walls is useful, if you have the patience to wait for a charge to build up.
Emergency Button – when reduced to 1 heart, Callie will send out an explosion that damages nearby enemies. Once it goes off, it takes 2 minutes to recharge. Because you get it late in the game, it’s of limited use – a lot of enemies at that point do 2 hearts of damage at once, avoiding the trigger, and once you’re able to farm bosses for chicken, the main cause of death is from not bothering to eat. (A careful player should never die again if they maintain their chicken supplies.)
Enemies
If you have difficulty with boss fights, the official website has some tips: [link] . You could also grind weapon level-ups to make them easier prior to the boss fight. (I fought my first boss without knowing how to repeat levels – the in-game tip is provided shortly afterwards – so I actually ground weapon levels during the fight! Not a recommended or fun method, but it says someting good about the game that it actually *worked*!)
The enemy bruisers with bazookas do two hearts of damage at once. Don’t wait too long to heal up!
If you’re not sure if you’re hitting an enemy offscreen, or are wondering if they are dead, look at your weapon experience bar. If it’s going up, you’re hitting an enemy.
Some enemies that travel a fixed path back and forth will turn around suddenly if Callies gets near them, rather than contine on their path. (Mostly human enemies.)
Once you are able to defeat bosses easily, boss runs (particularly against Carl the Slime) are a great way to level up weapons, since you can spend the majority of your time firing your weapon. Some weapons seem to do reduced damage against bosses, but they still level up at the normal speed.
Bosses each drop a food item on death. At higher levels, you may find boss runs to be a convenient way to get free groceries!
The items they drop are:
Direwolf – chicken leg
Carl the Slime – roast beef
Tarantula – orange
Balding Eagle – milk
Hive Queen – ham sandwich
Colossus – ham sandwich
Hovership – lots of money
Herbert – lots of money
Closing
I’m sure there’s more to be known (I’ve not beaten New Game+ yet), but this should cover the basics. Enjoy the game… I have!
This is my first steam guide – did you find it useful? Please feel free to leave a comment or rating so I’ll know if I should keep writing, or if my talents would be better employed elsewhere. 🙂