Azure Striker Gunvolt

2014-10-14 09:49:10 pm

~Idiot Chosen~

Wonderful game produced by Keiji Inafune, who you might know as the Co-Designer of Megaman.

It plays very similarly to something of a Megaman Zero or Megaman ZX game, however, it has it's own quirks.

I've recently begun speedrunning the game Single Segment Any% RTA. (PB is 1:29:45) (NOTE: I don't own a 3ds capture card, so I can't give you proof, but I'll work on getting footage in the coming weeks.)

The main reason I haven't been doing single stage is because of the leveling system that is in place. As you kill things, you gain xp and by association, levels. I don't really like the idea of running a game at max level and demolishing things. It kinda takes away from the idea of a speedrun for me. I've always thought of the "Start a new file and clear the game as fast as you can doing anything possible (within the limitations of the game).

So, has anyone else started running this game? Has anyone even heard of it?

Thread title:

JackintheBox333

2014-10-14 10:04:00 pm

Professional Shaq Fu Speedrunner

Well yes, I've heard of it. The interesting thing about routing this is that the prevasion charm makes the generic enemies pretty trivial. For example, the only enemy you should be killing in the opening stage is the required ones. Running past every other one and tanking energy use and damage is easily the fastest way to beat the game.

Of course how you approach the levels depends on the run you are doing. Any% bad ending doesn't have to worry about the jewels or doing the final level. The strategy for dealing with the final bosses at low level, without the prevasion charm for the Any% true ending route will take some work, as its really the only point in the game in which the game will actively try to punish you; the prevasion charm makes the rest of the game trivial.

Astrasphere usage is required for the midboss parts where they want you to kill X number of enemies, as destroying the white orb thing on the ceiling causes the mini boss encounter to terminate.

As for the secret boss, I've been seemingly able to get him to short change his first phase and make him go into the part where you can harm him by standing/hovering right next to him. It makes it 2 casts instead of 3 from what I've been able to do.

Well yes, I've heard of it. The interesting thing about routing this is that the prevasion charm makes the generic enemies pretty trivial. For example, the only enemy you should be killing in the opening stage is the required ones. Running past every other one and tanking energy use and damage is easily the fastest way to beat the game.

Of course how you approach the levels depends on the run you are doing. Any% bad ending doesn't have to worry about the jewels or doing the final level. The strategy for dealing with the final bosses at low level, without the prevasion charm for the Any% true ending route will take some work, as its really the only point in the game in which the game will actively try to punish you; the prevasion charm makes the rest of the game trivial.

Astrasphere usage is required for the midboss parts where they want you to kill X number of enemies, as destroying the white orb thing on the ceiling causes the mini boss encounter to terminate.

As for the secret boss, I've been seemingly able to get him to short change his first phase and make him go into the part where you can harm him by standing/hovering right next to him. It makes it 2 casts instead of 3 from what I've been able to do.

Kuribon

Edit history:

Kuribon: 2014-10-17 02:47:24 am

Kuribon: 2014-10-17 02:18:32 am

Kuribon: 2014-10-16 01:37:48 am

2014-10-16 01:37:13 am

Neutral is never a weakness

When the game came out, I spent about a week working on it with a few people. In the end, the game ended up being bad for speed running, but good for scoring and okay for S+ ILs (But one thing ruins this somewhat for NG+ ILs).

-any% pretty much came down to mindless auto dodge spam. You can technically speed run this, but there really isn't anything interesting to it. Good/Bad ending aren't that different minus collecting jewels and two boss fights
-S+ Rank is the category that has actual skill to it. Problem is it's not RTA safe (Cannot get hit. Period). It's better for ILs (both NG and NG+), but NG+ has one issue which I'll mention below.

With how the game's structured, scoring (especially in an IL setting) is encouraged over speed running. I've got low times in stages just auto dodge spamming and not knowing the stage layout fully while getting a high score required actually learning the stage layout.

As for anything S+ NG+ both scoring and speed running, there is a lens that makes it so you have a 4% chance of start a stage with 1000 kudos (you can make this 8% with two equipped). This item can make ILs tiring since you have to reset constantly just to start out with a really large score bonus that's useful in both S+ scoring and speed running.

Another issue for any% was getting enough exp to obtain luxcalibur. It's the strongest skill in the game and the best way to deal with bosses (it can do half a boss's hp to certain bosses as shown in video). Problem being that level 13 requires alot of exp, which may make any time luxcalibur saves moot with how much stuff you need to kill. I should mention that I never fully tested whether or not luxcalibur is worth the time getting since I stopped around here.

Edit: Here's a pastebin Sairaan wrote up about boss damage with skills like luxcalibur and damage in general: http://pastebin.com/MjfBV5BX

So in order to make the game good for speed running, you need to make up very arbitrary rules such as disabling auto dodge. This is what killed my interest in this game in an RTA setting. If you really want to speed run this. S+ ILs are the best way to go, but I'd recommend sticking to some form of scoring.

When the game came out, I spent about a week working on it with a few people. In the end, the game ended up being bad for speed running, but good for scoring and okay for S+ ILs (But one thing ruins this somewhat for NG+ ILs).

-any% pretty much came down to mindless auto dodge spam. You can technically speed run this, but there really isn't anything interesting to it. Good/Bad ending aren't that different minus collecting jewels and two boss fights
-S+ Rank is the category that has actual skill to it. Problem is it's not RTA safe (Cannot get hit. Period). It's better for ILs (both NG and NG+), but NG+ has one issue which I'll mention below.

With how the game's structured, scoring (especially in an IL setting) is encouraged over speed running. I've got low times in stages just auto dodge spamming and not knowing the stage layout fully while getting a high score required actually learning the stage layout.

As for anything S+ NG+ both scoring and speed running, there is a lens that makes it so you have a 4% chance of start a stage with 1000 kudos (you can make this 8% with two equipped). This item can make ILs tiring since you have to reset constantly just to start out with a really large score bonus that's useful in both S+ scoring and speed running.

Another issue for any% was getting enough exp to obtain luxcalibur. It's the strongest skill in the game and the best way to deal with bosses (it can do half a boss's hp to certain bosses as shown in video). Problem being that level 13 requires alot of exp, which may make any time luxcalibur saves moot with how much stuff you need to kill. I should mention that I never fully tested whether or not luxcalibur is worth the time getting since I stopped around here.
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsgk1w7dEXs[/url]

Edit: Here's a pastebin Sairaan wrote up about boss damage with skills like luxcalibur and damage in general: http://pastebin.com/MjfBV5BX

So in order to make the game good for speed running, you need to make up very arbitrary rules such as disabling auto dodge. This is what killed my interest in this game in an RTA setting. If you really want to speed run this. S+ ILs are the best way to go, but I'd recommend sticking to some form of scoring.

SuperSpook

2014-10-22 07:47:32 pm

I actually, do run this game. Still your time is better than mine due to me not being that skilled at the game. (PB 1:31:22) I am also in the same rut where I don't have a capture card to record the footage.

Now as for the run itself, it is trivial due to prevasion, but I still find it fun. I also just mainly have fun and challenge myself going through the stages. (Main reason why my time is bad) But I still find this fun even with the Prevasion ability. It still shows some skill due to boss fights and navigating in general.

But yeah so far I am enjoying this game and running it in general, it may be boring on a"glitch/ trick" level, but it is fun. I wasn't sure if anyone attempted to run it, glad to see I am not alone. ^^;

DarkBluesZX

Edit history:

DarkBluesZX: 2014-12-24 08:07:32 pm

2014-12-18 12:06:12 pm

Sounds like Maverick talk to me.

Havent stumbled upon any glitches for this run. I currently run NG+ with a PB of 59:45

There are lots of interesting categories you can run in this game. Honestly Speedrunning this game does not end up becoming mindless auto dodging.

It's actually tough if you try to use certain items to optimize your run. (Overflash pendant+). That requires a certain amount of EV not to be prevaded. So not getting hit period is top priority in a regular run.

licensetobill

Edit history:

licensetobill: 2015-01-22 04:57:10 pm

2015-01-22 04:56:56 pm

does anybody run this at all? i have a 57:04 NG IGT and would like to discuss strats if there are active runners.

Greenalink

Edit history:

Greenalink: 2015-05-15 04:22:52 pm

Greenalink: 2015-05-14 09:48:55 am

Greenalink: 2015-05-14 09:48:46 am

2015-05-14 09:16:26 am

DS Dictator

Been running this game lately,

it uses the Death > Anthem strat in Merak to skip Boost Band/Material drop RNG. It also speeds up the fight as you are constantly in mid-air firing bolts.

My current in-game time PB is 53:49

CrimsonSmasherGunhammer

2015-05-15 09:09:50 pm

Kinda just a casual player looking in, (well, I have overall S and a bunch of S+s but I'm no speedrunner) but it's worth mentioning that the broken pendant carries over to any new file after you get the best ending. It lowers/locks your HP to whatever it is at level 1 and disables prevasion. (Not sure about EXP gain.) We could equip this and not grab any other optional equipment and call it NG+ low% run or something, but the enemies are still pretty trivial.

And new 3DS owners have one heck of an advantage. Load times are about a half-second faster per loading screen (casual observation) and we get the quick weapon switch.

Greenalink

Edit history:

Greenalink: 2015-05-16 08:36:58 am

2015-05-16 08:36:38 am

DS Dictator

There are capture devices for new3DS models but it is done by the unreliable Katsukity. I say that because it requires using a different program to record .avi

For any of my future runs to be done on new3DS, I'll wait until Loopy makes a new3DS board from 3dscapture.com

I have been messing around with no prevasion when fighting against Nova to unlock the true final stage and for a speed run, the challenge isn't as hard as I thought.

CrimsonSmasherGunhammer

2015-05-16 12:22:59 pm

Not surprised, since the game is designed to be beaten without getting hit.

I'm pretty sure you only need to equip the necklace when you deal the final blow to Nova's second form though, and I'm not sure why you took that challenge if this was part of an actual attempt. Oh, did you know you can fast forward the credits by holding R? I think it's R... Not sure if it helps because I don't recall if you save before or after the credits.

Real shame about Luxcalibur's EXP requirement though. Would of been great if it was like 11 and then we could potentially incorporate it into a run. Like, would you kill conveniently placed enemies or did you just rush past? Then again, a broken pendant run would probably kill more enemies just to survive. Now I wanna try myself. Smiley

Greenalink

2015-05-16 12:43:51 pm

DS Dictator

Quote:

I'm pretty sure you only need to equip the necklace when you deal the final blow to Nova's second form though

Tried that and it does not work.

Quote:

I'm not sure why you took that challenge if this was part of an actual attempt

Gives a Youtube viewer a smart idea when you want to unlock the final chapter, the run itself wasn't from my actual speed runs attempts.

Quote:

Oh, did you know you can fast forward the credits by holding R? I think it's R... Not sure if it helps because I don't recall if you save before or after the credits.

Yeah you hold R to speed up the credits and the save screen pops up right afterwards.

Quote:

Real shame about Luxcalibur's EXP requirement though. Would have been great if it was like 11 and then we could potentially incorporate it into a run. Like, would you kill conveniently placed enemies or did you just rush past? Then again, a broken pendant run would probably kill more enemies just to survive. Now I wanna try myself. Smiley

For speed running, only kill what you need to kill in order to progress through the game, that usually includes:
alarms,
sub bosses,
bosses and
the set of mandatory to kill enemies in Firmament

[quote]I'm pretty sure you only need to equip the necklace when you deal the final blow to Nova's second form though[/quote]
Tried that and it does not work.

[quote]I'm not sure why you took that challenge if this was part of an actual attempt[/quote]
Gives a Youtube viewer a smart idea when you want to unlock the final chapter, the run itself wasn't from my actual speed runs attempts.

[quote]Oh, did you know you can fast forward the credits by holding R? I think it's R... Not sure if it helps because I don't recall if you save before or after the credits.[/quote]

Yeah you hold R to speed up the credits and the save screen pops up right afterwards.

[quote]Real shame about Luxcalibur's EXP requirement though. Would have been great if it was like 11 and then we could potentially incorporate it into a run. Like, would you kill conveniently placed enemies or did you just rush past? Then again, a broken pendant run would probably kill more enemies just to survive. Now I wanna try myself. Smiley[/quote]

For speed running, only kill what you need to kill in order to progress through the game, that usually includes:
alarms, 
sub bosses,
bosses and 
the set of mandatory to kill enemies in Firmament

Greenalink

Edit history:

Greenalink: 2015-05-17 04:49:44 pm

2015-05-17 04:26:49 pm

DS Dictator

My first true ending run.

By the time I got to bad ending, it was still faster than a typical no jewel/bad ending run by nearly a minute (my current bad ending PB is easily beatable).
I even got an unexpected Anthem revival during the no prevasion fight against Nova fusion which could have costed me like ~90 seconds time lost if I was unlucky.

My plan for this game is to get a good run that is submission worthy for both categories. By the time I get a Loopy modified new3DS, I'll focus the game even more.

Attachment:

True ending run.jpg

CrimsonSmasherGunhammer

Edit history:

CrimsonSmasherGunhammer: 2015-05-18 10:58:59 am

2015-05-18 10:42:25 am

Did a broken necklace run the other day. It's a bit different from what I'm used to since I don't have my infinite jumps, but just going by the level times (Friend wanted to watch and didn't want me to skip the cutscenes.:P) I took a little more then 50 minutes factoring in fighting Nova twice and guesstimating the true final level's time.

Just smashed enemies if they were in my path and died quite a bit to the bosses though. I was practicallly level 15 when I got to the boss rush. It miiiight be worth it to get Luxcalibur since dieing to random enemies is bad and most will die in the time it takes to run up to them or jump over them, but I doubt it. I also kinda "death abused" checkpoints too, since your HP & SP are refilled when you return to one from either death or the menu. Of course death abuse would kinda be a problematic thing in this game with the Anthem and all... Especially since it overrides the broken necklace's (and the normal one's for that matter) lack of prevasion.

If we do decide to do a proper death abuse run, then it'll consist of equiping the broken necklace for the HP reduction thing and throwing ourselves into spikes until we die, are revived, and then we blow through the level with our infinite EP and jumps. Honestly, it'd be pretty boring and horribly luck-based. Too bad there isn't an Ultimate mode like in MMZ.

Since we don't get Orochi until we kill seven bosses, we'll have to make due with some of the more gimmicky guns to shoot out-of-reach bosses. Using Mizuchi to fry Viper during his special attack, for example. I'm thinking of a stage order like: Carrera & obtain Naga > Jota > Stratos/Elise & obtain Mizuchi > the rest. Still haven't thought of a use for Technos (from the forced Zonda) though...

Did a broken necklace run the other day. It's a bit different from what I'm used to since I don't have my infinite jumps, but just going by the level times (Friend wanted to watch and didn't want me to skip the cutscenes.:P) I took a little more then 50 minutes factoring in fighting Nova twice and guesstimating the true final level's time.

Just smashed enemies if they were in my path and died quite a bit to the bosses though. I was practicallly level 15 when I got to the boss rush. It miiiight be worth it to get Luxcalibur since dieing to random enemies is bad and most will die in the time it takes to run up to them or jump over them, but I doubt it. I also kinda "death abused" checkpoints too, since your HP & SP are refilled when you return to one from either death or the menu. Of course death abuse would kinda be a problematic thing in this game with the Anthem and all... Especially since it overrides the broken necklace's (and the normal one's for that matter) lack of prevasion.

If we do decide to do a proper death abuse run, then it'll consist of equiping the broken necklace for the HP reduction thing and throwing ourselves into spikes until we die, are revived, and then we blow through the level with our infinite EP and jumps. Honestly, it'd be pretty boring and horribly luck-based. Too bad there isn't an Ultimate mode like in MMZ.

Since we don't get Orochi until we kill seven bosses, we'll have to make due with some of the more gimmicky guns to shoot out-of-reach bosses. Using Mizuchi to fry Viper during his special attack, for example. I'm thinking of a stage order like: Carrera & obtain Naga > Jota > Stratos/Elise & obtain Mizuchi > the rest. Still haven't thought of a use for Technos (from the forced Zonda) though...

Greenalink

2015-05-18 11:25:14 am

DS Dictator

Quote:

If we do decide to do a proper death abuse run, then it'll consist of equiping the broken necklace for the HP reduction thing and throwing ourselves into spikes until we die, are revived, and then we blow through the level with our infinite EP and jumps. Honestly, it'd be pretty boring and horribly luck-based. Too bad there isn't an Ultimate mode like in MMZ.

The time it takes to equip broken necklace and change it back to something else isn't worth it, it takes too long. You can damage yourself quickly by activating flashfield before enemy contact.
The revival strat is only used on Merak because it requires using a multi-jump upgrade to skip part of the stage. Talking to Joule increase your chances of getting a revival but it's not 100% guaranteed.

The route I go for Any% is:
Intro, Merak (death abuse), Carrera, Elise*, Copen 1, Stratos, Viper, Jota, Final 4 stages.

*This stage onwards will use Naga bolts.

When Viper uses his desperation attack, I use Lightning sphere when he is at the very top of the screen, this basically allows me to deal damage during the bullet hell segment.
As I am using an old 3DS model, weapon switching costs a bit of time so I only change my bolts once throughout the entire run.

Orochi does enable up to 8 tags but trying to lv3 tag both Elise bodies during Elise R2 is actually hard because the auto firing orb messes up the tag counter. Eg. The Lv3 tagged enemy becomes a level 2.

Here is my old 53 minute run, I am going to aim for a high 51/low 52 run for bad ending.
http://www.twitch.tv/greenalinksda/c/6694723

[quote]If we do decide to do a proper death abuse run, then it'll consist of equiping the broken necklace for the HP reduction thing and throwing ourselves into spikes until we die, are revived, and then we blow through the level with our infinite EP and jumps. Honestly, it'd be pretty boring and horribly luck-based. Too bad there isn't an Ultimate mode like in MMZ.[/quote]

The time it takes to equip broken necklace and change it back to something else isn't worth it, it takes too long. You can damage yourself quickly by activating flashfield before enemy contact.
The revival strat is only used on Merak because it requires using a multi-jump upgrade to skip part of the stage. Talking to Joule increase your chances of getting a revival but it's not 100% guaranteed.

The route I go for Any% is:
Intro, Merak (death abuse), Carrera, Elise*, Copen 1, Stratos, Viper, Jota, Final 4 stages.

*This stage onwards will use Naga bolts.

When Viper uses his desperation attack, I use Lightning sphere when he is at the very top of the screen, this basically allows me to deal damage during the bullet hell segment.
As I am using an old 3DS model, weapon switching costs a bit of time so I only change my bolts once throughout the entire run.

Orochi does enable up to 8 tags but trying to lv3 tag both Elise bodies during Elise R2 is actually hard because the auto firing orb messes up the tag counter. Eg. The Lv3 tagged enemy becomes a level 2.

Here is my old 53 minute run, I am going to aim for a high 51/low 52 run for bad ending.
http://www.twitch.tv/greenalinksda/c/6694723

CrimsonSmasherGunhammer

2015-05-18 12:26:04 pm

I'm thinking you would do all the levels you'd want to death abuse back-to-back to make up for the time it takes to switch, but then again if you do them before you level up much then the HP reduction wouldn't make much of a difference. I'm not sure what levels would be good choices for death abuse anyway... Datastore could be another good one because of that segment at the beginning where you pull out the platforms and with all the other gimmicks throughout the level. I'm really not a fan of death abuse in this game so I haven't given it much thought.

Yeah, I tried spamming Astrasphere on Viper's Refulgence, but with the broken necklace it's basically impossible to survive. Even when I got to that point at full HP things got harry pretty quickly. Probably not safe enough for SS runs.

I've S+ed the stage with the Elise refight with Orichi without too much trouble. But since you're not running on a N3DS you're probably better off with Naga since it's so effective against Jota and Copen.

Another thing I've been thinking about is the synth items you get at the end of levels. It clearly isn't the same every time, but it could work like SMB3's card flip game where there's set layouts. I'll test it when I get some time.

I'm thinking you would do all the levels you'd want to death abuse back-to-back to make up for the time it takes to switch, but then again if you do them before you level up much then the HP reduction wouldn't make much of a difference. I'm not sure what levels would be good choices for death abuse anyway... Datastore could be another good one because of that segment at the beginning where you pull out the platforms and with all the other gimmicks throughout the level. I'm really not a fan of death abuse in this game so I haven't given it much thought.

Yeah, I tried spamming Astrasphere on Viper's Refulgence, but with the broken necklace it's basically impossible to survive. Even when I got to that point at full HP things got harry pretty quickly. Probably not safe enough for SS runs.

I've S+ed the stage with the Elise refight with Orichi without too much trouble. But since you're not running on a N3DS you're probably better off with Naga since it's so effective against Jota and Copen.

Another thing I've been thinking about is the synth items you get at the end of levels. It clearly isn't the same every time, but it could work like SMB3's card flip game where there's set layouts. I'll test it when I get some time.

Greenalink

2015-06-08 05:19:23 pm

DS Dictator

Done with any% for now.

Attachment:

4913 gunvolt.jpg

Greenalink

Edit history:

Greenalink: 2015-08-21 09:04:14 am

Greenalink: 2015-08-21 09:03:25 am

Greenalink: 2015-08-21 08:57:42 am

Greenalink: 2015-08-21 08:54:09 am

2015-08-21 08:53:44 am

DS Dictator

A few weeks ago I've managed to sub 1-hour the true ending (this is 7 jewels along with the true final stage, see bottom of this post for image).

Today Inti Creates has announced that Gunvolt 1 will be out on PC!

New features includes:

Quote:

■Speedrun Mode
With the addition of Speedrun Mode, it's time to put your electrifying skills to the test.
Future updates will expand the capacities of this mode, so keep an eye out for those as well!

■Extra Hard Mode

■Online leaderboards for Speed Run Mode

■Endless Attack Mode

■Japanese Voice Mode
Enjoy the original Japanese version of the game complete with Japanese voiceovers and ample mid-stage dialogue, all translated into English.

Japanese Voice Mode was originally only available in the Japanese 3DS version with Japanese text, international users can finally get a chance to understand the full story

There is a feature to change the screen layout to make it faithful to the 3DS version but there is a single screen version where all of the touch screen command skills are on the very top right which I think is suitable for the viewers.

I am planning to submit this game for AGDQ 2016 so fingers cross. 3DS is the version I'm more familiar with but PC is likely to be faster thanks to (even) faster loads and bolt switching but I need to look up on the setup guidlines to prevent delays.

A few weeks ago I've managed to sub 1-hour the true ending (this is 7 jewels along with the true final stage, see bottom of this post for image).

Today Inti Creates has announced that Gunvolt 1 will be out on PC!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyM6yfBC_gU

New features includes:

[quote]■Speedrun Mode
With the addition of Speedrun Mode, it's time to put your electrifying skills to the test.
Future updates will expand the capacities of this mode, so keep an eye out for those as well!

■Extra Hard Mode

■Online leaderboards for Speed Run Mode

■Endless Attack Mode

■Japanese Voice Mode
Enjoy the original Japanese version of the game complete with Japanese voiceovers and ample mid-stage dialogue, all translated into English.[/quote]
Japanese Voice Mode was originally only available in the Japanese 3DS version with Japanese text, international users can finally get a chance to understand the full story

There is a feature to change the screen layout to make it faithful to the 3DS version but there is a single screen version where all of the touch screen command skills are on the very top right which I think is suitable for the viewers.

I am planning to submit this game for AGDQ 2016 so fingers cross. 3DS is the version I'm more familiar with but PC is likely to be faster thanks to (even) faster loads and bolt switching but I need to look up on the setup guidlines to prevent delays.

Attachment:

TrueEndingGV.jpg

BystanderTim

2015-08-26 07:24:38 am

I'm looking into running this, but haven't finished my first playthrough. What skills should i be using? What level does the run finish, and is there a optimal boss order compared to just all in order with copan intermissions?

Greenalink

2015-08-26 08:00:30 am

DS Dictator

For a speed run, the only skill you will be using is Lightning Sphere, the time it takes to kill enemies and use more powerful offensive skills like Spark Calibur (level 13) isn't worth it.
Bad Ending finishes the run at level 9 while True Ending finishes the run at level 10.

The optimal boss order is actually straight forward,

The route I go for both categories is:
Intro, Merak (death abuse for shortcut), Carrera, Elise*, Copen 1, Stratos, Viper, Jota, Final 4 stages.

*This stage onwards will use Naga bolts

Death abuse is the not so 100% revival that allows me to use a secret shortcut in Merak's stage and it also skips RNG item drops which also skips having to buy a double jump skill and equipping it.

BystanderTim

2015-08-26 09:51:33 am

Thanks! I'm gonna play through the game on 3ds and probably do runs when the game comes out on pc

Greenalink

2015-08-26 10:49:52 am

DS Dictator

I was watching the Gunvolt PC trailer very carefully and I've noticed that at 1:36, you get to see save and load state in action. When the player uses a load state, the in-game timer goes back to the time the save state was made.
I'm not sure if there's going to be any replay files or viewing them via online leaderboards but save state scrumming could lead to pseudo TAS runs. This is just speculation though.

Tristamwolf

2015-09-17 11:30:17 am

I've been playing the PC version some over the past couple of days, and I'm wanting to get in to speedrunning this game. For anyone who is considering speedrunning this on PC in Speedrun mode, there are a couple of things that will change the route a bit. First, you don't get the auto-dodge skill at the beginning of the game like you do in a regular New Game mode. Also, from what I've seen so far, there is no Anthem in Speedrun mode, which means that you have to clear Merak without the death abuse. I haven't checked to see if you can craft items in Speedrun Mode yet (haven't had a ton of free time to play around with it yet.)

coolkid

2015-09-17 11:39:50 am

You can still do the Merak shortcut by skill jumping. There's a 1 frame window where you can jump after perfoming a skill.

Good luck in the races Smiley

Someguy

2019-02-20 02:32:26 pm

Sorry if this is known/mentioned already but it may help with split boss.
Just found out they cant do ressurect until medusa attack is over (the one that turns you to stone).
Had a good chunk of health left to burn through when I accidentally killed one early and was still able to get her because she didnt interrupt the attack to ressurect.