Noitu Love 2: DEVOLUTION FAQ Version 0.7 Written by Paul Acevedo, AKA EastX Created on: 03/29/09 Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Version History 3. Story 4. Menus 5. Controls and Gameplay 6. Level Walkthroughs 7. Secrets and Unlockables 8. Special Thanks 9. Contact Information -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to my first PC-exclusive FAQ. Noitu Love 2 is an indie PC game developed entirely by the talented pixel artist Joakim Sandberg, aka Konjak. He drew heavy inspiration from the Sega Genesis title Gunstar Heroes and other classic Treasure games when creating Noitu Love 2. This is a PC game though, so the gameplay is built around using a mouse to aim and fire while using the keyboard to move. The control is a little tricky, but not insurmountable. A fun bit of trivia is that Joakim Sandberg did the art for Contra 4 on DS! The original Noitu Love is available as a free download, while part 2 currently costs $10. You can get both games at http://www.konjak.org. Unfortunately the developer has not posted system requirements, but you can use the free demo to determine if your rig can run it. I'm pretty sure that most PCs capable of running Diablo 2 will be able to run Noitu Love 2. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Version history -------------------------------------------------------------------- 03/29/09 Version 0.7 FAQ created. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Story -------------------------------------------------------------------- The official story, from the game's readme: "In 2088, cities around the world decided to create organizations that would maintain the peace that had been established after the 'orbital wars'. Remnant hostile groups of the war were vanquished and for 90 years peace largely remained. But then a madman... Darnacus Damnation... decided to disturb the tranquility with his army of Grinning Darns. He attempted to overthrow society multiple times, but each time the Peacekeepers' prodigy was there to stop his continuing assaults. That hero was Noitu Love. With the help of his co-worker Lori he would always bring an end to every threat. In 2188, after an attempt to turn all the world's people to monkeys using banned and dangerous technology called "Evomatics", Darnacus would finally meet his demise by the hands of Noitu. Using the Evomatics, Noitu could assume many forms, like an ape or a man with a further developed mind. Though Darnacus' body was never found in the aftermath, he was never seen or heard of again. Doppelori, a cyborg decoy made by Darnacus in Lori's image, was taken into custody and eventually turned off and put away. After that, peace returned, and nobody thought back on it. But many years later... in the world of 2288... History will repeat itself in more ways than one." 'Noitu Love 2: Devolution' starts out with our heroine, Xoda Rap, getting a distress call from her operative Almond about a mysterious "grinning horde of robots" attacking Omicron City. She can feel in her blood what is going on and sets out to stop the new onslaught of Grinning Darns. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Menus -------------------------------------------------------------------- Title screen menu: ----------------- -Start Game -New Game -Normal -Hard -Hardest (must be unlocked by beating the game on Hard) -Continue (Appears only if you chose to Save and Quit; the save file is deleted once you choose to continue. Bleh.) -Extra (These options unlock after you beat the game, etc.) -Spec. Moves: Toggle whether special moves are performed with the mouse, keyboard, or both -Health Cap: Reduce the maximum health to make the game harder. -BGM Test -Go to Records: View score and grade records after beating the game. -Tutorial: This will teach you how to play and is highly recommended. -Quit Config.exe menu: --------------- Screen Mode: -Full screen 1 -Full screen 2 (stretches the image, distorting its aspect ratio) -1x (Windowed, the game's native resolution of 320 x 240 pixels ) -2x (Windowed, double the game's native resolution ) -3x (Windowed, triple the game's native resolution ) In Game Mouse sensitivity: Windows sensitivty refers to your system's regular mouse sensitivity. Increase or decrease the Game sensitivity to make aiming easier. Higher sensitivities are recommended for full screen modes. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Controls and Gameplay -------------------------------------------------------------------- Standard Controls (these apply to Levels 1-3 and 5-7) ----------------- Walk left: A key or Left arrow Walk right: D key or Right arrow Jump: W key or Up arrow. You can jump off of walls by pressing the jump key near a wall while in mid-air. Crouch: S key or Down arrow. You can move left or right while crouched. Punch: Left mouse button Fire Gun: Hold Left mouse button, then release (while no directions are pressed) Throw enemy: Click and hold the Left mouse button while highlighting an enemy, then release. This is the strongest attack. Shield: Right mouse button. Bomb throwing enemies can be damaged if their bombs hit a nearby shield. Dash attack: Left mouse click on any enemy or certain objects to dash towards them. Grapple to a green hook: Left mouse click while a hook is highlighted. Press up or down to jump off. You can also grapple to another hook or dash attack an enemy to detach. Cancel attack/dash: Right mouse button while dashing Special Moves: Jump kick: Double tap left or right or hold the Right mouse button and flick the mouse left or right Vertical somersault: Double tap up or hold the Right mouse button and flick the mouse up. This can be done repeatedly as long as the dash connects with an enemy. Pause: Enter key Quit game: Alt + F4 Level 4 Controls ---------------- Movement: W, A, S, D, and arrow keys Fire Gun: Hold Left mouse button Dash: Hold Right mouse button and flick the mouse in any direction (I recommend against doing this.) Gameplay: -------- Combos: If you defeat an enemy within two seconds of defeating the last enemy, your combo multiplier increases by one. Comboing lots of enemies is key to getting high scores. Level Beat: ---------- Your rank at the end of each level is based on completion time, number of kills, maximum combo, and hits taken. S is the highest rank. Items: ----- -Blue bolt: Restores 1 unit of health -Green bolt: Restores 3 units of health -Yellow bolt: Restores 5 big ol' units of health -------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Level Walkthroughs -------------------------------------------------------------------- Level 1 ------- -Walk forward and the helicopter will start chasing you. You will run right automatically and drop down into the actual level. -Proceed right until the helicopter returns. Stay on the ground and hide behind the trees to avoid its shots. -A boat soon appears in the background. Arrows will indicate where its missiles will land, so avoid those spots. The boat will leave after a few seconds. -Flying gold robots soon begin attacking. They dash towards you shortly after appearing, so either destroy them quickly or hurry forward to escape them. -You'll need to jump off the wall once to proceed. -A series of green hooks hang above a lava pit. Grab on to them to proceed. Miniboss: Helicopter -The jewel under the pilot is its weak spot. -You can either hang from the hooks or run along the enemy itself. Use shields to block its attacks and dodge as necessary. -You'll soon meet green robots with flame throwers. Either kill them before they can fire or wait for them to stop firing before you attack. Boss: Mordecai Fluke -Touching the spiked hatch at the bottom of this tank ship will hurt you. But its weak spot lies within the hatch, which opens occasionally. -The cannon at the top flashes before firing either two cannon balls downward or a larger, swirling shot. -When a huge skull flashes on the screen, the weak spot is about to fire at you - crouch to dodge it. -The tank treads flash just before the boss rushes forward, so run left to escape Tiananmen Square-style harm. Can you believe I said that? Level 2 ------- -Initially you'll ride a platform which falls, stops, and falls repeatedly. You can destroy or avoid the first barrage of flying yellow robots. -Avoid the missile blasts that come from below. -You'll need to defeat enemies to make the platform descend further. -Rocks will start to drop from above. Arrows indicate where they will strike. Miniboss: Grim Reaper -Don't fear the reaper! His heart is its Achilles' Heel... Or Achilles' Heart, whatever. -Sometimes he laughs and then flies upward before coming out of the ground; jump up and dash around to be safe. -When he raises both arms, Grim does a lightning attack. It only strikes near his body, so just step away a little bit to keep from being shocked. -Gold zombie robots appear next. They can fire electricity if left unharmed, but its range isn't far. -Priest robots will fire balls of energy across the screen if you don't dispatch them quickly. -A series of Guillotines will bar your path. Hang from each one's hook to raise it, and then hurry and dash through the opening. Miniboss: Bipedal Dog -You know, I dislike most dogs. Anyway, the entire center and head are vulnerable. Use shields to block its fire. -Arrows will indicate when missiles come from above. You can place a shield right in front of and above its head and keep attacking while the missiles rain down. -Every now and then boulders will bounce by. -You'll need to use green hooks to climb the next tower. Place shields in front of the flame turrets to pass safely. When two flames converge on the same spot, just shield that spot. -The grey sword robot takes several hits to destroy, so it's probably safer to just jump kick past it. Boss: O2 Joy (A pun on "Ode to Joy") -Initally you attack by crouching over the piano keys that have red triggers beaneath them. The symbol that appears above Robo-Beethoven's head determines which attack he will perform. -A lightning symbol means that four hooks will fall from one side of the screen. Wait in the center to determine the hooks' direction. Then quickly run to the other side to make your attack and avoid damage. -A sword symbol preceeds swords bursting from the bottom of the ground. They first appear in the center and then spread outwards. Jump for safety! -A bass clef symbol (a curly line and two dots) indicates that a speaker will drop from the right and blow you towards the left edge of the screen. This does no damage on its own but makes it hard to attack Robo-Beethoven. -A circle with an X through it (possibly a coda symbol) means that a huge bladed circle will fall in the center and roll left. Stay to the right to avoid it. -Once O2 Joy's life falls below half, he will jump into the foreground. You can directly attack him after he fires the rings from his body. -When a skull flashes in the center if the screen, O2 will dash down and forward. Run under him before he dashes! Level 3 ------- -Crawl under the pendulum blades like Edgar Allen Poe. -Samurai enemies who wear large hats will dash at you. Defeat them before they can attack or stay back until they finish coming at you. They also have a projectile attack. -Green kappa droids jump out from under a bridge and throw what appear to be bananas. Whoop them all to proceed. -Maiden robots drop balls from above, making it harder to navigate the pendulum obstacles. It's safer to avoid them than to attack. Miniboss: Hammer Samurai -This little devil can strike downward or fly forward with his malet. -A flashing skull indicates that the mallet is about to fall from above to your location. Keep moving to escape. However, the only safe time to attack the miniboss is when his hammer has been thrown. -Once you're underwater you move a lot slower. The jellyfish robots can only hurt you when they are flashing. Miniboss: Sea Serpent -Aim for the head! -A flashing skull means that the dragon is going to spit an exploding projectile at you. Hide under its head and watch out for the pieces of the projectile. -An arrow at either side of the screen alerts you that the dragon is going to swim in a horizontal line; you'll want to duck on the opposite side of the screen. -For the remainder of the level you'll now encounter bamboo spikes that errupt from the ground at random. A cloud of dust warns exactly where they will come from. Clearly it's a good idea to stay on the move instead of fighting the regular enemies. Boss: Rilo Doppelori -Rilo raises her gun before firing straight ahead while standing and then while jumping. Jump over the first attack and run under the second. You may need to double-tap down to land quickly enough. The best time to attack her is when she is in the air during the second shot. -Be careful when this cyber babe jumps and fires diagonally downward. The blast splashes outwards in two directions. If you manage to attack her at the peak of her jump, you probably will not get hit. -If Rilo flashes and jumps off screen, she's going to fire missiles from above. The numbers 1, 2, and 3 indicate where they will strike. You can often hit her on her way down. -Shortly after her life drops below half, the fight will end. -Now you must stay on the wheel by running towards its right edge.Don't fall in the water or you'll take damage. Miniboss: Sea Serpent -What this guy's problem? Once again a flashing skull warns that he is about to fire at you, and the projectile splits up after it strikes the wheel. He can also breath fire now. Level 4 ------- -This level is a forced-scrolling shooter. You now attack by holding the Left mouse button, which fires your gun constantly. After the gun hits one target, if you highlight another target while the first one still survives, both targets will take damage. Linking your shots like this is essential to completing the level. -The cowboy robots with shields in front of them can be hard to defeat. Note that they flash before they fire a projectile at you. When a cowboy fires a small purple robot, quickly shoot the purple robot and then link your shot to the cowboy. If you don't hurry, the purple robot will explode before the cowboy takes damage. The purple robot will also fly at you if you take too long. -A musician robot assaults from the ground. Dodge his fire and wait for him to emit two glowing blue orbs. You can link your shots from the orbs to the musician in order to attack. The orbs explode and cause you damage after a few moments. He gains extra shields once you hurt him a little. Continue to attack the same way, moving around to get his shields out of the way. -Next you will fly under a fortress. You have to shoot triggers to destroy the flame jets and keep yourself unscathed. It soon becomes necessary to link your shots from grey switches to the orange switches in order to get through. Miniboss: Derby Droid -To hurt him you will have to link your fire from one of the switches above or below him to the glowing orb in his arm and then to the other switch. -His arm points in the direction that it will fire for a split-second before it extends. -When the arm swings around in a circle, hide in the lower-left corner of the screen. -The shielded American Indian robots hurtle towards you after a brief pause. Either dodge them or link your fire to another enemy in order to kill them. -When the cowboy comes out of the locomotive, be careful! You take damage not only from the cowboy's shots, but also by hitting the train's engineer. Shoot the cowboy's shots and link them to him. Boss: Sleeper Brakeman -This is a frustrating battle, but it's not impossible! The main way to attack is to shoot the flying purple robots and link them to the egineer. Unfortunately you have to be near the top or bottom of the screen in order to hit the purple robot at the right angle. -When the train jumps in the air, fly left and shoot the crystal at its back. -The train sometimes fires canonballs which bounce away after they hit the ground. -When the arm cannon is pointed horizontally and it flashes, it will fire a blue ball that splits in two vertically. Try to between them to avoid being hit; it's not easy. -When the arm arm cannon is pointed up or down sharply and flashes, it's going to fire a series of shots. You can dodge these by flying up or down out of the way. -If the train falls off the left edge of the screen and an arrow appears there, it's about to rush forward. Take shelter in the lower-right corner of the screen. Level 5 ------- -The yellow-suited gangsters will swing a ball and chain yoyo if you don't finish them off quickly. -Machine gun gangsters are less of a thread, but still need to be offed in a hurry. -When the elevator speeds up and forces you into a crouch, attack enemies by dashing around. Nothing else works! You can still place shields though. -Dashing is also the only way to attack when you're flung into the ceiling. Your mouse isn't broken. ;) Miniboss: Edgghead -Is this the villain from the Pac-Man cartoon series? Naa! -To hurt him, first strike the boxes that have flashing arrows on them. He becomes vulnerable after his head bangs into the ceiling. -Dash under or jump over his attacks. Don't linger too long while you're hitting those boxes. -Proceed right until the floor drops down under you. Now head left. -You'll encounter a series of green hooks. Grab onto one, dash and attack the boxes that bar your path, then quickly dash through and grab on to the next hook. Miniboss: Sailor -Just dash over and attack this guy between his shenanigans and dash back to one of the hooks when he is about to attack. -The sailor swings his hook, grapples onto the ceiling, and swings to the platform at either edge of the screen. -When his whole body flashes, he's about to dash forward. Jump over him. -After the miniboss goes down like Chinatown, you'll also go down... The floor falls. Before proceeding, read the next point! -You can either head right or go left, over the barrels. To the left lies a portrait of Lori, a character from the previous game. -If you decide to view Lori's portrait, walk all the way against the left wall and then jump off the wall and dash back over the barrels. The floor will fall out from under you if the trick worked, leading to the secret boss, Shady Hanz. Secret Boss: Shady Hanz -Coming soon! -If you did not successfully perform the Shady Hanz trick, just go on to the right. You will have to crawl through some tight places while avoiding the yoyos of yellow gangsters. Boss: The Grinning 4 -The floor will rotate, pushing you towards the spiked wall at the left. Run, dash, or jump right to keep from getting spiked. -When the floor stops, a random member of the group will jump down to attack. Each one has its own separate life bar. Like many bosses, shields won't protect you from their attacks. -The string player lands on a barrel to the left. He throws a few fire bombs, which you should avoid before making a counterattack. -The drummer lands on the left as well. Arrows at the top of the screen will indicate where his barrels will fall. Attack him non-stop unless a barrel is about to hit you. -The blue saxophone player fires a giant note that bounces around. Run under it and attack until it comes back at you. -The female singer lands on a piano to the right. A skull flashes, indicating that four lines of energy spheres are going to rotate from the center of the screen, either clockwise or counterclockwise. Attack her until the skull appears. Then get in the middle and run around between two of the lines. -After you have defeated two of the Grinning ninnies, a line of yellow orbs appears whenever the floor rotates. Jump over it or you will get hit. A second line appears after the third musician is destroyed. Level 6 ------- -The flying robots here attack by flying into you or firing blasts. The safest thing to do is dash past them. -Be very careful when the wind starts blowing you towards the left. You'll take damage if you fall in the lava, just like in real life. -Next you must beat a couple of hopping white robots. Him them and dash away whenever they jump. Miniboss: Giant Zombie Robot -Attack his good eye! -One of the zombie's attacks is to strike the ground. Rather than run away, stay in the air attacking rapidly and you should be safe. -If he reaches way down off screen, he will drop a bunch of smaller zombies from above. Walk between them and destroy any that survive. -New flying white robots soon appear. They can attack by furing their jetpacks' exhaust straight down or dashing forward at you. -Once the gravity reverses and flips you to the ceiling, head left. Up still jumps and down still crouches. -Watch out for the lava in the ceiling! -Eventually you will fall through a pit in the ceiling and start back towards the right. The gravity switches back and forth here. -Dash past the annoying flying enemies. Miniboss: Not Samus' Ship -This boss fight is designed to kill all the love in your heart. Be prepared. -To damage the ship, wait until it drops a blue ball on the floor. Then get on the ceiling, which should cause the ball to fly up and hurt the ship. -The ship can fire two purple blasts which go up and spread out to both sides of the screen. Crouch on the platform just above the ship to avoid the blasts. -When the ship leaves the scree, an arrow to the left or right indicates that it is about to return from that direction. -More coming soon! Level 7 ------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Secrets and Unlockables -------------------------------------------------------------------- -Records: Beat the game once to unlock the Go to Records option in the Extras menu. -Hardest difficulty: Beat the game on Hard. -Level select: Beat the game on Hardest with any character to unlock that character's level select. -Play as Rilo Doppelori: Beat the game once. -Play as Mr. Almond: Beat the game as Rilo. -Secret boss: Shady Hanz While playing as Xoda 9the default character), go to Level 5 and defeat Sailorman. The floor will explode and you'll drop down. You should see some barrels to the left. Jump over them and you'll find a portrait of Lori from the first Noitu Love. After viewing it for a few seconds, proceed to the right. The ground should explode after you jump over the barrels. Shady Hanz awaits below. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Special Thanks -------------------------------------------------------------------- -Thanks to GameFAQs user Gruntnic for discovering all the secrets and unlockables. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Contact Information -------------------------------------------------------------------- I'd love to receive your suggestions and questions. I can be slow to answer my FAQ email, so use Xbox Live messages if you are in a hurry. Please do not send me a friend request without introducing yourself first! Email: eastfaqs at gmail dot com Xbox Live Gamertag: EastX Sega Saturn Net Link Handle: Eastman NOITU LOVE 2: DEVOLUTION Copyright Joakim Sandberg, 2008 This document is copyright 2008 by Paul Acevedo. It may not be posted anywhere but gamefaqs.com, ign.com, and mycheats.com without permission. Love hurts.