WelshMegalodon wrote:Is it just me, or is this light/heavy dichotomy not common knowledge? It isn't mentioned in the US manual.
Interesting... I'm not near my JP manual, and I wouldn't be able to read it regardless, but I wonder if it's in there. I recall a similar question over Ex-Ranza's superjump, which you actually can't finish its max difficulty without.
Things like this have me wanting to liken Vampire Killer to TNWA - a relatively accessible clear with a high skill ceiling that lends itself to a good deal of experimentation and optimization.
I like to file VK under the same "assault course" subgenre as Super Shinobi and Alien Soldier. Generous from a survival perspective, punishing from a performance one... and since better performance means not simply grades, but
massively bigger guns for demolishing stages, all three evolve into high-intensity 1HKO affairs even if all you want to do is wreak havoc. All three have masses of meaty targets, great explosions, and shredding weapons for the causing of. I like this stuff a lot!
Stuff like Solbrain/Shatterhand (where adept players can also
curbstomp bosses with a vengeance) is subtly different - you'll lose your guns for sloppy play there, but the pace is nearer CV1 methodical than Nakazato blitzkrieg.
Blinge wrote:Just had another go, this time actually thinking of the game as a 1cc attempt rather than casual play.
Did a lot better. got my shit pushed in in Versailles. Kinda thing that happens there I'm sure.
Exactly how to best appreciate VK/Bloodlines! It really brings out the endurance aspect of its long, action-packed and not very wallmeaty stages. Also you only get two continues anyway IIRC. ;3
My real bugbear now is the pillarmen boss in Versailles. how the ever loving fuck is morris supposed to deal with that, unless you arrive on full health.
Seems like a case of have the right subweapon or get fucked.
What version/difficulty are you on? Vampire Killer Expert gets two blue balls a shot, Bloodlines Expert gets three for a marginally trickier fight. Either way, a good tack is to use John's neutral jumping vertical when the Pillar's shots are moving upwards, preferably at launch. Try to have them "run into" a heavy strike. If they're descending and you have the space, try a neutral heavy - but be ready to give them a wide berth, letting them ricochet off the floor.
Don't be underneath them unless you've got an Axe. It works great here, as elsewhere, letting you attack directly overhead while crouching. Boomerang and Holy Water's EX attacks are nowhere as precise, but they can improvise in a pinch. In experienced hands, Pillar is no great crisis even with the other subweapons or none at all, but it's certainly John's trickiest miniboss (just like Versailles is the most grueling survival stretch... outside of Bloodlines Expert's entirely meatless final stage, at least). I really like Pillar dude, definitely the midboss highlight of JoMo's Bizarre Adventure.
Well, him and doggo-kun. A lot are punching bags - but the good sort, stuffed with dynamite and ready to punctuate a tricky stage section in a POW-driven boss explosion.
Extra lives in Versailles? I have noticed NO MEAT
IIRC, there's a 1UP in the lower half of the spiral pillar (where John arrives). Wallmeat in the wine cellar. You can also gamble on the masked bombers throwing you some, but I don't recommend it, their pincer game is surprisingly strong.

Game's best source of 1UPs is Germany, easy one in the ceiling (first factory room), and a much more dangerous one that only John can attempt across the pit next door (might as well go for it, the first will cancel out the loss if you fall).