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* BombardierMook: There are red, plane-like enemies that fly over your head to drop bombs of ichor on your head.
* JustifiedTutorial: The professor designed the area Aimes wakes up in to guide them through the basics of movement and combat... with live fire. He apologizes for the latter but tries to justify it, saying that if Aimes wouldn't survive those, they wouldn't have a chance anywhere else.
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* LizardFolk: The professor mentions in one message that humanity has made contact with reptilian aliens prior to the events of the game. It's only an aside he makes when telling a pun on the word "cool" and explaining why the use of that word to expression approval fell out of favour (you see, these reptilianns prefer a warmer climate than humans).
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* LizardFolk: The professor mentions in one message that humanity has made contact with reptilian aliens prior to the events of the game. It's only an aside he makes when telling a pun on the word "cool" and explaining why the use of that word to expression express approval fell out of favour (you see, these reptilianns prefer a warmer climate than humans).
* ThrowDownTheBomblet: A common enemy type is a red-black humanoid that regularly throws bombs that can cover huge chunks of terrain in dangerous clouds of ichor. Luckily you can shoot those bombs mid-flight to turn them harmless to you and harmful to your enemies instead.
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* ToxicPhlebotinum: Ichor is a potent substance produced in infinite quantities by Crimson that can be refined into any material, some even defying known science... but it's a very ''dangerous'' substance that corrupts anything it doesn't destroy into carrying Crimson's will to cause as much destruction as possible. It can turn even ''waste'' into a living force of destruction.
to:
* ToxicPhlebotinum: Ichor is a potent substance produced in infinite quantities by Crimson that can be refined into any material, some other materials, even defying known science... but it's those science never discovered before... with a very ''dangerous'' substance catch that corrupts anything whatever it doesn't won't destroy outright, it will easily corrupt into carrying Crimson's will to cause as much destruction as possible. It can turn even ''waste'' into a living force of destruction.
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None
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* BirthdayBeginning: In the prologue, the scientist receives birthday greetings from his colleagues, together with cheesy music, right before his spaceship crashes into an unknown object. Aimes too receives birthday greetings when they get released from the pod when the game proper begins [[spoiled:and when they receive the Sigma Gun [[BookEnds in the finale]].]]
to:
* BirthdayBeginning: In the prologue, the scientist receives birthday greetings from his colleagues, together with cheesy music, right before his spaceship crashes into an unknown object. Aimes too receives birthday greetings when they get released from the pod when the game proper begins [[spoiled:and [[spoiler:and when they receive the Sigma Gun [[BookEnds in the finale]].]]
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None
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!This game provides examples of:
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* CapRaiser: You can find upgrades that increase the energy capacity for your guns.
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...The game then starts proper in a rundown facility, where a spacesuit-clad humanoid called ([[HelloInsertNameHere by default]]) Aimes is released from a pod and greeted by a drone showing a hologram of a professor who introduces himself as Aimes' creator. As Aimes makes their way through a live-fire training course, the professor explains that the facility they are in is a SpaceStation called Crimson Glaive, which was made as a prison to hold a dangerous creature known... as... [-CRIMSON-]. The professor tasks Aimes with helping them both escape this station, a goal which will not be easy as Aimes will have to confront many previous experiments that have gone rogue, as well the warden of the prison, who has plans of waging the war on the universe outside with those creations. Along the way, Aimes will gather many weapons and upgrades that will help them in that task, and maybe even learn what the professor isn't willing to tell them.
to:
...The game then starts proper in a rundown facility, where a spacesuit-clad humanoid called ([[HelloInsertNameHere by default]]) Aimes is released from a pod and greeted by a drone showing a hologram of a professor who introduces himself as Aimes' creator. As Aimes makes their way through a live-fire training course, the professor explains that the facility they are in is a SpaceStation called Crimson Glaive, which was made as a prison to hold a dangerous creature known... as... [-CRIMSON-].[-[[red:'''CRIMSON''']]-]. The professor tasks Aimes with helping them both escape this station, a goal which will not be easy as Aimes will have to confront many previous experiments that have gone rogue, as well the warden of the prison, who has plans of waging the war on the universe outside with those creations. Along the way, Aimes will gather many weapons and upgrades that will help them in that task, and maybe even learn what the professor isn't willing to tell them.
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* AirDashing: The Booster upgrade allows Aimes to lunge horizontally while mid-air, providing temporary immunity to ichor clouds (''not'' bullets). Additional upgrades allow performing two dashes before having to land and dashing in any direction.
to:
* AirDashing: The Booster upgrade allows Aimes to lunge horizontally while mid-air, providing temporary immunity to ichor clouds (''not'' (but ''not'' bullets). Additional upgrades allow performing two dashes before having to land and dashing in any direction.
* GenericDoomsdayVillain: Crimson (and anything corrupted by its ichor) is driven purely to destroy. In his notes, the professor opines that a creature must be ''very boring'' if their only sign of intelligence is willingness to spare something only if it means getting to destroy more later.
Deleted line(s) 45 (click to see context) :
* HeWhoMustNotBeNamed: The professor avoids calling the warden by his name in the holographic messages to Aimes because this would draw warden's attention way before Aimes gets ready to confront him. [[spoiler:At the very bottom of the station you can find one message that glitches out, displaying you instead one where the professor calls the warden by his name. If you haven't defeated him by that point, then sure enough, the warden will teleport in to destroy the drone and give you a warning, denying you any more messages from your creator.]]
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* LizardFolk: The professor mentions in one message that humanity has made contact with reptilian aliens prior to the events of the game. You never get to learn anything about them or even see what they look like, however.
to:
* LizardFolk: The professor mentions in one message that humanity has made contact with reptilian aliens prior to the events of the game. You never get It's only an aside he makes when telling a pun on the word "cool" and explaining why the use of that word to learn anything about them or even see what they look like, however.expression approval fell out of favour (you see, these reptilianns prefer a warmer climate than humans).
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* MechaMooks: The station is full of machines that will attack the player on sight.
to:
* MechaMooks: The station is full of machines corrupted by ichor that will attack the player on sight.
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* NoOSHACompliance: Even parts of the station that ''aren't'' [[MalevolentArchitecture designed to kill you]] still wouldn't be safe to anyone not wearing a JetPack. [[HubLevel The Spine]], for example, is a maintenance shaft where there is not even so much as a railing to keep anyone from plummeting down, and without the jet pack the only way to travel it is with a perpetually moving lift that only slows down for a second or so to let passengers on or off, with a wide gap between the lift and floor.
to:
* NoOSHACompliance: Even in parts of the station that ''aren't'' [[MalevolentArchitecture designed to kill you]] still wouldn't be safe you]], you have to anyone not wearing a JetPack. [[HubLevel The Spine]], for example, is a maintenance shaft where there is not even so much as a railing to keep anyone from plummeting down, rely on your jetpack and your suit's resistance to FallingDamage to reach places above or below you instead of ramps, stairs or ladders; and lifts are constantly moving platforms (''some'' of which may be stopped by a nearby PressurePlate) without the jet pack the only way to travel it is with a perpetually moving lift that only slows down for a second or so to let passengers on or off, with a wide gap between the lift and floor.any railings.
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* PostProcessingVideoEffects: The game offers optional shaders to render graphics in funny ways. A scanline shader is the default and there are also a CRT display shader, a Game Boy shader and even an {{ASCII|Image}} shader.
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* PostProcessingVideoEffects: The game offers optional shaders to render graphics in funny ways. A scanline shader is the default and there are also a CRT display shader, a Game Boy shader and even an {{ASCII|Image}} {{ASCII|Art}} shader.
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* SoProudOfYou: The professor was quite generous with leaving messages congratulating Aimes for tackling the challenges of Crimson Glaive.
to:
* SoProudOfYou: The professor was is quite generous with leaving messages congratulating Aimes for tackling the challenges of Crimson Glaive.
* SpeakOfTheDevil: The professor avoids calling the warden of Crimson Glaive by his name in the holographic messages to Aimes because the warden's name would draw his attention way before Aimes gets ready to confront him. [[spoiler:At the very bottom of the station you can find one message that glitches out, displaying you instead an old recording where the professor calls the warden by his name, which gets cut short at warden's request because he claims someone is watching. If you haven't defeated him by that point, then sure enough, the warden will teleport in to destroy the drone --denying you any more messages from your creator-- and give you a warning not to meddle in his plans.]]
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* ToxicPhlebotinum: Ichor is a substance produced in infinite quantities by Crimson that can basically create miracles... with a catch that whatever it won't destroy outright, it will easily corrupt into carrying Crimson's will to cause as much destruction as possible. It can turn even ''waste'' into a living force of destruction.
to:
* ToxicPhlebotinum: Ichor is a potent substance produced in infinite quantities by Crimson that can basically create miracles... with be refined into any material, some even defying known science... but it's a catch very ''dangerous'' substance that whatever corrupts anything it won't doesn't destroy outright, it will easily corrupt into carrying Crimson's will to cause as much destruction as possible. It can turn even ''waste'' into a living force of destruction.
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A new PAAAAAAGE.
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[[quoteright:315:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crimsonglaivesigma.png]]
%%[[caption-width-right:315:some caption text]]
->''"In the distant year of N92, a science vessel travels through the vast emptiness of space. Its mission: to investigate the phenomenon of a strange signal that appears once every 20 years. Only a single scientist travels with the ship to aid with the observation. Despite a wide skillset, he is utterly unprepared for what he will discover. Or, rather, what will discover ''him''..."''
-->--'''OpeningScroll'''
''Crimson Glaive Sigma'' is a {{Metroidvania}}-like game with BulletHell elements, made by Pixel Artery and published on 29th July 2021 on [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1666240/Crimson_Glaive_Sigma/ Steam]] and on 30th August 2021 on [[https://remerai.itch.io/crimson-glaive-sigma itch.io]].
In the prologue, a lone scientist is on a spaceship sent to investigate a mysterious signal coming from the deep space. Just as he receives his birthday greetings, the spaceship suddenly crashes into a strange biomass. As he goes to investigate, he gets attacked by a mysterious horned being armed with a glaive. Having no weapons of his own, the scientist [[HopelessBossFight gets promptly thrashed]]...
...The game then starts proper in a rundown facility, where a spacesuit-clad humanoid called ([[HelloInsertNameHere by default]]) Aimes is released from a pod and greeted by a drone showing a hologram of a professor who introduces himself as Aimes' creator. As Aimes makes their way through a live-fire training course, the professor explains that the facility they are in is a SpaceStation called Crimson Glaive, which was made as a prison to hold a dangerous creature known... as... [-CRIMSON-]. The professor tasks Aimes with helping them both escape this station, a goal which will not be easy as Aimes will have to confront many previous experiments that have gone rogue, as well the warden of the prison, who has plans of waging the war on the universe outside with those creations. Along the way, Aimes will gather many weapons and upgrades that will help them in that task, and maybe even learn what the professor isn't willing to tell them.
!This game provides examples of:
* AbilityDepletionPenalty: Using up all the energy in your JetPack will disable its hovering ability until it recharges back to full.
* AirDashing: The Booster upgrade allows Aimes to lunge horizontally while mid-air, providing temporary immunity to ichor clouds (''not'' bullets). Additional upgrades allow performing two dashes before having to land and dashing in any direction.
* AfterBossRecovery: Defeated bosses leave behind [[HeartContainer life upgrades]] that refill your health completely.
* AlliterativeName: Many bosses have alliterative names and/or descriptors. The first four the player will encounter are Troubling Test, Ultra Unit, Wilted Wonder and Pesky Pool.
* AlphabeticalThemeNaming: The game has one boss for every letter in the Latin alphabet (except E for some reason). This is made obvious on the file select screen where your progress is tracked with a string that fills up with letters as you defeat bosses.
* AntagonistTitle: The title of this game comes from the name of the SpaceStation the game takes place in, which is in turn named after the BigBad it imprisons.
* AntiVillain: The warden wants to turn the prison that is Crimson Glaive into a fortress from which he can wage war with the universe outside, [[spoiler:but far more than that, he just wants to ''escape'' it. For that purpose he's willing to co-operate with a random human who crashed into what he calls the most secret prison in the universe, even learn something about Earth and humans while at it, and is distraught about that human passing away. Despite this, he's still hostile towards the human's creation Aimes despite knowing they're his only chance at destroying Crimson, but after some "persuasion", he's willing to co-operate with them and eventually [[HeelFaceTurn vows to make amends]].]]
* ArtificialGravity: The eponymous SpaceStation has a way of making things fall to the ground. The gravity seems to be applied individually to each entity, judging by enemies that not just run along the ceiling but also fall up while you still fall to the floor, the fields that [[GravityScrew change your falling direction]] being described as the station's ''actual'' gravity fields, and... oh yeah, an upgrade that lets you change your gravity to point to any of the four cardinal directions. [[spoiler:Even [[WombLevel inside Crimson]], after it breaks free from its prison to fly through space, you get to experience gravity.]]
* AsteroidsMonster: The SegmentedSerpent enemies will split into smaller ones when you destroy any segment of theirs that isn't their head or tail.
* AttackItsWeakPoint: Several bosses can be damaged only by hitting them in particular spots. For example, the Headache can be hurt only by shooting its wiggling tail, the Great Galley can only be shot at its exposed ichor core (that relocates after every few hits), and damaging the Insidious Inspector requires shooting it in the giant red light that it keeps away from you as it turns its cannon side ''towards'' you.
* AttackReflector: Touching enemy bullets just as you're leaping off the ground or right after a DoubleJump will turn these bullets blue and reflect them back. You even get complete ammo recharge and additional double jump for that, giving you another chance to deflect bullets.
* BirthdayBeginning: In the prologue, the scientist receives birthday greetings from his colleagues, together with cheesy music, right before his spaceship crashes into an unknown object. Aimes too receives birthday greetings when they get released from the pod when the game proper begins [[spoiled:and when they receive the Sigma Gun [[BookEnds in the finale]].]]
* BulletHell: Most of combat involves dodging massive barrage of bullets shot by enemies in every direction imaginable and in many patterns, many of them leaving clouds of harmful ichor that linger for a while.
* ChargedAttack: When you don't have enough energy to fire a weapon, you can still fire it by holding down the fire button for a few seconds and then releasing it. This is useful only outside of combat when you need a weapon to press the switch or destroy an obstacle. In combat you can always recharge ammo with the Alpha Gun or by deflecting bullets.
* {{Checkpoint}}: Camera drones found throughout the station serve as temporary {{save point}}s that last until the player reaches a proper one or [[GameOver gives up]].
* DoubleJump: The Dodge upgrade to your jetpack allows performing one tiny leap mid-air. Getting hit by a bullet while performing that leap will deflect that bullet, refill your ammo and perform another one without having to land first.
* EasierThanEasy: Below the "Casual" difficulty level there is "Chill", in which the player deals extra damage to enemies, whose projectiles won't leave ichor lingering.
* EleventhHourSuperpower: In the endgame, you get the Sigma Gun, a PurposefullyOverpowered weapon that has the high fire rate of the Beta Gun, the [[BottomlessMagazines ammo efficiency]] of the Alpha Gun ''and'' can recharge your {{time st|andsStill}}op ability with each direct hit. And you will need that in order to destroy Crimson for good.
* EnterSolutionHere: [[spoiler:To reach the endgame, you must give a specific name when the professor's hologram asks you for one.]]
* EvolvingTitleScreen: As a reward for reaching the ending, [[spoiler:the title screen will change to show Crimson's corpse drifting above Earth]].
* ExpositionFairy: Aimes is accompanied by a drone that stops at various points to provide a relevant recording from the professor.
* FullHealthBonus: Each upgrade for your weapons only work when you have maximum health.
* GivenNameReveal: The professor ''has'' a name, and learning it is a ''big'' deal [[spoiler:as you need it to access the endgame]].
* GravityScrew: The sixth sector is full of gravity fields that overwrite your gravity to make you fall sideways or upwards. You can also find gravity fields pointing "downwards", which mess with your jet pack's ability to hover in place by weakening it to a slow fall.
* GroundPound: You can encounter hammer-wielding enemies who attack by leaping and slamming their hammers into the ground, leaving a cloud of ichor in the process.
* HarderThanHard: Above the "Hard" difficulty level are "Very Hard", in which enemies deal extra damage and their ichor lingers longer; and "Cosmic Crimson", which is like very hard but the player is a OneHitPointWonder.
* HealingCheckpoint: Activating a SavePoint will refill your LifeMeter to the max, but only once before you activate another.
* HeartContainer: Throughout the station you can find (fragments of) upgrades that increase you LifeMeter capacity.
* HeartOfTheMatter: [[spoiler:The heart of Crimson is the FinalBoss of the game, the one last thing you must destroy to stop Crimson's threat and reach the ending.]]
* HeartsAreHealth: A heart icon next to your LifeMeter fills up as you [[LifeDrain shoot enemies with the Alpha Gun]] or [[RegeneratingHealth when your health is low]], restoring one HitPoint when it gets full or serving as one itself on maximum health.
* HelloInsertNameHere: You can give Aimes another name right upon getting released from the pod at the beginning.
* HeroicMime: Aside from choosing a name for themself at the beginning, Aimes is not even ''implied'' to say anything during the course of the whole game. There are, however, a few moments where their body language shows their character.
* HeWhoMustNotBeNamed: The professor avoids calling the warden by his name in the holographic messages to Aimes because this would draw warden's attention way before Aimes gets ready to confront him. [[spoiler:At the very bottom of the station you can find one message that glitches out, displaying you instead one where the professor calls the warden by his name. If you haven't defeated him by that point, then sure enough, the warden will teleport in to destroy the drone and give you a warning, denying you any more messages from your creator.]]
* HopelessBossFight: The prologue ends with the scientist encountering an alien that promptly attacks him and thrashes him effortlessly. Then the game begins proper.
* HubLevel: "The Spine" is the station's central maintenance shaft that provides access to key locations. However, they are locked behind doors which can be opened only with keycards floating oh-so tantalizingly behind them. How do you reach these keys? By getting to them the hard way.
* JumpJetPack: At first, your JetPack is capable only of making extended leaps, but you can find upgrades that give it extra functions like sprinting, AirDashing or indeed hovering.
* LaserHallway: Several rooms have laser [--erm--] [[XtremeKoolLetterz lazer]] emitters sliding along surfaces, emitting beams that can be avoided only by hiding behind some cover.
* LavaPit: Pits and even walls and ceilings of molten metal are a common hazard aboard the station. As is typical, [[ConvectionSchmonvection only direct contact hurts]].
* LevelMapDisplay: If you find the map data for the current sector, the pause menu will display its map marked with locations of save points, doors leading to [[HubLevel the Spine]] and your location... your ''approximate'' location.
* LifeDrain: Dealing damage to enemies with your Alpha Gun fills up the [[HeartsAreHealth heart icon]] which restores one HitPoint when filled up.
* LizardFolk: The professor mentions in one message that humanity has made contact with reptilian aliens prior to the events of the game. You never get to learn anything about them or even see what they look like, however.
* MalevolentArchitecture: Crimson Glaive is not merely [[NoOSHACompliance worker-unfriendly]]. It's full of hazards like {{spikes|OfDoom}}, [[LavaPit molten metal]], {{laser|Hallway}}s, clouds of [[ToxicPhlebotinum deadly ichor]] and cannons regularly firing bullets that disperse that substance.
* MechaMooks: The station is full of machines that will attack the player on sight.
* MirrorBoss: [[spoiler:At the end of what seems to be a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind, Aimes comes to blows with "You", a younger version of the professor who created Aimes, equipped with [[GunsAkimbo an Epsilon Gun in each hand]] and a jetpack, whose skillset is generally similar to what Aimes should have at that point.]]
* NinjaRun: Aimes sprints with one arm stretched backward and the other crooked forward.
* NoOSHACompliance: Even parts of the station that ''aren't'' [[MalevolentArchitecture designed to kill you]] still wouldn't be safe to anyone not wearing a JetPack. [[HubLevel The Spine]], for example, is a maintenance shaft where there is not even so much as a railing to keep anyone from plummeting down, and without the jet pack the only way to travel it is with a perpetually moving lift that only slows down for a second or so to let passengers on or off, with a wide gap between the lift and floor.
* NoticeThis: A soft chiming sound means you are close to a collectible.
* OrbitingParticleShield: Some enemies are encircled by purple shields that completely absorb any shot not from the (purple-coloured) Epsilon Gun.
* PostProcessingVideoEffects: The game offers optional shaders to render graphics in funny ways. A scanline shader is the default and there are also a CRT display shader, a Game Boy shader and even an {{ASCII|Image}} shader.
* PlatformBattle: The boss Blademaster is fought on three platforms suspended between [[LavaPit a pit and ceiling of molten metal]] that close in as the boss gets hurt. These hazards disappear completely once the boss is defeated.
* PlayerDeathIsDramatic: When Aimes' HitPoints run out, the whole screen turns red as Aimes --shown a black silhouette-- gets devoured by a large maw. [[spoiler:One message from the professor explains that what actually happens is that Aimes is quickly teleported far enough from the station to activate the TimeLoopTrap to rewind time to the latest SavePoint or {{Checkpoint}}.]]
* PlayerGuidedMissile: An upgrade to the Delta Gun not only makes its missiles fly faster, it makes them home in on the player's reticle.
* PostDefeatExplosionChain: Several bosses in their death throes become covered in a stream of explosions.
* PressurePlate: Several doors and other mechanisms on the station are activated by stepping on giant green buttons.
* RedIsViolent: Crimson is a beast that lives to destroy and is called such for a reason; it's entirely red. The [[ToxicPhlebotinum dangerous-yet-versatile]] ichor it produces is also a dark shade of red.
* RecoilBoost: An upgrade to the Gamma Gun makes it pack more pellets per shot but also flings Aimes violently in the opposite direction.
* RegeneratingHealth: At low health, your hit points regenerate on their own. The number of hit points you can regain this way depends on the difficulty level and can be increased with two upgrades.
* RespawningEnemies: Killing normal enemies will keep them dead as long as you don't leave the current sector or reload from a checkpoint.
* RingMenu: Holding the weapon switch button will display all your acquired weapons in a ring formation for you to select while action is stopped.
* SavePoint: You can save progress by finding pods scattered around the station, such as the one Aimes drops out of at the beginning.
* SealedEvilInACan: The eponymous station serves as a prison for Crimson, a malevolent entity which is driven purely by the need to destroy everything. [[spoiler:In the finale, it manages to break out --showing the station seems to have been literally built around it-- and immediately heads towards Earth with the intent of destroying it.]]
* SegmentedSerpent: You can encounter serpentine machine made up of multiple orbs that can be damaged individually. When an orb that isn't a head or a tail end gets destroyed, the serpent [[AsteroidsMonster splits into two smaller ones]].
* SoProudOfYou: The professor was quite generous with leaving messages congratulating Aimes for tackling the challenges of Crimson Glaive.
* SpaceStation: The eponymous setting is a spaceborne installation that serves as [[SealedEvilInACan a prison for a malevolent entity called Crimson]].
* SpikesOfDoom: Pointy, painful spikes are a common hazard throughout the station, something which the professor is apologetic about.
* SpreadShot: The Gamma Gun shoots a spread of short-range projectiles with each press of the fire button.
* SprintShoes: An upgrade in the water reservoir sector allows using your JetPack to run quickly along the ground and even {{wall|Run}}s and ceilings.
* StationaryBoss: Some bosses like the Troubling Test or Insidious Inquisitor stay in one place and rely entirely on bullets to attack you.
* TimeLoopTrap: [[spoiler:If the warden or Aimes get too far away from Crimson, a mechanism meant to keep Crimson trapped will kick in, rewinding time. Aimes' suit exploits this to undo their untimely deaths, and if they try to escape on a shuttle, time will rewind all the way to their awakening, but with all equipment and upgrades somehow already collected. In any case, they get to keep their memories of the undone time.]]
* TimeStandsStill: The hourglass upgrade gives you an ability stop time for a few seconds of respite. You can activate it only when its energy meter is fully recharged by collecting occasional hourglass pickups or by standing near special pillars.
* TitleDrop: Near the beginning, the professor shows you the name of the SpaceStation you are in... through a dramatic display of the game's title.
* ToxicPhlebotinum: Ichor is a substance produced in infinite quantities by Crimson that can basically create miracles... with a catch that whatever it won't destroy outright, it will easily corrupt into carrying Crimson's will to cause as much destruction as possible. It can turn even ''waste'' into a living force of destruction.
* UnderwaterBossBattle: The Great Galley is a large submarine boss fought in the water reservoir. It's armed with four turrets that alternate between pestering you with ichor bullets and pestering you with missiles.
* UnexpectedShmupLevel: [[spoiler:The fight against Crimson takes the form of a VerticalScrollingShooter as Aimes pilots an escape shuttle]].
* VillainTeleportation: The warden is capable of teleporting seemingly anywhere on the station. [[spoiler:The reason he can't use it to just get away from Crimson is that getting far enough will only rewind time.]]
* WallJump: The Traction Boots allow Aimes to cling to walls and jump from them to reach higher places.
* WallRun: The SprintShoes upgrade allows for running up the walls and even ceilings.
* WarmUpBoss: The training sector ends with a fight against Troubling Test, a StationaryBoss firing bullets in patterns that are very easy to dodge. [[spoiler:With the Delta Gun in hand, you can destroy its armour to reveal Spiteful Spawn, a ''much'' more dangerous boss beneath.]]
* WhereItAllBegan: At the very bottom of the station, [[spoiler:you can find the wreckage of the professor's spaceship from the prologue, abandoned but still with recognizable interior. Once you defeat all the bosses marked on the hangar sector's map, that biomass the ship has crashed into will move away to reveal an entrance to a very surreal level that ends with a key to reaching the endgame]].
* WombLevel: [[spoiler:The very last area of the game has Aimes and Aramars travelling through the fleshy intestines of Crimson to destroy its heart and kill it for good.]]
* WrapAround: The gimmick of the sector with teal brick background is that some sections have edges that connect to the opposite side of the screen. You can walk to the left edge of the screen and find yourself on the right side, or drop into the pit and fall indefinitely from the top. An upgrade found in the same area allows shots from the Epsilon Gun to wrap around the screen as well.
----
%%[[caption-width-right:315:some caption text]]
->''"In the distant year of N92, a science vessel travels through the vast emptiness of space. Its mission: to investigate the phenomenon of a strange signal that appears once every 20 years. Only a single scientist travels with the ship to aid with the observation. Despite a wide skillset, he is utterly unprepared for what he will discover. Or, rather, what will discover ''him''..."''
-->--'''OpeningScroll'''
''Crimson Glaive Sigma'' is a {{Metroidvania}}-like game with BulletHell elements, made by Pixel Artery and published on 29th July 2021 on [[https://store.steampowered.com/app/1666240/Crimson_Glaive_Sigma/ Steam]] and on 30th August 2021 on [[https://remerai.itch.io/crimson-glaive-sigma itch.io]].
In the prologue, a lone scientist is on a spaceship sent to investigate a mysterious signal coming from the deep space. Just as he receives his birthday greetings, the spaceship suddenly crashes into a strange biomass. As he goes to investigate, he gets attacked by a mysterious horned being armed with a glaive. Having no weapons of his own, the scientist [[HopelessBossFight gets promptly thrashed]]...
...The game then starts proper in a rundown facility, where a spacesuit-clad humanoid called ([[HelloInsertNameHere by default]]) Aimes is released from a pod and greeted by a drone showing a hologram of a professor who introduces himself as Aimes' creator. As Aimes makes their way through a live-fire training course, the professor explains that the facility they are in is a SpaceStation called Crimson Glaive, which was made as a prison to hold a dangerous creature known... as... [-CRIMSON-]. The professor tasks Aimes with helping them both escape this station, a goal which will not be easy as Aimes will have to confront many previous experiments that have gone rogue, as well the warden of the prison, who has plans of waging the war on the universe outside with those creations. Along the way, Aimes will gather many weapons and upgrades that will help them in that task, and maybe even learn what the professor isn't willing to tell them.
!This game provides examples of:
* AbilityDepletionPenalty: Using up all the energy in your JetPack will disable its hovering ability until it recharges back to full.
* AirDashing: The Booster upgrade allows Aimes to lunge horizontally while mid-air, providing temporary immunity to ichor clouds (''not'' bullets). Additional upgrades allow performing two dashes before having to land and dashing in any direction.
* AfterBossRecovery: Defeated bosses leave behind [[HeartContainer life upgrades]] that refill your health completely.
* AlliterativeName: Many bosses have alliterative names and/or descriptors. The first four the player will encounter are Troubling Test, Ultra Unit, Wilted Wonder and Pesky Pool.
* AlphabeticalThemeNaming: The game has one boss for every letter in the Latin alphabet (except E for some reason). This is made obvious on the file select screen where your progress is tracked with a string that fills up with letters as you defeat bosses.
* AntagonistTitle: The title of this game comes from the name of the SpaceStation the game takes place in, which is in turn named after the BigBad it imprisons.
* AntiVillain: The warden wants to turn the prison that is Crimson Glaive into a fortress from which he can wage war with the universe outside, [[spoiler:but far more than that, he just wants to ''escape'' it. For that purpose he's willing to co-operate with a random human who crashed into what he calls the most secret prison in the universe, even learn something about Earth and humans while at it, and is distraught about that human passing away. Despite this, he's still hostile towards the human's creation Aimes despite knowing they're his only chance at destroying Crimson, but after some "persuasion", he's willing to co-operate with them and eventually [[HeelFaceTurn vows to make amends]].]]
* ArtificialGravity: The eponymous SpaceStation has a way of making things fall to the ground. The gravity seems to be applied individually to each entity, judging by enemies that not just run along the ceiling but also fall up while you still fall to the floor, the fields that [[GravityScrew change your falling direction]] being described as the station's ''actual'' gravity fields, and... oh yeah, an upgrade that lets you change your gravity to point to any of the four cardinal directions. [[spoiler:Even [[WombLevel inside Crimson]], after it breaks free from its prison to fly through space, you get to experience gravity.]]
* AsteroidsMonster: The SegmentedSerpent enemies will split into smaller ones when you destroy any segment of theirs that isn't their head or tail.
* AttackItsWeakPoint: Several bosses can be damaged only by hitting them in particular spots. For example, the Headache can be hurt only by shooting its wiggling tail, the Great Galley can only be shot at its exposed ichor core (that relocates after every few hits), and damaging the Insidious Inspector requires shooting it in the giant red light that it keeps away from you as it turns its cannon side ''towards'' you.
* AttackReflector: Touching enemy bullets just as you're leaping off the ground or right after a DoubleJump will turn these bullets blue and reflect them back. You even get complete ammo recharge and additional double jump for that, giving you another chance to deflect bullets.
* BirthdayBeginning: In the prologue, the scientist receives birthday greetings from his colleagues, together with cheesy music, right before his spaceship crashes into an unknown object. Aimes too receives birthday greetings when they get released from the pod when the game proper begins [[spoiled:and when they receive the Sigma Gun [[BookEnds in the finale]].]]
* BulletHell: Most of combat involves dodging massive barrage of bullets shot by enemies in every direction imaginable and in many patterns, many of them leaving clouds of harmful ichor that linger for a while.
* ChargedAttack: When you don't have enough energy to fire a weapon, you can still fire it by holding down the fire button for a few seconds and then releasing it. This is useful only outside of combat when you need a weapon to press the switch or destroy an obstacle. In combat you can always recharge ammo with the Alpha Gun or by deflecting bullets.
* {{Checkpoint}}: Camera drones found throughout the station serve as temporary {{save point}}s that last until the player reaches a proper one or [[GameOver gives up]].
* DoubleJump: The Dodge upgrade to your jetpack allows performing one tiny leap mid-air. Getting hit by a bullet while performing that leap will deflect that bullet, refill your ammo and perform another one without having to land first.
* EasierThanEasy: Below the "Casual" difficulty level there is "Chill", in which the player deals extra damage to enemies, whose projectiles won't leave ichor lingering.
* EleventhHourSuperpower: In the endgame, you get the Sigma Gun, a PurposefullyOverpowered weapon that has the high fire rate of the Beta Gun, the [[BottomlessMagazines ammo efficiency]] of the Alpha Gun ''and'' can recharge your {{time st|andsStill}}op ability with each direct hit. And you will need that in order to destroy Crimson for good.
* EnterSolutionHere: [[spoiler:To reach the endgame, you must give a specific name when the professor's hologram asks you for one.]]
* EvolvingTitleScreen: As a reward for reaching the ending, [[spoiler:the title screen will change to show Crimson's corpse drifting above Earth]].
* ExpositionFairy: Aimes is accompanied by a drone that stops at various points to provide a relevant recording from the professor.
* FullHealthBonus: Each upgrade for your weapons only work when you have maximum health.
* GivenNameReveal: The professor ''has'' a name, and learning it is a ''big'' deal [[spoiler:as you need it to access the endgame]].
* GravityScrew: The sixth sector is full of gravity fields that overwrite your gravity to make you fall sideways or upwards. You can also find gravity fields pointing "downwards", which mess with your jet pack's ability to hover in place by weakening it to a slow fall.
* GroundPound: You can encounter hammer-wielding enemies who attack by leaping and slamming their hammers into the ground, leaving a cloud of ichor in the process.
* HarderThanHard: Above the "Hard" difficulty level are "Very Hard", in which enemies deal extra damage and their ichor lingers longer; and "Cosmic Crimson", which is like very hard but the player is a OneHitPointWonder.
* HealingCheckpoint: Activating a SavePoint will refill your LifeMeter to the max, but only once before you activate another.
* HeartContainer: Throughout the station you can find (fragments of) upgrades that increase you LifeMeter capacity.
* HeartOfTheMatter: [[spoiler:The heart of Crimson is the FinalBoss of the game, the one last thing you must destroy to stop Crimson's threat and reach the ending.]]
* HeartsAreHealth: A heart icon next to your LifeMeter fills up as you [[LifeDrain shoot enemies with the Alpha Gun]] or [[RegeneratingHealth when your health is low]], restoring one HitPoint when it gets full or serving as one itself on maximum health.
* HelloInsertNameHere: You can give Aimes another name right upon getting released from the pod at the beginning.
* HeroicMime: Aside from choosing a name for themself at the beginning, Aimes is not even ''implied'' to say anything during the course of the whole game. There are, however, a few moments where their body language shows their character.
* HeWhoMustNotBeNamed: The professor avoids calling the warden by his name in the holographic messages to Aimes because this would draw warden's attention way before Aimes gets ready to confront him. [[spoiler:At the very bottom of the station you can find one message that glitches out, displaying you instead one where the professor calls the warden by his name. If you haven't defeated him by that point, then sure enough, the warden will teleport in to destroy the drone and give you a warning, denying you any more messages from your creator.]]
* HopelessBossFight: The prologue ends with the scientist encountering an alien that promptly attacks him and thrashes him effortlessly. Then the game begins proper.
* HubLevel: "The Spine" is the station's central maintenance shaft that provides access to key locations. However, they are locked behind doors which can be opened only with keycards floating oh-so tantalizingly behind them. How do you reach these keys? By getting to them the hard way.
* JumpJetPack: At first, your JetPack is capable only of making extended leaps, but you can find upgrades that give it extra functions like sprinting, AirDashing or indeed hovering.
* LaserHallway: Several rooms have laser [--erm--] [[XtremeKoolLetterz lazer]] emitters sliding along surfaces, emitting beams that can be avoided only by hiding behind some cover.
* LavaPit: Pits and even walls and ceilings of molten metal are a common hazard aboard the station. As is typical, [[ConvectionSchmonvection only direct contact hurts]].
* LevelMapDisplay: If you find the map data for the current sector, the pause menu will display its map marked with locations of save points, doors leading to [[HubLevel the Spine]] and your location... your ''approximate'' location.
* LifeDrain: Dealing damage to enemies with your Alpha Gun fills up the [[HeartsAreHealth heart icon]] which restores one HitPoint when filled up.
* LizardFolk: The professor mentions in one message that humanity has made contact with reptilian aliens prior to the events of the game. You never get to learn anything about them or even see what they look like, however.
* MalevolentArchitecture: Crimson Glaive is not merely [[NoOSHACompliance worker-unfriendly]]. It's full of hazards like {{spikes|OfDoom}}, [[LavaPit molten metal]], {{laser|Hallway}}s, clouds of [[ToxicPhlebotinum deadly ichor]] and cannons regularly firing bullets that disperse that substance.
* MechaMooks: The station is full of machines that will attack the player on sight.
* MirrorBoss: [[spoiler:At the end of what seems to be a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind, Aimes comes to blows with "You", a younger version of the professor who created Aimes, equipped with [[GunsAkimbo an Epsilon Gun in each hand]] and a jetpack, whose skillset is generally similar to what Aimes should have at that point.]]
* NinjaRun: Aimes sprints with one arm stretched backward and the other crooked forward.
* NoOSHACompliance: Even parts of the station that ''aren't'' [[MalevolentArchitecture designed to kill you]] still wouldn't be safe to anyone not wearing a JetPack. [[HubLevel The Spine]], for example, is a maintenance shaft where there is not even so much as a railing to keep anyone from plummeting down, and without the jet pack the only way to travel it is with a perpetually moving lift that only slows down for a second or so to let passengers on or off, with a wide gap between the lift and floor.
* NoticeThis: A soft chiming sound means you are close to a collectible.
* OrbitingParticleShield: Some enemies are encircled by purple shields that completely absorb any shot not from the (purple-coloured) Epsilon Gun.
* PostProcessingVideoEffects: The game offers optional shaders to render graphics in funny ways. A scanline shader is the default and there are also a CRT display shader, a Game Boy shader and even an {{ASCII|Image}} shader.
* PlatformBattle: The boss Blademaster is fought on three platforms suspended between [[LavaPit a pit and ceiling of molten metal]] that close in as the boss gets hurt. These hazards disappear completely once the boss is defeated.
* PlayerDeathIsDramatic: When Aimes' HitPoints run out, the whole screen turns red as Aimes --shown a black silhouette-- gets devoured by a large maw. [[spoiler:One message from the professor explains that what actually happens is that Aimes is quickly teleported far enough from the station to activate the TimeLoopTrap to rewind time to the latest SavePoint or {{Checkpoint}}.]]
* PlayerGuidedMissile: An upgrade to the Delta Gun not only makes its missiles fly faster, it makes them home in on the player's reticle.
* PostDefeatExplosionChain: Several bosses in their death throes become covered in a stream of explosions.
* PressurePlate: Several doors and other mechanisms on the station are activated by stepping on giant green buttons.
* RedIsViolent: Crimson is a beast that lives to destroy and is called such for a reason; it's entirely red. The [[ToxicPhlebotinum dangerous-yet-versatile]] ichor it produces is also a dark shade of red.
* RecoilBoost: An upgrade to the Gamma Gun makes it pack more pellets per shot but also flings Aimes violently in the opposite direction.
* RegeneratingHealth: At low health, your hit points regenerate on their own. The number of hit points you can regain this way depends on the difficulty level and can be increased with two upgrades.
* RespawningEnemies: Killing normal enemies will keep them dead as long as you don't leave the current sector or reload from a checkpoint.
* RingMenu: Holding the weapon switch button will display all your acquired weapons in a ring formation for you to select while action is stopped.
* SavePoint: You can save progress by finding pods scattered around the station, such as the one Aimes drops out of at the beginning.
* SealedEvilInACan: The eponymous station serves as a prison for Crimson, a malevolent entity which is driven purely by the need to destroy everything. [[spoiler:In the finale, it manages to break out --showing the station seems to have been literally built around it-- and immediately heads towards Earth with the intent of destroying it.]]
* SegmentedSerpent: You can encounter serpentine machine made up of multiple orbs that can be damaged individually. When an orb that isn't a head or a tail end gets destroyed, the serpent [[AsteroidsMonster splits into two smaller ones]].
* SoProudOfYou: The professor was quite generous with leaving messages congratulating Aimes for tackling the challenges of Crimson Glaive.
* SpaceStation: The eponymous setting is a spaceborne installation that serves as [[SealedEvilInACan a prison for a malevolent entity called Crimson]].
* SpikesOfDoom: Pointy, painful spikes are a common hazard throughout the station, something which the professor is apologetic about.
* SpreadShot: The Gamma Gun shoots a spread of short-range projectiles with each press of the fire button.
* SprintShoes: An upgrade in the water reservoir sector allows using your JetPack to run quickly along the ground and even {{wall|Run}}s and ceilings.
* StationaryBoss: Some bosses like the Troubling Test or Insidious Inquisitor stay in one place and rely entirely on bullets to attack you.
* TimeLoopTrap: [[spoiler:If the warden or Aimes get too far away from Crimson, a mechanism meant to keep Crimson trapped will kick in, rewinding time. Aimes' suit exploits this to undo their untimely deaths, and if they try to escape on a shuttle, time will rewind all the way to their awakening, but with all equipment and upgrades somehow already collected. In any case, they get to keep their memories of the undone time.]]
* TimeStandsStill: The hourglass upgrade gives you an ability stop time for a few seconds of respite. You can activate it only when its energy meter is fully recharged by collecting occasional hourglass pickups or by standing near special pillars.
* TitleDrop: Near the beginning, the professor shows you the name of the SpaceStation you are in... through a dramatic display of the game's title.
* ToxicPhlebotinum: Ichor is a substance produced in infinite quantities by Crimson that can basically create miracles... with a catch that whatever it won't destroy outright, it will easily corrupt into carrying Crimson's will to cause as much destruction as possible. It can turn even ''waste'' into a living force of destruction.
* UnderwaterBossBattle: The Great Galley is a large submarine boss fought in the water reservoir. It's armed with four turrets that alternate between pestering you with ichor bullets and pestering you with missiles.
* UnexpectedShmupLevel: [[spoiler:The fight against Crimson takes the form of a VerticalScrollingShooter as Aimes pilots an escape shuttle]].
* VillainTeleportation: The warden is capable of teleporting seemingly anywhere on the station. [[spoiler:The reason he can't use it to just get away from Crimson is that getting far enough will only rewind time.]]
* WallJump: The Traction Boots allow Aimes to cling to walls and jump from them to reach higher places.
* WallRun: The SprintShoes upgrade allows for running up the walls and even ceilings.
* WarmUpBoss: The training sector ends with a fight against Troubling Test, a StationaryBoss firing bullets in patterns that are very easy to dodge. [[spoiler:With the Delta Gun in hand, you can destroy its armour to reveal Spiteful Spawn, a ''much'' more dangerous boss beneath.]]
* WhereItAllBegan: At the very bottom of the station, [[spoiler:you can find the wreckage of the professor's spaceship from the prologue, abandoned but still with recognizable interior. Once you defeat all the bosses marked on the hangar sector's map, that biomass the ship has crashed into will move away to reveal an entrance to a very surreal level that ends with a key to reaching the endgame]].
* WombLevel: [[spoiler:The very last area of the game has Aimes and Aramars travelling through the fleshy intestines of Crimson to destroy its heart and kill it for good.]]
* WrapAround: The gimmick of the sector with teal brick background is that some sections have edges that connect to the opposite side of the screen. You can walk to the left edge of the screen and find yourself on the right side, or drop into the pit and fall indefinitely from the top. An upgrade found in the same area allows shots from the Epsilon Gun to wrap around the screen as well.
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