Line #91 Videogame/Exceed


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/exceed_series.png]]
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3	Long ago, in ancient times, there was a rebellion. An angel turned against God and rallied an army to wage war against heaven as they so often seem to do once they decide they no longer want to be part of the cool crowd. In any event, the angel and his demonic armies were sealed away with the help of humans who fought and died in a desperate war until finally an angel descended from heaven and granted power to a saint whose sacrifice made such a thing possible. Nevertheless, history was doomed to repeat itself and the fallen army eventually broke free over modern day Tokyo, bringing with them vampires, humans who bore the blood of the fallen angel. Opposing them was humanity's first and last line of defence, girls tRaisned by the Inquisition who wielded powerful magic that could match the demonic commanders at the cost of most of their lifespan. They were likened to the bullets of a gun. Thus the stage was set for the first game by {{doujinshi}} circle FLAT, ''eXceed: Gun Bullet Children''.
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5	A sequel was released the following year called ''eXceed 2nd -Vampire-'', which added a dual-polarity system similar to the one used in ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}''. Instead of the Gun Bullet Children, the protagonist was a vampire fighting for survival as power struggles within the Church left a faction that rejected any form of human hybrid in control of the Inquisition. After seizing control they initiated a worldwide purge and employed the Gun Bullet Children to hunt all vampires down. It was later remade as ''eXceed 2nd -Vampire- REX'' in 2007, featuring updated graphics, new music tracks composed by [[Music/TouhouFanMusic Shibayan Records]] and cranky, with a special arrangement of ''Shock!!'' by Saitama Saisyu Heiki, and expanded gameplay mechanics.
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7	FLAT later stopped working on the ''eXceed'' series and eventually shut down in early 2009. In the meantime, ownership of the series was transferred to another doujin circle called Tennen-Sozai who threw out all the established story material and rebooted the franchise with ''eXceed 3rd -Jade Penetrate-''. The third game tells the story of a young girl named Rayne Lindwurm (Rain Lindwurm in the Japanese version) who seeks to become the Demon King of her world. Standing in her way are many obstacles, including her own older sister and heiress to the power of dragons Celestia. Similarly to ''Vampire'', it also got an enhanced remake with ''eXceed 3rd -Jade Penetrate- BLACK PACKAGE'' in 2009.
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9	Iwakura Productions and Nyu Media have released ''Gun Bullet Children'', ''Vampire REX'' and ''Jade Penetrate BLACK PACKAGE'' overseas on March, 29, 2012 for download at their website, Gamersgate, the Capcom Store, the Gamestop Digital Download Service (formerly Impulse) and Platform/{{Steam}}. While the two latter games have English localization, ''Gun Bullet Children'' couldn't be localized since its code has been lost, so it has instead been released in its original Japanese with a translated script available from the distributors (and a fan made mod that uses said script to translate the game linked on the game's [=PCGamingWiki=] page [[http://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/EXceed_-_Gun_Bullet_Children here]]).
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11	On June 22, 2022, Nyu Media [[https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/207370/announcements/detail/3356885053839922042 announced]] they would be closing down and doujin games they have published would be transferring over to another publisher or delisted from digital distribution due to the lack of a publisher to retain the rights. In the case for the ''eXceed'' series, publishing rights migrated to Upgrade. Unfortunately, their ownership of the series did not last for very long as Upgrade [[https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/207370/announcements/detail/3625992251197402060 announced]] on December the same year, they attempted to transfer the rights to games they once published back to their respective developers, but because FLAT and Tennen-Sozai already closed their doors many years prior, the entire ''eXceed'' series was delisted from all digital distribution platforms at the start of the following year, rendering the entire series (as well as their digital soundtracks) as {{abandonware}} as a result.
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13	'''Full Disclosure''': The majority of this article was written without knowledge of Japanese and from guesswork using machine translation. As such, it [[strike:may be]] is almost certainly missing important details or has gotten things wrong. If any helpful tropers come along and wish to assist with revising this article, data and resources can be found:
14	* For ''Gun Bullet Children'', see [[https://web.archive.org/web/20070623082048/http://flat.web.infoseek.co.jp/EXCEED/ex01.htm here]].
15	* For ''VAMPIRE'', see [[https://web.archive.org/web/20090503012222/http://flat.web.infoseek.co.jp/EXCEED2nd/ here]].
16	* For ''JADE PENETRATE'', see [[https://web.archive.org/web/20090205122710/http://www.tennen-sozai.com/eXceed3rd/ here]] for the original release and [[https://web.archive.org/web/20160610063045/http://www.tennen-sozai.com/eXceed3rd-BP/ex3bp_Main.htm here]] for the ''BLACK PACKAGE'' version.
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18	----
19	!Tropes associated with this series include:
20	* AmbiguouslyHuman: [[spoiler:Miyabi of the Gun Bullet Children hints that she’s not from the human world, and it’s not known if she’s even human herself.]]
21	* TheAce: Meet Celestia Lindwurm, the Academy's number one. When she first came to school, she challenged all the other strong fighters and put them in the hospital.
22	* ACupAngst: Miyabi doesn’t react well to seeing Seele having larger breasts. In the next stage, she goes out to determine Sense’s cup size before their fight.
23	* AllThereInTheManual: [[spoiler:While ''3rd'' may be a separate universe from Gun Bullet Children and ''2nd'', elements do show up connecting the two universes -- Gilles de Rais is a Cardinal Lord and principal of Belphegor Academy while one of Remedy's monikers, the Undead Lord, is similar to the title used by the leader of the Vampires.]]
24	* AllYourPowersCombined: Giee is more powerful than all her familiars combined, thanks to the nature of summoners, [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership who dominate their familiars through strength]].
25	* [[AloofBigBrother Aloof Big Sister]]: Celestia to Rayne.
26	* ArtificialHuman: [[spoiler:When the Church couldn’t control the normal EldritchAbomination creatures, they created the Anhel seen in the second game.]]
27	* [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil As Long As There Is Despair]]: Implied to be the source of power for Remedy's final spell.
28	* AutobotsRockOut: A bit in ''VAMPIRE REX'' but in full force for the third game. '''[[ShamelessSelfPromotion BE]][[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnbSW5u2XHw&feature=PlayList&p=F5B83609798155D7&playnext_from=PL&index=1&playnext=1 HOLD!]]'''
29	* AxCrazy: Brynhild and Siegrune.
30	* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: The Church intentionally pulled out their forces to lure the vampires into the Holy Land in order to blow them all up with Anhel.]]
31	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Especially Miyabi Housen. Her fire powers can turn ANYTHING into ash.
32	* BossBanter: The protagonists and bosses tend to have short conversations before they fight, and often afterwards too.
33	* BlackKnight / MagicKnight: Gilles de Raiss fits for both of these tropes, due to being an expert in ancient magic herself.
34	* BrutalBonusLevel: Hyperboreios, the Extra Stage of ''Black Package''.
35	* BulletHell: All three of these games, especially on the higher difficulty levels, will flood the screen with an onslaught of bullets.
36	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Sowel assumes that Seele doesn’t remember those she killed.
37	* CallingYourAttacks: Rayne calls out her Dragoon Detonation and Burn Air Raid attacks while Irias calls out Gloster Meteor.
38	* ChurchMilitant: The Church in the first two games.
39	* DarkerAndEdgier: ''VAMPIRE'' is this to the first game.
40	* DarkIsNotEvil: Chinatsu, who uses dark powers and swords to fight enemies, and Ria File, who can switch to both light and dark attributes.
41	* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Several times in the series. [[spoiler: The Angel]] in ''Gun Bullet Children'' and [[spoiler: both a humanoid Angel and Fenrir]] in ''VAMPIRE''.
42	* EldritchAbomination: Anhel in ''Gun Bullet Children'' and Fenrir in ''VAMPIRE''.
43	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Brynhildr and Siegrune have a mutual familial love for one another. [[spoiler:When one of them dies, the other completely breaks down.]] It does not help that the opera with the Valkyries they named after has a similar tragedy.
44	* FalseFriend: Lugh Ciel seems to be a friendly, obedient little girl at first, but she's actually a TurnCoat that associates with powerful people one day because it benefits her, and betrays them when they're no longer useful.
45	* {{Familiar}}: Sowel fights with one in ''Gun Bullet Children'' and ''VAMPIRE''.
46	** Rayne uses little dragon familiars called Mini-Tiamats and Giee, being a summoner, uses familiars that take the form of {{Mini Boss}}es throughout the game.
47	* FreezeFrameBonus: The arcane text that accompanies the splash screen at the beginning of ''3rd'''s stages is actually the text of Literature/{{Jabberwocky}}, in English.
48	* GenkiGirl: Miyabi Housen with her happy-go-lucky nature.
49	* GratuitousGerman: All over the place.
50	* GuideDangIt: The requirements to unlock the secret Extra Stage in ''Jade Penetrate Black Package'' are hilariously absurd and are never mentioned at any point in the game.
51	** You must first beat the game at least once before the Extra Stage will appear on any subsequent playthroughs. You must then beat the entire game in a single credit, with Auto-Bomb turned off and the difficulty set to Normal or higher.
52	** You must beat the minibosses in Stages 2 and 3 without dying or using your Bombs.
53	** If you do all of the above correctly, you will meet Remedy in Stage 4 as a miniboss. You must defeat her without getting hit or using your bomb.
54	** If you do ''all'' of this correctly, you will move onto the Extra Stage instead of rolling the credits after Stage 5.
55	* HalfHumanHybrid: The vampires are half-human, half-fallen angel. Rayne and Celestia have both dragon and demon blood and yet look like [[MindScrew angels]].
56	* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: The Cardinal, the CO of the Gun Bullet Children team. Also the Undead Lord,[[spoiler: until it turns out to be Remedy in ''JADE PENETRATE'']].
57	* HeelRealization: [[spoiler: There's really no other way to describe Sowel's reaction to seeing Anhel's true nature.]]
58	* HeroAntagonist: The Gun Bullet Children in ''VAMPIRE''.
59	* IJustWantToBeLoved: [[spoiler: What the twins wanted all along.]]
60	* IJustWantToBeNormal: Invoked by Ria for [[spoiler: Anhel's enslavement.]]
61	* KnightTemplar: The antagonists in ''2nd'', who are xenophobic to vampires.
62	* LampshadeHanging: During Miyabi’s story of ''Gun Bullet Children'', the heroine wonders why the three girls can’t be together all at once (as in playing all three characters instead of one). Sowel answers that should it actually happen, they’ll just run into each other and cause FriendlyFire.
63	* [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen Let's Fight Like Ladies]]: In a surprise to Rayne (given the other fighters she's faced so far), Irias treats Rayne with respect, and she returns the favor, though of course both vow to go all out on each other. On the other hand, Lugh is a traistorous sycophant, Sriabelle is gratuitously violent, Giee teases Rayne (prompting Rayne to ask "[[https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/3282302590329523964/FE2759E408AA003ED29FCAD97F7035DAD8275F52/ Why is everyone I meet today trying to tick me off?]]"), and Celestia has a history of being a jerk of an older sister to Rayne. (NOTE: the above is based on the English version. The previous explanation in this trope citation was as follows: [[spoiler:While Rayne is friendly towards Giee, Irias, and Celestia she treats the two weaker bosses with contempt (although Lugh was a favored underclassman until she decided to bet against Rayne).]] Someone please confirm whether the Japanese and English versions have scripts that were noticeably different in these regards, or whether this original explanation is inaccurate and that current explanation also applies to the Japanese version.)
64	* LighterAndSofter: The third game is more humorous and lax in tone.
65	* LightIsNotGood: Some bosses in ''VAMPIRE'' use a "Holy" white attribute. Ria File can switch to both light and dark attributes.
66	* LittleMissBadass: The GBC in 1st, Ria File in ''2nd'', Rayne Lindwurm in ''3rd''.
67	* MakeSomeNoise / MusicalAssassin: Sense’s InformedAbility, also mentioned in her attacks, is using sound waves and songs to confront her enemies.
68	* MeaningfulName:
69	** Gilles de Rais was Joan of Arc's right-hand man who was claimed to be a mass murderer of children.
70	* MercyKill: [[spoiler: What Ria does to the twins in the end, as there was no place for such out of control monsters like them.]]
71	* {{Mooks}}: The Killing Dolls, the commons enemies found in ''Gun Bullet Children'' and ''VAMPIRE''.
72	* MyNaymeIs: Although spelled without a few vowels, Sriabell's name is actually prounounced "Sariabell Orphanight"
73	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: "The Undead Lord", "The Immortal King" and "The Demon King" to Remedy.
74	* NiceJobGuidingUsHero: In Level 5 of ''VAMPIRE (REX)'', Ria actually leads Gilles to Angel's altar.
75	* NonDubbedGrunts: The portion of the BossBanter that has no on-screen text, such as the lines spoken in the third game ''after'' beating a boss, are not translated.
76	* ObfuscatingStupidity: Miyabi looks like your typical GenkiGirl with loose cannon tendencies to the point Sowel reminds her that they’re always spread out to prevent friendly fire. Her conversations with the bosses of the first game are also comedic in some fashion. However, in the last stage, [[spoiler:Sense catches that there’s more to her. Not only does she know exactly where the barrier containing Anhel was in the first place, but she also knew the Church’s plan from the very beginning. Justified as it’s shown that she’s AmbiguouslyHuman and probably not from the human world.]]
77	* OneWingedAngel: [[spoiler: The twins are only showed in human forms. When coupled together, they are really one entity known as Fenrir.]]
78	* OurAngelsAreDifferent:
79	** In ''Gun Bullet Children'', the Angel is an [[spoiler:EldritchAbomination]]
80	** In ''VAMPIRE'', Gilles de Rais states that angels only obeyed God. [[spoiler:Yet, artificial ones like the second Anhel can freely choose not to.]]
81	* OurDemonsAreDifferent: Exceed ''3rd'' takes place in the demon world of Pandemonium.
82	* OurElvesAreDifferent: Irias, an elf, is second only to Celestia, a member of the Dragon clan, in terms of power at the school.
83	* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Vampires are half-human, half-fallen angel and can possess a variety of magical powers.
84	* PassingTheTorch: As it turns out, [[spoiler:a Cardinal Lord tournament is only held when one of the seven is ready to step down. Remedy's body is failing, so she tests Rayne to find out if she is ready to succeed her.]] By the end of the Extra stage, Rayne is the favorite to win the tournament.
85	* PersonOfMassDestruction: A large variety of characters, but the twins are the biggest.
86	* PowerGivesYouWings: Chinatsu sprouts wings only when she starts fighting Ria but seems capable of flying normally without them.
87	** Members of the Dragon clan in ''3rd'' only gain wings after realizing their true potential. Also, after powering up, Celestia gains even more wings.
88	* PowerLimiter: The twins and [[spoiler:Anhel]] have these.
89	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: [[spoiler:Remedy from the ''3rd'' game stands out being 5000 years old while looking like a 10 year old.]]
90	* ReversePolarity: Like Tresure's Ikaruga, polarity reversing is a major gameplay feature in ''2nd''.
91	* RogueProtagonist: Chinatsu, Sowel, and Miyabi, the playable characters of ''Gun Bullet Children'', return in ''VAMPIRE REX'' as the Stage 2, 3 and 4 bosses.
92	* TheRunaway: Ria File from ''''2nd'''', who left her oppressive human society and was rescued by the Undead Lord.
93	* SequelHook: Celestia points out that beating her won't make Rayne the next Cardinal Lord, only a contender for the throne against all the other schools in Pandemonium. [[spoiler:''BLACK PACKAGE'' resolves this immediately; the TrueFinalBoss is ''the'' Undead Lord, Remedy, who Rayne fights to directly prove her worth as a potential Cardinal Lord]].
94	* SiblingYinYang: Brynhild and Siegrune in ''VAMPIRE''.
95	* SingingSimlish: Increasingly prominent as the series went on.
96	* ShoutOut:
97	** In ''VAMPIRE'', The Catholic Church is launching a worldwide purge and a major rebellion fails to stop them. The rebels eventually try again with a polarity-switching weapon. This story and the gameplay are very similar to that of ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}''.
98	** The twins, Brynhild and Siegrune, strongly resemble the Scarlet sisters from Franchise/TouhouProject. Fittingly, Siegrune, the younger of the two, becomes the dominant personality of the two, with an added dash of AxCrazy, [[spoiler:when they reform into Fenrir]].
99	** It's very like that Angels (based on the Anhel in both ''GBC'' and ''VAMPIRE''), with their destructive power and being very hard to kill, has to be a direct ShoutOut to ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.
100	* {{Stripperiffic}}: [[http://www.animecharactersdatabase.com/character.php?id=7677 Celestia's incredibly revealing and loose-fitting outfit]].
101	** Also Sriabelle Orphanknight, the ''3rd'' game's resident CatGirl. Her outfit bares her midriff while her "skirt" ''blatantly'' shows off her panties. [[http://www.animecharactersdatabase.com/character.php?id=7682 Here's a pic.]]
102	** Anhel from ''''2nd'''' is clad in nothing but belts.
103	* ThemeNaming:
104	** ArmsAndArmorThemeNaming: Irias' attacks are named for various weapons and weapon-related things -- Strayer Voigt[[note]]A pistol manufacturer[[/note]], Derringer[[note]]A pocket pistol[[/note]], Limpet Mine[[note]]A mine attached to the hull of a ship by magnets; interestingly, the katakana are a little different from how it is normally spelled[[/note]], Gloster Meteor[[note]]England's first jet fighter[[/note]], and Fliegerfaust[[note]]A German prototype anti-air gun[[/note]].
105	** MusicalThemeNaming: ...while Sriabell's attacks are named after metal bands and albums. In ''JADE PENETRATE'' you have [[Music/CannibalCorpse Butchered at Birth]], [[Music/{{Nightwish\|Band}} Angels Fall First]], Music/{{Enslaved}}, Music/DimmuBorgir, and Music/ArchEnemy. In ''Black Package'', these get switched out for Chaos Blaster[[note]]Oddly enough, more of a trance song than metal[[/note]], Discharge[[note]]British hardcore punk band[[/note]], Music/NapalmDeath[[note]]Changed to "Napalm Wreath" in the localization because of potential copyright issues[[/note]], Dimmu Borgir (again), and Deathrash Bound[[note]]An album by Japanese band Aion[[/note]]
106	*** Sense Abel’s attacks are named after liturgy and mass songs: Kyrie Eleison, Sanctus, and Agnus Drei
107	** StellarName: Lugh is an Irish deity who is thought to be a sun god while Ciel is french for "sky". Lugh also has several star-themed attacks: Stardust Layer, Zodiac Star, and Genostar.
108	** Gilles De Rais’s attacks are Germanic with two related to the wolf Fenrir: Gleipnr (its shackle), Laevatein, and Vanargand (another name for the wolf).
109	** FloralThemeNaming: Seele Clan’s attacks are named Peristrophe, Dandelion, and Doryopteris.
110	** ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming: [[spoiler: The first Anhel’s attacks are named after important events in the Bible: the snake within the Garden of Eden, the stable of Nazareth, the great flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Tower of Babel, and finally Armageddon.]]
111	** ThemeTwinNaming: Brynhild and Siegrune are both valkyries from Wagner's famous opera.
112	* TokenHuman: Gilles De Rais is the only pure blood human who fights alongside the vampires. [[spoiler:She’s also the only human among the Cardinal Lords. The manual explains that she obtained such power by wielding magic thought lost to history, which rivals much of the cast.]]
113	** [[spoiler:Sowel]] also this among the Gun Bullet Children. While Chinatsu is obviously a vampire raised to think she’s human, [[spoiler:Miyabi hints that she is not from the human world, leaving her AmbiguouslyHuman.]]
114	* TournamentArc: The plot of ''3rd''.
115	* TrueFinalBoss: Fenrir in ''VAMPIRE'', Celestia at full power in ''JADE PENETRATE'', and [[spoiler:Undead Lord Remedy]] in ''BLACK PACKAGE''.
116	* {{Tsundere}}: [[spoiler:Anhel]] is ''totally'' a Type A.
117	-->''"It's your own fault, really."''\
118	''"Don't go looking at me!"''\
119	''"D-don't blame me if you die, okay?!"''\
120	''"Look, nobody wants to hurt anyone like this...!"''\
121	''"It's not like you're not even worth considering! Really!"''
122	* UpdatedRerelease: Tennen-Sozai released one for ''eXceed 2nd'' called ''VAMPIRE REX'' and one for ''eXceed 3rd'' called ''BLACK PACKAGE''.
123	* VillainProtagonist: Ria File, who is out to kill the Gun Bullet Children from the first game.
124	* VoiceOfTheLegion: Fenrir in ''''2nd''''.
125	* WalkingTheEarth: [[spoiler:After being rescued from the Church's clutches and the twins' wrath, Anhel goes out on a long journey.]]
126	* WeWillMeetAgain: Ria promises to Miyabi that the two would meet again.
127	* WorthyOpponent: Rayne and Irias. The two speak to each other respectfully and politely, and each wishes the other a good fight before they go at it.
128	* YouKilledMyFather: Sowel has a hatred against the vampires because her parents were killed by them. When confronting Seele, she assumes it was her since [[ButForMeItWasTuesday since mass murderers often don’t remember those they killed]]. [[spoiler:It’s left ambiguous if Seele did kill Sowel’s parents considering how she’s spared at the end of their battle.]]
129	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:As Gilles de Rais says to Ria after arriving in Anhel's lair.]]

Context Videogame / Exceed