Hellsinker is a doujinshooter developed by the circle Ruminant's Whimper. A cursory look at a video or image of the game will show you that it is rather complex. Eschewing the shmup tradition of simple mechanics, Hellsinker has at least 10 bars on the heads-up display, each with at least one type of item that fills or empties them. To be sure, it is not a game for the casual player.Due to the lack of a localization patch, little is known about the game's story. From what has been gathered, the game is set in a human colony after a central device (known as "The Device") breaks down for mysterious reasons. Most people die, but a small group manage to use small fragments of the Device to survive. The group of survivors gradually rebuilds, and begin to track down more parts of the Device to understand the technology of the precursors. A group known as the Graveyard, comprising the player characters, tries to go to a part of the Device known as the Cardinal Shaft to do research. However, they are met by hostile robots called Prayers and where repelled on two previous ocations. Hellsinker focuses on the third attempt.There's also something about a lost cat waiting for its owner, but how that's connected to the overall story is unknown. Lots of parts of this game remain mysterious, even after 4 years of release. If you want a game that really gives you a genuine sense of discovery, go for Hellsinker - just expect to sink some time into it.A translation patch has been confirmedin the works.And welcome from the English Hellsinker wiki!
This game provides examples of:
Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Segment 4 is called "Secret Passage ~ Garden Sewage System" and is big enouth to house the monstrously big Rusted Dragon.
And I Must Scream: Basically the spirit overload ending in a nutshell. The character is fully conscious but can't do anything but wait as their body is slowly being turned into a Prayer.
Attack Drone: Deadliar and Fossilmaiden both make use of these, as does one of Kagura's four types.
Awesome yet Practical: Deadliar's secret attack, the 60-second charged sword. While it will take very long to charge, you can still use your subweapon to kill enemies you must kill in the process, and when the charge process is finished, it will be powerful enough to one-shot even most of the bosses. It's not abusable, but it's very useful in certain situations.
Badass Abnormal: Most executors are this. Deadliar isn't even that abnormal.
Also during the boss fight in segment 6 there is a giant blade floating around and in the end of the segment you can see your character almost landing on it and then you see how absolutly huge the blade is.
Million Lives, Nine Lives, Old Rose, Saint Mouve, Scarlet Queen and Rex Cavalier: "Heroic Dead".
Brutal Bonus Level: Subverted; there are two bonus stages, but neither of them are harder than the main game.
Bullet Hell: Mostly uses fast and/or large bullets rather than small ones.
Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: The Apostles of the Seed where made with this as central theme. Especially noticable when they have their arms detracted.
Call a Hit Point a "Smeerp": Taken to an extreme. Here's a quick guide for beginners: Discharge means bomb. Sol and Luna mean firepower. Stella means rank. Spirit means points. Segment means stage number. Bootleg Ghost means autobomb. Executor means your character. Prayer means bosses. And that's not even all of them...
Cat Girl: Nine Lives, Million Lives, and Lost Property 771.
Cool Key: The giant sword in Segment 6 is called "The Key" and is necesarry in order to open up the passageway to the "Irreversible Lane" where Segment 7 takes place.
Deadly Walls: Averted; if a player runs into a wall they harmlessly bounce off, like in Deathsmiles, Guwange and Vasara.
Death from Above: Sunken Bishop will attempt to snipe you from above in Segment 3L.
Deflector Shields: All ships are surrounded by a blue circle when performing a ship-specific action (like using the sword, in Fossilmaiden's case). The circle does heavy damage, slows bullets, and turns some bullet types into pickup items.
Didn't Need Those Anyway: Averted; Hellsinker is one of the few shmups where destroying body parts of a boss actually hinders it. Most times.
Difficult, But Awesome: Kagura with its fourth equipment (No Chaser) is arguably the most awesome character in this game, and definitely the most difficult one!
Dynamic Difficulty: This game has a rank system similar to, but not as extreme as, Battle Garegga. Unlike in Battle Garegga, players can actually see the rank by means of a visible meter.
Easy Mode Mockery: Averted - difficulty/Bootleg Ghost setting only affects use of bombs, and does not make the game any easier. The world record was done using Solidstate, the easiest difficulty.
However, use of continues locks you into a bad ending.
Enemies With Death: If you get to the continue screen it says "The death is waiting for you, do not bore him". Then you can choose either to surrender(game over) or to decive him(continue).
Enemy Summoner: The secret form of Rusted Dragon and Perpetual Calendar does this as well as any enemy that uses Misteltoes as waepons.
Everything Trying to Kill You: Robot's, a dragon, a lance wielding giant machine, coffins, bleeding quarts crystal that meows, two Cat guys, one girl with a hammerand a cat.
And that's not even all of them.
Eyes of Gold: Lost Property 771 have golden eye's and is nicknamed Amber by Deadliar cause of that.
However the spirits four children that where sacrificed in order to power the Garland system grew vengeful and caused the shutdown of the system causing the Apocalypse How. Karmic Death indeed.
Marathon Boss: Some bosses (namely Glorious Symbol and Rex Cavalier) can become this if you don't know how do deal with them. But even if you do know how to fight them, most boss fights will still last slightly longer than most shmup bosses do.
Strangely enough, Version 0.95 of the game was almost perfectly normal. After it was released, the creator disappeared from the Internet for a while before creating a rather cryptic new website and releasing the full game at Comiket 72.
One-Hit-Point Wonder: All characters take one hit before losing a life, as per Bullet Hell standards, but on lower difficulties you have a chance of auto-bombing when hit instead of losing a life.
Our Fairies Are Different: Misteltoes generally resemble a naked fairy on the top half, with a semicircular crystal for a lower body. Not true in Kagura's case, though.
Powered Armor: Kagura is a Misteltoe wearing a powered suit. This suit pretty much acts like a Do-Anything Robot, though.
Powered by a Forsaken Child: Garland's power comes from four children buried beneath it. You end up fighting all four during one of the final boss events.
Prepare to Die: An omnious voice can be heard just before fighting Scarlet Queen Spirit Kernel saying "You will die here".
Previous Player Character Cameo: Some attacks of the Apostles of the Seed resembles the attacks used by the two protagonists (i.e. Mahilo and Yoxola) from Radio Zonde.
Recurring Boss: Rex Cavalier, who is fought as a Segment 1 Lead boss and then reappears as a Segment 7 Boss.
Roboteching: Minogame's laser subweapon jumps from enemy to enemy. Oddly, it stays on one enemy in the form of a black circle until the target's HP is depleted.
Secret Level: The Shrine of Farewell, which is mandatory but hard to access when you want to.
Sensory Abuse: The final battle as well as the extra stages full stop.
Shout Out: Kagura's 2nd equipment type, Elliptical Chariot, is a reference to the obscure Psikyo game Dragon Blaze.
Smart Bomb: All characters have one (Kagura even has four) that can be launched if you have 3 or higher SOL power. I you have 5 SOL, then they will launch a more powerful version of the bomb.
There is also the Solidstate mode where if you have 3 or more SOL then it will clear the screen right away for a while if you are hit. However you can only have 3 solidstates per stage and in the Shrine of Farewell they are dissabled all togheter.
Tragic Monster: All the Prayers have element's of this considering their background. Rex Cavalier in particular seems to fit this role seeing as his dialog in Segment 7 seems to be him admonition the player characters.
Rex Cavalier: Why… did you dig back up a story that had sunk away? Going so far as to set aside your life, and spill the blood of fakes. What moves you to touch a bygone world, to seek after something that does not exist? And if you trace back over its tracks, Will they change beautifully as you do so? What’s there is nothing more than your - and our - ugly, clumsy scars, The remains of a river now run dry, that you cannot turn your eyes from, even should you want to. We, who are no more than echoes of past days, do not feel them any longer. Do you claim to once again have reason for us to do so? Just who will notice, and just who will be able to feel, Those who slipped away from the hands of all, leaving only names? Will the day come when even these words will be made unnecessary? Will the day come when you will end it with those hands?
A Winner Is You: Played with. This trope is played straight if the Satisfaction Level is at 0 after the first Segment 8 boss was defeated - although that's more of a Nonstandard Gameover. Satisfaction Level 1 and 2 actually gives you a rather long ending, but if you managed to get Satisfaction Level 3 and defeat the True Final Boss, all you get is a screen says "The End" and then you are sent back to the title screen. You get to unlock the extra stages this way, though, and after beating both of them you will finally see the true ending.
.And welcome from the English Hellsinker wiki
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