History YMMV / AzureStrikerGunvolt

* VindicatedByHistory: When the first game was released, it had a SoOkayItsAverage reception. However, after the disastrous and luckluster reception of ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'', and the second game being a SurprisinglyImprovedSequel coming a few months later, many are clamoring to this game as one of the true {{Spiritual Successor}}s to ''Franchise/MegaMan'' alongside other more faithful similar games such as ''VigeoGame/Rosenkreuzstilette''.

* VindicatedByHistory: When the first game was released, it had a SoOkayItsAverage reception. However, after the disastrous and luckluster reception of ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'', and the second game being a SurprisinglyImprovedSequel coming a few months later, many are clamoring to this game as one of the true {{Spiritual Successor}}s to ''Franchise/MegaMan'' alongside other more faithful similar games such as ''{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}''.

* VindicatedByHistory: When the first game was released, it had a SoOkayItsAverage reception. However, after the disastrous and luckluster reception of ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'', and the second game being a SurprisinglyImprovedSequel coming a few months later, many are clamoring to this game as the true SpiritualSuccessor to ''Franchise/MegaMan.''

* EnsembleDarkhorse: [[TheWoobie Elise]] is the most popular of the Seven Swordsmen due to her DarkAndTroubledPast and the fact [[MercyKill you have no choice but to kill her]]. Plenty of fans had SympathyForTheDevil in spades, at least when they weren't [[ThatOneAttack raging]] [[ThatOneBoss during her boss battle]]. She was even voted 1st for the featured spot in the [[http://www.gunvolt.com/en/GV1/images/GVhalloween_16_9US.jpg Gunvolt Halloween poster]].

** Nova's normal form has him surrounded by a barrier that can only be deactivated by using Flashfield on [[spoiler: Lumen]]. But even then, it only grants you a small window of attack before it's up again. It doesn't help that Nova [[GetBackHereBoss constantly darts around the room firing]] [[EnergyBall Energy Balls]] at you. His [[LimitBreak Mind Melder]] can be a pain to work around if you haven't already learned its pattern.
** Nova's OneWingedAngel form may be a StationaryBoss, but it is still suitably difficult. Like before, his weakspot is protected by a barrier that can only be deactivated by simultaneously damaging his two [[AttackDrone Attack Drones]], which is a daunting task as Nova has various hard-hitting attacks that are difficult to avoid. The ''real'' danger, however, is when he's down to a third of his health. That's when he uses his Calamator Aetherus LimitBreak, which causes a ''giant meteor'' to slowly descend onto the arena and turns the last round of the fight into a TimeLimitBoss. If Gunvolt doesn't defeat Nova before the meteor hits or has the misfortune of jumping a bit too high, it's an instant GameOver.

* SoOkayItsAverage: Seems to be the common view of the first game, especially from ''Franchise/MegaMan'' fans. Many think that even though the game is enjoyable for a playthrough, the bland level design and lack of weapons makes the game feel inferior to what came before it.

** Jota's Luminous Rain, Judgement Ray, and Phosphoratorium qualify.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: ALL of Joule/Lumen's songs, especially "Beyond the Blue" and "Reincarnation".

* GameBreaker: The skill Septimal Surge, which provides a tremendous damage buff to damage from Gunvolt's Flashfield for roughly 30 seconds. Unlike "offensive" skills, this one doesn't reset your Kudos counter and also only costs one skill point, and in turn lets you demolish any boss in record time. Getting it requires you to be Level 65 (Level 70 in the sequel) however, making it also a BraggingRightsReward.

* HilariousInHindsight: In one of the conversations of Gunvolt and Joule, after discovering Joule was playing ''Gal*Gun'' she got from Zeno, she was enjoying the game, to Gunvolt's surprise, and was hoping it would get a sequel. Cue [[http://inticreates.com/galgun-2-ps4-switch/ September 19, 2017]]...

* DarthWiki/MostAnnoyingSound: In both Elise battles, whenever she chants "Resurrection", it's a hint you done goofed, and have to redo the last part of the battle again.

* MostAnnoyingSound: In both Elise battles, whenever she chants "Resurrection", it's a hint you done goofed, and have to redo the last part of the battle again.

* TakeThatScrappy: Defeating Copen in his boss fights might as well be this for the first game. Also, in ''Mighty Gunvolt'', [[spoiler:just when it looks like you're about to fight him, [[BaitAndSwitchBoss Zonda attacks him and takes his place]]. Possibly as revenge for it being the other way around]].

* TheScrappy: Copen. Not only is he an unlikable {{Jerkass}} who spouts religious spiel to justify his actions, but his {{irrational|Hatred}}, [[FantasticRacism racist]] hatred of Adepts gets taken to IdiotBall levels when he tries to kill [[WouldHurtAChild Joule]], who is ''clearly and completely innocent'' and was Sumeragi's UnwittingPawn, just because she is an Adept. You'd be hard-pressed to find anybody who didn't feel great after beating him up in his boss fights. Bonus material softens his characterization a bit when it's discovered that an Azure Striker is actually the one who killed his father, likely being the cause of his distrust for Gunvolt despite their similar goals. The sequel gives him vastly more dynamic characterization and PromotedToPlayable status, [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap saving his character]] for a lot of fans.

* HarsherInHindsight: The biggest complaints about the first game is the cut dialogue. Many players question the omission of most of the Joule Chats in particular. This in light of the ending of the second game, [[spoiler:where Mytyl apparently loses all memories of the time she, as Joule, spent with GV.]] Talk about rubbing salt in the wound...
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Inti Creates noticed, and the ENTIRE GAME got a new translation which restored, among other things, ALL the lost Joule chats.

* BrokenBase: Regarding the cut dialogue for the 3DS version - some say it is good because the dialogue only adds trivia to the story and the text can be distracting during gameplay, while some others say it's bad because it cut off chunks of worldbuilding and, in particular, the Joule chats. Similarly, the fact that the PC release adds in the missing dialogue is another sticking point: either fans are finally happy that they can get a more authentic story experience, or 3DS players are miffed because now they have to buy the game again just to get said experience. This has died down with a 3DS patch that gives the option of playing the original 3DS translation or the full translation complete with Japanese dialogue.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: ALL of Joule/Lumen's songs, especially "Beyond the Blue" and "Reincarnation" from the first game.

* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** From the first game, [[TheWoobie Elise]] is probably the most popular of the Seven Swordsmen due to her DarkAndTroubledPast and the fact [[MercyKill you have no choice but to kill her]]. Plenty of fans had SympathyForTheDevil in spades, at least when they weren't [[ThatOneAttack raging]] [[ThatOneBoss during her boss battle]]. She was even voted 1st for the featured spot in the [[http://www.gunvolt.com/en/GV1/images/GVhalloween_16_9US.jpg Gunvolt Halloween poster]].

* GoddamnBats: In the first game, anything that attacks GV quickly, like the Sentry Units that rise out from the ground or the Wheel Drones that run at him from the side of the screen. These are really annoying to deal with by virtue of the player rarely being able to react to their appearance in time, much less kill them before taking a hit.

** HeartwarmingInHindsight: Inti Creates noticed, and the ENTIRE GAME got a new translation which restored, among other things, ALL the lost Joule chats.

* MostAnnoyingSound: In both Elise battles, whenever she chants "Resurrection", it's a hint you done goofed, and had to redo the last part of the battle again.

* PolishedPort: Although the Steam version of the first ''Gunvolt'' was a mostly a direct port of the 3DS version, it does include new modes exclusive to that version, such as a Speedrun Mode, a (now removed) Christmas Mode, an Easy and Hard Mode with their own changes in the gameplay.

** Elise can be one thanks to her Resurrection attack which requires you to kill both of them at the same time or they will keep reviving each other. It doesn't help that one Elise takes damage faster than the other, so even if you've locked on to both of them, one might die and allow the other to revive her. Compounding the difficulty is her Gorgon's Gaze, which turns Gunvolt to stone and is hard to avoid, not to mention ''multiplying'' the damage he takes from the next attack. [[spoiler:It only gets worse during the rematch, where her third personality is unleashed. Not only is the third one immune to damage, but will relentlessly attack with kunai knives, which is especially annoying when you've been frozen by Gorgon's Gaze and thus left open to all three of them bombarding you with knives. And to make matters worse, even when you destroy the other two, the third one will simply revive them, turning the boss fi

* AnchoredShip: Fans are still hoping for GV and Joule to somehow still get together in the end [[spoiler:and not in the [[SharingABody literal way]] that they're in at the end of the first game]]. ''2'' seemed to be a HopeSpot, [[spoiler:but now there's a different problem: that her memories as Joule are seemingly lost when she was absorbed into Mytyl's being.]] Although it's definitely prime FanficFuel for writers to get around more easily than the first problem.

** One of the main complaints about the first game was that the weapon selection felt too limited; while you ultimately have seven different guns, a good chunk of them are [[AwesomeButImpractical more or less useless for most situations]] and you'll end up only using two or three of them. This is not only because most of the shots of the other guns are somewhat clunky, but because max Tags and Dart Leaders are linked, many of the other guns aren't usable for score attacking (the whole point of the game) due to not being able to get high Tags ([[JokeWeapon Dullahan]], Technos), being difficult or otherwise niche to Tag with (Orochi), or some combination of the two (Mizuchi). The sequel ''does'' make an attempt to fix the problem with Tags by creating a new "Clip" equipment category that determines the maximum number of Tags and removing Tag limits from Darts, allowing the aforementioned weapons to see significantly improved usage due to not being hampered by poor Tag limits. Some of the clunkiness still remains, but the game attempts to create a greater number of situations where niche guns are favorable to offset it.
** Zonda ended up becoming a OneSceneWonder and EnsembleDarkHorse in the first game due to their fantastically flamboyant persona and enthralling character, so many fans were disappointed when [[spoiler:BaitAndSwitchBoss took effect and they were offed early]], resulting in Zonda becoming a prime example of TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter. [[spoiler:The sequel fixes this by not only revealing that the Zonda killed in the first game was ActuallyADoombot, but [[AscendedExtra promotes]] Zonda to BigBad ''and'' has you fighting them not once, but twice, and as the FinalBoss, to boot.]]

** During the production of ''Gunvolt 2'', the team wanted to make it explicitly clear to its fans that Creator/KeijiInafune had no direct involvement with the game's production, likely as a way to distance themselves after the commercial and critical failure of ''VideoGame/MightyNo9'' and the ensuing controversy.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: ALL of Joule/Lumen's songs. "Beyond the Blue" and "Reincarnation" from the first game, and "Indigo Destiny" (especially the duet performed by Joule and Lola) from the second are standout examples.

*** His ''Mighty Gunvolt'' version is also pretty easy to deal with once you get used to his patterns.

** Ghauri in Copen's route. His attacks have very little complexity, and the majority of them can be avoided with Flashshield or by simply getting behind him or staying airborne. His [[LimitBreak Poetry Slam]] is also easily negated by spamming EX Weapons on its weak spots.
** Tenjian in Copen's route can be this if you use [[AchillesHeel Prism Break]]. A fully charged one can shave off a whole third of his health if it connects, and while normally he moves around too much to let it reliably hit, one needs only charge and wait to release it until he uses his ice chakram attack, which leaves him wide open and floating in the air long enough to get hit. Just lock on and release.
** The members of the Seven that Gunvolt normally faces in his normal scenario are complete jokes when Copen fights them in Eden as well as in the Special Missions, and that's before weapon weaknesses are even taken into consideration. Copen can make short work of Milas ''without'' any problems of overheating from his attacks; Gibril's ability to evade most shots in her second form is negated by the Bullit Dash; Flashshield blocks most of Teseo's attacks (and those that don't are still avoidable by Prevasion).
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Zonda in the second game. Or, more accurately, [[spoiler:True Zonda. While TheReveal of her true nature was praised as a clever and effective plot twist, some fans aren't too impressed with True Zonda, feeling her to be too bland and emotionless compared to the more exuberant and hammy Sumeragi Zonda and would've preferred Sumeragi Zonda to be the main villain. And then there are fans who feel that True Zonda adds to the mystery and intrigue of the character.]]

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome:
** Let's face it; out of the numerous weapons you collect throughout the game, you'll only ever use Cerebus, Naga, and Vasuki. Cerebus is both your starting weapon and has very fast autofire, Naga can tag five enemies and has piercing properties, and Vasuki auto-tags up to four targets onscreen. Everything else has an extremely narrow niche to the point where their use is highly limited to all but a handful of sections in the game. The Mizuchi in particular is effectively useless except for revealing {{Easter Egg}}s!
** The second game fixes this by adding the Clip category, which determines the maximum number of Tags. This means that max Tags and Dart Leader types are not chained together, vastly improving the viability of formerly niche weapons.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: Each of the bosses in the first game represent one of the seven deadly sins. The one that is associated to lust is an androgynous hermaphrodite who speaks exclusively through sexual innuendos. Then the sequel reveals that [[spoiler: the Zonda seen in the first game is just an illusion created by the real one, who is a girl aged '''10''' at most]].

** From the second game:
*** [[BloodyMurder Gibril]] and [[GadgeteerGenius Asroc]] are among the more popular members of the Grimoire Seven, due to their [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments dialogue fighting Gunvolt and Copen]] and the unique mechanics of their boss fight (the fact that Gibril essentially goes for a SuicideAttack and Asroc jumps into a HumongousMecha for a second boss battle). For the [[http://www.gunvolt.com/en/GV2/special/img/wall_halloween2016_16_9.jpg Gunvolt 2 Halloween wallpaper]] at Creator/IntiCreates, they were voted for the 1st and 3rd featured spots respectively alongside Lola.
*** The same game also gives us [[RhymesOnADime Ghauri]] and [[TheCracker Teseo]] who have gained quite a fan following of their own. Ghauri for the unique mechanics of his boss fight (chasing him down on a motorcycle driven by Nori before fighting him proper), his upbeat and lively personality, and his hilarious interactions with [[TheComicallySerious Copen]], who finds his constant rhyming completely intolerable. Teseo for [[RealityWarper his unique powerset]] and for being a lovable {{Troll}} whose speech is peppered with hilarious outdated memes. [[spoiler:And the writers apparently caught on to Teseo's popularity as he stars as the main antagonist and final boss of ''Mighty Gunvolt Burst''.]]
* EvenBetterSequel: ''Gunvolt'', while considered a solid title, is also criticized for some of its shortcomings, such as the stage design, lack of weapon variety, ItsEasySoItSucks, and initial BadExportForYou. ''2'' addresses nearly all of these complaints with a complete translation, SequelDifficultySpike with more complex levels and more difficult boss battles, and additions and streamlines to several of the game's systems, including equipment upgrades and the Challenges, not to mention the addition of a new playable character who offers a very different game altogether.

* GameBreaker:
** The skill Septimal Surge, which provides a tremendous damage buff to damage from Gunvolt's Flashfield for roughly 30 seconds. Unlike "offensive" skills, this one doesn't reset your Kudos counter and also only costs one skill point, and in turn lets you demolish any boss in record time. Getting it requires you to be Level 65 (Level 70 in the sequel) however, making it also a BraggingRightsReward.
** The sequel has the hidden skill Crashvolt, which is found in Gibril's stage. It allows Gunvolt to call down a bolt of lightning that damages anything above and below Gunvolt, allowing him to kill multiple enemies at once. And since it requires no skill points to be used, it can be used again and again. [[spoiler: It proves especially useful in the battle against Copen in Gunvolt's True Ending as it can not only damage him, but also neutralize Mytyl's Anthem, leaving him vulnerable to attack. Combine this with Septimal Surge above, and you can defeat Copen in record time.]]
** The [[OldSaveBonus Shield Construct]] Subroutine. [[DifficultButAwesome It takes a significant amount of skill to adapt to the sudden difficulty]], but if you can handle it, the damage multiplier it gives Copen is more than worth it. The best part is that you can stack it with boosters such as OD King Slayer or Aerial Sniper R, which can equal ''obscene'' damage if you can avoid getting hit. If you're skilled enough to not get hit, you can also combine it with [[OneHitPointWonder Heaven or Hell X]] to get maximum score efficiency.
** If you manage to defeat [[spoiler:Ultimate Anthem Gunvolt]] in the Score Attack DLC, you'll unlock a Subroutine for Copen in the main game that, for the hefty cost of 24 Memory, gives you '''infinite EX Weapon usage'''. Combine with Weapon Overclock for ''serious'' EX Weapon shenanigans.

* GoodBadBugs:
** In the vanilla version of ''2'', Shield Construct was bugged in such a way that if you bought multiple copies and installed them all, the multiplier effect of each individual Shield Construct ''stacks with itself'', causing Copen to gain god-like damage for the minimal cost of 5 Memory per Shield Construct. This was fixed in Version 1.1.

** A common complaint is that the Prevasion mechanic and Joule's Anthem make it practically impossible to die. Of course, these complaints no longer apply when you're trying to get a high rank, as Prevasion reduces your Kudos to zero and the Anthem massively hurts your rank. Add to that the fact that your bonus score is only added in at checkpoints or when you use a special attack, which also resets the multiplier. Which means that you can't use either if you want to maximize your score. Simply completing a level is child's play, but getting top ranks will take absolutely everything you can muster. Even then, it's common for more hardcore players to turn off Prevasion in both games as a SelfImposedChallenge.
*** However, the Striker Pack uses the Kudos system from GV2, which is designed for a much harder game, and makes it so it's terribly easy to never lose any Kudos.

* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: This was the reaction to the reveal trailer for GV2, in which only Gunvolt's gameplay was shown. Then the second trailer revealed Copen being PromotedToPlayable, and this reaction ceased.
* JerkassWoobie: Most of the Grimoired Seven count.
** Ghauri was part of an Adept Dance Troupe who used their skills to add some special effects to their performances, but when Adept discrimination arose and his squad leader got seriously injured, his troupe disbanded.
** Gibril had a loving but weak willed mother, but an abusive father who worried about his status given Adept discrimination. He left the care of Gibril to her completely, and abused her to get her to properly control Gibril. When Gibril came home after graduating preporatory school, after finding her father over her mother's corpse having just killed her, [[SelfMadeOrphan she created a blade from her mother's blood and killed the bastard]].
** Asroc was an eldest child of four raised by his mother, who had dreams of baking pastries like his mom would make. He was a quiet and kind child, and when he became an apprentice to a famous chef, his mother gave him the advice to simply hide his septima. Nevertheless, rumors spread about him, which he ignored. He eventually came home from work to find his home in flames and all of his family dead. Fearing it was because he was an adept, his teacher expelled him, and later on Asroc learned it was a non-Adept responsible for killing his family, essentially turning him into the hateful, bitter monster we know in game.
** Finally, we have Tenjian [[spoiler: and Zonda]], who were abandoned by birth because of their Septimas and left at an orphanage. Tenjian was seen as an older brother figure by the orphans, but eventually the owner of the orphanage died of sickness, shutting the place down. He tried to find a place for the orphans, but because of his septima, people ignored him. The kids also took up jobs to help pay for things, but due to the working conditions they all eventually died until only he [[spoiler: and Zonda]] was left. He [[spoiler: and Zonda]] were offered food by a kindly old man, but alas the food was poisoned due to the man was part of an anti-adepts group. Tenjian [[spoiler: and Zonda]] have survived, [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge but in a rage he froze over the entire town and everyone in it]] bar himself [[spoiler: and Zonda]].

** The sequel has an InUniverse example in the form of Teseo, who is practically the AnthropomorphicPersonification of memes. Almost every word out of his mouth is some kind of internet slang or 2010s meme.

* MostAnnoyingSound:
** In both Elise battles, whenever she chants "Resurrection", it's a hint you done goofed, and had to redo the last part of the battle again.
** The second game has an InUniverse example with Ghauri, whose constant rhymes drive Copen absolutely crazy.
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: Anytime you hear any vocal track fire up, it indicates something good has happened. [[spoiler:Except the TrueFinalBoss fight in ''2'', in which the theme song fires up... for the '''[[OhCrap boss]].''']]

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
** Copen appears to be going this direction thanks to being PromotedToPlayable in the sequel and featuring a fast-paced aerial style that works more fluidly than Gunvolt's [[BoringButPractical "run, gun, electrify"]] style. It also helps that his character is a lot more fleshed out in the sequel. He's still the {{Jerkass}} who spouts religious spiel, but we get to see other sides of his personality that makes him at least more tolerable, such as [[DeadpanSnarker a healthy dose of snark]] and [[TheComicallySerious inability to get a joke]].
* TheScrappy: Copen. Not only is he an unlikable {{Jerkass}} who spouts religious spiel to justify his actions, but his {{irrational|Hatred}}, [[FantasticRacism racist]] hatred of Adepts gets taken to IdiotBall levels when he tries to kill [[WouldHurtAChild Joule]], who is ''clearly and completely innocent'' and was Sumeragi's UnwittingPawn, just because she is an Adept. You'd be hard-pressed to find anybody who didn't feel great after beating him up in his boss fights. Bonus material softens his characterization a bit when it's discovered that an Azure Striker is actually the one who killed his father, likely being the cause of his distrust for Gunvolt despite their similar goals. The sequel having him PromotedToPlayable and softening it further might have resulted in RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap above.
* ScrappyMechanic:
** The in-stage dialogue in the Japanese 3DS version. The overlay is ''incredibly'' obstructive during gameplay, with the faded text box on the bottom of the screen not being transparent enough and the lower-left corner being completely obscured by the character portrait, leaving many to wonder why the developers didn't take advantage of the second screen for text. That said however, it's also the subject of a BrokenBase because all the extra dialogue goes a long way in fleshing out the story and characters over the condensed US version. The Steam release and later the 3DS patch give you the option to play the version with the in-stage dialogue (with a revised English translation, to boot) and the original US version without, and for those playing with the dialogue, there's an added toggle button that turns it on and off in case you need your view unobstructed for a particular section.
*** ''2'' fixes this by not only adding the button to disable dialogue on the bottom screen, but also adding Story Options, which allows you to remove portraits and adjust the transparency of the text box to your liking so you can still watch the dialogue without it being intrusive.
** Team Chats in ''2'' have weird mechanics, in the sense that the chats that can be listened to are determined by the last mission played. For example, playing any mission from the latter half of the game onward (including Extra Missions) locks you from seeing any Team Chats until you either beat the game or play a mission from the first half of the game. Funny enough, the way this mechanic works means that there are even Team Chats that can only be seen by going back to the ''prologue'' stage (in both scenarios) and replaying it.
* SoOkayItsAverage: Seems to be the common view of the first game, especially from ''Franchise/MegaMan'' fans. Many think that even though the game is enjoyable for a playthrough, the bland level design and lack of weapons makes the game feel inferior to what came before it. ''2'' is considered a [[EvenBetterSequel different beast altogether]], with both improvements to level design and Gunvolt's moveset, plus the addition of an entirely new playstyle with Copen.

** ''Gunvolt'':
*** Viper's attacks in general are hard to avoid, but his Volcanic Axe and Refulgence deserve special mention. The former can home in on you no matter where you run and the latter is basically a mini BulletHell that requires skill to leave unscathed. Taken UpToEleven in [[NintendoHard Hard Mode]], where every attack deals over half your health in damage; Refulgence ''will'' kill you in a heartbeat if you haven't learned how to dodge every bullet down to the last note.
*** Jota's Luminous Rain, Judgement Ray, and Phosphoratorium qualify.
*** Carrera's Quasar Collapse deals enough damage to OneHitKill in most cases if you're caught in it. It also draws GV towards it, and if you think you can cheese it by tagging and zapping him while dashing away, tough luck: using your Flashfield causes you to be drawn towards it even ''quicker'', so there's no other option but to simply run.
*** Lazy Laser is like a good shmup; it takes practice to learn. Newcomers will most likely get backed into a corner and fried if they don't already know how to lure the beams. Merak's "megaton punch" attack will also easily catch you off-guard due to having almost no tell.
*** Stratos's Heavy Burden and bug swarm combo requires timing to avoid.
*** Elise knows Gorgon Gaze, which not only locks you down, but also makes the next attack deal triple damage. It's also rather tricky to avoid when you're focusing on the fight and not Elise's tells. Resurrection is also rather frustrating if you aren't dividing up your damage equally among both bosses.
*** Copen's Power Grab and Gorgon Gaze attacks are, without question, the most annoying attacks in his arsenal. The former can ignore Prevasion and will induce the Chaff status ailment, preventing you from using or recharging your Flashfield. The latter can petrify you and multiply the damage of his next attack.
*** [[spoiler:Asimov's version of the Orochi shot]] is the most infuriating part of his battle, because it's ''downright unpredictable''. Unlike his LimitBreak, the boss starts alternating between spamming it and the [[spoiler:Mizuchi shot]]. The latter can also be unpredictable, but at least it gives you a window of opportunity with each shot. [[spoiler:Orochi]], on the other hand, always has a difficult tell which direction it will start firing its volley (and it comes in two waves). And [[spoiler:Asimov's shots cause instant overheat, so the player cannot counter the boss's Flashfield (which is the only opening the player has to actually damage him).]]
** ''Gunvolt 2'':
*** Teseo has an attack called Grid Raid that causes him to switch places with Gunvolt. This attack takes time to charge up, but once it does, he and Gunvolt switch positions, then microbots will target Gunvolt's new position and attack him, forcing you to react quickly. If that wasn't already bad, Teseo also ''trades tags with you''. This means that any tags on Teseo will lock onto Gunvolt after the switch, and if you attempt to Flashfield, you'll hurt yourself, forcing you to wait for the tags to expire before you can continue attacking.
*** Teseo's Impregnable Fortress is a very precise art to master. He fires exploding orbs at you that your Flashfield blocks, but at your base EP value, you'll overheat the moment the orbs stop shooting. You are then required to rush outside of the circle Teseo creates and book it around the arena before heading inside the circle to block the last assault of orbs, because if you stay inside the circle will contract around you and deal contact damage, and if you aren't fast enough in running outside you'll be hit by the Bug Lasers firing off from the circle. If you mess ''any'' of this up, you ''will'' get hit.
*** Milas' attacks in general are hard to deal with due to the fact that they are all water attacks, which immediately forces Gunvolt into an Overheat state, disabling his Flashfield. This means that the vast majority of them go straight through Prevasion '''and Anthem.''' Special mention goes to his Vortex Rush, which traps Gunvolt in a cyclone of water. If it connects, Milas will immediately follow up with a Harp Boomerang which is guaranteed to hit him.
*** Gibril's attacks in her "Beast Mode" are hard to avoid as it's basically like fighting Viper all over again. Her Strange World is a feint attack where she sends an afterimage to attack you while she attacks from above, her Dance of Death has her darting around the room and toying with you, and her Childhood's End has her firing a large, nearly unavoidable shockwave at you. Then there's her Iron Maiden Special Skill where she traps herself and you in a steel cage and creates metal spikes all around the ceiling, floor, and walls that requires near perfect skill to escape unscathed and ''will'' kill you in seconds if you're unprepared. Made all the more frustrating by the fact that you can't hurt her during this attack, meaning all you can do is try to survive the onslaught.
*** Asroc's Furnace of Inferno attack has him command Gallete Krone to fire a large, screen-filling heatwave that is literally impossible to dodge without a well-timed Prevasion. The attack ''can'' be interrupted by shutting down Gallete Krone before he attacks, but it's a risky strategy and if you're not fast enough, this attack will deal ''heavy'' damage.
*** Tenjian's Frigid Blossom [[spoiler:and its upgraded form, Seven Slashes]], ignoring [[OverlyLongFightingAnimation the start-up period where you're free to bash his head in]], is notoriously difficult to avoid due to the speed at which the pillars are summoned, especially with [[SlippySlideyIceWorld ice physics]], and if you're caught, your Prevasion is disabled and you take enormous damage [[spoiler:or in the case of the latter, it's a OneHitKill that forces a scripted Anthem that will destroy your stage score]]. However, there ''is'' a trick to it, but you should turn your volume up. [[spoiler:Each of the beams have a faint audio cue moments before it spawns; timed correctly, a seasoned player can effortlessly avoid all four beams.]]
*** [[spoiler:True Zonda.]] ''Dear god, the homing cards.'' She'll spawn five purple cards that start spinning and flying at the player. The homing ability of the cards is ''uncanny'', and are extremely difficult to avoid almost all the time. She can also throw up a barrier to defend herself and can summon two large, screen-filling drills that are hard to avoid. [[LimitBreak Eden's Presence]] (only used on Copen) is also rather difficult to not get hit by, since the window between Teseo's attack's hitbox becoming inactive and Tenjian spawning above Copen to slice him is ''tiny.'' [[LimitBreak Paradise Lost]] (only used on Gunvolt) is a subversion; while it makes her invincible and deploys a screenwide unavoidable attack repeatedly, [[spoiler:it has no effect on your Kudos, and is defused [[UnexpectedGameplayChange in an entirely non-standard]] [[ThePowerOfRock method]].]]
*** [[spoiler:Anthem Gunvolt's Astrasphere]] is difficult to avoid if you haven't learned its trick. [[spoiler:Stand as close as possible to the electric field, and the orbs will miss when he fires them.]]
*** Lazy Laser returns with a vengeance in the DLC stages. While it was perfectly simple to bait out in the first game once you figured out the pattern, ''2'' rips the player a new one; it now spawns ''seven'' portals in a completely new pattern, and a fair number of them are now horizontal and diagonal in nature; due to Merak giving you little breathing room during the attack, there's extremely limited space in which you can bait the attack.
* ThatOneBoss:
** ''Gunvolt'':
*** Viper, especially if you're going for high amounts of Kudos. While most bosses are slow, leave themselves open, or have glaring tells, Viper's attacks are very quick and have little to no warning as to what he's going to do, leading to DamnYouMuscleMemory when you try jumping over what you think is a fire kick, but actually ends up being a jump attack. And then there's Refulgence, where he literally [[BulletHell fills the screen]] with fireballs that require near-perfect movements to get out unscathed.
*** Jota can also be the bane of Kudos hunters for one simple reason: His Phosporatorium attack is actually avoidable, but ''[[GuideDangIt nothing in-game tells you how to pull it off]]'' (shoot him with auto-fire darts, preferably Cerberus darts, to slow him down until his overhead slash clears away, you can also simply jump right behind him as he's starting his attack, avoiding being damaged in general).
*** Elise can be one thanks to her Resurrection attack which requires you to kill both of them at the same time or they will keep reviving each other. It doesn't help that one Elise takes damage faster than the other, so even if you've locked on to both of them, one might die and allow the other to revive her. Compounding the difficulty is her Gorgon's Gaze, which turns Gunvolt to stone and is hard to avoid, not to mention ''multiplying'' the damage he takes from the next attack. [[spoiler:It only gets worse during the rematch, where her third personality is unleashed. Not only is the third one immune to damage, but will relentlessly attack with kunai knives, which is especially annoying when you've been frozen by Gorgon's Gaze and thus left open to all three of them bombarding you with knives. And to make matters worse, even when you destroy the other two, the third one will simply revive them, turning the boss fight into a fight to simply stay alive until Copen appears and kills her.]]
*** Nova's normal form has him surrounded by a barrier that can only be deactivated by using Flashfield on [[spoiler: Lumen]]. But even then, it only grants you a small window of attack before it's up again. It doesn't help that Nova [[GetBackHereBoss constantly darts around the room firing]] [[EnergyBall Energy Balls]] at you. His [[LimitBreak Mind Melder]] can be a pain to work around if you haven't already learned its pattern.
*** Nova's OneWingedAngel form may be a StationaryBoss, but it is still suitably difficult. Like before, his weakspot is protected by a barrier that can only be deactivated by simultaneously damaging his two [[AttackDrone Attack Drones]], which is a daunting task as Nova has various hard-hitting attacks that are difficult to avoid. The ''real'' danger, however, is when he's down to a third of his health. That's when he uses his Calamator Aetherus LimitBreak, which causes a ''giant meteor'' to slowly descend onto the arena and turns the last round of the fight into a TimeLimitBoss. If Gunvolt doesn't defeat Nova before the meteor hits or has the misfortune of jumping a bit too high, it's an instant GameOver.
** ''Gunvolt 2'':
*** In Gunvolt's scenario, Gibril is a pain in the ass in the same way no one likes fighting Oddjob in ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997''. While her first phase, her "Alchemist Mode", is easy enough to deal with, it gets much more difficult once she enters her second phase, her "Beast Mode", which is basically like fighting Viper all over again. Gibril mainly dashes around attempting to slash you with her claws, which can be very difficult to dodge. She also tends to assume a feral stance. Problem is, because she's a rather small girl, being in her feral stance makes her ''too short to shoot,'' making her nigh-impossible to hit 80% of time[[note]]You can get around this if you use Technos, as the bottom shots travel around the ground, hitting her regardless of height, but you don't get Technos until clearing around 3 stages, and chances are you picked ''hers'' first because it was on the top of the list, or because you knew the super-useful Crashbolt skill was hidden in her stage and you didn't want to wait until you beat the other 3 starter bosses to get it[[/note]]. It only gets worse in her third phase, when she enters her "Crisis Beast Mode" and uses her Iron Maiden Special Skill where she traps herself and you in a steel cage and creates metal spikes all around the ceiling, floor, and walls. This attack is excruciatingly difficult to avoid, especially with Copen, and can kill you easily if you're unprepared. In addition, her defense '''skyrockets''', reducing your own damage to mere ScratchDamage per tick[[note]]It's still possible to defeat her before she finishes by simply applying enough damage, but good luck without some serious boosting equipment or Septimal Surge[[/note]]. You ''can'' get around it by using the Flashfield[=/=]Flashshield to dispel the pools of blood and reduce the number of spikes, but Gunvolt has a harder time as Gibril constantly zips around the cage and contact with her forces Gunvolt into the Overheat state.
*** Asroc is a huge nuisance due to the presence of Galette Krone, who is typically capable of devastating area-wide attacks that have punishing aftereffects. Galette Krone also happens to have an enormous health bar, so unless you pack damage boosting gear, you're in for an uphill battle. It also happens to regenerate after a few seconds, so if you want that opening window to beat on Asroc, you're gonna have to disable it ''again.'' Then there's [[ThatOneAttack Amuse-Bouche]], which is ''terribly'' difficult to dodge, even by ''Gunvolt 2'' standards.
*** Did you think [[spoiler:Anthem Gunvolt]] was a bit too easy for a TrueFinalBoss? Score Attack: Ultimate Mode says hi. In addition to a double speed buff that causes him to execute all his moves twice as fast, [[spoiler:recharge Prevasion twice as fast]], and causes Tags to wear off twice as fast, [[spoiler:he starts using Voltaic Chains as a regular attack in ''2nd phase'', and when you get him down to 3rd phase, his Septimal Surge buff not only gives him a damage bonus, but also gives him ''even stronger'' moves, including the dreaded triple Luxcalibur/Astrasphere wall and Voltaic Chains that cover the floor.]]
*** Ultimate Mode [[spoiler:True Zonda]] is just ''nasty.'' They get the rather simple buff of being able to use multiple attacks simultaneously. [[spoiler:This allows them to attack with both forms at once for certain attacks, which vastly reduces the variable windows in which you can avoid damage.]] Other attacks are just combinations of two attacks at once, which is surprisingly effective for dealing damage.
* ThatOneLevel:
** Many a player has died to the Subaquatic Base's underwater section, usually due to drowning and becoming trapped by shutters that have too much health for you to shoot. Ironically, [[NotCompletelyUseless this is the one level in which the Dullahan would be extremely useful when you can't Flashfield]].
** Tenjian's stage. SlippySlideyIceWorld. Prepare for a ''lot'' of sliding into obstacles because of FrictionlessIce slopes. Then there are the later portions in which Tenjian doesn't freeze the level segment until you're already in it, so you might wind up dashing into what looks like a harmless wall, then half a second later it's got SpikesOfDoom on it.
** Carerra's DLC stage in ''2'' can be extremely unforgiving unless you already know what you're doing before you jump in.
** Both Ultimate Mode levels in ''2'' seriously push the limits on sadistic level design, especially on Gunvolt's end. While Copen can simply avoid most platforming gimmicks with Bullit Dash, Gunvolt has to live with them, including Ultimate [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Frozen City]], which is now ''littered'' with SpikesOfDoom combined with slopes that are guaranteed to send you plummeting into them if you aren't paying attention. Enemy placement for Gunvolt is also ''much'' harsher, with enemies inserted into places to keep you on your toes. Oh, and the {{Bonus Boss}}es at the end of both stages doesn't help either.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
** Saving [[VillainousCrush Viper]] for the last boss rematch as opposed to [[BloodKnight Carrera]] would propably be a better choice characterization-wise, as he surely would have some scathing words for Gunvolt after [[spoiler: he let Joule die]]. Especially with her being present this time around. Though it does makes perfect sense from a gameplay perspective, as the battle demonstrates that even with Joule's Anthem power, GV is still vulnerable to the Chaff status, which serves to prepare the player for the ensuing battle with [[spoiler: Asimov]].
** Here's one for Gunvolt 2. [[spoiler: Why doesn't Zonda send out copies of her Grimoired Seven in the first four stages both characters go through instead of exposing them to danger? Sure, it may still be a part of the Normalization process she was trying to use with the Shards, but the Copies of the Adepts are shown to be at least just as functional as their originals. Not to mention it seems odd for Zonda to be willing to let her adopted brother Tenjian fight Gunvolt/Copen with the huge possibility of them dying, and that she shows sorrow at their deaths. But then again, Zonda does [[LoveFreak seem to have a twisted definition of "Love" if her Sumeragi forms mean anything]]]].

* TheWoobie:
** Joule. The poor girl was created by Sumeragi, hooked up to a weapon, and used to hurt other adepts against her will. By the time Gunvolt finds her, she'd rather die than keep on living like this. Of course, Gunvolt rescues her, but Sumeragi is still after her. [[spoiler:By the end of the game, Merak kidnaps her, and Nova uses her as a weapon once more. Her second rescue is short lived, as Asimov shoots her and Gunvolt, leading to Joule merging with Lumen and losing her physical form. And mind you, this is in the ''good'' ending. In the bad one, she simply dies after Asimov's attack.]] Geez.
*** The second game doesn't stop with it. As early as in the intro stage, she gets her powers extracted by [[spoiler: Zonda]], leaving her with a tiny fragment of power left. Despite being practically close to GV, she can't do much for him because she lacks a proper body. She also sometimes gets practically upset ("nervous" as the game calls it) instead of you getting closer to her during chats, many of them having Quinn involved. [[spoiler:Then in the climax, Zonda fully snatches her away from GV and gets forced to power Zonda up. And worst of all, after that, she gets reunited with her ''proper'' body... Mytyl. Which, due to conflicts of her and Mytyl's memories, causes the resulting mix IdentityAmnesia. Heartbroken, GV decides to let her go and decide her life for herself.]] Sniff...

** A common complaint is that the Prevasion mechanic and Joule's Anthem make in practically impossible to die. Of course, these complaints no longer apply when you're trying to get a high rank, as Prevasion reduces your Kudos to zero and the Anthem massively hurts your rank. Add to that the fact that your bonus score is only added in at checkpoints or when you use a special attack, which also resets the multiplier. Which means that you can't use either if you want to maximize your score. Simply completing a level is child's play, but getting top ranks will take absolutely everything you can muster.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: Each of the bosses in the first game represent one of the seven deadly sins. The one that is associated to lust is an androgynous hermaphrodite who speaks exclusively through sexual innuendos. then the sequel reveals that [[spoiler: the Zonda seen in the first game is just an illusion created by the real one, who is a girl aged '''10''' at most]].

* BrokenBase:
** Regarding the cut dialogue for the 3DS version - some say it is good because the dialogue only adds trivia to the story and the text can be distracting during gameplay, while some others say it's bad because it cut off chunks of worldbuilding and, in particular, the Joule chats. Similarly, the fact that the PC release adds in the missing dialogue is another sticking point: either fans are finally happy that they can get a more authentic story experience, or 3DS players are miffed because now they have to buy the game again just to get said experience. This has died down with a 3DS patch that gives the option of playing the original 3DS translation or the full translation complete with Japanese dialogue.

* UnexpectedCharacter:
** For the first ''Mighty Gunvolt'', which was advertised as a crossover game between ''Mighty No. 9'' and ''Azure Striker Gunvolt'', Ekoro of ''VideoGame/GalGun'' was from a franchise that was relatively unknown to the west. The trope [[TropesAreTools seems to have worked in her favor]], considering she's one of the most popular of the playable characters, and the exposure likely helped in bringing her home series over to the West.

* FandomRivalry: After ''VideoGame/MightyNo9''[='=]s perceived failure by many of its backers, critics, and ''Mega Man'' fans, most ''Gunvolt'' fans have been acting very condescending towards ''Mighty No. 9'' (and Keiji Inafune) for not living up to expectations it was met with, suddenly pulling a 180 from this series SoOkayItsAverage reception to claiming its a "true" successor to ''Mega Man''. The release of ''Azure Striker Gunvolt 2'' (being considered a much-improved sequel to its predecessor) only months a few later from ''Mighty No. 9'' and then followed up by ''Mighty Gunvolt Burst'' in 2017 (developed entirely by Inti outside of Inafune's approval to use the ''Mighty No. 9'' character) are not helping ''Mighty No. 9''[='=]s case save for the very few can appreciate both series.

* FandomRivalry: After ''VideoGame/MightyNo9''[='=]s perceived failure by many of its backers, critics, and ''Mega Man'' fans, most ''Gunvolt'' fans have been acting very condescending towards ''Mighty No. 9'' (and Keiji Inafune) for not living up to expectations it was met with, suddenly pulling a 180 from this series SoOkayItsAverage reception to claiming its a "true" successor to ''Mega Man''. The release of ''Azure Striker Gunvolt 2'' (being considered a much-improved sequel to its predecessor) only months a few later from ''Mighty No. 9'' and then followed up by ''Mighty Gunvolt Burst'' in 2017 (developed entirely by Inti outside of Inafune's approval to use the ''Mighty No. 9'' character) are not helping ''Mighty No. 9''[='=]s cave save for the very few can appreciate both series.

** The newest update for the PC version of Gunvolt released on May 2018 replaced the original version with a port of the Switch's Striker Pack version, adding all the extras of the Switch version, bumping the framerate from 30 to 60 and getting rid of the second screen.

** If you manage to defeat [[spoiler:Ultimate Anthem Gunvolt]] in the Score Attack DLC, you'll unlock a Subroutine for Copen in the main game that, for the hefty cost of 24 Memory, gives you '''infinite EX Weapon usage.''' Combine with Weapon Overclock for ''serious'' EX Weapon shenanigans.

* HarsherInHindsight: the biggest complaints about the first game is the cut dialogue. Many players question the omission of most of the Joule Chats in particular. This in light of the ending of the second game, [[spoiler:where Mytyl apparently loses all memories of the time she, as Joule, spent with GV.]] Talk about rubbing salt in the wound...

* PolishedPort: Although the Steam version of the first ''Gunvolt'' is a mostly a direct port of the 3DS version, it does include new modes exclusive to that version, such as a Speedrun Mode, a (now removed) Christmas Mode, an Easy and Hard Mode with their own changes in the gameplay.

** ''Mighty Gunvolt'':
*** Elise is a LOT harder than all of the other bosses; she retains most of her ASG moves (save for Resurrection and Gorgon's Gaze), but the rigid gameplay and lack of Prevasion makes dodging the kunai a real pain.
*** Brandish from the DLC stage is reviled for simply being ''freakishly fast and unpredictable''. His moves have practically no tell and he spends the majority of the fight flying across the screen. The only way to land a good solid hit is to pray he whiffs, then unload on him. And even as Beck you can't do that [[AwesomeYetImpractical due to the nature of his charge shot.]]

** The PAL version of the original 3DS game not getting that patch. Not helped by the fact it's one of the things built into the Striker Pack, which was, for a long time, not given a PAL release date. To say that fans in PAL regions are annoyed is downplaying it.