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The Tale of ALLTYNEX is a trilogy of doujin Bullet Hell Shoot 'em Ups developed by SITER SKAIN with its story centering around the malicious super-computer, the ALLTYNEX OS. Each game in the series has its own gameplay mechanics and gimmicks. One thing that stays consistent in the series, however, is that despite the games being of the bullet hell genre, the ships are much tougher and have much larger hit-boxes than the standard bullet hell game. Thankfully each game provides you with some form of protection against the sheer onslaught of bullets, averting the tradition of most shoot 'em ups with ships being a One-Hit-Point Wonder.

The series was originally released in Japan only, but Nyu Media announced plans to localize and digitally release the entire series overseas in late 2012, and opened a Kickstarter in April 2013 to crowdsource extra funds for the localization. The series was released overseas on June 6, 2013, and it was digitally through GamersGate, Rice Digital, DESURA, and directly from Nyu Media. The series was Greenlit on Steam on November 12, 2013 and released on December 11, 2014.The soundtrack is up for listening and purchase on Siter Skain's Bandcamp profile. Unfortunately, as of 2022, many digital distribution platforms save for Steam either no longer carry the game or went under, and Nyu Media ceased operations in June the same year; current publishing ownership of The Tale of ALLTYNEX trilogy belongs to Henteko Doujin.

The games in The Tale of ALLTYNEX trilogy are:

  • KamuiTale of ALLTYNEX: Final Chapter
  • RefleXTale of ALLTYNEX: Second Chapter
  • ALLTYNEX SecondTale of ALLTYNEX: First Chapter

SITER SKAIN released a story and art compilation book at Comiket 80, which was released digitally, also by Nyu Media. A game called Armed Dragoon (Formerly Final Apocalypse) is currently being developed and uses the same graphics engine as ALLTYNEX Second but it's unknown as of now if it has any relation this series.

The character sheet is now open.


This series provides examples of:

  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The series plays with this trope to no end.
    • ALLTYNEX Second: Subverted in that ALLTYNEX's destruction was actually planned by the government. Double-subverted in that it does go berserk and actually cause a rampage beyond control.
    • RefleX: The ZODIACs trashed the Raiwat homeworld. ZODIAC Ophiuchus, the awakened form of the Phoenix, fights to destroy the other twelve ZODIACs, but with no regard for collateral damage.
    • KAMUI: The A.I. based on Xaffiquel tries to wreak havoc on the planet. Inverted with the A.I. based on Panaffil, who fights for the good of humanity.
  • All There in the Manual: A guidebook was released alongside the game that goes into depth about characters, background plot information, bios of each boss, and even background events during the stages that you otherwise would never figure out on your own.
  • All Up to You: Averted in ALLTYNEX Second, where the player ship is only one of a much larger force that can be seen in the first level of the game.
    • Zigzagged in RefleX with you having help from your allies in Area 1, but left on your own from Area 2 to 5. Justified in Area 7, where your backup got killed.
    • Played straight in Kamui, where the player ship is literally the only one with the capability to fight back against ALLTYNEX.
  • Antagonist Title: ALLTYNEX Second.
  • Back to Front: The games were released in the opposite order their stories go; Kamui (1998) is last, RefleX (2008) is in the middle, and ALLTYNEX Second (2010) comes first. Amusingly, the latter two games in the series are remakes of existing games: Reflection (1998) and ALLTYNEX (1996), meaning that retroactively, the series was still released in straight chronological order.
  • Big Bad: RefleX and Kamui each have the Raiwat Zodiacs and Xaffiquel, respectively, but the ALLTYNEX OS is the central antagonist for the entire series.
  • Bullet Hell: Although it is a lot less bullets than the typical bullet hell, but still enough to qualify.
  • Character Title: Kamui.
  • Crapsack World: Really, the Earth just has it really bad. In ALLTYNEX Second, 85% of the population is wiped out by ALLTYNEX OS. In RefleX, not only is there a war between two different factions of the Earth, but ZODIAC Ophiuchus causes a horrible amount of collateral damage when it destroys the other ZODIAC units. In KAMUI, Xaffiquel wages war on humanity because of how psychics are kidnapped and made into Brain Uploading subjects for the KAMUI units, especially his daughter.
  • Fighter-Launching Sequence: In all games with some variation or another.
  • Hitbox Dissonance: Averted.
  • Homing Lasers: Done in some form in each game:
    • Played straight in ALLTYNEX Second in your (normal) ship's Fighter form.
    • The Phoenix MK-II in RefleX can reflect them with its shield.
    • In Kamui's case, your eponymous ship doesn't shoot homing lasers (though your enemies can), but it shoots homing lighting.
  • Kill Sat: You have to dodge one in ALLTYNEX Second.
  • Lonely Piano Piece: In the series' sadder or more serious moments, the piano is used instead of an organ.
  • Macross Missile Massacre: Of missiles, lasers, and in Kamui's case, lightning variety.
  • Made of Iron: The player ship in all the games.
  • More Dakka: Par for the course.
  • Nintendo Hard: Even though your ship in each game is much tougher compared to other ships like the Ikaruga and Tiger Schwert, these games don't falter in difficulty.
  • Ominous Pipe Organ: Many the themes in the series feature this.
  • One-Hit-Point Wonder: Generally averted. KAMUI grants the player ship a four-use shield (or two if it's the mass-produced version), RefleX offers six uses of protective hull to the Phoenix which then plays this trope straight in the last stage and a half, while still only having one life, and the Armed Saboteur in ALLTYNEX Second has a single-use defensive layer.
  • Post-Defeat Explosion Chain: All games in the trilogy have their bosses and large enemies mark their deaths with a series of small explosions until they make a massive one. A few of them are big enough to turn the entire screen white.
  • Power Gives You Wings: Present in some form in all three games. It's usually a sign that the machine in question is powered by a ZODIAC Core, in which case, you're going to be in for a very tough fight.
  • Recurring Boss: Scorpio has made appearances in all three games. It looks different in each game, but its signature laser sweep can't be mistaken.
    • The ALLTYNEX OS throughout the series may also qualify.
    • ZODIAC Ophiuchus has appeared physically more times than ALLTYNEX itself. In each game it appears, you know the world isn't safe. Just ask the survivors of the Raiwat Invasion.
  • Roboteching: Arching missiles, arching lasers, arching lightning. This series loves this trope as much as Taito's RAY series!
  • Robots Enslaving Robots: The ALLTYNEX OS in a nutshell.
  • Scoring Points: As shoot 'em ups, each game features different scoring mechanics that incorporates each ships' capabilities.
    • In Kamui, the more energy you have in your Thunder/Lightning Meter, the higher your score multiplier will be for destroying enemies with your lightning storm weapon (up to a maximum of x16).
    • In Reflex, you start can a combo by destroying enemies with reflected projectiles. Quickly following up the destruction with your normal weapon will extend your combo chain. v1.01 and onward added a combo meter to show how much time you have to destroy the next enemy to keep the chain going.
    • ALLTYNEX Second uses a combo-based scoring system where by destroying enemies using the vulcan shot and homing lasers will create a chain bonus starting from 200pts that doubles all the way to 25,600pts. Destroying enemies in this way also boosts your Combo Meter, in which by destroying enemies using the dual swords or Buster Rifle will multiply their value (like Kamui, up to x16).
  • Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: This series falls quite a way into the cynical side.
  • Spread Shot: Each ship in the series uses one, but how they work differ from each game. In Kamui, you start with a basic frontal attack, but your shots can increase in width as you collect the green power-up items; in Reflex and ALLTYNEX Second, the width and firepower of your shots are dependent on your ship's energy meter.
  • Stuff Blowing Up: And then some.
  • Video Game Remake: Two of the games in the series are remakes to one of the developers' previous games.
    • ALLTYNEX Second is a remake of the original FM TOWNS Marty's ALLTYNEX.
    • RefleX is one to the original freeware PC game Reflection by Ysuer, who later joined SITER SKAIN.
  • Wave-Motion Gun: All three games feature this in some shape or form.
  • Wave-Motion Tuning Fork: The Kamui fighters as well as Sagittarius uses this.

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