Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 4/10 [skill dependent] [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 17 [1000]
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 8-10 hours [skill dependent] [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 of Story, 1 of Arcade, 1 of Survival, and grinding for money
- Missable achievements: None [level select in Story mode]
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No difficulty option
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None
Introduction:
Welcome to Riddled Corpses EX, an auto-scrolling twin stick shmup that pits you against hordes of undead and demons as you work your way through six increasingly difficult stages. This game actually has some serious roguelite vibes in story mode, because you'll need to collect gold on each attempt to upgrade between runs to stand any chance of progressing further. And, like many roguelites, much of your time will be spent on this loop of progress a bit farther, use the gold you got to upgrade so you can progress farther, and so on until you eventually succeed. The gameplay is very simple and enjoyable though, like any shmup should be. The achievement list is also a simple and straightforward one, with the only skill based achievements being those for beating the game in story and Arcade modes. Let's get started.
Abbreviated Walkthrough:
Despite this game having three different modes (Story, Arcade, and Survival), they're all tied to the same characters and progression. You therefore should follow this roadmap of general progression to minimize wasted time and frustration with modes or things that you aren't ready/upgraded for yet.
Step 1: Story Mode to Stage 4, Maxing Jon
Start with Story mode, and your only playable character is Jon. Do your best to survive as long as possible, but make it a point to collect as much gold as you can from enemy drops and breakable objects. You stand no chance of even beating the first stage without upgrades, so just get as much gold as you can. Once you (inevitably) die, you can now use that gold you collected to upgrade Jon. You may need to repeat this process a couple more times depending on your skill, but once you get Jon to at least level 5, you should finally be able to beat the first stage of Story mode. Continue with this same process for the second stage. You'll likely need to level up significantly more to be strong enough to handle some of the more hectic waves in this stage. Don't be surprised if you need to be upwards of level 15 before you finally make it through the second stage. Thankfully, the enemies aren't any more difficult in the third stage, so no real leveling is required. The third stage is more a matter of luck with dodging the electric fences during the autoscrolling, which can be a huge pain. Once you get through it though, you never have to play it again. Now that you're at stage 4, you're going to hit a massive brick wall for some time. Enemies are present in huge amounts and take way more shots to kill. You can continue to collect gold and max Jon out at level 20, but this is where you should move on to the next step.
Step 2: Liery, Gold, and Full Upgrades
Now that you're at stage 4, this is the best stage to get gold in general. I highly recommend using gold you earn as Jon to unlock Liery. Liery gets double gold, making it way faster to unlock all upgrades. I know what you're thinking: Liery's damage is pathetic compared to Jon's. Despite the stats showing that, her fire rate and bullet speed more than makes up for it. I actually have an easier time surviving and progressing with Liery than with Jon. So, what I recommend doing is using Jon to try to get through stage 4, but collect gold and use it to level Liery up. Once Liery is level 10 or 15, start playing as her on stage 4 instead of Jon, so you get double gold. Continue to level her up between attempts to max her out at level 20, and then once she is maxed, assuming you're still struggling to get through stage 4 (which was the case for me), start using your gold on the MK1000. Unlock it, and then max it out (at level 5). A level 20 Liery and level 5 MK1000 was all I needed to finally break through stage 4 and beat it, as well as the rest of the game. The Turrets can also be bought, but you just get one and it's a special item that you drop on the stage and it stays in place shooting. I found it to be very weak and worthless for anything other than a boss fight, so I don't recommend wasting much (if any) gold on it.
Step 3: Grinding Gold, Erika, and Story Mode Completion
Erika is the best character in the game, both in terms of damage output and how quickly she gets gold (she has the magnet to pull all gold to her, double gold, and double lives). To get her though is a bit of a grind. You need to unlock Chloe, Liery, and Fael, and max them all out at level 20. While you don't necessarily have to do this now, having Erika makes Arcade mode far easier than it otherwise would be, and you have to do it anyway for the completion. Also, if you haven't completed Story by now, having Erika will make it much easier. Here's what you're going to do.
The only Survival achievement, for surviving five waves, will be very easy at this point, now that you have a character fully upgraded and the MK1000 unlocked and fully upgraded. Use your best character, and you should have zero issues. More tips can be found in Survivor (50G) if need be.
Step 5: Arcade Mode
Clearing Arcade mode is the hardest achievement in the game. However, with Erika unlocked, it is significantly easier. As noted in Step 3, there's no need to grind Erika up to level 20 for Arcade mode. Arcade mode starts you at level 1 anyway, so it's a waste of time to level her up to level 20 for this mode. Basically, Arcade mode does what you'd expect: you have to play through the game from start to finish without dying. Because you're using Erika, you will get a huge amount of gold, and can use all of that gold to stock up on lives and dynamite between runs, making this playthrough very manageable. The hardest part, in my opinion, is the third stage, since it has so much luck involved. Once you get past the third stage, you should have enough gold to max out your lives and dynamite before each stage, making this achievement very manageable. Refer to Arcade winner (100G) for much more information and tips to clear this mode. With it done, you've gotten all of the skill based achievements out of the way.
Mop Up:
If you're still missing any miscellaneous achievements, now is the time to knock them out, such as setting enemies on fire or electrocuting them. With the experience you now have with each stage, these will be a piece of cake. Refer to the guide to see how to quickly and easily unlock each, wrapping up this achievement.
Conclusion:
I found this game to be quite fun and addictive, despite it being really short with not many stages. It will feel tough and insurmountable for much of the time, and then suddenly you reach the tipping point, beat the story, and before you know it you're finishing off all of the achievements really quickly. This is pretty much exactly what I like in a shmup: short, sweet, fun, and satisfying. Hopefully you survived the final stages in both modes, and if so, congrats on the completion.
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 4/10 [skill dependent] [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 17 [1000]
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 8-10 hours [skill dependent] [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 of Story, 1 of Arcade, 1 of Survival, and grinding for money
- Missable achievements: None [level select in Story mode]
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No difficulty option
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None
Introduction:
Welcome to Riddled Corpses EX, an auto-scrolling twin stick shmup that pits you against hordes of undead and demons as you work your way through six increasingly difficult stages. This game actually has some serious roguelite vibes in story mode, because you'll need to collect gold on each attempt to upgrade between runs to stand any chance of progressing further. And, like many roguelites, much of your time will be spent on this loop of progress a bit farther, use the gold you got to upgrade so you can progress farther, and so on until you eventually succeed. The gameplay is very simple and enjoyable though, like any shmup should be. The achievement list is also a simple and straightforward one, with the only skill based achievements being those for beating the game in story and Arcade modes. Let's get started.
Abbreviated Walkthrough:
Despite this game having three different modes (Story, Arcade, and Survival), they're all tied to the same characters and progression. You therefore should follow this roadmap of general progression to minimize wasted time and frustration with modes or things that you aren't ready/upgraded for yet.
Step 1: Story Mode to Stage 4, Maxing Jon
Start with Story mode, and your only playable character is Jon. Do your best to survive as long as possible, but make it a point to collect as much gold as you can from enemy drops and breakable objects. You stand no chance of even beating the first stage without upgrades, so just get as much gold as you can. Once you (inevitably) die, you can now use that gold you collected to upgrade Jon. You may need to repeat this process a couple more times depending on your skill, but once you get Jon to at least level 5, you should finally be able to beat the first stage of Story mode. Continue with this same process for the second stage. You'll likely need to level up significantly more to be strong enough to handle some of the more hectic waves in this stage. Don't be surprised if you need to be upwards of level 15 before you finally make it through the second stage. Thankfully, the enemies aren't any more difficult in the third stage, so no real leveling is required. The third stage is more a matter of luck with dodging the electric fences during the autoscrolling, which can be a huge pain. Once you get through it though, you never have to play it again. Now that you're at stage 4, you're going to hit a massive brick wall for some time. Enemies are present in huge amounts and take way more shots to kill. You can continue to collect gold and max Jon out at level 20, but this is where you should move on to the next step.
Step 2: Liery, Gold, and Full Upgrades
Now that you're at stage 4, this is the best stage to get gold in general. I highly recommend using gold you earn as Jon to unlock Liery. Liery gets double gold, making it way faster to unlock all upgrades. I know what you're thinking: Liery's damage is pathetic compared to Jon's. Despite the stats showing that, her fire rate and bullet speed more than makes up for it. I actually have an easier time surviving and progressing with Liery than with Jon. So, what I recommend doing is using Jon to try to get through stage 4, but collect gold and use it to level Liery up. Once Liery is level 10 or 15, start playing as her on stage 4 instead of Jon, so you get double gold. Continue to level her up between attempts to max her out at level 20, and then once she is maxed, assuming you're still struggling to get through stage 4 (which was the case for me), start using your gold on the MK1000. Unlock it, and then max it out (at level 5). A level 20 Liery and level 5 MK1000 was all I needed to finally break through stage 4 and beat it, as well as the rest of the game. The Turrets can also be bought, but you just get one and it's a special item that you drop on the stage and it stays in place shooting. I found it to be very weak and worthless for anything other than a boss fight, so I don't recommend wasting much (if any) gold on it.
Step 3: Grinding Gold, Erika, and Story Mode Completion
Erika is the best character in the game, both in terms of damage output and how quickly she gets gold (she has the magnet to pull all gold to her, double gold, and double lives). To get her though is a bit of a grind. You need to unlock Chloe, Liery, and Fael, and max them all out at level 20. While you don't necessarily have to do this now, having Erika makes Arcade mode far easier than it otherwise would be, and you have to do it anyway for the completion. Also, if you haven't completed Story by now, having Erika will make it much easier. Here's what you're going to do.
- Play as your max level Liery (with a maxed MK1000) and start Story mode on stage 4, even if you already beat it.
- Focus on gold collection throughout. You should be able to clear 4000 gold every run of stage 4
- If you die at all, use that gold to buy and level up Chloe and Fael
- If you don't die, and make it through stage 4, which you should likely be able to do pretty regularly now that you've practiced it a bunch and are fully upgraded, continue on through stage 5 to continue getting gold and get some practice on it
- During this gold grinding, if/when you manage to get to the boss of stage 5, throw everything you have at it. Use dynamite and clocks liberally to maximize the likelihood of beating it. Once you beat the boss of stage 5, you're home free. If you beat the stage 5 boss, before starting stage 6, use the gold you've amassed during the previous stage to buy some lives (even four is plenty) and some clocks and/or dynamite (even two or three is plenty). Stage 6 is a piece of cake after the previous two stages, and is really short. The boss of stage 6 is quite easy too, especially the first phase, and the second phase will go down very fast with just a couple clocks and dynamite. Take this opportunity to beat Story mode
- Once you max out Liery, Chloe, and Fael, you'll then need to grind out an additional 9999 gold to purchase Erika. Go ahead and do so with the above method
- With Erika purchased, if you've already managed to complete Story mode along the way, you're now done here. DO NOT waste time grinding gold to max out Erika if you've already beaten Story mode
- If you still haven't been able to beat Story mode, continue grinding money to max out Erika to level 20. With her at level 20 and the MK1000 maxed, start at stage 4 and put all the gold you collect toward lives and dynamite after every stage. You will get a huge amount of gold while playing as her (easily 6000 from stage 4 alone). Use that gold to max out your lives and dynamite after stage 4 and stage 5, and you should be able to make short work of each stage, completing Story mode
The only Survival achievement, for surviving five waves, will be very easy at this point, now that you have a character fully upgraded and the MK1000 unlocked and fully upgraded. Use your best character, and you should have zero issues. More tips can be found in Survivor (50G) if need be.
Step 5: Arcade Mode
Clearing Arcade mode is the hardest achievement in the game. However, with Erika unlocked, it is significantly easier. As noted in Step 3, there's no need to grind Erika up to level 20 for Arcade mode. Arcade mode starts you at level 1 anyway, so it's a waste of time to level her up to level 20 for this mode. Basically, Arcade mode does what you'd expect: you have to play through the game from start to finish without dying. Because you're using Erika, you will get a huge amount of gold, and can use all of that gold to stock up on lives and dynamite between runs, making this playthrough very manageable. The hardest part, in my opinion, is the third stage, since it has so much luck involved. Once you get past the third stage, you should have enough gold to max out your lives and dynamite before each stage, making this achievement very manageable. Refer to Arcade winner (100G) for much more information and tips to clear this mode. With it done, you've gotten all of the skill based achievements out of the way.
Mop Up:
If you're still missing any miscellaneous achievements, now is the time to knock them out, such as setting enemies on fire or electrocuting them. With the experience you now have with each stage, these will be a piece of cake. Refer to the guide to see how to quickly and easily unlock each, wrapping up this achievement.
Conclusion:
I found this game to be quite fun and addictive, despite it being really short with not many stages. It will feel tough and insurmountable for much of the time, and then suddenly you reach the tipping point, beat the story, and before you know it you're finishing off all of the achievements really quickly. This is pretty much exactly what I like in a shmup: short, sweet, fun, and satisfying. Hopefully you survived the final stages in both modes, and if so, congrats on the completion.
[XBA would like to thank Necrophage33 for this Roadmap]