- Estimated achievement difficulty: 3/10 [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 57 [1000]
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: ~8 hours [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1
- Missable achievements: None [free roam after completion]
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No, can play on Very Easy
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None
Introduction:
Welcome to Trigger Witch, a Legend-of-Zelda-like adventure game, where you'll explore an overworld with an isometric view, conquer dungeons by defeating enemies and solving puzzles to reach the boss, and expand your arsenal in doing so. The main thing that makes this game unique is that it uses a shoot-em-up approach to combat. Weapons you get throughout the game are different types of guns, and it functions like a twin-stick shooter as you progress and fight enemies and bosses. If you're familiar with EastAsiaSoft from their quick and easy gamerscore games, know that this one is a more "legitimate" experience of a full, fun game. Let's get started.
Abbreviated Walkthrough:
As noted in the overview above, you can play on Very Easy difficulty, and I recommend doing so. There is still some challenge even on the easiest difficulty. You may also notice the huge amount of achievements in this game, but don't be daunted by that. None are difficult, and I will walk through how and when to get them all to make it as smooth of a completion as possible.
When starting the game, you can get two achievements related to specific options, namely: turn on Pinata Mode to get Confetti Explosion (15G) out of the way, and turn off Laser Sight to get Hunting Blind (15G). Once you get both of those from your first 25 kills, feel free to turn blood back on (Pinata Mode off), and definitely turn your Laser Sight back on.
Go ahead and follow the tutorial, heading out of your house and to the northwest to get your first gun. Shoot right up into the Ordnance Rift to unlock Did You Expect Cake? (10G). Now head west into the Stock Gauntlet training grounds. Towards the end, you can get your first weapon part from a chest for What's This Doing Here? (15G), and right after that is the time trial where you can unlock Need For Speed (15G). Finish up the Stock Gauntlet, and your mom will give you the Wayfarer's Stone. Leave the training grounds, pull up your map with and hold to teleport to your house, unlocking There's No Place Like Home (10G). Inside your house, fire your gun to unlock Firearm Safety 101 - Failed (10G). Now head up to the church-like area in the center of town. Head inside and read the book on the altar (choose the "Continue reading" option every time), and once you've gone through the whole book, you'll unlock Triggernometry 101 (25G). That's it for miscellaneous achievements we can do now. You're now ready to proceed on your adventure.
For the first dungeon, head south to the beach to release the dragon, then to the Foundry where the eastern red X on your map is. In this dungeon, you can unlock Why Run When You Can Stand Still? (15G) on any of the conveyor belts. You're unlikely to unlock it naturally, so use any of the looping fast conveyor belts to quickly grind it out. It shouldn't take more than a minute or two. The new gun is this dungeon is story related (Boom! Shake The Room (15G)). Beat the very easy boss fight to wrap up this dungeon.
For the second dungeon, head to the southwest red X on your map to reach the mines. In this area of the overworld, and inside the dungeon itself, is where you can unlock Sergeant Angle (15G). You'll actually likely unlock this naturally while inside the dungeon, just because there are so many reflective surfaces, so I wouldn't bother trying to actively go for it; it's pretty tough to line up bouncing shots. The new weapon in this dungeon actually isn't story related. One of the miners will tell you about it though - it's in the northeast corner of the top floor. You just have to fight off a bunch of enemies to open the door, and then the mini uzis are yours (Uzi Does It (15G)). This dungeon also introduces broom sections, and you'll unavoidably do two in this dungeon out of the total five needed for Clean Sweep (15G). Beat the boss and wrap up this simple dungeon.
With both of those done, it's time to head northeast to Mountain Frost region and its dungeon. Before going there, if you haven't already, return to town to upgrade your weapons. I highly recommend upgrading (or even maxing out, if you can) the Hand Cannon, since it has unlimited ammo. Definitely max out its damage and ammo capacity. You need to do this for achievements anyway. Note that you can also upgrade your health in town too. This is obviously helpful, but be aware that there aren't any achievements tied to upgrading your health, and it costs a pretty decent amount of money.
The third dungeon, Snapfrost Dungeon, has the achievement Friendly Fire (15G), and this is the only place to get it, so make sure you do so before getting this dungeon's unmissable Fire Lance weapon. That's all to point out for this dungeon. Work your way through it and beat the boss.
With the three first dungeons done, head back to town, get your potion, break through the barrier, and you'll get captured. This is where you'll be introduced to the Arena, and during the story is your first opportunity for Wicked Witch (30G). If you don't get it during the story on your first try, you can attempt it later when your health and weapons are fully upgraded. Now you can head to the next two dungeons in either order.
The intended fourth dungeon is the Floating Pavilion, in the northeast. There, be sure to get Safety Hazard (15G) for letting fans blow enemies off the edge to their death. The weapon here, the Telescopic Shooter, is technically not story related, but it's on your path and basically unmissable. No boss fight here, just a simple escape sequence at the end.
The intended fifth dungeon is the Old Nux Castle, ni the northwest. To access it, you need to go around its right side to the top, then back down the left side to the front to lower the drawbridge. In this dungeon, you'll virtually unavoidably unlock Who's Afraid Of The Dark? (15G), this dungeon's achievement. The weapon in this dungeon, the Thunderer, is not story related, but it's easier enough to find right below the teleporter on the top floor (3F). The boss fight here requires you to use the light mechanic, but it should be simple enough considering you should have fully upgraded health and weapons by this point.
With those two dungeons done, it's time to head up to the barrier in the north, to access the final dungeon and boss of the game. You can wrap up any miscellaneous achievements you're missing, but don't worry - you'll be able to free roam after the completion and revisit any areas or dungeons, if need be. No achievements tied to this final dungeon, and its weapon seems to have been patched to be unmissable now. So, progress through and beat the final boss, watch the epilogue, and then sit through the credits. Once you're back in the game, you'll get a new task to talk to old friends, and they're all marked on your map. Do so to unlock Colette the Courageous (15G). That should wrap up your completion.
Conclusion:
Trigger Witch is a surprising gem from EastAsiaSoft. I have always felt that EastAsiaSoft has better quality games than most other shovelware developers, especially with their very fun shmups, but it was surprising to see a full length game with some depth and a matching achievement list. If you like simple adventure games but want a shoot-em-up twist, this is a solid game worth checking out. Congrats on the completion!