RefleX



""This is a story of the fight of the resistance military forces and the earth military forces""

RefleX is a 2D Bullet Hell Shoot'Em Up developed by Siter Skain and part of The Tale of Alltynex trilogy. It forms a trilogy with two of their other games: though developed after Kamui and before Alltynex Second, storywise the games go in reverse order (Alltynex 2nd -> RefleX -> Kamui). The gameplay plays mostly like a regular shooter but with a few twists. Instead of being the regular One-Hit-Point Wonder, your ship, the Phoenix MkII, can take a boatload of hits, and you have a shield that can reflect certain bullets right back at the enemies. This is offset by the fact that you have no extra lives, no bombs and no way of restoring durability once it's gone.

The story first centers around the resistance group known as the The Valkyness in their effort against the corrupt government. Progress is slow and the government doesn't even recognize the Valkyness as a serious threat... more of a minor nuisance. That is, until their new fighter, the Phoenix MkII developed by Doctor Dennis, is scrambled after its carrier ship is shot down. Equipped with a new form of shielding system, extreme durability, and significantly greater firepower, it poses a new serious threat to the government.

Then a third party gets involved and It Gets Worse. RefleX is the most story-driven game in the trilogy and has by far the darkest plot as well. Although the story is All There in the Manual it is noticeable in that the story plays a huge role in gameplay, such as the ship being repaired before stages 5 and 7.

This game features:

 * AI Is a Crapshoot: Like the rest of the series, it loves to play with this trope.
 * Autobots Rock Out: Despair -Cancer-
 * Battleship Raid: The fight against Sagittarius.
 * Bittersweet Ending or Downer Ending:
 * Bullet Hell: Some bosses (particularly ZODIAC Virgo and Libra) have certain attacks that can easily put any CAVE boss into shame. Fortunately, you don't have to actually dodge them.
 * Climax Boss: ZODIAC Virgo
 * Continuity Nod: The ruins of ALLTYNEX are clearly visible at the beginning of Stage 7.
 * Cosmetic Award: Beating the game without continuing nets you a secret theme, "A Choice with No Alternative" which is a remix of the stage 1 theme from Reflection, the prototype game for RefleX.
 * Crowning Moment of Awesome: Many, but the final battle with Libra  is probably the most awesome one.
 * Crowning Music of Awesome: Let's just say that this game is full of amazing tracks.
 * "Raiwat Virgo" is probably the game's most iconic theme.
 * Darker and Edgier: The darkest one in the trilogy.
 * Deface of the Moon: When Cancer gets shot down by ZODIAC Virgo, it crashes into the moon and creates a huge crater. The blast apparently destroyed most of both the military's and the Valkyness' lunar bases in the process.
 * Development Hell
 * Saved From Development Hell
 * Destructive Saviour:.
 * Direct Continuous Levels: Stages 1 to 6.
 * Disc One Final Boss: Cancer.
 * Dual Boss: Gemini fits this.
 * Enropi are three dual bosses straight followed with a battle with the leader.
 * Enemy Mine: The Raiwat invasion forces the government and the Valkyness to join forces in order to repel them.
 * Explosive Overclocking: Played straight and invoked.
 * Played straight in that Libra fired its strongest attack twice in rapid succession and in doing so severely crippled itself.
 * Famous Ancestor: The Valkyness are descendants of an Raiwat defection group who escaped before the mutations took effect. Let's just say that the Raiwat are not happy to meet those who got to live happily because of his actions while they had to suffer.
 * Fixed Forward-Facing Weapon: Sagittarius' main cannon as well as the ZODIAC's laser.
 * Get Back Here Boss:.
 * Giant Enemy Crab: Cancer
 * Goddamned Missiles: They are fast and can only take one hit, but they are the only weapon that can pass through your shield.
 * Gut Punch:.
 * Heartbeat Soundtrack: Time of end.
 * High Speed Battle: The battle against Scorpio.
 * Hitbox Dissonance: Averted, the hitbox is much bigger than the Bullet Hell genre would suggest.
 * Implacable Man: ZODIAC Virgo.
 * Infinity+1 Sword: Beating the game the first time you unlock the.
 * It Got Worse: At the beginning of this game, your carrier is ambushed by Human Virgo, which kills Doctor Dennis and many of your companions. From here, things keep getting worse.
 * The Juggernaut: ZODIAC Virgo.
 * Knight of Cerebus:.
 * La Résistance: The Valkyness.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Scorpio is pretty big, has lots of weapons and is fast as hell.
 * Made of Explodium: One must wonder what those are made of in order to explode like that.
 * Made of Iron: The Phoenix.
 * Macross Missile Massacre: Many enemies and bosses alike love to use this, because it isn't hindered by your shield.
 * Meaningful Name: You think Think again!
 * In addition, the
 * Melee a Trois: The final battle with the Phoenix/ vs ZODIAC Libra vs.
 * Mercy Mode: Somewhat, everytime you die, the game lets you start with an extra continue and these stack up. Also inverted in that everytime you beat the game you lose one.
 * Mood Whiplash:.
 * More Dakka: Well, it comes with the whole Bullet Hell package.
 * Needs More Love
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When the Phoenix destroyed the Sagittarius, it turns out that it was busy holding back a much graver threat, the Raiwat Invasion force.
 * Nintendo Hard: Well, it is a Bullet Hell game, so it has to be.
 * Oh Crap or This Is Gonna Suck: As soon as "Mortal Illness" starts playing, you know things will get ugly.
 * Ominous Pipe Organ: The game sure makes some good use of these.
 * One-Hit-Point Wonder: Averted,.
 * Outside Context Villain: The ZODIAC's.
 * Player Punch:.
 * Power Gives You Wings: The ZODIAC fighters gain these when they activate their full power.
 * Previous Player Character Cameo:
 * Really Dead Montage:
 * Return to Shooter: The games most central mechanic.
 * Roboteching: Some of the enemy lasers are able to do as much as a 90 degree turn. Of course you can use this against them by reflecting said lasers right back.
 * Shout-Out:.
 * Super Prototype: The Phoenix MkII, invented by Doctor Dennis.
 * Tank Goodness: Taurus is sure one big tank.
 * Tear Jerker: "End of Reflection".
 * Also the credits, sounding somewhat triumphant and still sad.
 * Theme Naming: The Zodiac gets a lot of exposure in this game.
 * Time Skip: Stage 8 takes place years after Stage 7, and the ZODIAC's have been busy
 * The Unfettered:.
 * Was Once a Man: The Raiwat.
 * Wave Motion Gun: The ZODIAC's are armed with these and sometimes the laser blasts cover the entire screen.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist:.
 * Western Zodiac: The game's bosses are named after these.
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Scutum has a distinctly church-like Ominous Pipe Organ in its theme and crosses on its armor and turrets. One of its attacks forms a six-pointed star with lasers.
 * Most of the bosses are named after Zodiac constellations.
 * Also the credits, sounding somewhat triumphant and still sad.
 * Theme Naming: The Zodiac gets a lot of exposure in this game.
 * Time Skip: Stage 8 takes place years after Stage 7, and the ZODIAC's have been busy
 * The Unfettered:.
 * Was Once a Man: The Raiwat.
 * Wave Motion Gun: The ZODIAC's are armed with these and sometimes the laser blasts cover the entire screen.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist:.
 * Western Zodiac: The game's bosses are named after these.
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Scutum has a distinctly church-like Ominous Pipe Organ in its theme and crosses on its armor and turrets. One of its attacks forms a six-pointed star with lasers.
 * Most of the bosses are named after Zodiac constellations.