This is the first boss that I really don't think I'll be able to beat. I just can't figure out the mechanics. With the other two, they were hard, but I felt like I got better over time and understood what I was doing. I have no idea what the powerups do or how to deal with the corruption in a way that's not based entirely on either random chance or completing a minigame that takes a ridiculously long time and leaves you completely exposed to attack in the meantime. It just feels like there's too much happening at one time and I don't understand any of it. Makes me sad because I want to see the ending. Also, there's a bug with the screen attack. It seems if you parry at the exact moment you fail, you get locked into a death state or something and can't even bring the menu up. Forced Alt-f4.
Viewing post in Bugfix + Balancing Patch Notes 2025-12-22 (U0.4.0.3) comments
- for parries, you just need to press space when the prompt appears, no timing required (this applies to the sharkgirl and HER)
- when SHE goes to the doors, close them when SHE peeks in
- don't stare at HER in cameras
- when dealing with sammy goons, don't bother with them till they reach the door, that's how I managed to keep corruption down.
there are only two ways that I was able to keep corruption down
- in the arcade, there's a token with a skull that will completely erase your corruption, however it fills it up first. be sure to only be half-full
- non-glitchy sammy will also keep corruption down but the boss version makes the glitchy-one indistinguishable from the "normal" one so don't bother
Your main enemy is Nile who will never go away when she reaches the door which makes her your best and worst enemy as she will drain power forever but that leaves one less door to manage as no other girl can enter the door Nile is at.
I've figured out most of that already. Nile doesn't "never go away". There was a hint text that says "you have to let her in eventually" and I figured based on her personality that she wants one thing, so I figured out that if you just stare at her after opening the door, she leaves. I understand the parry mechanic, but having it shove you out of whatever you're doing at that moment is really disorienting. Poppi's minigame is probably the worst for me. Once the cameras are messed up, I might as well restart because I can't get to the generator to keep the doors closed while I'm frantically searching for the eyeball thing, and I can't tell the trigger for Poppi. It seems like it's somewhat based on corruption, but also time? I can't tell. As for sammy, I'm sure there's probably a tell for glitchy vs non-glitchy, but that's pure random chance. The other thing that really messes with me is that the doors just sometimes start opening and closing on their own. I don't know what causes that or how to deal with it other than spamming them, but if it randomly happens at a critical time, then I just lose.
Looking back now that I'm not tilted, I think the best strategy is probably to just shut the back door permanently because I don't believe there's any enemies that can force that one in specific open and frequently boost power. SHE only appears in the left and right doors, Maddie I think only appears in the right door, Ari only gets mad if you mess with stuff.