This is an improvement of 303 frames over the published run. The base of this project is the published run and arkiandruski should continue to be considered the primary author.

Goal: Complete the game in the fastest time

Time was saved in Stages 3 and 4, but I also had to redo much of the final boss in Stage 5 due to changed RNG affecting boss patterns.

Time was saved based on a glitch I found where the "Fire Viper" spell can be used more rapidly on the right hand than the left. This requires extensive reworking of the in-game menu usage, which was probably the most challenging part of this exercise. The in-game menu can be closed 15 frames after the initial "Start" input that opens it, and while it is closing there are approximately 5 frames where inputs can still be accepted.

Each of my menu usages are entirely within the 20-frame window, except for equipping the "Blade" weapon between the two Stage 4 bosses. Because I am swapping from the Fire Viper instead of from the Wave, a few frames could not be saved here.

Stage 3: The previous run used Fire Viper to damage the boss during an otherwise-invulnerable period. This run uses the same strategy but can attack roughly twice as quickly due to the right-hand glitch mentioned above. This saves roughly 240 frames.

Stage 4: The Stage 4 boss fight has been entirely reworked, saving roughly 65 frames. The boss has 1,022 health. The boss can take increased damage depending on where he is hit by a projectile, I think due to overlapping hitboxes for his head, neck, and upper body. The previous strategy used the Wave attack, which deals 12 damage as frequently as every 10 frames. With the heightened damage from precise placement, 20 or more damage per shot is possible. The Fire Viper deals up to 120 damage every 13 frames. Unfortunately it lacks the range of the Wave projectile, but the increased damage more than compensates for this. It may be possible to use both for a quicker kill, but my initial testing indicated this was not actually worthwhile. The strategy present in my submission scores 30 damage from each hit while his head is out of range, then kills him in the minimal number of hits from that point (not always scoring the full 120 damage, but scoring enough that even if all the hits were 120 no hits could be eliminated from the fight). 2 frames are lost waiting for the boss to re-position his head.

Stage 5: I had to rework some of the Jardine fight due to changed time from power-on and therefore changed boss pattern RNG. I believe this results in a savings of 0 or 1 frame.

Further potential time saves:

Truncated: File replaced with corrected final boss input. Judging.

Truncated: Some nice improvements. Accepting as a replacement to the current movie, [3771] Genesis Jewel Master by arkiandruski in 09:19.77.

feos: Pub.