Final Episode

For the last stage in Curse of the Moon , see Curse of the Moon Stage 8.

Final Episode -Cleave the Moon- is one of the main episodes in Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 The last chapter of the Curse of the Moon 2's story, it is marked by its freedom in choosing how to proceed, with one such choice resulting in an alternate ending sequence.

Description[]

With Dominique saved from her previous predicament, she can now reveal grave news: Sariel, an immensively powerful demon, has conquered the moon itself, and it is now planning to use its inhabitants and his hordes of demons as an army to do the same with the world. With the new situation explained, the group decides their next course of action: with Alfred's expertise, the Shards from the Shardbinders, and the Church's knowledge, the party begins the construction of the Flying Armor, a flying vessel modelled after Hachi's own powered suit, splitting up in order to cover more ground in their search for its necessary components, doing so by, once again, re-exploring the areas visited in their adventure, and for the last time lay low the demons that once again have revived in each location.

If all components are retrieved, the fully powered Flying Armor takes flight bringing, after a treacherous voyage across the moon's army, the entire group at the doorstep of Sariel's stronghold. After a long battle, the party, while succeds; if this ending is achieved during Co-Op Mode, this sequence will be slightly different, with both Zangetsus cutting the defeated Sariel in four. The party, while seemingly stranded on the moon, watches over the world, finally at peace.

If Zangetsu decides to rush the construction of the Flying Armor, he will also decide to take the fight against Sariel alone, while the rest of the party will support him from afar. Equipped by Alfred with a more powerful sword to make up the difference, after a treacherous voyage across the moon's army, Zangetsu goes through the enemy's stronghold and confronts Sariel. After a long battle, Zangetsu, with the help of his friends, delivers one last, incredibly powerful strike against the fleeing Sariel, which also cleaves the moon itself in the process. Furthermore, if this ending is achieved during Co-Op Mode, this sequence will be slightly different, with both Zangetsus cleaving the moon, resulting in it being cut into quarters rather than halves.

Gameplay[]

The Final Episode features the most dramatic shift in gameplay, as every previous stage can be tackled in any order, obtaining upon completion a piece of technology and, with one exception, re-recruiting one of the other party members. The stage each party member is furthermore assigned to is random, and is set upon making a new save file. At any time, between stages, the player may converse with recruited party members at the hub area, or speak to Alfred and depart for the final stage. With each party member recruited, the sub-weapon arsenal and base lives the player has increases in the intermediate stage before the finale, a special sequence where the Flying Armor, a unique vehicle with its own set of characteristics, is used.

Just like the previous episode/episodes, the bosses are still set to the hard version of their fights and, all bosses, with still the exception of Vepar and the newcomer Sariel, will perform upon defeat a final desperation attack; while thankfully said attacks cannot result in a death blow for the party members during the story (but they'll do so during Boss Rush Mode), finding a way to avoid the damage is the optimal way as, if successful, it will reward extra points and, in some cases in Veteran Mode, even directly an extra life.

There are two possible ways to tackle the final stage and the final battle against Sariel, which are to gather all/some of the other members of the group, or to do so with only Zangetsu by reaching the bare minimum necessary to get the Flying Armor into space, and to do so without retrieving even a single one of Zangetsu's allies; this will result in Zangetsu receiving the Daizangetsuto, which restores his "Ultimate Zangetsu" moveset he had lost when he gave up on the Soul Eraser, a different set of abilities for the Flying Armor during its sequence, as well as a completely different boss fight with Sariel and ending. Both of these endings will be further different if they are achieved while in Co-Op Mode, adding the presence of the second Zangetsu during the last blows of the final battle.

Beating the Final Episode for the first time will unlock Zangetsu Mode Select, which will allow to choose which playstyle to use Zangetsu with between Ultimate, Normal, and Static, and, after the v.1.2.0 update of July 16, 2020, Boss Rush Mode. Beating the Final Episode with its alternate ending will furthermore, unlock Single character mode, which allows to choose a single one among the seven playable characters to play through the entire Episode 1 on their own.

Stages[]

The Final Episode sees the stages revert to the names they had during Episode 1:

Furthermore, it also features a campfire area, which functions as a hub area during the search of the components, a unique flying sequence, where the Flying Armor is used for the first and only time, and a new, ninth stage that completely replaces Stage 8:

Final Stage: The Moon's Lament / Luna Secare

The exploration of the stages has reached its full potential, thanks to all the abilities of the party being available, making it possible to reach any alternate path which, considering that each stage has now two possible upgrades to find, is a great asset to have. Still, since each character has to be permanently re-recruited first, which only happens upon a stage's completion, it is inevitable that the stages will need multiple, separate visits in order to collect everything. In the map screen, a cross will help distinguish which stages have been completed all the way to the end.

The names of the stages revert to the ones used in Episode 1; however, the ninth stage will change its name depending if it is attempted a full party or with only Zangetsu available.