How to get all Endings & General Tips

How to unlock all seven Endings. Also, tips and observations that will help make your runs smoother.

Endings

1) Regret



Path: Longxi Town > Kouga Industry > Tang Dynasty Hotel > Kouga Sea Base

Summary: You save your wife, but she falls victim to Tianwu's nefarious scheme.

2) Brain Miner



Path: Longxi Town > Ditch Village > Tang Dynasty Hotel > Kouga Sea Base > Tompson Technology

Summary: You bring Song Boyong to justice, but he initiates a nefarious scheme while in prison.

3) 1.15 Million People



Path: Longxi Town > Ditch Village > Tang Dynasty Hotel > FengLi Walled City (failed to meet time limit) > Tompson Technology

Summary: You fail to save your wife, and kill Song Boyong to avenge yourself. This causes 1.15 million people to die, and you perish in an accident soon after.

4) Praying Family



Path: Longxi Town > Kouga Industry > Tang Dynasty Hotel > FengLi Walled City (failed to meet time limit) > Tompson Technology

Summary: You send Song Boyong to prison. However, you underestimate his threat and an entire generation is enslaved.

5) Simulated World



Path: Longxi Town > Ditch Village > Tang Dynasty Hotel > FengLi Walled City (succeeded within time limit) > Kouga Sea Base > Tompson Technology

Summary: You see a vision of Song Boyong working through a simulation of what might have been.

6) Tompson Technology and The Future



Path: Longxi Town > Kouga Industry > Tang Dynasty Hotel > FengLi Walled City (succeeded within time limit) > Kouga Sea Base > Tompson Technology

Summary: During an expose show on air, Tianwu hijacks Lisbeth and threatens the city. Everyone's fate is in Tianwu's hands.

Tips for smoother runs

1) Invest in good melee weapons

I can't stress this enough. I progressed pretty quickly through early loops because I managed to get my hands on a green (uncommon?) Pipe & Wrench melee weapon that was surprisingly effective, then a blue (rare?) melee weapon called Lightweight Spear in Longxi Town in my early attempts, and a Sky Splitter (epic?) in another loop shortly after.

After several more loops and progression, I eventually focused on using the Rime Razor (and later Magma Hammer) till I started clearing loops consistently.



2) Quit and Continue at Dave Ray

Refresh Dave Ray's inventory of 3 FREE items by quitting and continuing while you're at ChangXu Detective Office. Any item you pick will be stored in your inventory (replacing one of your items) when you load back in with Continue.

This can help smoothen your loadout if you've unlocked some good stuff, but died before completing a loop since you only retain your inventory if you clear a loop successfully and get one of the endings.

My favorite loadout for quick and efficient clearing uses the Lava Gunblade (wide, sweeping strikes with knockback), Sniper Rifle (high damage), Voltaic Turret (high charges, electric DoT) and Falling Thunder (AOE to either side of character). They're expensive, so make sure you've got some e-coins set aside for unlocking these in the late game (typically in Kouga Sea Base and TT).



3) Early Cores for Health and Balance Guarantee

You can get Cores each time you successfully clear a location by talking to the Superintendent, from boss fights, or from completing selected Challenges in stages.

While there's no fixed way to build, I've found that increasing your Health pool (through Full of Life) and the amount of e-coins you retain after each death (through Reserve Funds) can lead to better longevity in each loop.

More longevity means more time farming, and being able to bank e-coins you farm for your next loop means more opportunity to unlock nice weapons you find in stages, or to upgrade them (since you can only upgrade items you find at Dave Ray, which happens as early as your first visit to ChangXu Detective office).



4) Picking Buff Bot Upgrades

My first few loops, I picked Resilience (HP) Buff Bot upgrades and Blood Bank (extra HP Soda potion charges) whenever I could so I could go longer and farther. Remember that picking a HP upgrade also restores your entire HP bar, which means you can use it as a spot heal if you need one (and save yourself a HP Soda potion).

Typically, you can get anywhere from 7 to 15 Buff Bot upgrades with each completed loop. With Buff Bot upgrades maxed out, you can cap at:

HP +50, Stamina +72, HP Soda +7 uses, Melee Damage +48%, Gun Magazine +72%, Tactical Charges +72%, Skill Chip CD +40%.



5) First Complete Loop

The easiest route you can pick is probably the Regret ending. It's not the greatest ending, but the mobs and bosses tend to be less tricky to deal with overall.

Since Upgrades, e-coins and your existing gear roll over only when you successfully complete a loop and live, this path is the shortest one (and typically the one of least resistance).

Ending 7: Perfect Dream

It's taken multiple runs, but I've finally managed to hit the PD ending as of today.

This appears to unlock only after all other endings are unlocked.

So now that I've actually achieved it, here's the visual detailing the route.


Path: Longxi Town > Kouga Industry > Tang Dynasty Hotel > FengLi Walled City (succeeded within time limit) > Kouga Sea Base > Tompson Technology

So from the looks of it, it's the same as the TT ending, but where it deviates is that at the final pre-fight cut scene, you'll call out to Song Boyong from the balcony (he doesn't get backstabbed by Possessed Ogata).



Theories:

I've consistently managed to clear each stage in under 5 minutes in the lead up to Tompson Tech while fishing for endings, and In this run, I also finished FengLi Walled City with plenty of time left on the timer (it was sub 15:30 when I killed Song Boyong).

Before this attempt though, I went for the Simulated World ending because it felt thematically appropriate. Does this matter? It's worth an attempt to confirm it.

It's also entirely possible that you getting the ending is completely arbitrary and dependent on something that the devs know but we don't.

Does Quitting and Continuing Work Here?

I've also got a suspicion that the final scene has a small chance of deviating if you reload the stage, and if you Quit and Continue (effectively restarting the stage) when you see the cut scene, it's entirely possible to force it to eventually load the cut scene you want, leading to the PD ending.

[AxelBlade]

Get Prerfect Dream just rush through all levels to the boss and ignore all fights and mobs. U don't need other endings. Just free inner speedrunner and go.

[i-dot]

how to reach this secret note in the hotel which on the platform that above the door in the room?
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3158635840
I can't jump so long or so high

[gfcjyb]

@kawaiineko333 Nope, I got Perfect Dream already without getting Regret and Praying Family

[gfcjyb]

I think to trigger the PD ending we just need to rush Thomson fast. I think I heard some beeping sound when I played through this level - is that a time counter?

[Willowisp]

I have a question. I started the game on final difficulty, so I didn't finish any loop so far. As I undestand, if i'll finish the loop, all the buff upgrades will stay with me. But what will happen if I'll die on the next try after finishing the loop? Will it reset buffs to zero or buffs will be saved at the point when i had finished the previous loop?

[kawaiineko333]

I would think you have to get all the other endings first before you get the Perfect Dream ending.

[DONKEYHOT]

Yeah, i've take a PD ending by fast clearing levels.

[Crimson]

Just cleared it and updated the guide too. Absolutely agree that there's a missed opportunity here to end the story on a good note. Hope the devs are keeping an eye on feedback!

[quixoticaxis]

It's a bummer, btw. I was hoping for some conclusion to the story. It should be noted though, that I miss a few cards on the board, namely two cards in the agency and, I suppose, Ogata's mother.

[quixoticaxis]

I got all endings, including the "happy" one where the detective is with his family, but there does not seem to be any "true" ending. Running through the loop fast does not change the ending, IMHO.