History VideoGame / AzureStrikerGunvolt3

* ShootTheShaggyDog: Epilogue ATEMS focuses heavily on the Azure Spirits as the PlotCoupon of the week, implying that they will lead to the secrets behind Primal Dragonization, [[spoiler:culminating in a fight with an EvilKnockoff of Primal Dragon Gunvolt formed from a mass of Azure Spirits. However, just as Kirin and ZedΩ are about to take their haul back fully intent on properly researching them, all the Azure Spirits they've collected suddenly manifest and possess Layla, causing Luxia to go berserk and forcing ZedΩ to fight and save her. Shortly afterwards, all but one of the Azure Spirits vanish to parts unknown, leaving most of their efforts in vain much to Zed&#937's disappointment and regret. The only notable plot development to stick is Layla giving Kirin that final Azure Spirit in what's implied to be a SequelHook.]]

* AntiClimax: Epilogue ATEMS focuses heavily on the Azure Spirits as the PlotCoupon of the week, implying that they will lead to the secrets behind Primal Dragonization. [[spoiler:They wind up losing almost all of them at the very end, meaning that effectively nothing gets accomplished and the plot relevance of the Azure Spirits disappears completely except for the (completely unexplained) FinalBoss. The only notable plot development is Layla giving Kirin the last remaining Azure Spirit before ATEMS goes back home, which appears to be implied to be a SequelHook.]]

* SequelHook: The game ends with [[spoiler:Gunvolt using Astral Order to regress into an infantile state and essentially [[{{Reincarnation}} reincarnate]] himself to give both himself and the world a chance at a better future]]. Epilogue ATEMS also adds [[spoiler:Azure Spirits scattering across the country once more, with Kirin obtaining one of them after Zed subdues the BrainwashedAndCrazy Layla]].

''Azure Striker Gunvolt 3'' is a RunAndGun game in the ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvoltSeries'' developed by Creator/IntiCreates, with assistance from Creator/KeijiInafune of [[Creator/Level5 Level-5 comcept]] as "Action Supervisor". It is the fifth game in the ''Gunvolt'' series (following ''VideoGame/LuminousAvengerIX2'') and the third main numbered entry (following ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt2''). The game was released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch on July 28th, 2022 and for the UsefulNotes/XboxOne and UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS on August 2, 2022. A PC version for UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} was released on October 13, 2022 while the UsefulNotes/Playstation4 and UsefulNotes/Playstation5 versions will release December 15, 2022.

*** The DLC Passive Image Pulse "Grand Strizer" GUNVOLT features the return of the SP Skill Grand Strizer from ''[=ASG2=]'', which if used at sufficiently high Kudos level can one-shot bosses even at full HP.

** The final main level for Epilogue ATEMS is the Futures Institute, the very first level in the base game. Unlike the original, the level takes place during the daytime, the giant barriers have been removed, and most of the Sumeragi infantrymen have been replaced by more threatening enemies.

** The midgame level for Epilogue ATEMS is the Futures Institute, the very first level in the base game. Unlike the original, the level takes place during the daytime, the giant barriers have been removed, and most of the Sumeragi infantrymen have been replaced by more threatening enemies.

* RemixedLevel: The Megafloat "Neptune", Sumeragi's fully automated offshore product storage and shipment facility, is visited twice in the game. The first time is during a heavy rainstorm to subjugate Apollo, an Adept pulling a labor job on-site who suddenly turned into a Primal Dragon. Later, Kirin and Gunvolt are sent back to stop Prado, who has turned the facility into a HailfirePeaks level and intends to steal the Binding Brand hidden deeper within the facility.

* TakeThat: During the optional boss fight with Teseo and Merak, Kirin goes on the tirade on how memes, and the former's way of speaking sprang from the "dark ages" and is considered obsolete today leading to Teseo's ThisCannotBe moment. In other words, she considers the new 10's and 20's as the dark age of the internet.

* TakeThat: During the optional boss fight with Teseo and Merak, Kirin goes on the tirade on how memes, and the former's way of speaking sprang from the "dark ages" and is considered obsolete today leading to Teseo's ThisCannotBe moment. In other words, she considers our new 10's and 20's as the dark age of the internet.

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: [[spoiler:Gunvolt receives visions of a BadFuture from Moebius depicting him going on a rampage and razing the entire planet to the ground. In order to stop the prophesized future from coming to fruition, he either kills himself (in the bad ending) or Kirin seals Moebius using her Radiant Fetters (in the true ending), whereas if Gunvolt spends too much time in berserk state after Kirin is down, he will actually cause said apocalypse to happen.]]

* KilledOffForReal: Averted in this game, as Kirin abides by a ThouShaltNotKill policy. [[spoiler:It's only played straight in the bad ending when Gunvolt kills himself to prevent the end of the world.]]

** Bad Ending: Defeat the final boss. [[spoiler:Although Kirin successfully manages to defeat Gunvolt, it's not enough as Moebius continues to rampage out of control. At risk of losing himself permanently and causing the complete annihilation of the world, Gunvolt musters the last of his strength to impale himself on Kirin's blade, fatally wounding him. As Gunvolt fades away into nothingness, Kirin collapses in shock and disbelief.]]

* PlayerNudge: After getting the bad ending for the first time, Lumen, Kirin and Gunvolt hold a conversation where they note that [[spoiler:Moebius isn't evil, just a victim of its own powers much like the other Primal Dragons earlier in the game. They go on to strongly hint that they should find a way to neutralize it without using force]].

* PoorCommunicationKills: Upon encountering [[spoiler:Moebius, Gunvolt receives a sudden vision of a BadFuture where he causes TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, which ZedΩ comments on even if he doesn't know the details by explaining Moebius's [[WindsOfDestinyChange ability to bend fate to a particular future]]. Gunvolt sees this vision again after the initial fight with Moebius and when the baby Primal Dragon [[DemonicPossession possesses him]] trying to attack Kirin, and assumes from this that Moebius intends to force him to enact that future. However, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/gunvolt/comments/wfryhu/morbius_gibberish_translation/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf actually translating]] Moebius' StarfishLanguage in its Special attack and Image Pulses shows that Mobius is trying to ''[[WellIntentionedExtremist kill Gunvolt]]'' in order to save the world due to it seeing said future where the Azure Striker destroys it, and is attacking Kirin as well because she's a threat to Moebius doing this. Their inability to recognize what the other really wants results in the FinalBoss battle where, in the Bad Ending, ''both'' [[TakingYouWithMe Gunvolt and Moebius]] end up dead by Kirin's hand when [[SuicideByCop GV forces it]].]]

* ThouShaltNotKill: Compared to both Gunvolt and Copen, who would bluntly kill all the Adepts they encounter for either pragmatic or vengeful reasons respectively, Kirin ''doesn't'' kill, as a shrine maiden that is doing her best to help people even despite her BloodKnight tendencies for getting into fights. It's to the point that the antagonists are outright shocked that she doesn't finish them off. [[spoiler:In the bad ending, being forced to kill Gunvolt ''[[BreakTheCutie shatters]]'' any optimism or positivity Kirin had.]]

* {{Superboss}}: Nova and Asimov function as this with their additions in Versions 1.3 and Versions 1.4 respectively. Not only can they only be accessed in-story by taking specific actions during the FinalBoss battle, their movesets are essentially upgraded and revamped versions of their original fights as the FinalBoss and TrueFinalBoss of ''1''. They also have the benefit of a TurnsRed phase that further enhances and revamps their fighting style, effectively acting as a second phase, and their difficulty is comparable if not greater than the actual FinalBoss of the game.

** The Version 1.4 update added a boss fight against Asimov. Unlike ''VideoGame/LuminousAvengerIX'', this fight is a heavily upgraded version of his TrueFinalBoss battle from the original ''Azure Striker Gunvolt''.

** Ex Image Pulse: Nova and Desna adds new Skill Image Pulses based on Nova and Desna, as well as new Passive Image Pulses based on Nova, the Plasma Legion, and ''[GV2=]'' Gunvolt.

* DownloadableContent:
** EX Image Pulse: Stratos and Ghauri adds new Skill Image Pulses based on Stratos and Ghauri, as well as new Passive Image Pulses based on ''[=GV2=]'' Joule, Elise, Gibril, and ''[=GV1=]'' Gunvolt. Like most Inti Creates DLC, it costs $1.99 but is free for the first two weeks.
** Ex Image Pulse: Elise and Asroc adds new Skill Image Pulses based on Elise and Asroc, as well as new Passive Image Pulses based on BB, Shiron, and Corvette (the name of the Sumeragi executive in the intro stage). Like most Inti Creates DLC, it costs $1.99 but is free for the first two weeks.
** Ex Image Pulse: Merak and Teseo adds new Skill Image Pulses based on Merak and Teseo, as well as new Passive Image Pulses based on Apollo, Cayman, and Elise. Like most Inti Creates DLC, it costs $1.99 but is free for the first two weeks.

** In version 1.4 Asimov tells GV during his boss fight that he doesn't have much time to live, and wanted Kirin's Radiant Fetters in order to prolong his life. [[spoiler:This references his future role as Demerzel in ''Luminous Avenger [=iX=]'' where his own Primal Dragon transformation degraded his sanity and needed said Fetters to prevent it.]]
** Asimov retains his Flashfield charge attack from his original boss battle. If you are in Berserk GV, you can block it with your own Flashfield just like in the original game.

* CallForward: [[spoiler:The Asimov fight is all but stated to take place in an AlternateUniverse version of the ''Luminous Avenger iX'' timeline. The fight takes place in the same room where the Butterfly Effect is located in the BadFuture, and Asimov wants to use Radiant Fetters to prevent his "dead end", indicating that he is losing stability over his human form and is anticipating his transformation into Demerzel.]]

** In order to get access to the bosses added in later updates, the player has to perform unintuitive maneuvers which are only hinted by the game's official website.

** In order to get access to the bosses added in later updates, the player has to jump into a specific pit during [[spoiler:Sunrise Palace 2]] in order to trigger a teleport or get hit by [[spoiler:Moebius' special move Damnatio Memoriae]] while playing as GV and holding a specific Image Pulse [[spoiler:(Nova's 3* from completing Sunrise Palace 1 on Hard)]]. The only way of finding these methods given by the developers is by checking the game's website.