World 11 introduces Makyrooma, the more unpredictable cousin to the Makyrooni that can damage both the player and enemies alike. The Hard Mode campaign then gives them all triangle shades.
Discussing the Waihnt and Pokkaf constructs:
Savant: It isn't unusual to encounter constructs adapted to their environment. Boki: And being in a forest is why there's bunny and sheep constructs around? Savant: Well, no, those are just weird. I have to question whoever designed such things.
If you beat Arikan with a Virs, the final shot has him trying desperately to destroy your mech, only for you to No-Sell him by a single claw swipe.
If you jump on Arikan before taking the sword, he'll call you immature.
"You immature little creature, I am not a trampoline!"
Most of the gloating that Burst/Hypercube Krijyl engages in should it beat the player. It almost makes up for how aggravatingly hard the battle is.
"Status report: subject 'Boki Lamira' has been vaporized. The yarn ball was not deployed, and would not have been effective." "Status report: former target 'Boki Lamira' has been identified as color-blind. Whether that was caused by my giant laser beam has yet to be determined." "Status report: Enemy's hat appears undamaged. I hereby claim it as a trophy of my victory." "Status report: I have completely vaporized every trace of our enemy. It is within proper protocol for this situation to declare that I am, indeed, amazing."
And if you've had enough of how much of a That One Boss she is and quit in frustration, she'll have this to say.
"Status report: Target has like, totally chickened out on me in the middle of battle. Disappointment levels increased by 150%."
Boki's response to the Giant Laser Penguin on Hard Mode.
Boki: Did you just make that up or does that actually exist?
Hard Mode Spatial Maze:
Hypercube: ATTENTION! THE NUMBER OF UNINTELLIGENT CATS ON THE STATION CONTINUES TO BE A NUMBER OTHER THAN ZERO! ALL CATS MUST BE ELIMINATED AT ONCE! Boki: Mrow, isn't that the same dumb insult it used last time? Savant: Well, it is a mere machine, after all. You can't expect too much out of it. Hypercube: STATUS UPDATE: I CAN HEAR EVERYTHING YOU TWO SAY, AND I AM DEEPLY OFFENDED.
The first time Hypercube Krijyl speaks up in Savant's Hard Mode campaign, Savant immediately mutes her.
The delivery person keeps heckling Savant over the number of penguin levels in the game, to the point that on Penguin Golf's Hard Mode variant, Savant opts to "do something more productive with his time" and outright skips the level. The game still counts it as having been beaten.
World 6, Hard Mode. Boki has to go "rescue" Savant, who is apparently held prisoner within the same facility she broke out of in Normal. Boki refuses to believe this, since Savant could easily teleport out of there, but he refuses to budge.
In the pre-level dialogue for Dungeon Lava Sewers, Boki comments on the ridiculousness of the concept, only for Savant to point out that Boki used to partake in "the floor is lava" when she was younger. Savant is supposed to be radio-jammed, and quickly remedies this once Boki calls him out.
Then we get to the boss. Zerynex Omega is completely out of left field, emitting constant meowing, transforming the battlefield to be rainbow and sparkly, being pink, emitting explosive hearts, and showering the area in bouncy missiles and glitter. If you die to it, Savant acts like everything is normal and encourages her not to give in to its 'intimidation' tactics, while Boki wonders exactly how Savant can take the fight seriously. It's utterly shocking how clashing this is compared to the normal fight.
The ending of the entire stage is simply Savant floating up, thanking Boki for rescuing him and then teleporting out, followed by Boki giving a silent, glaring Aside Glance to the player.
Savant's Prison Break-In isn't much better. He starts the world by explaining to the delivery person about the scenario of the world, and that he is supposed to be a prisoner. The delivery person immediately starts roleplaying as the damsel-in-distress and just really hamming it up; blowing into her arm to simulate a signal jammer, and even impersonating Supreme Thremnat as Savant reaches the end.
Boki's Zerynex makes a lot more sense if you consider that Lymia could've been the one who designed that encounter.
Some of the comments on the Sound Test can be amusing. Physalis Photon has no real commentary whatsoever, just saying "TECHNO RAVE PYRAMID."note Lymia: "It looks like they upgraded from rock... to techno!" Similarly, Strawberry Smooch has a random comment about strawberries that has nothing to do with the game.
The fact that all the songs in the games are named after fruits is also a bit funny.note It's because the songs are all jams.
The entirety of Savant's Hard Mode World 12. All the levels are replaced with goofy custom levels made by Lymia (to the point where they're all referred to as "Custom Level" as opposed to "Mission 12-1," etc. in their intros). Watermelons show up a lot, including as a variant of the Cube ability and even a melon-spitting dog that initially causes Savant to quit the level when he sees it.
A Genius Bonus too: the world is built around the tropes of "bad custom levels", including misaligned level geometry, unfair enemy placements, self-completing levels that don't really serve a purpose, and general "for the heck of it" levels such as The Biggest Bunny Stack; all hallmarks of someone trying out a level editor for the first time. Considering the devs have experience with Super Mario World romhacks, it's safe to say they know all about this stuff.
The sneaky Stealth Pun regarding the world's use of watermelons: the world uses Watermelon Waterway as its music.
The many, many wacky hijinks one can get in Pandemonium mode:
Gehligrukais with angelic powers seems thematically appropriate, but in practice things don't go very well. Due to the nature of Aekros's weapons, oftentimes the Gehligrukai will destroy the Constructs they are attempting to protect, and at the very least rendering their own shields useless due to them being instantly destroyed the moment they fire a single shot.
On the other hand, we have hilariously underwhelming combinations, such as Inensis with Chemical Bomb (which acts so much like their default shot that it's essentially a mere cosmetic difference), or the charge shot Kamehame Hadouken of the Sunfist Yolomo being replaced with snowballs. Not a giant snowball, mind you. Just a regular-sized one.
If one is capable of defeating Isotope in one go, the end dialogue between Savant and Boki downplays her threat as if that boss wasn't the single-most left-field encounter in the game.
Savant's run of "Penguin Popper" reveals that he completely forgot why he made the level, but leaves it in because he's sure he'll remember later.
Boki's introduction to Hard Mode.
Savant: I analyzed the results of your first run through the simulation, and used the data to create a new set of more difficult combat scenarios, just for you!
Boki: It still just says "Exie Attack." How hard could it be?
*cue a battle with the first boss, a Virs, and several other tough enemies all at the same time in a room full of lava*
Boki: *after the first retry* THIS is hard mode!?
Then it turns out Savant accidentally set the level to the maximum possible difficulty and dials back the difficulty after the first retry.
