Rosenkreuzstilette

First Game: Rosenkreuzstilette
Airdate: December 31, 2007

Plot
Thousands of years ago, Magi, human beings with the ability to wield the power of magic existed. Since then, most of them had lost that power and only a few Magi were born. Those who were born with the gift of magic, however, were fated to live a life of being feared, hated, and persecuted by the Holy Empire and Orthodox Church. Finally, a great Magus, along with his eight disciples, stood up against their fate and fought a grueling battle against the Holy Empire and Orthodox Church. Ultimately, that very battle cost that great Magus his life, but his final wish came true when the Holy Empire had finally accepted Magi into their fighting force, thus creating the RKS, Rosenkreuzstilette: the Blades of the Rose Cross.

A few decades later, Spiritia Rosenberg, who acts as an instructor for the Imperial Army, returns home after six months of training in the Black Forest along with her fairy friend, Lilli. She was ordered by Graf Sepperin to see his daughter, Iris Sepperin. They meet at the Imperial Training Hall when a dragon swoops in and abducts Iris. Lilli leaves in pursuit of the dragon and Spiritia is left alone to witness an attack at the Imperial Training Hall. Spiritia and Lilli reunited after finding the Black Forest was set on fire. The one who was responsible for forest burning was none other than Spiritia's childhood friend, Freudia Neuwahl. She, and most of the members of the RKS, have begun a new war against Holy Empire and Orthodox Church on Graf Sepperin's orders to claim dominance and end their persecution once and for all. Freudia asks her to join in the war's cause, but Spiritia refuses to be a part of it and does not agree with their methods. Branded as a traitor to the organization, Spiritia, along with Lilli by her side, embark on a quest to get to the bottom of this new war...

Gameplay
In Rosenkreuzstilette, the player takes control of Spiritia Rosenberg in traditional Mega Man fashion; navigating through enemy and trap laden stages, defeating the stage's boss at the end of each stage (in Rosenkreuzstilette's case, each of Spiritia's fellow Magi in the RKS) to copy their powers and using that very power against a boss who could be weak against it. After the first half of the game is completed by defeating all of Spiritia's friends in the RKS, the second half the game will begin at Graf Michael Sepperin's Castle, and ultimately end at a final set of stages where the true antagonist is fought.

Extra Mode: Rosenkreuzstilette ~Grollschwert~
Is an alternate mode to Rosenkreuzstilette that can be played after inputting a secret code on the [erka:es] opening screen. In Rosenkreuzstilette ~Grollschwert~, the main protagonist is Grolla Seyfarth instead of Spiritia Rosenberg and plays through a slightly different storyline, although featuring the same stages.

The bonus game can be accessed by pressing Left, Right, Weapon Change R, and Weapon Change L (with default keys, ←, →, S, and A) at the [erka:es] logo screen, in that order.

Plot


Rosenkreuzstilette ~Grollschwert~ opens with Grolla becoming a witness to Iris Sepperin's murdering a priest and overhearing her plans to have the RKS start a war against the Holy Empire for her own amusement. Immediately, Iris attacks Grolla in an attempt to kill her, causing her to draw her sword and try to get her to explain her plan. Instead, Iris pretends she's being threatened when Sichte Meister walks in. Grolla, knowing that the wrong move could be her last, retreats for now to gather her thoughts and assess the situation, only to see right away that the castle is already under attack before long. Grolla then heads to the center of the commotion within the Imperial Training Hall and eventually meets up with Freudia Neuwahl, who is leading the strike, and attempts to convince her that Iris is only manipulating her and the rest of her colleagues (except Spiritia Rosenberg, who is still away training at the forest on Graf Michael Sepperin's order) for her enjoyment and that therefore the attack on the Empire should cease. But no one will listen to her, and they have branded her as a traitor to the organization with Graf Sepperin ordering her execution as punishment for having "assaulted and tried to kill such a sweet and innocent girl". Unable to convince any other member of the organization, Grolla takes it upon herself to fight her own friends to stop them from breaking out their war for Iris' amusement and afterwards get back at at Iris for her humiliation and betrayal against the organization.

Gameplay

 * Grolla can not learn any abilities of her own, thus being limited to her Grollschwert.
 * Her Grollschwert functions like Zero's Z-Saber from the Mega Man Zero series; Grolla can perform a 3-stage combo attack on the ground and charge attacks, the third swing deals greater damage than the first two and can go through an enemy's shield. Her charge attacks, however, are half as strong as a single non-charged Seelegewehr shot when her HP is above half. When Grolla reaches Desperation Mode (after losing half or more of her HP), her charge attack's attack range widens and its offensive power increases.
 * Grolla can perform Dash (Weapon Select L or press Left or Right twice) and Wall Kick (jump towards a wall) in place of Spiritia's Slide and Silberflügel abilities.
 * Grolla takes twice the amount of damage compared to Spiritia.
 * Spiritia Rosenberg serves as her replacement at the end of Grolla's Stage.

Second Game: Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel
Airdate: October 20th, 2012

Plot
Several months have passed since the events of Rosenkreuzstilette. A mysterious group of Dark Magi, captained by Pamela Arwig, have formed a new organization known as the Schwarzkreuz. The Schwarzkreuz abduct Spiritia Rosenberg and begin witch-hunting Magi for the church. Freudia Neuwahl sets off, along with her new fairy friend, Strudel, to fight the Schwarzkreuz, put an end to their witch-hunting scheme, and bring Spiritia back to the others at RKS.

Rosenkreuzstilette Weißsilber
Is an alternate unlockable mode in Rosenkreuzstilette ~Freudenstachel~ and the successor to the Rosenkreuzstilette ~Grollschwert~ mode included in Rosenkreuzstilette. In Rosenkreuzstilette ~Weißsilber~, the main protagonist is Pamela Arwig instead of Freudia Neuwahl, and ~Weißsilber~ features the same stages as ~Freudenstachel~, but with a slightly different storyline from the main game.

The button combination code to access ~Weißsilber~ is Up, Down, Weapon Change R, and Weapon Change L (↑, ↓, S, and A with default keys), in that order, which must be done at the [erka:es] logo screen.

Plot
After a conversation with the rest of the Schwarzkreuz, Pamela decides to head to RKS's base and fight against the RKS on her own for the purpose of defeating the organization and putting down the Walpurgisnacht. After she defeats the members of RKS, Pamela returns home only to be informed by Lecht & Rink Refraktia that both the pope and the organization have marked her as a holy traitor. Believing that she's been vilified, Pamela sets out to stop her colleagues and slay the villain responsible for having her vilified.

Gameplay
Pamela plays similarly to Grolla in Rosenkreuzstilette ~Grollschwert~, the difference being that she can fire three sword beams upon using her third slash. Like Grolla, she is unable to obtain any abilities from the bosses, unlike Freudia in ~Freudenstachel~, and is thus limited to using her Weißsilber. She can dash and climb walls and she takes twice as much damage as Freudia did in the main game, plus her charged attack grows stronger when she enters Desperation Mode. While Pamela can still access the location of the Black Forest's Treasure in Liebea Palesch's stage, the treasure is replaced by a Cross Tank. The boss of the Opening Stage is Freudia herself, and when playing as Pamela in her own stage later on, the boss of said stage is Karl Palesch.

Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel Sterblich
Airdate: December 8, 2012

Is an official mod for Rosenkreuzstilette ~Freudenstachel~ and its side-game Rosenkreuzstilette ~Weißsilber~ posted by WOMI on the erka:es journal as an early Christmas present. [sterblich] plays similarly to the main game, except that Freudia/Pamela now start at a single hit point, meaning that both player characters must finish the stages without taking any damage or else they will lose a life, and in addition, all health drops and Cross Tanks are removed. However, 1UPs are more common, dropping as often as the larger life pellets do in the main game.

The mode can be played by downloading the file from the [erka:es] site and placing it with the ~Freudenstachel~ game files.