Controls (change with Z button)[]
Energy[]
Each application requires energy (EN). Using them (even with the EN-free custom apps) interrupts EN regeneration briefly. EN regeneration is extremely fast when in Burst mode. Enemies refill some of your EN on defeat.
Burst mode[]
Burst mode can be used at any point during the stages by pressing and holding down the "remove lock" button, even during the death animation. Bursting has the following effects:
-refills your health once
-accelerates your EN regeneration
-summons 2 clones which repeat all your actions, effectively tripling your damage output
-Health starts to drain each second until you clear the stage or die
-auto-collects nearby health drops
-chain counter decreases more slowly
Health items are dropped from various enemies or hidden in the stage. Many stages have objectives where you either need to use Burst right at the start or not use Burst at all.
Double Jump and Assault[]
Pressing the jump button mid-air without pressing any direction performs a double jump at the cost of 50 EN. It can be repeated indefinitely. Pressing the jump button mid-air while pressing a direction performs the currently equipped Assault app, which is usually a damaging air dash that blocks enemy bullets to a degree.
Parrying[]
Some enemies use melee attacks which can be blocked by using Blade apps.
Cancelling[]
Most of the apps can be cancelled by either using another app or a double jump. This cancels out the active frames and cooldown of most apps. For example, using the Slow Dagger app and then immediately using any Blade app allows you to follow up with another Slow Dagger shot.
Armor value[]
Some enemies have an armor value higher than 0. When you use an app with 50 damage against a foe with 10 armor you end up dealing 40 damage. Usually larger enemies are completely immune to weak apps since their armor is higher than the app's damage.
Score[]
Some of the objectives require you to achieve a certain score treshold. The sum of your stage scores can be viewed on the main menu of your savegame. The score at the end of a stage is based on these factors:
-Score: Points received by killing enemies. Defeating large enemies and bosses with a high chain counter grants major score points.
-Time: The time multiplier starts out at 2x and starts to decrease after 1m22s elapse. After 2m45s it will decrease below a multiplier of 1, possibly all the way to 0.1x as the table shows. Clearing the stage as fast as possible ensures a high multiplier.
| time | ～１：２２ | １：２３～１：２６ | １：２７～１：３２ | １：３３～１：３７ | １：３８～１：４３ |
| multiplier | 2 | 1,9 | 1,8 | 1,7 | 1,6 |
| １：４４～１：５０ | １：５１～１：５８ | １：５９～２：０７ | ２：０８～２：１７ | ２：１８～２：３０ | |
| 1,5 | 1,4 | 1,3 | 1,2 | 1,1 | |
| ２：３１～２：４５ | ２：４６～３：０４ | ３：０５～３：２７ | ３：２８～３：５７ | ３：５８～４：３７ | |
| 1 | ,9 | ,8 | ,7 | ,6 | |
| ４：３８～５：３２ | ５：３３～６：５５ | ６：５６～９：１４ | ９：１５～１３：５２ | １３：５３～２７：４５ | |
| ,5 | ,4 | ,3 | ,2 | ,1 |
-Chain counter: Each hit dealt to an enemy increases the chain counter. The highest chain achieved during the stage grants additional score points. It also serves as a multiplier for the score points received by killing enemies. The chain counter decreases over time, more slowly when in Burst mode. Landing a hit renews it.
-Burst: Rises with each second spent in burst mode.
Ideally you want use burst mode at the start to defeat as many enemies as possible with a high chain counter while being fast enough to stay in the 2x time multiplier range.
Application level up[]
The score points gathered during a stage are rewarded as Application experience points. These are distributed based on how much damage they've dealt to enemies.