Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django

Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (続・ボクらの太陽 太陽少年ジャンゴ), also known as Zoktai, is a video game that was developed and published by Konami for the Game Boy Advance. Released in North America and Japan in 2004 and in Europe in 2005, it is the sequel to Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand.

Gameplay
Boktai 2's gameplay is largely identical to that of the original, consisting of a series of stealth- and puzzle-oriented dungeons ending in boss battles against vampires with new role-playing game elements. Additions include new weapons, the ability to forge weapons, a money system, and various subtle alterations.

Storyline
The game takes place in San Miguel, Django's home town. As Django arrives he is confronted by a mysterious vampire who steals the Gun Del Sol (Solar Gun) and somehow uses it on Django. Unarmed, he makes his way through the dungeon and is greeted by Zazie the Sunflower girl. She bestows upon him the Sol de Vice (Solar Glove), which gives Django the ability to enchant ordinary weapons, like a sword, with the power of the sun.

He arrives at what is left of San Miguel. Upon arriving he finds out that the vampire who stole the Gun Del Sol has been through here. He hears that Smith, the town blacksmith, is missing. He decides to go find Smith in hope of finding out something about the vampire. He is told by Zazie that she saw Smith head towards the cathedral. Django decides that was the best place to start looking for him. The story evolves from here into something much larger.

Towards the end of the game, Django will regain his Solar Gun; however, it will be greatly damaged due to the use of it by the vampire otherwise known as Ringo. Although the character known as Smith will repair it, it is unable to be restored to its original functionality.

If the player chooses to continue their game after beating the game, he or she will start off from where the game was last saved, rather than how the continue function worked in Boktai 1, where the player needed to restart the game. There are four different endings that are somewhat the same, other than the characters who are talking with Django, who basically talk about dark and light needing to be together in order for both to co-exist, and who, exactly, helped Django during the final battle. The characters include Earthly Maiden Lita, Dark Boy Sabata, the librarian named Lady, and the Smith's granddaughter named Violet (Sumire in Japan).

The way you get each ending is dependent on the number of times you have defeated the final boss, the Doomsday Beast Jormungandr. When you defeat him the first time, you are talking with Zazie. After Jormungandr's first defeat, you cannot fight him again until you have completed the Megaman (Rockman) sidequest with Shademan. When that's completed and you defeat Jormungandr again, you will be talking with Violet. When you defeat Jormungandr a third time, you talk with Sabata. Defeat Jormungandr again, and you'll end up talking with Lady. One last time, and you'll talk with Lita. The cycle then repeats itself when defeating Jormungandr.

There are a total of two bad endings, like there was in Boktai 1 if you failed to collect sunlight to revive Otenko. The first bad ending is in the Spiral Tower while Django and Sabata are talking to the Black Dainn. Dainn will tell Django to become their "Dark Sun," and a choice will be appear reading “Join Black Dainn” or “Refuse!!” Choosing to “Join Black Dainn” will result in a short cut scene and then the credits. The second bad ending takes place after fighting the Ancestor Piece Jormungandr. If you fail to solar charge enough energy within the ten second time limit, Jormungandr will swallow Django and you'll have failed to seal the Doomsday Beast.

Characters
There are a number of new characters added in this installment of the series. Kid, who runs the potion/armour shop, is met at a certain point in that game. Lady runs the library, serves as a guild master, and is also a tarot master. Cheyenne the Wind Warrior runs the weapon shop once you meet and defeat him. A grim man runs a coffin shop with many specialty coffins. Also, Solid Snake (from Konami's Metal Gear series) makes a cameo as "???".

Older characters such as Master Otenko, Sabata, and Lita (who happens to run the item shop) return as well. However, Lita's function has changed somewhat; in addition to tending the solar tree, she now sells fruit, eliminating the need to grow them like in the first game. Her prices depend on how much solar energy was collected the previous day.

Money
The sunlight is no longer used just for energy, but also as a form of currency called SOLL, which is good all over San Miguel. As you play the game in daylight, the player builds Solar Energy, or SOL, in the solar stations scattered throughout the in-game world. By converting SOL to SOLL via the local bank (where SOLL is stored and can gain interest) with a 1 SOL=1 SOLL conversion rate, energy can be turned into cash. This cash can be used to buy weapons or other various items. SOLL is also used to purchase a life when the player dies and wishes to continue. The player can get SOLL by selling unneeded items. SOLL can also be converted back to SOL when needed, so one can get energy, make it cash, buy things, and convert leftover SOLL to SOL.

Unlike in the first game, the player does not start over from the beginning of the game after finishing it. The player resumes the file in the last area. Like the first game, this one has a minigame that can be unlocked by completing the game twice. The player can gain access to this minigame by talking to Nero the cat (Kuro in the original Japanese version) or completing the game an even number of times. Prizes for high scores include photos and healing items.

Dream Avenue and the Arena
Boktai featured a level named the "Azure Sky Tower" which presented a formidable challenge to players who have completed the game or were highly skilled. Boktai 2 ' s equivalent is named Dream Avenue. Progress through the level yields Tarot cards, Bearnuts, Sunny Clogs and more. Completing the Avenue nets you a prize, with quality of prize based upon the difficulty of the challenge. There is also a Battle Arena to test the player's skills in a boss rush-type mode. There are four difficulty levels to the arena: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Every time you complete a rank you get a special item, usually a photograph of one of the game's characters.

Missions
When Lady comes back to the library you can do various missions from different characters. There are four levels and three missions for each area. You get rewards for doing the missions. Upon the first completion you get a tarot card or armor but when you repeat the mission you only get a potion of some sort. Some missions have items that you can get nowhere else. Some missions have time limits and others have to be done to unlock other missions.

Solar Boy: Red Django
Red Django is Django's normal form. In Red form, he can use Luna and Sol magic. Luna magic makes use of elements Flame, Frost, Cloud and Earth. The element used in your magic is then infused into your weapon. Sol magic requires the solar gauge to be at a certain level before it can be used. Sol Magic includes Freeze (stops an enemy), Dash, Healing (to grow plants), and Dynamite.

Combat wise, Red Django is Sol Element. He swings slower then his Vampire form, but has more magic available to him.

Red Django can be played in multiplayer right from the beginning.

Vampire Boy: Black Django
In this installment, Django gains a number of new abilities after he is bitten by a vampire. Among them is the ability to transform into Black Django. In this form, Django's skin is blue, his clothes are darker, and his scarf is given the appearance of wings. His headband is pulled halfway over his face, giving it the appearance of a mask.

Black Django also gains the ability to shape shift into a bat, mouse, or werewolf. As a bat or mouse, he has greater accessibility to new areas due to his smaller size. In his werewolf form, he bites into any enemy with their back turned to him to restore his health. He can also sleep in a coffin to restore solar energy. This form is the only one capable of using any Change magic or the Dark Enchant magic. Eating any Solar Fruit as Black Django gives him a Stomach Ache (which causes your screen to become blurry when moving). He also can't go outside while it's raining or when the solar gauge picks up sunlight, as it will burn Django (you may use the Rain Coat or Sunscreen, respectively, to prevent damage). Using the Gun Del Sol also causes similar damage.

Combat-wise, Black Django is Dark element. He wields weapons much more quickly than he does as Red Django. When used, his weapons will also emit a small shock wave, giving him a greater range as well. After the defeat of a certain number of enemies, Black Django will shake visibly and give a small grunt. If hurt after this, he will attack everything on the screen in a fit of rage, which halves his current amount of life but inflicting everything else with a similar amount of damage.

Black Django is playable in Multiplayer after you purify the second Immortal.

Dark Boy: Sabata
During two parts of the game, you gain control of Django's dark brother, Sabata. He only has one weapon and armor: Gun Del Hell, which fires shots or can be charged for a Spinning Spread; and Mail of Luna, which makes him resistant to all elements. He is also level 99 right at the start, which is the maximum level you can reach in the game. Sabata also does a Darkness Charge (gaining energy out of darkness) instead of a Solar Charge. Sunlight causes him damage when exposed to it, which can be prevented with Sunscreen. He has two unique Dark Magic abilities: Zero Shift, which instantaneously moves him, and Black Sun, which completely blocks out the solar sensor.

Gameplay wise, Sabata is Dark element.

Sabata is playable in multiplayer after you clear the Spiral Tower dungeon.

Enemies
This game also features both new and old enemies. Some enemies include crows, centipede, bandits, grave keepers, hellhounds, bees, bats, spiders, serpents, skeletons, mummies, and liches. There are also crimson enemies. Crimson enemies appear after you kill about one hundred of an enemy (i.e. kill 100 bandits, there will be crimson bandits). Crimson enemies drop rare items and give many EXP (experience points), but have much more Life and Attack.

Solar forging
This game contains a new feature called solar forging. You can use solar forging after you have beaten the cathedral and saved Smith. Solar forging lets you combine two weapons into one. It does not matter if you found it, an enemy dropped it, or you bought it. To use solar forging, you must first have two weapons of any type. Two weapons of the same name will produce another of the same name, which is useful for creating SP weapons later on in the game. (i.e. blood sword and blood sword = blood sword SP (when done properly), long sword and long sword = long sword SP). A combination of two weapons of the same type will give another weapon of that type, while weapons of two different types will yield one of the third types (for example, a sword with a sword will always give you a sword and a sword with a spear will always turn into a hammer).

Connection with MegaMan Battle Network 5
When a Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter is connected to a Game Boy Advance playing Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django, you are able to connect to MegaMan Battle Network 5 (Rockman.EXE 5: Team of Blues or Team of Colonel for the original title) by entering the code L R L R L L R R R R L L SELECT START SELECT START at the Link menu. This places Django in an area with the vampire enemy in Battle Network 5, ShadeMan.EXE, who also appears for the person playing Battle Network 5. The object is to either attempt to defeat ShadeMan.EXE with each player’s game before the other or to attack MegaMan.EXE (Rockman.EXE in the original Japanese version) or Django via special attacks through ShadeMan and reduce their opponent's HP to zero. In the Nintendo DS version of Battle Network 5, by slotting Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django (or in Japan, Shin Bokura no Taiyō Gyakushū no Sabata), you may obtain "Sol Cross MegaMan.EXE/RockMan.EXE", which gives you a Gun del Sol charge shot and several other abilities. 'GunDelSol' is also a Battle chip, and there is a Navi chip named 'Django' as well.

After Jormungandr is defeated, ShadeMan.EXE is available as an optional boss. After he is defeated, Django gains the MegaBuster. However, to use the "Charge Shot" function, the player must fight at least a few Crossover Battles, and trade the resultant points for a possible "Mega Power" protector. Other MegaMan armors are also available.