FORZA POLPO – Beginner’s Guide (How to Flight)

A text guide for the core mechanics of Forza Polpo. The game’s lightweight tutorial can sometimes leave new players confused and frustrated, so hopefully this will help alleviate some of that!

Beginner’s Guide

All credit goes to Blithering Idiot !

Having a hard time getting started in Forza Polpo? Feeling stressed about your energy levels? Polpo has a more nuanced set of mechanics than it may initially appear to have, but the tutorial won’t explain everything. This small guide will cover some of the basic techniques that go into piloting Polpo effectively.

Piloting Polpo

Polpo has access to several different jumps, as well as the ability to glide, and learning the difference between them can help you save a lot of energy and make exploring the stages more efficient.

• Short jump – achieved by briefly tapping the jump button, this uses the least amount of energy possible in a jump and causes Polpo to jump a set height.
• High jump – Press and hold the jump button to active Polpo’s thrusters and climb even higher. A high jump can give Polpo as much as three times as much altitude of a short jump, but it costs more than three times as much energy to do so. You can also hold the jump button for slightly less time to fine tune your jump height. This technique is useful, but it drains a lot of energy and should not be overused.
• Triple jump – After jumping off the ground, Polpo can then jump twice in the air as well, allowing for up to three consecutive jumps. Tapping the button three times will do consecutive short jumps. Three well timed short jumps can give you as much height as a single high jump, and it costs much less energy. This is one of the most energy efficient types of jump Polpo can make, and should be used frequently while exploring to minimize energy drain.

You can also do three high jumps. This consumes a large amount of energy, but gives you a tremendous amount of altitude, and can be useful. You can mix and match short and long jumps at will. Three short jumps not quite enough to reach a ledge? Try a single long jump and then a short jump.

Finally, note that consecutive jumps can only be made while Polpo is ascending from a jump, or at its peak. Once Polpo starts falling, pressing the jump button will activate glide mode instead.

• Glide – Press the jump button while Polpo is descending and you will activate Polpo’s thrusters and begin to glide. Hold the jump button to continue gliding. This drains energy very rapidly, but you can greatly extend your distance and improve energy efficiency by repeatedly tapping the jump button in a rhythym to use Polpo’s thrusters in short bursts, rather than in a single long burn.
• Power Glide – A more advanced technique that is completely optional. The first glide in a jump that Polpo starts has a horizontal speed cap of 14 m/s. However, subsequent glides can break that cap. Once you’re ready to glide, tap the jump button once and immediately release it to begin and end the first glide instantly. Then press and hold the jump button to initiate the power glide. As long as you hold down the button, Polpo will continue to accumulate more and more horizontal speed, at the cost of a large amount of energy. Once you attain the level of speed you want, you can release the button and resume using the usual short bursts to continue your glide more efficiently. This will take some practice to get used to, but allows for some fancy maneuvers once mastered.

Energy Management

A key aspect of the game, managing Polpo’s energy meter can seem intimidating at first, but there’s a wide variety of energy sources once you know where to look!

• Energy drain – Polpo’s battery will drain whenever Polpo takes any action. Moving, jumping, gliding, and firing Polpo’s main weapon will all consume energy. Polpo does not lose energy while standing still, however.
• Finding batteries – The most common way to replenish Polpo’s energy is by consuming batteries, small pink cylinders hidden throughout the levels you can collect and use as needed. Many of these batteries are hidden inside small objects. Take the time to blast any suspicious looking clutter you see lying around, as they often contain batteries that will make you life much easier. Pink colored objects are far more likely to contain batteries. If you see any small pink object, make sure you shoot it! Likewise, TV and computer monitors scattered throughout the game will always relinquish a battery when shot.

Battery locations are not random! The same objects in a stage will always contain batteries in the same places. Try to remember where the batteries are! That way, even if you fail to complete a level the first time, you’ll already know where to go and find some extra energy on your next attempt.

• Fall recharge – Falling from a high enough distance will restore a chunk of Polpo’s energy based on how far the drop was. This can add up quite a bit over the course of a level, so look for opportunities to gain a fall recharge energy boost! If you fall far enough, Polpo will gain a pink aura, and will release a damaging shockwave that strikes everything nearby upon landing. Remember that you cannot cancel into glide once a fall recharge begins, so make sure you have solid ground underneath you.

• Defeating enemies – Defeating an enemy, either with Polpo’s weapons or by jumping on them, will restore a chunk of energy.
• Collecting fruit – Collecting the fruit bonuses scattered across each stage will also restore a chunk of energy in addition to the bonus points they grant. Pineapples restore a small amount, cherries and peaches restore a bit more, and if you can find a watermelon, it will restore Polpo to max energy.
• Collecting Codecubes – Each of the three codecubes you collect will restore a small amount of energy, about as much as a cherry or peach. This energy is not restored until after the codecube collection animation completes.
• Energy clouds – Pink orbs that float in the sky on many stages, they will instantly restore a portion of Polpo’s energy on contact, and tend to be positioned in such a way that you can glide through all of them in order and cover a lot of distance.

• Energy stations – Rare, but found in a couple levels, these are devices that will release an enegry regenerating shower when the button on them is shot. The number of uses is limited, but if you pass by one, might as well top your energy off, right?
• Energy banks – Small pillars with a button attached. Shoot the button several times and it will spit out multiple batteries to collect. If Polpo is standing close enough to the energy bank when it is activated, the batteries will be absorbed automatically.

• Critical hit jump attack – If Polpo’s energy levels are critically low, defeating an enemy by jumping on them will instantly restore Polpo’s energy to full. This is a dangerous, completely optional technique, but if you can master it you can save a lot of batteries!

Weapons and Subsystems

Polpo’s arsenal of weapons and powerups isn’t large, and is admittedly largely self explanatory, but here are the details, for the sake of being thorough.

• Main cannon – Polpo’s main attacm is to fire energy balls straight forward at the cost of some energy. These are effected by gravity, so you’ll need to adjust your aim based on how far away the enemy is. The Twin Shot powerup will cause Polpo to fire two balls per attack for as long as you can maintain your energy levels above the threshold indicated on the HUD.
• Jumping – Polpo’s jump is deadly, and most enemies can be defeated simply by landing on top of them. Of course, getting close is the tricky part, but a jump consumes less energy than rapidly firing the main cannon, so learning which enemy types are vulnerable to jumps – as well as the best way to successfully get close enough to do so – can help reduce your energy consumption.
• Rockets – A limited powerup. Rockets come in packs of three, and will fire from the top part of the top dot of Polpo’s targeting reticle. They are very powerful, but small and a bit awkward to aim, so make sure Polpo is steady and the HUD isn’t shaking when firing them!
• Thunder Belt – A limited powerup. The Thunder Belt fires a very wide short range beam. It is the strongest weapon attack in the game, but has only one use per powerup found. Easy to aim, but you need to be fairly close to hit.
• Super Jump – A limited powerup. Super Jump has only one charge per powerup found, but will launch you high into the air – much higher than you can get through normal jumps! You can also perform air jumps like normal following the use of a Super Jump, allowing you to reach some very high places with minimal energy use.