Sequence Break

Sequence Breaks are tricks that a player can perform to obtain items or trigger events in an order that differs from the normal main sequence of a game. Such tricks can be intended or not (by developers), but to be considered a "break" they must be not obvious; they must be somewhat hidden, or difficult to perform.

Also considered "breaks" are "skips". The only difference is that for something to be considered a "skip", what is skipped is not just postponed; it can be avoided for the whole game.

Currently, only sequence breaks that don't make use of major (game breaking) glitches are listed here.

Axiom Verge

The first game only has two skips; both of which are relatively minor.

Grapple Skip

The Grapple Skip allows to avoid fighting a boss (Gir-Tab), meeting Katrahaska, releasing the Repair Drones and obtaining the Grapple. It involves finding a way to get back to Eribu (from beyond the "Jump of No Return") without having the Grapple. This is the only, normally non-optional, purpose of the Grapple in the whole game.

There are three methods to do so:

1. Never enter a Rebirth Chamber to heal or save after the "Jump of No Return". Then, after getting the Address Disruptor 2, either commit suicide or "save and quit" to reappear in a rebirth chamber prior to the jump.
2. Clear the jump to reach Oracca without the Grapple. Normally impossible, but by sending the remote drone over the edge to go provoke a Blurst, one can use the released Blurst's Swarm to perform an insanely difficult "damage boost" to clear that jump.

3. File:Inverse No Return with Field Disruptor only.mp4

   Demonstration of method #3

   Clear the "Jump of No Return" in reverse. It is barely possible to do so with just the Field Disruptor. This method is much slower than the second one because going around Indi to return to Eribu is a huge detour. This jump bypasses the need to take damage, but requires frame perfect^{(or almost?)} precision.

The last two methods are slower but there are reasons to use them:

• In a casual run, it allows to keep using rebirth chambers to heal and save.
• In a speedrun, it only makes sense to use them in a category where the first method is forbidden by the rules. For instance, the "warpless" category, where one can neither return to the menu or die to progress. Method #3 could have a purpose in a "no damage, warpless" category.

Regardless of which method is employed, the player is able to make it back to Eribu, then towards the "Hallucination Sequence" to continue the game like "normal". However, because the repair drones weren't released, two story points will be messed up:

• Ophelia is not supposed to be repaired and functional. She will be repaired anyway.
• A repair drone comes to save Trace after the Vision battle. It won't be there. You can still hear the sounds it would make and Trace ends up being saved anyway.

Bomb Skip

The Bomb Skip allows to avoid fighting a "boss" (Aborted Clone), being killed by Elsenova, finding the room with the Rusalki bodies and obtaining the Address Bomb. The skip is rather simple. The path to upper Edin and Ukhu is blocked by Lv.3 breach, and only an Address Bomb can remove it. But, it doesn't have to be removed, actually. By taking damage and using the Trenchcoat, one can simply teleport through it. Beside that, the Address Bomb is only required for optional items and shortcuts.

Like with the other skip, this poses small continuity problems with the story later on. In cutscenes 33 and 34, Trace refers to Elsenova having killed him earlier; something that didn't happen.

Axiom Verge 2

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