This is a scene guide for Cruel Serenade: GutterTrash in (roughly) chronological order. Spoilers below this point, obviously.
Having been reviewed and edited, this is now an official guide, with Bitshift's blessing. This guide is intentionally restricted to scenes with art, or that may have art in the future. Various smaller nooks and crannies will be left to exploration.
Haven Back Alley Encounter:
After entering Haven for the second time (after your mission to the boar island), head down the road to the hotel. If you've used a DataCrystal.js file to transfer certain stats from the first game, you may encounter a scene here, depending on what those stats are:
- Two losses to the boars in the previous game will trigger the scene, but allow you to fight your way out.
- Three or more losses will trigger the scene and bypass the fight
The CG is the same for both versions.
The other stats aren't used, YET. You can view some of them in the new entry on the Status menu if you like however, and doing so is a good way to verify your DataCrystal file is working, as they'll change from zeros once you enter Haven the second time.
Afterwards, a stairway at the back of the alley will be unlocked. There are no further scenes here though...for now.
Meeting Mahir (First Time):
After meeting Mahir, you can either fight him or follow his orders to perform some "work" before you're released from the plaza.
- Losing the fight results in a game over, followed by a full CG.
- Winning the fight rewards you with the "Good Luck Charm", a toggle that lets you turn hypno off in fights entirely when equipped for convenience-sake or if you prefer to avoid that gameplay. Note that leaving it on will make fighting overly easy. Has an effect if equipped at least once before fighting Khazeem in the slut mode route.
- Winning the fight also allows you to avoid doing Mahir's "job", as promised, and grants you the ability to leave the plaza.
- If you leave without fighting, you'll be given one more chance to change your mind before you actually go to the "job."
Losing, and Mahir's "Jobs":
Every full defeat to a group of hyenas in the Entertainment District I will bring you back to the plaza, and a scene in front of the strip club. Afterwards, you'll chat with Mahir and be sent to work before you're allowed to leave the plaza again. Both the porn shop and strip club are available, but you can only do one job per playthrough. There are three “frozen” defeat scenes, and three “work” scenes at the “job” of your choice. The timing of the first work scene may vary depending on whether you fight Mahir on first meeting him, but dialog will indicate this and steer you in the right direction.
The Center Path:
After losing to the hyenas once in Entertainment District I, Mezz will be willing to put on the Street Clothes, allowing entrance to the center path. At the top of the center path there will be an NPC called Riviera, who will allow you passage for 1000 credits; talking with him starts the main mechanic/minigame of the area: earn credits by interacting with the “clients” (doberman) while avoiding the thugs.
While in the minigame, the hyenas(thugs) can grab you if you walk too close to them, which leads to a small mini-scene.
Being grabbed four times leads to another unique CG, and a “loss”, losing this way four times will grant you some alternative mini-scenes each time (including with the clients), and by the fourth loss you’ll get a unique game over.
Underground Passage Capture (No full unique CG, but smaller unique ones, and a number of scenes):
Inspecting the pipes in the underground passage leads a series of events with the hyenas, and eventually a game over.
Not available if in Slut Mode.
Host Club:
In order to go through the host club, you must reach it with either one or two defeats. Less than one, and Mezz will refuse. More than two, and you'll be carried directly to Khazeem's pad and bypass it. To progress through the host club, you'll have to complete a mini-game - you can lose this mini-game up to 3 times - with CG's for each loss and the third loss leading to a game-over.
Slut Mode:
Losing four fights to the mobs will put Mezz in "Slut mode." Among other things, this will change the gameplay of Entertainment District I to stealth. If caught three times, there will be a small, non-full-cg scene. If THIS happens four times, there will be a final small, non-full-cg scene and a game over.
Fighting Khazeem:
You may arrive at Khazeem's pad three ways: 1. By the front, 2. Through the host club or 3. By being dropped off there if in Slut Mode. The possible endings to the fight are as follows:
On Normal Route:
- Win: Good End, epilogue
- Lose: Bad End, with Khazeem
On Slut Mode Route (either path):
- Win: Same as Normal Route
- Lose: Second Bad End with Khazeem
If Mahir's Good Luck Charm was equipped at any point, and if Mezz arrived at Khazeem's headquarters via the Host Club, a final, secret scene will be shown after winning."
Battle sex only occurs after arrival in the Gutter; Fights are "ordinary" in the Barrens and losing just leads to a game over.
It's unlikely you will somehow miss or avoid battle sex and the in-fight hypno mechanics, but if you aren't seeing them and want to, be sure you don't have the "Good Luck Charm" equipped.
Extra Considerations:
There are also a variety of hidden things scattered throughout the game: handy unique items, little text-only scenes, and hints at all kinds of things. But those will be left up to the player to discover. The purpose of this guide is to ensure those who've bought the game can get to all the "meat" of it.
There's a flowchart companion to this guide here.
Definitions:
CG: Explicit illustration overlaid on the screen. "Full" CG is a full-screen, more detailed illustration. In contrast to limited CG or sprite CG, which is a smaller illustration.
