Overview:
- Estimated achievement difficulty: 5/10 [highly skill dependent; can grind to reduce difficulty to an extent] [Achievement Difficulty Rating]
- Offline: 12 [1000]
- Online: 0
- Approximate amount of time to 1000: 2-5+ hours [hugely skill dependent] [Estimated Time to 100%]
- Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 plus grinding
- Missable achievements: None [arcade style gameplay]
- Does difficulty affect achievements: No - can play on Normal for all achievements
- Unobtainable/glitched achievements: None
 

• DLC: Title Update
  • Difficulty: 2/10
  • Time to 1000: 1-3 hours [hugely dependent on how long base game takes; very likely could come with base game completion and not require separate time]
  • Unobtainable: No

Introduction:
Welcome to Dead End City, the most recent shoot-em-up game from eastasiasoft. While they may be known for putting out fast and easy completions, many of which are fun simple shmup games, this one definitely does not fall into that category. You play as a car shooting through various waves of enemies in a very Mad Max-inspired game. If Mad Max was a top-down shmup, it'd be this game. There are actually three modes as well as numerous extras to unlock, but for this completion you just need to complete Arcade mode and grind out some achievements. Easier said than done though, as Arcade mode is quite challenging and you only get one life, no continues! Let's get started.

Abbreviated Walkthrough:
Like basically all of eastasiasoft's shmup games, go ahead and jump right in. However, make a pit stop at the How To Play section just to notice that, in addition to holding down  to shoot, you can press  to use your special attack. Your special attack ammo is shown in the lower right corner when you play. Read through the other tabs to see how combos works, points, fuel, etc. The other thing to be aware of is that you are definitely going to fail at beating the game multiple times, unlike their other shmup games by this developer. This game's levels are pretty challenging, and with the basic car you start with, the first level will feel fine, but you'll immediately notice your inability to readily take down enemies in the second level. So, your goal at first is to just get used to the game, practice, but also aim for points. At the end of each run, points are converted to money, which you can spend in the Extras menu. You're targeting new cars, because that's really the only way you have a chance at beating Arcade mode. Specifically, you're almost assuredly going to need the second available car in the Extras menu, for 30,000. You can either save up for it straight away, or spend your first 10,000 on the first available car, use it to get farther more consistently in Arcade mode to get more points/money per run, making saving up for 30k quicker. Personally, that's what I did and what I recommend doing. With the second car, I was consistently able to get to the last level and often the last boss. The importance of that is being able to get practice in on the other levels and bosses, because like all shmups, knowing where enemies will spawn from and what attacks they and bosses do is huge for improving your performance. Then, once you save up 30k for the third car (second available in the shop), the first few levels will feel like a breeze in comparison, and you'll have a good shot at beating the final boss since you're likely much more familiar with the patterns and attacks.

As for the gameplay itself, it's tough, but there are some things to be aware of, as well as some tips:
 

• Your fuel is your health, and like any vehicle, your fuel drains over time. It's slow, but it still has an impact. This means you constantly need to be grabbing the drops from defeated enemies, but it also means that drops happen pretty frequently to prevent you from running out of fuel, meaning health drops are plentiful but you need to actually grab them
• Also on the topic of fuel, when your fuel is full, you are strongest. You shoot faster and more bullets, and this is especially true with other vehicles you buy. As a result, you want to try to stay at full fuel as much as possible
• Points and combos are good for getting money to spend, but they have no impact on the actual gameplay during a run. Your combo meter is how you get more points, but it's also how you get medals (needed for many achievements). The only way to get medals is to build your combo meter up to x9 first, and then kill enemies and they'll drop medals. This is needed for achievements, and combo/points/medals means more money to spend between runs, but you shouldn't be sacrificing health or taking damage for any of this, because there is no impact on the current run from any of these things
• Each level has two many types of enemies that come in: ones across the top of the screen, and ones that come in from the side. The latter type will either drive around in circles and then drive off permanently, or they'll drive up and join the ones at the top of the screen. It's best to stay at the bottom of the screen the entire time so you don't get hit by one of these circling vehicles. Try to destroy them, but an enemy leaving the screen has no negative impact to you (it's just slightly less points at the end of a wave, but it doesn't even cause you to lose your combo)
• Bosses should be handled like shmup bosses in any game: focus entirely on dodging projectiles, and let the damage happen to them incidentally while you're dodging. In other words, you'll unavoidably hit them while dodging projectiles. Your main focus needs to always be on what the boss is throwing at you and how best to avoid it, rather than ensuring you stay locked on to its weak spot

There isn't a whole lot more to say here. Practice, grind out money, buy a better car, and you'll improve. You'll see gradual improvements from practice, and then step change improvements from buying a new car. The second car (first available in the shop) shoots two guns when at full fuel instead of one, and the third car (second in the shop) shoots a focused two guns at full fuel but like the second car's full fuel when you aren't full, as well as shooting much faster. If you get the third car in the shop, for 50,000, that one shoots three shots at full fuel. When you buy these, you'll notice you immediately start tearing through groups of enemies faster. So that, coupled with the practice you have, will make it easier to get through each level. You still need to be good at dodging boss attacks though, and that's where the practice during the grinding comes in. Once you beat Arcade mode for the first time, the hardest stuff is done and you can just focus on grinding. Refer to the Title Update for that.
 
Unlike the base game, this title update is more in line with what you'd expect from an eastasiasoft title update. Basically, higher levels of cumulative achievements from the base game: you need to get more medals and kill more enemies, and that's basically it. There's also an achievement for buying five items from the shop, but that will unlock naturally with beating the Arcade mode in the base game. Refer to the guide for tips on grinding out each achievement, wrapping up this title update. Personally, I unlocked all title update achievements by the time I beat Arcade mode, and I think that'll likely be the case with many people considering how challenging the Arcade mode is.

Conclusion:
Dead End City is way more challenging than other eastasiasoft games, especially their shmup games, but it's actually pretty fun, with a challenge that's relatively enjoyable rather than unfair. Unless you're really good at shmup games, expect to have to grind out some money to buy better cars, and at that point you should be set up for success far better. Beating the Arcade mode is the only tough part of the completion, but keep at it and you'll eventually succeed. Hopefully you powered through the game, and if so, congrats on the completion!