Bipole R-XV: Battle Simple

*Bipole R-XV: Battle Simple*, previous called *Bipole: Battle Simple! Beta*, is a turned-based RPG by infinityJKA, and is the first piece of media to take place in the New Realm. The game marked the start of a soft reboot of Bipole and was the first Bipole entry to be publicly released.

*Bipole R-XV: Battle Simple* is considered the 19th Lemniscate and the 15th Bipole entry. It was publicly released on March 6th, 2019 and is the first entry to be released on infinityJKA's itch page.

## Gameplay

### Combat

The game has a turn-based battle system. On your turn, you can choose to either use Run, Attack, Magic, Item, or Defend. Using Run will give you a chance to escape the battle (if allowed) and is calculated based off of your SPD stat. Using attack will allow you to deal damage to the opponent without using up MP. Attacks are calculated with the stat of the equipped weapon, and the STR/PWR stat of the character.

Magic can also be used as a means of attacking, with the stat influence differing from spells to spell. Magic can also be used to support or inflict statuses. Defending will lower the amount of damage you take next turn. Items allow you to use items you gain from the battles or the overworld. Effects differ between each item. The turn of attacking is decided by the SPD stat of each party member/enemy.

### Exploration

While not in battle, you can explore the overworld. You can visit towns/shops to buy items, go to cooking stations (v2.0+ only) to craft healing items, go to stone stations to craft weapons (v2.0+ only), and talk to NPCs.

In some areas, there is a chance you will trigger a battle with each step. All towns apart from Small-River Town do not have random encounters.

## Story

### v1.0

Advent is chosen as the King of Castle Town's elite warrior. As a test, the King sends him to get the sword of a slain warrior. Advent goes to Small-River Town and obtains an Iron Sword (however, it is possible to enter Egam's tower early and get an Iron Sword from a chest). Seeing that Advent was powerful as he had heard, the King rewards Advent by giving him the royal knight Thgink under his command.

Advent is sent out once again to the Small-River Town, this time to steal their prized Small-River Sword. Advent and Thqink storm the castle and steal the sword after a battle with the elite guard of Small-River Town. The King yet again rewards Advent, this time with the powerful mage Draziw under his command.

The King informs Advent that their relation with Static Town is declining and to go help out the Static Town King. Advent visits Static Town where the Static King tells him that he wishes for the dark mage Egam to be vanquished, as he keeps assassinating merchants.

Advent accepts the request and heads to Egam's Tower to defeat Egam. Advent slays Egam and brings Egam's staff to the Static King as proof. The Static King is satisfied and Advent heads back to Castle Town, where the Castle King rewards Advent with the elite assassin Ajnin under his command.

### v2.0

The Castle King hears interesting rumors about the Quad Ruins and tells Advent to see what is going on. Advent heads to the Territory of Quad but is stopped by the Sin Town Bridge. The Sin Town Guards inform him that he must have permission from the Sin Town King to cross the bridge. Advent asks the Sin Town King if he can cross the bridge but he refuses. The king says that Advent will need to help his town defeat the Ultimate Water Spirit due to recent acts of terrorism from the Water Mages at Water Temple. Advent accepts the offer and defeats the Ultimate Water Spirit, stealing his Ultimate Ice Crystal as proof. The King is impressed by Advent's power and determination so he allows him to cross the bridge freely.

Now past Sin Town, Advent must cross the Dark Woods of the Territory of Cos. Escaping the powerful Bio Mages on the way, Advent survives the Dark Woods Maze and makes it to Cos Town. While at Cos Town, Advent turns his Ultimate Ice Crystal from the Water Temple into the Ultimate Ice Ring, making him stronger against the ice element. With his newfound powers, Advent confidently enters the Territory of Quad.

Advent takes a break at Quad Town and learns of the industrial revolution of the town. Advent decides that he would like to craft a powerful stone tool and visits the Stone Cavern. After getting some Stone Staffs, Advent crafts stone tools and heads out to the Quad Ruins.

Once at the Quad Ruins, Ajnin spots a figure in the distance. Advent approaches him and is attack. The figure reveals itself to be Nialliv, the dark warrior. Nialliv sends some Dark Spirits at Advent but he quickly defeats them. Nialliv decides he will have to fight Advent himself and the two battle until Nialliv falls to the ground to Advent's poison. Nialliv tells Advent he will forever be loyal to the Dark Lord Live of the Country of Shade. However, he warns Advent about a person named Roam. He describes Roam as a powerful entity that he despises and recommends Advent to fight him. Advent finishes Nialliv and heads back to Castle Town where the king warns him to stay away from Roam. However, the king is interested in what is going on in the Nation of Shade and orders Advent to scout out the area.

## Trivia

* *Bipole R-XV: Battle Simple* was a first for the Lemniscate series in many ways.
	+ It was the first entry in the New Realm, essentially acting as a soft reboot of the series.
		- This also makes it the first entry to take place in the Territories of Bipole and the Continent of Bipole.
	+ It was the first game to not use either Google Drive or BBC micro:bit.
	+ It was the first entry to be published on https://infinityjka.itch.io.
		- This makes it the second publically released entry in the series, second to the 2016 release of The Tale of the Infinity Realm: Expedition on infinityJKA's old website.
	+ It was the first game released as an executable.
* *Bipole R-XV: Battle Simple* contains a large amount of foreshadowing for future Bipole games.
	+ Examples include Roam from Bipole III: Conspiracy of the Mechanical Entity being discussed and the Quad Genocide from Bipole IV: Liberation of Xuir being implied, depsite *Bipole R-XV: Battle Simple* releasing years before either.
* There are many mechanics from *Bipole R-XV: Battle Simple* that have never returned in any game, such as cooking and forging weapons from enemy drops.