Bipole V: Dungeons of Biphero

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*Not to be confused with Biphero or Bipole R-IV: Dungeons*

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*Bipole V: Dungeons of Biphero* is the 25th game in the Bipole series, and is the 36th entry in the Lemniscate multiverse. It is a first person dungeon crawler with turn-based combat. The game had a public alpha release on November 11, 2021, and fully released on June 3, 2022. The game is the first modern Bipole game to take place in the Retro Timeline, and the story combines the events of Bipole R-VI: Open and Bipole R-XII: Laser Fight/Bipole R-XIII: Sniper Duel,

## Plot

### Main Story

Years ago, Biphero, a wielder of the Holy Cards, seals the cards in the Labyrinth of Binding to prevent humanity from obtaining them again.

In year 835 RT, Kipole III of the Bieace Empire orders Protipole to retrieve the Holy Cards after their location was discovered from a message on the castle walls. Protipole heads to the Labyrinth of Binding to retrieve that cards and recruits many allies on the way.

While passing through Bandit Road, Protipole obtains the 22XX and Humphrey Lore.

At the Labyrinth of Binding, Protipole discovers it taken over by Eidola, and fights Raidiole for the Holy Cards.

Protipole returns the Holy Cards to King Kipole III of Bieace, who notices that the Cards of Death are missing.

### Humphrey Lore

In year 2298 AD, Kai is sent by the Kokusai FINIS Shinjun Shoshiki to infiltrate the Bastion and obtain intel about the Leviathan. However, the 2300 AD Finis Event occurs and he meets Radio Affix, who allows him to survive into the reformed world for the next centuries.

In year 598 RT, the 27th Bieace Platoon stop the Bieace Castle Town Rebellion. However, the vast majority of the soldiers are killed after the battle by Affix Varlet. The only survivors were Kai (under the name "Humphrey Fallen"), Comripole, and Backgroundous the Background Swordfighter.

In year 605 RT, Bitalys the Catalyst of the Refinis Catalytics convinces Stealthole, a crazed serial killer who lost his family in the Bieace Castle Town Rebellion of 598 RT, to steal the Dark Tome from the Bieace Council of Magic. In stealing the Dark Tome, Stealthole kills Comripole.

After Protipole experiences Humphrey Lore in Bandit Road, he travels to Metalimnion and is told to obtain three keys: one from the Surface Realm, one from the Ricefield Realm, and one from the Alter Realm.

Protipole obtains the Ricefield Key after dueling Hyper Final Assassin Ultra near the Shadow Market, the Alter Key in a chest in the Alter Realm, and the Surface Key at Bieace Castle after returning the Holy Cards.

Protipole uses the three keys to open the locked door in Metalimnion, and meets Kai. Kai informs him that The New Link is the one who created the quest, and tells him that The New Link wishes to duel him.

The New Link reveals to Protipole that he was the one who revealed the location of the Holy Cards, and that everything that had happened was a game to entertain him. Using the Finale, the Ultimate Weapon forged by Livna, Protipole destroys The New Link's barrier and survives a battle against him. Satisfied with Protipole's strength, The New Link congratulates him and tell him that he's won his game.

## Gameplay

### Exploration

The game's exploration is in a 3D perspective, a first for the Lemniscate series. Protipole can interact talk with NPCs, open chests, read signs, and activate switches. In certain areas, random encounters can occur. Some NPCs are recruitable party members, which can be recruited by talking to.

List of Party Members
 Birowth | Guardian Village (Guardian Village Tavern)

### Combat

> *Also see List of Equipment in Bipole V: Dungeons of Biphero*
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A party of 1-4 characters can be used to be encounters of 1-3 enemies. The moves that party members can perform are determined by their equipment, and every character has different equip types and unique actions that they can equip.

Party members will take turns performing moves, and enemies will perform their moves after all party members act. Both party members and enemies can be weakened if they are hit by a move corresponding to their weakness. Battles end either when all party members have reached 0 HP, or all enemies have reached 0 HP. Items cannot be used during battle.

### Economy

> *Also see Local Economy*
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Every town contains a Local Economy, which will change at the end of every battle. Local Economies experience different economic patterns that can change after battle, with the chance of an Economic State Shift increasing relative to how many battles it has been since the last shift. When a new state is chosen, a random number is internally generated to determine the next state. If the state chosen is incompatible, it is rerolled until a compatible state is chosen.

### Quests

> *See List of Quests in Bipole V: Dungeons of Biphero*
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There are various NPCs found across the world that will task Protipole with quests. The vast majority of quests are required in order to complete the game, even if they initially seem unimportant. For a list of quests, see *List of Quest in Bipole V: Dungeons of Biphero*.

> *See List of Key Items in Bipole V: Dungeons of Biphero*
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Most quests utilize Key Items, a special type of item that can provide unique effects when interacted with.

## Development

### Announcement

Bipole V was first teased in August of 2021 on infinityJKA's Discord server, and was announced later in the same month. This was the first Lemniscate game to receive active, publicly available development updates, with updates development status being released on infinityJKA's Instagram account (@justout\_in).

### Early Development Builds

A public development build was first released on November 11, 2021. This build of the game featured the entirety of the Slime Forest dungeon for players to play through.

A second public development build was released on November 14, 2021. This build fixed a glitch the resulted in the game crashing in the equipment menu, as well as also fixing a glitch that allowed the infinite reuse of consumable items.

An update to the game's logo was made November 16th, 2021. Though this didn't result in a new build of the game, the itch.io page was updated accordingly: fixing a typo that was present in the original version of the logo.

## Trivia

* This is the first Bipole game to take place in the Retro Timeline since Bipole 17, which was released two years prior to *Bipole V: Dungeons of Biphero*.
* This is the first ever game in the Retro Timeline to contain plot within the game and not exclusively in external media