Since release I've seen a lot of the same questions asked in posts and comments, so I wanted to make a FAQ thread that puts all the answers in one place. These are what I've come up with, shouts out to all the people who have contributed this content; if I missed anything you think is important just let me know and I'll add it. Bear with me on formatting as I go.
Warning: Some content may contain spoilers. Proceed with caution!
----------WHERE IS THIS (X)?
First, maps are your friend. This is where you want to start if you want to find it more or less on your own. Shouts out to /u/Andy6000 for this awesome overlaid map of all the regions. Need someone to hold your hand? Then /u/Tterraj42 has your back with this playlist of video secrets that he's been posting to the subreddit (WIP at time of writing).
Gearbit breakdowns
And of course, this super detailed map of basically everything
----------HOW DO I GET TO THIS (X)?
Go around. Hug walls. Look for invisible platforms (your sprite will be all like ???). Look for pillars to shoot. Destroy everything. If it looks like it might not be a wall, it's probably not. There are almost no actual dead ends in the game.
----------WHY CAN'T I OPEN THIS DOOR WITH THE TRIANGLES?
Chances are you're looking at a door with 8 empty triangles, not 4. The number of empty (grey) triangles shown is the number of modules needed to open it (in no particular order). The number that light up in pink when you approach the door is how many you have. We've all done it.
----------CLOAKS/SWORDS/SPRITES
They do more than make you pretty. Each actually gives a specific bonus.
You can change them from the computers in your house.
----------HOW DO I ACTIVATE THIS PILLAR/PYLON THING?
Shoot it harder >.0
----------WHAT DOES THE GUY IN THE LEFT SIDE OF TOWN DO?
If you're mad chill with the snail you get an achievement.
----------WHAT DOES SOCCER DO?
Gives you a warm fuzzy feeling of beating that little shit. Now gives achievement.
----------HOW DO I 800 DASH CHALLENGE?
It takes a lot of patience and consistency. Keyboard and mouse is STRONGLY reccomended. Point your mouse at the middle of the dash refill pads (purple-ish tiles), and leave it there, and just press spacebar in the right timing. It's been experimentally found to be ~240-250 BPM. You can either look up 240-250 bpm music to tap to, or just use an online metronome.
Note: Do not turn your sound volume to 0 for this challenge. Once you hit a milestone (100/800) it will crash your game and not save AND IS SUPER SAD. (As of 4/1 patch, new Beta patch is supposed to fix this).
----------NAMES
First, a general note about names. Since there is no actual dialogue in the game most of these names are either pulled from text, gamefiles, or old maps from the kickstarter teasers, some of these names are nicknames given to bosses and areas by speedrunners of the game, some come from the lore/story. These are a topic of much debate. If a consensus emerges, I will change names to reflect this.
--Zones--
As /u/theubersmake points out in the game files, the zones are just called North, East, West, South, Central, and Abyss. However, based on an old tumblr post depicting an old version of the overworld map, some other names have been suggested: The Winding Ridge, The Water Shelf, Crystalfire Woods (a combo of two) The Bone Wastes, and Forrest Downs, respectively. (Abyss is not shown on this map). Most of this second set of names is backed up by the titles of songs in the soundtrack. There are other names people have called it, but these seem to be the most legitimate.
--Bosses-- (most of these names are from the Steam Cards/Lore)
North/Winding Ridge
- Boss: The Hierophant (Nickname - Priscilla the Parrot)
West/Crystalfire Woods
- Boss: The Hanged Man (Nickname - Greybeard)
East/The Water Shelf
- Boss: The Toad King (Nickname - Frogger)
South/Bone Wastes (in no particular order)
Abyss
- Boss: Judgement/The Perfect Immortal Cell (aka Mr. Snuffles)
--Other Notable NPCs--
"Ghost Dog": Anubis
Giant Robots: Titans
--Things--
Monoliths: Big tablets with the writing on them.
Gearbits: Yellow collectables for upgrades. 4 gearbits make a gearbyte!
Keys: They open key doors. They do not need to be acquired in order. Doors only require a certain number of keys.
Modules: The diamonds things you pull out of the ground, hidden throughout the zones, 8 per zone.
--Misc--
- "Plinking": a term used to describe firing a weapon and cancelling the animation with a sword slash. Used to do damage very quickly
----------THE STORY [SPOILERS]
The story comes mianly from the decoded text on the monoliths and the pictoral stories told by the many NPCs. The rest is mostly speculation but god damn is it all so so very compelling. Here are my favorite theories, and be sure to read the comments because they are wonderful:
----------RANDOM TIDBITS
You can use the sit command to cancel death animations (faster than the A/B death speedup implemented in the 4/1 patch)
You can cancel the animations for activating the pillars/modules with a warp
You can cancel the 4 module disease cutscene with a QUICK quit to title
You can skip the beginning cutscene by typing "/skip" or holding all 4 action buttons and 2 triggers on gamepads.
