CEO of The Columns Corporation

As you could tell from the music, Cave Story was the inspiration for this floor. While it had more cave elements than mechanical, the latter part was expanded on to better fit the Tower's main purpose, Weapon Manufacturing for the Corps.

Not much to say about the first Gate. Just have it set in a massive factory for weapons and Warforged production and testing. Taking some cues from the Peppibot Factory stage of the game.

With the idea of a weapons factory in mind, it's only right to have the return of Pizzaface as the first miniboss. Especially since he now has the means of rebuilding him. Giving him a new moveset and a second phase with the S.U.M.curity System acting as an extension. To be honest, I didn't really have much to work off of for a stationary summoner boss, so I had to make one up. But with this new addition, Pizzaface has a Phase Two with a high risk high reward mechanic.

The Second Gate was where the cave aspect came to full effect. A factory can't fully function without materials, and the best place to get metals and ores are the Mines. Making a full 'level' to fit Peppino's speed was a bit of a challenge, especially with the little side quests and backtracking. And it was harder to incorporate that into the Collapse as well. That was the main reason that minecart section was there, a back and forth where the latter can be done with Peppino's speed in mind.

To add on to the Cave Story references, Monsuda X, or Monster X in English, make an appearance as the second miniboss... to be trashed by the actual miniboss, Fool's Gold.

For this boss, I took more inspiration from another game, Identity V, a 4 v 1 Dead by Daylight clone, that had a Hunter (Killer in DbD terms) named Fool's Gold. While their appearances were vastly different, the story's version's magnetic abilities and weapon choice take some inspiration from the game's version. 

And if you played the game, you might have noticed the little reference with the Employee who warned the party of the boss, and the connection they have with both versions of Fool's Gold.

No matter the media, Stone Golems are tanky as fuck! And the best way of dealing with them is with explosives. Which leads to Monsuda X's 'inclusion' with Cinnamon remotely controlling it, turning Pizzahead's tactic with the previous boss against him.

With this being the only chance he has to rematch Peppino as it were, Pizzaface returns as the Chaser for that Gate. Only to lose once again and take more damage because of it.

The final Gate has the most importance for multiple reasons, some that I cannot discuss just yet. 

The Abandoned Crystal Caves use the gimmick from the game, We Were Here. A Co-op game where both players are separated and the only way to communicate is by walkie talkies. One player describes their surroundings and what the puzzle is before them, while the other has the steps and tools to solve it and has to guide them on what to do on their end. With Peppino and Ella also having the extra nerf of being unable to communicate with the Navigators, as the Spectators could only watch.

And then there's Pizzahead...

Hoo boy…

This version of him is vastly different from the canonical one in a multitude of ways. Totino DiGiorno, starting off carefree and innocent, wanting nothing but the thrill of adventure with his brother Caesar, before the boredom of adulting and responsibility rears its ugly head. And with the introduction of the Spaghetti Brothers, Totino's festering jealousy of his own brother, and his inability to take responsibility for his own actions and mistakes, caused his fall from grace.

All culminating with the murder of Caesar, his world's version of Peppino, and the experimentation of Bruno. Turning him into this story's version of Fake Peppino. Topping off with travelling to the 'canon' Pizza Tower world and setting the game's events into motion, Pizzahead was reborn.

I wanted to go a different route with both Pizzahead and Fake Peppino, the latter especially, to give them more depth. Giving Pizzahead more reason to be vengeful at Peppino outside of him destroying his Tower, and more motivation to take the Sorceress’ deal. And to give Fake Peppino a backstory and identity outside of fan speculations that McPig may or may not have confirmed.

While this change will make them out of character, this was the perfect way to incorporate these characters into my world. While he is the main character, Peppino isn't the only one that has high importance to this story. Pizzahead, Bruno, and even Gustavo have their own connections to the plot. 

And with one penultimate escape sequence, Pizzaface makes his last stand, only to fail once again. And this time he’s not coming back.

With all of the Gates completed, all of the Fragments collected, and all of the Employees and then some saved, only one more obstacle remains...