Luna Plena (Free, Short RPG) Introduction, Impressions, and Strategy Notes

Lately, purely by chance, I've had many opportunities to play games that require puzzle-like tactics.
The game I played this time, "Luna Plena," was also a short RPG that required puzzle-solving skills.
It's a game with addictive gameplay that you can easily get hooked on, and you can complete it in about an hour.

Game Overview

This is the story of Plena, the princess of the moon, who awakens from her slumber and sets out to solve the strange occurrences.
Basically, there are no puzzles to solve; it's a linear path where you progress by defeating fixed enemies that block your way.

What I personally found innovative was the ability to display messages while walking.
Pressing the confirm button in that state allows you to advance messages while walking, which might be a stress-relieving idea for players who want to progress quickly.
This reminds me of the conversations with townspeople in "Chrono Trigger," a game I played a long time ago.
Incidentally, the creator seems to be from overseas, so the Japanese is a little questionable in some parts.

In this game, you cannot fight enemies freely.
Enemies are always positioned at predetermined times, and you cannot proceed until you defeat them.
Therefore, there is no need to grind for levels; you will level up at predetermined points.
There are several status-enhancing items placed on the map, and character strengthening is only possible through leveling up or acquiring these items.

The battles progress in a format where time advances each time the player takes an action.
The actions that a Planar can choose from are divided into casting turns and delay turns.
Casting turns refer to the number of turns it takes for the spell to activate, while delay turns refer to the number of turns the character is immobilized after the action.
Since the enemy's actions are also displayed on the screen, it's important to use techniques and magic that correspond to the enemy's actions.

For example, let's say there's an enemy that will unleash a powerful attack after 7 turns.
Since taking that attack head-on will result in defeat, you'll need to use "Eclipse," which nullifies attacks for five turns, to survive.
However, since Eclipse takes 5 turns to cast, you need to be careful about the number of turns until the enemy attacks before using it.
This is just one example, but as Planar's abilities increase, various tactics become possible, and the enemies also develop a wider variety of patterns.

Even if you are defeated, you can immediately retry when this screen appears.
You can also change the difficulty level, so if you absolutely can't win, you can lower it and try again.
However, in this game, there is no need to level up.
You might have forgotten to pick up some parameter-boosting items, but even then, the impact is likely to be small.
In the sense that the responsibility for losing battles falls purely on the player, it could be considered a rather harsh game.

thoughts

I cleared it on difficulty level 3, "A Brainstorm."
There were some tricky parts, but it wasn't so difficult as to be a chess endgame problem, and I think there was still room to play freely.
I think it will get even more difficult when the difficulty level is set to 4.

The order in which enemies appear throughout the game felt very player-friendly.
To give an analogy, it's like defeating the enemies in Basic Problem 1 and Basic Problem 2 separately, and then encountering an applied problem that combines elements of both.
I found the trial and error process of gradually discovering effective techniques and ways to deal with the enemy's attacks while feeling my way through the first battle to be really interesting.
At first, I thought, "How am I supposed to beat this?", but then I started to see a way to win, and when it actually worked out, I felt a great sense of accomplishment.

It's a short story, and you can jump right into the main game, so I recommend it to anyone looking for a game they can enjoy quickly.
Incidentally, "luna plena" apparently means "full moon" in Latin.

If you enjoyed this game, you might also enjoy other games I've introduced on this blog, such as "Kalena Dungeon" and "Iris's Game."

Defeating a difficult enemy ("Difficulty Level 3: A real headache")

I didn't get stuck on many points, but the enemies that required the most retries were the following two:
I found that using special abilities proactively when things seemed to be getting stuck made a lot of difference.

Titan Golem, Reflect Core M, Reflect Core P
We'll use "Eclipse" to avoid the Titan Golem's Earth Collapse.
In the meantime, attack Reflect Core M with "Moon Shadow Crescent Pierce" and defeat it.
Reflect Core P can be damaged by "Full Moon Detonate," but it leaves you too vulnerable.
It's recommended to defeat him by combining his special "Fake Judgment" with phrases like "Wait a minute!"
Be careful when defeating the Titan Golem, as any remaining Reflect Cores will cause it to self-destruct.
Self-destruction can be avoided with Eclipse, though.

- Afterimage of the Soul: Sticky, Afterimage of the Soul: Severed x2
For a while, I'll focus on defeating three or four of the accompanying soldiers.
I frequently heal poison with "Recover Light" and use "Star-Blessed Sword" for both attack and healing.
If I fall behind midway through, I use special abilities to somehow manage to get by.
I waited for the right moment and used "Fake Judgment" to defeat it.