This article is about "Sōshoku no Palette," a game that won the bronze prize in the "Moe Category" of the "14th Free Game Contest" held from 2018 to 2019.
This RPG, created with RPG Maker VX Ace, features cute characters, a chaotic plot, and challenging battles.
Contrary to its initial appearance, the game puts a lot of emphasis on combat, making it especially recommended for players who enjoy fighting.
It took me about 7 hours to complete the main story.
(There is an extra dungeon after clearing the main story.)
Game Overview
story
The main character is Palette, who will soon be 16 years old.
In the village where Palette lives, once a girl turns 16, she must either leave the village, get married, or find a job, or she will be used as an organ donor.
Palette wants to work for her sister, who owns a pharmacy, but to work there, she needs to become a witch and enroll in a magic school.
The story begins with the protagonist, along with Ayame, who is in a similar situation, aiming to attend a magic school while earning money along the way to pay the hefty tuition fees.
Regarding difficulty level
In this game, you can choose between "Basic" and "Light" at the start of the game.
"Basic" is quite challenging, but "Light" is much easier to clear.
First, select "Basic," and if you find it too difficult, you can change it to "Light" in the "Difficulty Settings" on the item screen.
However, please note that once you downgrade to "Light," you cannot revert back to "Basic."
Game System
I'd like to give you a brief overview of the game system in this title.
First of all, skill acquisition in this game is done through a skill tree system.
You accumulate skill points (SP) that you receive as you level up, and then use them on the skills you want to learn to acquire them.
While there is a somewhat predetermined order for acquiring skills, the player is free to decide which areas to focus on first.
The difficulty of the game will change depending on the order in which you acquire skills.
There are also items that reset the points you've allocated, so you won't end up in a situation where it's irreversible.
Next, let's talk about combat.
The battles are turn-based command battles.
You use MP, which recovers by a certain amount each turn, to unleash your skills.
One of its distinctive systems is called the "Boost Circle."
The "BOOST CIRCLE" gauge in the upper left corner fills up in response to attacks from both allies and enemies.
When this gauge is full, any character that attacks will deal massive damage to the opponent and also inflict a "Break" state, rendering them unable to act for one turn.
This can happen to both allies and enemies, so if the circle is full, you'll want to act before your opponent.
If you are unable to take action, you can prevent a break by defending for the time being.
It's also possible to employ a strategy where you use skills to draw the enemy's attention and force them to defend, while simultaneously using fast characters to try and break their defenses.
TP accumulates as you take damage from and inflict damage on enemies.
When your TP reaches 100, you enter an awakened state, your HP becomes full, and your abilities increase.
Furthermore, you can use Overdrive techniques by consuming TP.
Overdrive techniques are extremely powerful, so you should actively use them when fighting tough opponents.
In this game, you enter combat by coming into contact with enemy symbols within a dungeon.
The more you fight enemies, the higher your "Enemy Level" becomes, making them stronger.
Once you leave the dungeon, it will reset.
By raising your Enemy Level to 9 and defeating the enemies you encounter, you can obtain powerful equipment (first time only).
The equipment screen looks like the image above.
Weapons are forged at a blacksmith's shop by spending money and materials.
Other equipment includes passive skills that can be dropped by enemies or obtained from treasure chests, cards that prevent status ailments, and accessories that grant ability scores or special effects.
This game features a relatively high level of combat difficulty. You'll need to be well-prepared, as well as strategically tactical during battles, to achieve victory.
Review (no spoilers)
I've cleared the main story, but I haven't defeated the secret boss yet.
Overall, my impression was that it's an RPG with a challenging difficulty level that makes the combat feel rewarding.
First of all, even the regular battles are quite challenging, and you'll be wiped out quickly if you fight blindly.
Even if the entire party is wiped out, there's no significant penalty, so in that respect, it was stress-free.
However, if you don't consciously focus on your winning strategy, the match can often turn into a long and drawn-out battle.
I felt that prioritizing the acquisition of skills that seemed useful and understanding the core aspects of the game's combat system made things considerably easier.
The difficulty level is quite high, but if necessary, you can change the difficulty level to make it easier.
Even if you get stuck along the way, leveling up and improving your equipment will make things a bit easier.
The story and character interactions are quite outrageous in places, so I was able to enjoy playing through it while mentally making sarcastic comments.
The comments in the monster encyclopedia, where you check the data of the enemies you've defeated, are also amusing, and even just talking to the townspeople is hilarious.
On the other hand, scenes where they're having a serious conversation can feel a little lacking, but that's just part of their charm.
It may seem like a peaceful world at first glance, but I find the contrast with the bleak morality fascinating.
Overall, the game's difficulty level is somewhere between moderately difficult and difficult (Basic).
I think this game is characterized by its challenging gameplay and the entertaining, chaotic storyline.
Strategy Notes (Contains Spoilers)
I felt that the most important thing in combat is MP, which allows you to keep using skills.
Therefore, if you're unsure what equipment to use, I think you can't go wrong with equipping a Charge Ribbon.
It is also important to acquire useful skills early on.
In the early stages of the game, Palette's "Guard Break" ignores DEF, allowing for consistent damage output.
When facing tough enemies, it's useful to combine "Attention Please" with the defensive command to freeze powerful enemy attacks and breaks.
If you can learn Ayame's "Invitation to Peaceful Sleep," which is useful against regular enemies, and "Forbidden Will-o'-the-Wisp," which is useful against bosses, early in the game will make battles much easier.
If we can reduce the opponent's attack power, I think the battle will become much easier.
If you can learn buffing abilities, boss battles will become much easier for the bear.
Additionally, you should learn the "Bolt" attack as a means of attack.
While "Deus Ex Machina" is useful for reviving fallen characters, you can also supplement it with items or the Overdrive technique "Laplace."
Potato chip factory
Octopascal
This is your first boss battle, so it's a good opportunity to learn how to fight.
We'll use Ayame's "Deadly Poison Weapon" to inflict poison, then attack with "Cultivating Miasma."
When Palette is put in a dark state, she uses "Focus" to increase her accuracy while attacking.
When the enemy's TP gauge is full, both of you should defend to weather the attack.
Since you probably don't have many healing items, let's actively attack from our side and aim to recover through the full recovery effect when the enemy awakens.
In the Boost Circle, understand the turn order of both allies and enemies, and adjust the order using defenses and other tactics to ensure you can secure a break.
Runtime Forest
In normal battles, status ailments like sleep and poison can be quite troublesome, so it's helpful to equip items that counter them.
Poison is one thing, but if Palette is put to sleep, it becomes much harder to defeat her quickly.
Also, since physical attacks are ineffective against ghost-type enemies, it's useful to teach your bear the attack magic, Bolt.
It is possible to defeat them using Palette's "Focus" -> "Physical Attack" or Ayame's "Forbidden Will-o'-the-wisp".
Attack on Gorilla
They mainly attack with normal attacks and lightning strikes.
Darkness and poison are effective against it, but it also uses status ailment recovery techniques, so while it's somewhat effective, it's not a safe bet.
Let's fight by using Ayame's "Forbidden Will-o'-the-wisp" to lower ATK and Kuma's "Armor Breath" to boost our stats.
If you don't use "Quick Breath" or similar abilities a little before the turn when your boost circle is about to fill up, to prevent your opponent from attacking, you could be wiped out depending on their attack method.
Be careful.
If you're having trouble, try leveling up, forging your weapons at the blacksmith, or reviewing your equipment.
Heaven's Cave
Tutorian
He will summon an invincible clone midway through the fight, but focus your attacks on the main body.
They mainly use physical attacks, but if you have the "Good Luck Charm," you shouldn't have too much trouble.
Apply buffs and debuffs to both allies and enemies to fight safely.
shortcut
By talking to the character "All Things" inside the village house, you will be able to proceed to the switch behind the signpost in the dark area.
Wood Dragon & Seed Gunner VXACE
Let's start by taking care of the Seed Gunners.
Since there are so many enemies, let's use Ayame's "Sleep-Inducing Spell" to put them to sleep and defeat them one by one.
If you equip the "Assassin's Fang" item, you can deal double damage to enemies in a sleeping state.
Before putting them to sleep, you can use Palette's "Attention Please" + "Counter" to defend against attacks while attacking.
Once you've defeated the surrounding Seed Gunners, you'll start attacking the Wood Dragon.
Since it recovers HP with "Nutrient" every turn, use Ayame's "Straw Doll at the Hour of the Ox" to curse it and prevent it from recovering.
After that, if you use buffs and debuffs and fight carefully, you should be able to defeat it.
- Consecutive battles against weak enemies
This is a series of battles against the regular enemy groups that have appeared so far.
It's easy at first because they're weak, but they gradually get stronger.
As advised before the battle, use sleep and other tactics to reduce the number of attacks the enemy can make.
Rather than repeatedly using area-of-effect attacks because there are many enemies, it's safer to put them all to sleep and then defeat them one by one.
The one who controls the ending
After a rush of weaker enemies, you immediately enter a boss battle.
Perhaps because they've just fought several battles, they're not particularly strong enemies.
The "brainwashing" ability that confuses a single ally is troublesome, but stay calm and heal them with "Cure" or similar spells.
All you need to do after that is buff your allies and enemies and fight, and you should be fine.
Since its speed is relatively low, it's unlikely that your boost circle will be stolen.
Sheila
I leveled up a bit and defeated it with an average level of 23.
Since its actions follow a pattern, if you can visualize how to respond to each of its attack methods, you should eventually be able to defeat it.
The "Lethal Blade" can have its damage halved by defending.
Otherwise, there's a high chance you'll be knocked out by an attack in the next turn.
"Mind Killer" reduces your TP, but if you use the bear's "Laplace," it has a preemptive effect, so you can use it without worrying about being interrupted.
If you properly equip yourself with gear from the blacksmith and use buffs and debuffs, I think you can defeat it.
<Behavioral Patterns> (Although not thoroughly verified, there are some turns where the character takes a different action.)
Turn 1: Lethal Blade (Reduces all enemies' HP to 1, completely evades attacks)
Turn 2: Exhaust (attack 2 targets)
Turn 3: Mind Killer (TP -50, activates on an ally with accumulated TP), Quick Breath + Sharp Breath at the end of the turn.
Turn 4: Kamaitachi (deals damage multiple times to all allies + reduces DEF and MDEF)
Turn 5: Eclipse (attacks a single target multiple times)
Turn 6: Lethal Blade (Reduces all enemies' HP to 1 and completely evades attacks)
Turn 7: Decapitation (attacks 2 targets + instant death?)
Turn 8: Exhaust (attacks 2 targets)
Turn 9: Mind Killer (TP -50, activates on an ally with accumulated TP), Quick Breath + Sharp Breath at the end of the turn.
Turn 10: Kamaitachi (deals damage to all multiple times + reduces DEF and MDEF)
Turn 11: Deadly Blade (Reduces all enemies' HP to 1, completely evades attacks)
Turn 12: Lightning Blade (Damage to all + Blind)
・・・
・Village chief
This is a continuation from the Sheila match.
Since it uses a variety of status ailments, which can be troublesome, be sure to equip cards that can reliably prevent sleep, which renders you unable to act.
Initially, let's focus on defeating the accompanying enemies.
We'll put them to sleep with "Invitation to Peaceful Sleep," prevent them from healing with "Straw Doll at the Hour of the Ox," and defeat them one by one.
They might be revived, but you can eventually combine them into one, so do your best!
When the village chief's HP drops below 5000, his behavior pattern changes.
It will start using a powerful single-target attack called "Collapse into the Future," so be sure to revive it frequently and apply buffs.
Don't hesitate to use Dispel Herbs to cure status ailments and Heart items to revive fallen characters.
After clearing the main story
As you progress through the post-game events, the extra dungeon "Chaos Avant-garde" will become available.
While the regular enemies in this dungeon are strong, the secret boss waiting at the very end, "Iza Saturnia," was exceptionally powerful.
I think you can only truly begin to tackle the game after you've mastered the entire skill tree and upgraded your equipment to its maximum level.
(Not defeated)
A collection of articles introducing recommended free RPG games.