Eldark (Free Dungeon Exploration RPG) Introduction, Impressions, and Strategy Notes

This is a classic dungeon-crawling RPG that will catch your eye with its original, adorable female character graphics.
This game is user-friendly and easy to play, even for those unfamiliar with dungeon RPGs.
It took me about 8 hours to complete the main story on hard mode.

Game Overview

The story centers around adventurers who venture into a suddenly appearing dungeon, each with their own objectives.
The premise is classic: conquering a region will earn you a huge reward from the country.
The storyline is kept to a minimum, with the focus being more on the gameplay aspects, specifically the dungeon RPG elements.

You'll form a party with a diverse group of companion characters waiting at the adventurer's tavern and take on dungeons.
Each character has their own unique characteristics.
We have a variety of companions, including warriors, mages, and all-rounders.
The difficulty level is such that you can manage even if you choose based solely on your preference, so I think it's fine to just go with your gut.

While the main character, a swordsman, is fixed, you can freely choose the other three characters.
You're free to swap out your companions for others once you return to the tavern.
However, only the members you bring with you will gain experience points, so if you keep exploring with the same members, the members on standby will not get stronger.
For those who want to use a variety of characters, it's best to swap them out one by one to minimize a decrease in overall combat strength.

Each character will acquire new skills as they level up.
This is not a growth system where you allocate skill points.
While it doesn't offer much freedom, you don't have to think about character progression at all, making it easy for casual players to enjoy.

Besides a sword and shield, the equipment consists of jewels and accessories.
Gems are similar to Materia in Final Fantasy VII; there are several types, some that allow you to use magic, others that increase HP by 3%, and so on.
You mainly find them in dungeons, but some can be purchased in town.

The dungeons are not randomly generated maps, but rather have a predetermined layout.
There are plenty of save points, so even if you run out of resources, you can quickly return to town by teleporting back.
Battles with enemies are triggered by symbol encounters, so you can avoid fighting if you don't want to.

The combat is a traditional command-based battle system.
Those with the highest speed will act first.
Magic and skills consume MP, but some skills use TP, which accumulates during battle.
TP techniques cannot be used immediately after the battle begins, but I feel they are very useful in long battles.

My thoughts (with some spoilers)

Since all the companion characters are cute female characters, it was a game where I had trouble deciding who to bring along.
The atmosphere of the dungeon changes drastically from floor to floor, so even though it's a dungeon RPG, you can feel the change and the sense of adventure.
Since party members who are waiting do not gain experience points, it is more efficient to keep the same party members as much as possible if you want to explore further.
However, I think this game is fun because you can experiment with different members and see how they work best.
Even if it takes a bit of a roundabout approach, it might be fun to try out different party compositions.

Regarding the game's difficulty, I've only completed it on hard mode, but it felt about average.
I suspect that Normal mode is probably a bit easier.
While offensive and healing magic can be customized to some extent by equipping gems, support magic relies entirely on character-specific abilities.
Therefore, I think the most important thing to keep in mind when forming a party is to include members who can use support magic.
Since there are alternative means of healing and attacking, such as items or gems, I think any party can clear the stage as long as you keep up with the support.
I mostly cleared the game using Shannon, Ars, Lynette, and Dorothy.
In the second half, Ars seemed to be running a little out of breath, so I think it might have been better to substitute him with another member.
The weaknesses of enemies and bosses change depending on the floor, but the fact that you can push through to a certain extent without having to constantly change your party members was a nice and convenient feature.
Replacing Ars with Marine as a support character makes the team much more stable.

However, the dungeon structures aren't particularly complex, and the bosses tend to follow predictable patterns, so it sometimes felt a bit monotonous from the middle of the game onward.
Generally, you can defeat bosses by having a strong support team and a character that can heal the entire party.
Therefore, I felt that it was more geared towards casual users and had a more conventional feel, rather than users who wanted to enjoy challenging battles.
While the story is rather simple, it includes interactions with party members, offering the enjoyment of imagining the background.
The fantasy-like setting combined with sci-fi elements reminded me of the PlayStation game "Wizardry Dingir," which I found enjoyable.

Strategy Notes - Hard Mode (Spoiler Warning)

Even on hard mode, the difficulty isn't that high, so the strategy notes are rather brief.
If you can't win, leveling up will solve the problem in most cases.

1st to 5th layer

1st layer
Phantom Knights
It's a simple boss.
Focus on healing your allies while attacking.
By having the tank character use taunt and defense, you can reduce the damage taken by the party.

2nd layer
・Giant flower
If you use a team of members who can use Fire and Ice spells, such as Ars, Lynette, and Helena, and keep attacking them, you can defeat them without too much trouble.
We defeated it with an average party level of 5.

3rd layer
Kelpie
This is the boss guarding treasure chests such as the Aqua Ring.
Its weakness is lightning.
It attacks twice per turn, using Aqua and physical attacks, but if a tank character draws its attention and defends, you shouldn't have too much trouble.
We defeated it with an average party level of 6.

Slime Queen & Slime Knight
Both this monster and its accompanying Slime Knight are the type that rely solely on physical attacks.
First, take down the knights one by one to reduce the number of moves the enemy can make.
Since all of their attacks are single-target, I think you can defeat them without too much trouble if you manage your healing well.
The average party level is around 6.

4th layer
Wendigo
This is the boss protecting Neige (the staff).
It mainly uses single-target physical attacks, but occasionally uses area-of-effect magic attacks.
They're not particularly tough opponents, so you won't have much trouble if you exploit their weakness to fire.

Ice Spirit
It uses Ice, a single-target magic attack, and Diamond Dust, an area-of-effect magic attack.
As long as you have measures in place to increase your magic defense and proper healing methods, there shouldn't be any problems.
Be careful, as your account may occasionally be frozen.
It's weak to fire, but just be careful not to neglect healing.

5th layer
- Knight of Glory & Assassin Master
This is the boss protecting Runeblade.
The Assassin Master has high evasion and performs two-hit attacks, but its durability is relatively low, so it might be a good idea to target it first.
The attacks are mostly physical, and there are no area-of-effect attacks, so it's not a difficult fight.

- The Golden King & Ancient Guards
The Golden King's Lightning is powerful and hurts, but it's basically a single-target attack for everyone.
As long as you recover properly while fighting, there shouldn't be any problems.
The average level was 11.

6th to 10th layer

6th layer
Estate A, B
He's the boss protecting the firing ring.
The tricky part is when they strengthen themselves with Burning Waltz and Quickstep.
Our attacks rarely hit, and they primarily attack with powerful magic attacks.
While strengthening our magic defense, we should also lower the opponent's magic attack and attack with multi-hit moves like the Triple Thrust.
This was the strongest boss I've faced so far.

Red Dragon
It primarily uses single-target physical attacks, but its attack power is high.
Maintaining a stacking effect of reducing the opponent's attack power and increasing your own physical defense will give you an advantage in battle.
The powerful area-of-effect attack, Volcaignis, is quite strong, so be careful.
Its weaknesses are ice and water.

7th layer
Undine
This is the boss who protects Undine Ring.
This boss is a balanced type that primarily uses magic attacks, including both single-target and area-of-effect attacks.
If you've learned spells like Shine Heal, which heals the entire party, you'll be able to fight much more easily.
Its weakness is lightning.

Warrior, Thief, Wizard, Priest
The thief's attacks are fierce, and in some cases they will attack up to four times.
Ideally, we'd like to focus our attacks on the thief first and take him down.
Since the warrior is the most docile, let's leave him for later and take down the priest and then the wizard.

8th layer
Crystal Golem
He's the boss who protects Thunder Ring.
The attack methods are single-target physical attacks and area-of-effect physical attacks.
There will be no problem if you take proper physical precautions.
Although it has physical attack resistance, it was fine even without using magic.

Thunderbirds
The main attack methods are single-target magic attacks and area-of-effect magic attacks.
Let's fight while taking countermeasures against magic attacks.

9th layer
Scylla
This is the boss protecting the accessory "Moonlight".
It employs a variety of attacks, including single-target physical attacks (multiple hits), single-target magic attacks, and area-of-effect magic attacks.
Therefore, it's somewhat difficult to pinpoint buffs for allies.
Since the physical attacks are multi-hit and quite painful, I think focusing on physical countermeasures is a good idea.

Kraken, Legs A-C
First, as a standard strategy, take them down by their feet.
Since C uses Ocean Heal to heal the entire party, we'll start by defeating C.
Another problem is that the enemy uses ink to create darkness, so if you don't have healing items like Cure All ready, it becomes very difficult to land attacks.

10th layer
Death
Its only attack method is a single-target physical attack, but it can attack up to four times, making it quite powerful.
Ideally, you want to fight while keeping your buffs at their maximum.
The average level is 19.

11th to 15th layer

11th layer
Ice Queen
It will use either multiple single-target or area-of-effect ice-elemental magic attacks.
You tend to take a lot of damage, so you need to take sufficient precautions against magic attacks.
The freezing effect that can be inflicted as a side effect is also troublesome, so be sure to prepare some means of recovery.
I defeated it at level 21, but I felt it was a tough opponent.

12th layer
Izar
They primarily attack with lightning magic.
Similar to Ice Queen, she attacks multiple times if targeting a single enemy, and only once if targeting multiple enemies.
The same solution will work.

13th layer
Golden Dragon
They use a balanced mix of physical and magical attacks to defeat you.
Having two characters who can provide buffs makes battles much more stable.
As long as you don't rush into attacks and pay attention to the duration of your buffs, you should be fine.

- Anti-physical armor & anti-magic armor
Anti-physical armor is weak against all magical attacks, and anti-magitek armor is weak against all physical attacks.
The opponent's attacks are mainly single-target physical and magical attacks, so they're not that scary.
Since you can inflict significant damage by exploiting its weaknesses, it shouldn't be too difficult.

14th layer
・Kagetsu
In addition to powerful single-target attacks, they sometimes use counter-attacks as well.
It's troublesome because it will also retaliate against magic attacks when countering.
The single-target attack is powerful and comes multiple times, so be sure to keep your defensive enhancement magic active.

15th layer
Argo & Shaula
Both of them will fight using magic attacks, so be sure to prepare countermeasures against magic.
As long as you do that, there shouldn't be any problems.

16th to 20th layer

16th layer
Argo
Just like in the previous layer, they primarily attack with fire magic.
Inferno is very powerful, so be careful, as you could be overwhelmed if you don't have solid fire and magic defenses.

Shaula, High Paladin, Cleric
Clerics use area-of-effect healing, while High Paladins use single-target healing.
First, focus your attacks on the Cleric, and then take down the High Paladin.
Shaula's area-of-effect magic attack, Cocytus, is very powerful, so be sure to pay attention to that while fighting.

17th layer
- Old World King, Dark Magician type, Light Magician type
Since the Light-type Pokémon are responsible for healing, let's defeat them first.
If you defeat him, the Old World King will gain one more turn, so the intensity of his attacks remains the same.
The former World King primarily uses magic attacks.
Thunderstorm, which inflicts stun, is a bit troublesome, and Inferno is also a powerful attack, so you need to be careful.

20th layer
SGX-05 Altair
With an average level of 30, we were able to defeat them with some leeway.
Its attacks, which occur 3-4 times, are fierce and powerful, but they're not so bad if you properly counter its physical and magical buffs.
It's tough when all the attacks are focused on the same character.
Defeating it will lead to the ending for now.

After clearing the main story

After defeating Altair, the Underworld and the Heavenly Realm will be liberated.
Those who wish to use Lily, an additional member, will need to reincarnate.
However, in that case, you'll start from the beginning of the main story, so if you want to challenge the bonus dungeon as is, proceed without reincarnation.

・Underground world

Defeating the gatekeeper at the entrance to the underground world deep within the mine will unlock the base in that underground world.
If you defeat Hastia at that base, you can recruit her as a companion (recommended level 34 or higher).

・Heaven
Judging from the dialogue, it seems like a good place to go after exploring the underground world.
Besides dungeons that are even more challenging than the underground world, there is a place where you can "reincarnate."

Reincarnation is essentially the same as starting a second life.
In the second playthrough, you have the advantage of being able to recruit Lily as a party member.

This versatile warrior possesses multiple elemental attack methods and the Aqua Heal ability.
If you want to use her, you'll have to reincarnate.