Hanged Angels Land On -chaotic- (Free Roguelike Non-Field RPG)

This is an article introducing the free roguelike non-field RPG, 'Hanged Angels Land On -chaotic-'.
The game system is designed for repetition, and is characterized by its diverse cast of companion characters and brutal combat balance.

It took me about 10 hours to complete the game and unlock the final difficulty level, "Endless Mode."
I think one playthrough takes about 30 minutes to an hour (it will be faster if you get a game over).

Game Overview

In a chaotic world where cause and effect and timelines are disrupted, the protagonist, Roy, embarks on a journey with the help of the fallen angel Sahakia to find his lost comrade, Diana.
Since this game seems to prioritize the gameplay, I think it's sufficient to grasp the general purpose and atmosphere of the story.

The following is an overview of the game's flow.

Stage Start

You will receive a blessing from Sahakia at the start of each stage.
A blessing is a perk that grants a permanently beneficial effect during that playthrough.
The contents are random and can vary, including items that increase the attack power of all allies by 1.25 times, items that grant resistance to status ailments, and items that allow you to shop at half price.

Furthermore, one monster will randomly join your party, depending on the map.
A total of four members can participate in battle: two in the front line and two in the back line.
You can swap out the fifth and subsequent members at any time, except during combat.
While the specific members who join are largely a matter of luck, the ability to manage and operate effectively with any group of members will be put to the test.

Each monster has learned a variety of skills.
As you level up, you'll acquire new skills, so be sure to equip useful ones.
There is a limit to the number of skills you can equip, but there are accessories that can increase or decrease this number.

Stage progression

As you move forward, events and battles will occur.
Some events have good content, while others have bad content.
Some attacks can damage all allies, so it's dangerous if you don't keep your HP at a certain level.
Once you reach progression level 20, the boss of that stage will appear, and defeating it will allow you to proceed to the next map.

Incidentally, this game does not allow saving or loading; it uses auto-save, so you cannot restart from the same point multiple times.
When you're finished playing, simply close the screen.

The battles are turn-based command battles where characters act in order of speed.
The turn order can be checked in the display on the far right of the screen.

In battle, you consume MP and TP to perform actions.
TP recovers by a certain amount each turn, and many skills consume it.
Powerful skills consume a lot of TP, so be sure to include low-cost skills as well.
Otherwise, you might end up with turns where you can't do anything due to a lack of resources, which could be fatal.

In this game's combat system, there is a concept of front and back lines.
Ranged attacks can target enemies from anywhere, but melee attacks can only hit the enemy's front line.
You can attack the enemy's front line from your back line, but the damage will be halved.
Once the enemy's front line is eliminated, the enemy's back line becomes the front line, allowing your melee attacks to reach them.

When your HP reaches 0, you become incapacitated and will not recover naturally.
While there are items that can revive characters from being incapacitated, most of them inflict permanent debuffs.
Keep in mind that being incapacitated in battle is not a trivial matter when playing.

Monsters other than bosses generally have a chance of joining your party.
Encountered monsters are registered in the monster encyclopedia, allowing you to refer to their information during battles.

Once you reach MAP6, you will fight the final boss for that difficulty level.
Successfully defeating the enemy unlocks a new difficulty level and allows you to see a different ending.

・End of lap

The playthrough ends when you defeat the final boss or if your party is wiped out along the way.
Depending on the difficulty level and how far you progress, you'll earn money to purchase rewards for completing multiple playthroughs.
There are various types, such as those that grant special effects or those that add status bonuses to allies.

Once you've earned a reward, it doesn't disappear and keeps accumulating, so by playing through the game multiple times, you should be able to progress further.
Even if you are wiped out, it's important not to give up and to try again and again.

Once you complete the game, you can challenge yourself with a more difficult difficulty level.
Each new difficulty level offers a different ending, so keep challenging yourself with higher difficulty levels.
The amount of money you receive at the end of each lap is adjusted based on the difficulty level, so it's generally better to challenge the highest difficulty level rather than trying to earn money on a lower difficulty.

Review (no spoilers)

I played up to the highest difficulty level.
I think the total playtime was about 10 hours.

The difficulty level is designed with the assumption that you'll be playing through it multiple times, so I think it was quite challenging and rewarding at first.
However, by accumulating bonuses from repeated playthroughs, I was able to progress further and experience the true joy of RPGs, where you gradually become stronger.

The monsters that join your party change with each playthrough, so it was fun to use different monsters to get through the game.
Monsters of the same type tend to have similar skill sets, so you often end up using similar tactics.
However, each monster has its own resistances and unique skills, so you can definitely feel that each monster has its own distinct strengths to a certain extent.

There are the typical unfairness of roguelike games, and you'll often experience highs and lows, such as when you manage to recruit strong allies, which makes things much easier.
While there were some bosses that were impossible to defeat depending on the party composition, they were within the realm of enjoyable quirks, and personally, I didn't dislike them.

I think there were some aspects of the UI that weren't quite comfortable to use.
Playing with only a mouse or only a keyboard was a bit difficult to control, but using both made it much smoother.
Also, during battles, when reviving an incapacitated ally, you had to click on an area where no graphics were displayed to select them, which might have been a little confusing.

In terms of difficulty, since a battle occurs every three steps, I felt that the encounter rate was a bit high.
Also, I think it would have been more enjoyable if there were a wider variety of random events.
The background music was generally of high quality, and I was impressed by how much of it I liked.

I played the game so intently that I ended up writing down a lot of things that bothered me.
While it has some rough edges, I think it's a game where you can fully enjoy the fun of gradually strengthening your character through repeated playthroughs.
I'd like anyone who likes this genre to give it a try.

Strategy Notes (Spoiler Warning)

Tips for winning

First, try to progress as far as possible into the game and play repeatedly so that you can purchase the bonus items for repeated playthroughs.

Basically, it's best to recruit monsters with high attack power and fight using a strategy of attacking before being attacked.
When your HP regeneration rate is low, it's important to recruit monsters with healing skills and heal them during battles.

Party Formation

The basic formation consists of two front-line fighters and two back-line fighters.
It's best to place high-attack, tough members in the front line, and rearrange the back line as needed.
If you have enough leeway to withstand enemy attacks, it's a good idea to place both of your backline characters as ranged or magic attackers. If you're a little worried, it's a good idea to include a healer.
Roy can use both close-range attacks and ranged shots, so he can be used as either a front-line or back-line character depending on the other members in your party.

When a member becomes incapacitated in battle, consider adding reserve members to maintain the overall balance of the party so that they can take over the role.

In the later stages, there are enemies that can only be affected by magic, and enemies that can only be damaged by specific elemental attacks.
A party that can only perform physical attacks is in danger, so be sure to include attack methods other than physical attacks.

Regarding being unable to fight

In general, fallen allies cannot be revived.
However, using a resurrection potion will revive them, but at the cost of a permanent debuff.
The permanent debuff can be completely removed at once during the blood donation event, so there's no need to be too afraid of it.
Potions that inflict permanent debuffs with mild effects are useful to always have a few of on hand for emergencies.

Regarding the purchase of the transfer

There are many different points you can purchase when transferring your account, so you might be wondering which ones to buy.
You should choose what suits your preferences as a player, but I'll list some items that I personally found useful.

Analytical ability 25, Foresight 25
While it doesn't directly increase your stats, being able to see the enemy's actions is quite useful in boss battles and other similar situations.
I recommend obtaining it as soon as possible.

- A bond from a past life: 100G

If you manage to recruit a strong monster, you can carry it over to the beginning of the game, giving you an advantage (although your level will be reset).
Simply being able to start the game with one more member is a significant advantage.
Using the rare encounter item obtainable for 50G makes it easier to create a well-balanced party, which I think will reduce the risk of being wiped out.

• Healing Steps: 50G
It's a bit pricey, but since healing options are limited in this game, it's a very important perk.
If you raise it to around level 3 early on, you won't be defeated so easily even if you don't draw a healer.

Prayer: 50G
The blessings you receive at the start of a stage have a significant effect, so being able to choose them to some extent is a major advantage.
If neither of the two presented options is useful, you can choose randomly from the other options, making it easier to obtain a better blessing.

・Memories of XX series (various ability stat boosts)
These items have the effect of increasing the stats of your allies.
For particularly important effects, such as ATK to defeat enemies quickly and DEF to mitigate HP loss, be sure to acquire multiple copies of them.

Recommended friends

To put it simply, ever since I made Cerberus my ally, I've continued to take over his role.
What's particularly noteworthy is its special ability: Super Consecutive Attacks (3 attacks).
Since all attack skills are executed three times, the damage output is tremendous.
If you get Cerberus, I think it's a strength that you can carry over for a long time to come.
The fact that it has fire-element attacks in addition to physical attacks is a great advantage, as it allows it to deal with enemies that are immune to physical attacks.

Other options include rogues who can perform consecutive attacks (two attacks).
Prioritize giving doping items and equipment to the powerful allies you inherit, and utilize them as your ace.

A boss that can potentially lead to a dead end.

Depending on the party's situation, there are some enemies that are absolutely impossible to defeat, resulting in a guaranteed total party wipe.
Let's aim to create a team composition that avoids opponents we can avoid, and is able to deal with those we cannot.

Sandworm

This is the boss of the canyon stage.
Attacking a sandworm before it acts will not inflict any damage.
Therefore, unless you have allies slower than the sandworm, you have no way to inflict damage on it.
Furthermore, the Sandworm's AGI is quite low at 5, so it's difficult to beat it unless you intentionally lower its AGI with accessories or something.
If you proceed into the canyon, be sure to prepare to lower your AGI.
The safest option is to avoid going into the canyon from the start.

Those consumed by chaos

This is the final boss you fight on difficulty level 3.
This opponent can completely block damage from anything other than specific attributes.
When you deal damage with an effective attribute, the enemy's resistance will change.
Magic attacks that don't have an elemental attribute, like Scabios', will always inflict damage, so be sure to bring allies along the way to difficulty level 3.
Be careful, as a party that can only perform physical attacks will almost certainly get stuck.

Sahakiya

This is the final boss of difficulty level 5.
Because the vanguard is fortified by invincible magic cannonballs, Sahakia cannot be damaged by direct attacks.
Since you'll be attacking with either ranged weapons or magic, be sure to include members who can use those methods.
If you don't have a way to attack the rear guard, you're guaranteed to lose.
Additionally, since it inflicts various debuffs each turn, a healer who can remove status ailments, such as one with Recovery All, is essential.
This is a formidable enemy befitting the final boss of the main story, and I feel like I've only truly begun after purchasing all the New Game Plus bonuses.

After clearing difficulty level 5, difficulty level 6 of Endless Mode will become available.
I wasn't sure if it was truly endless, but I made it to stage 12.
This difficulty level will likely make the game more about competing for the highest score (G) rather than simply clearing it, creating a score-attack-like experience.