Chick Samurai (Free Action RPG) Introduction, Impressions, and Strategy Notes

I played "Hiyoko Samurai," an action RPG created with RPG Maker 2000.
Despite its cute title, this is a hard-hitting story about a man striving to master the art of swordsmanship.
Although it was released in 2004, the tense combat system and the intriguing storyline made me play through it in one go.

Even though it's an action RPG, you don't have complete freedom of movement, so even people who are not good at action games shouldn't be put off by it.
The completion time was approximately 5 hours.

Game Overview

"Chick Samurai" is an RPG where you engage in combat through action.
You become stronger by defeating enemies, leveling up, and improving your equipment.

The protagonist, a young boy named Tune, embarks on a journey to become the greatest swordsman after a certain incident.
This is a serious and intense story depicting the life of Tune, who strives to become the world's greatest swordsman and relentlessly pursues the art of swordsmanship.

The story is basically linear.
As the scenario progresses, more locations become accessible.

While there are many battles during events, most regular battles are symbol encounters.
You can earn experience points and money by defeating enemies, so if you find it difficult, leveling up should help you progress.

The most distinctive feature of this game is its combat system.
Movement is simply a matter of approaching or moving away from the enemy, but the key to success lies in the exquisite tactical maneuvering of finding openings in the enemy's attacks.

The controls themselves are simple: you normally maintain a middle stance, press the up button to switch to an upper stance, and press the down button to draw your sword.
Pressing the confirm key in the middle stance will unleash a normal attack, while pressing the confirm key in the upper stance or while in a drawn sword stance will execute a pre-set technique.
If you are in the middle stance, you can move while maintaining that stance, but moving will cancel the upper stance and the drawn sword stance.
Therefore, when using techniques involving an upper stance or drawing the sword, you must first assume the corresponding stance, which creates a slight opening.
While complex operations aren't required, quick reflexes may be needed in the later stages of the game.

Also, pressing the cancel key will put you in a defensive state.
You can deflect most attacks, but there are some that you cannot block.

Skills are acquired through story progression and events.
Since you can only equip one technique for each stance, it's a good idea to equip techniques that are effective against your opponent.

Review (no spoilers)

The story is simply shocking, and it's so captivating that you can't stop reading, wondering how it will end.
The title "Chick Samurai" and its cute visuals actually made the darker aspects of the story stand out even more.
This is not a feel-good story, so those who dislike such stories should be aware.

The battles themselves are enjoyable, so encountering enemies is usually not a chore.
Approaching to attack or missing an attack leaves you vulnerable, so initiating an attack yourself carries risks.
As the enemy's thinking becomes increasingly sophisticated, you'll often find yourselves cautiously measuring the distance between you and the enemy, rather than approaching them recklessly.
This combat system truly captures the atmosphere of a "death match" with swords, creating a sense of tension.

Even if you find the battles difficult, you can still brute-force your way through by leveling up, so I don't think you'll get completely stuck.
I really want you to experience this tension by actually playing the game.

Review (contains spoilers)

This section contains spoilers related to the game's ending, so please be aware if you haven't played the game yet.

I was able to see all three endings and complete the game.
My level naturally increased during the final dungeon, bringing my level to 21, which made the final battle a bit easier.

The most useful techniques were "Helmet Splitter" (an upper-body technique) and "Wind Drain" (a drawn-sword technique).
The "wind venting" technique, in particular, is incredibly useful; I feel like it's possible to clear the game using only this technique.
By using "Wind Vent" from a certain distance and immediately retreating to create distance, you can wear down the enemy quite safely.
However, in the later stages of the game, many enemies are reluctant to drop their defensive stance, so in those cases, using "Helmet Splitter" to deal damage while ignoring their guard was effective.

Attack and defense stats have a surprisingly large impact on combat, so I felt that improving my equipment would make things easier if I was having trouble.
A fighting style that drastically increases offensive power while sacrificing defense is a romantic and thrilling style of combat where victory or defeat depends on a split second of weakness.

So, there are three endings, but which ending did you find the most satisfying?
In my first playthrough, I chose "For the sake of the sword," which led to the seppuku ending.
It's because when I was a child, I was taken by Rickner to see Yukimura's sword, and I was left with a strong impression of Tune being captivated by it.
In this ending, it is revealed that he had always been captivated by the sword and wielded it, ultimately dying by piercing himself with it.
If he truly loved swords, then perhaps this was a happy ending for him.

Choosing "For those who have died" will result in an ending where, even if you achieve your goal, only emptiness remains.
The idea that one must become the best in the world for the sake of those who killed many people in order to achieve this is a very human way of thinking.
Because human emotions were rekindled, only emptiness remained, and he was subsequently killed by the assailant.
The final vision of young Thun and Sora running off, asking "Where are we going today?", is particularly memorable.
The childhood when he could freely change his playground might have seemed enviable to Tune, who has now followed only the path of the sword.

The answer, "It's for my own sake," may indeed be true.
I think that a combination of things—Sora asking Tune, "Why do you want to be number one?", being captivated by Yukimura's sword, and the fact that his family was killed by that sword—led him to embark on the path of mastering the sword.
Conversely, perhaps they wouldn't have been able to maintain their composure through emotions like anger and sadness if they hadn't done so.
Now that he has defeated Yukimura and become the strongest, perhaps Tune's childhood is finally coming to an end.
It might be a stretch, but perhaps the chick costume that Tune wears symbolizes children as chicks.
Unfortunately, even though his childhood is over, there is no one left around him.
Perhaps Sethi invited Tune because he realized that Tune was just as empty as he was.
As I grew older, forgetting the swordsmanship I had once mastered might have been a good thing in a way, as it meant I was freed from the constraints of the sword.

No matter which option you choose, the ending leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Even if one strives to master the way of the sword, it ultimately comes down to the art of killing, so perhaps it's unavoidable.
Below, I will write my impressions of each character.

・Tune

Even though Tune seems to have given up everything, the first half of the story gives the impression that he still hasn't let go of many things.
Returning to Mani Mani before the final showdown with Zuul allowed me to break away from the past and finally feel like I've gotten over a lot of things.
This film seemed to have an aspect of being a story of Tune's coming of age, a story of breaking away from his childhood.

・Yuju

At that time, Tune had the image of Yuju as a travel companion, which in retrospect was a naive way of thinking.
If he aimed to be the strongest, he would naturally be destined to fight Yuju, but it seemed as though he conveniently avoided acknowledging that fact.
Perhaps the duel with Yuju symbolizes a break with a "friend."
If Thun were to make friends, they would likely be those who share his pursuit of mastering the art of swordsmanship, but perhaps this outcome was inevitable for that reason.

Seti

Seti is striving to overcome the handicap of being a woman and become the strongest, but unfortunately, her opponents weren't all that strong.
Being born a woman has become a hindrance to her pursuit of becoming the strongest, and the frustration she feels is immeasurable.
I never imagined I'd play a part in the ending, but perhaps Tune and I were a good match, being two empty souls.

Gadilton

I thought I'd end up killing Tune, but that didn't happen, and we parted peacefully.
While many of the characters were somewhat eccentric, I think Gadilton was a sensible person.
At first, I imagined him to be a belligerent, muscle-bound character, but he turned out to be a rational person.
He's a character that symbolizes the many people who give up on their dreams and come to terms with reality, so I was relieved that he didn't end up fighting with Tune.

Wraith

He was a rival figure who possessed both top-notch swordsmanship and the charisma of a hero.
Even though he hasn't given up everything for the sake of the sword, Thune's past defeat seems to have become a major obstacle in his growth.
Wraith himself admitted that, at a fundamental level, his conflict with Gianluca was due to his own ego, but he also seemed to understand the limits of a single swordsman's power.
I believe he was a person who maintained his polite demeanor until the very end, preserving his integrity until his death.

Aisha

I was initially taken in by Wraith's smooth talk and thought he was just a minor character who would be used to extract information.
However, she begins to harbor unwavering feelings for Tune, who risked danger for her sake to grant her request.
The fact that she broke up with all the Imperial soldiers she was dating shows just how serious she is about Tune.
However, for Thun, who was suffering a string of defeats, perhaps those thoughts felt like unnecessary burdens.
If the circumstances hadn't been like this, I might have simply ignored it, said goodbye, and that would have been the end of it.
However, sensing Aisha's sincerity, and realizing that he himself needed to shed all unnecessary things, he may have taken a course of action from which there was no turning back.

This scene remains strongly etched in my memory as a symbol of Tune's complete severance from romantic feelings towards the opposite sex.

Zuur

This character advised Tune and gave him the impetus to move on from his past.
As evidenced by Zuul's statement, "Don't you think it's utterly pointless to fight humans and compete to win or lose?", I felt that he wasn't pursuing strength in comparison to others.
Living alone in a place where there are no people, Zuul is perhaps simply pursuing his own strength above all else.
As a result, he was constantly being challenged by people who heard rumors about him and wanted to test their skills, and I think he grew tired of being unfairly called things like "the underhanded swordsman."
That's why, even when he lost to Thun in the end, I think he expressed his gratitude because he was already satisfied with his own performance.

From his advice to Tune, to his way of life, and even his final moments, I think he was a really cool character.

Gianluca

When he first appeared in my childhood, he gave the impression of being a hateful villain.
Of course, he continues to reign as the final boss to be defeated, but he has also had a positive impact on the country, making it difficult to simply condemn him as evil.
After Tune completely broke away from the past following the battle with Zuhl, Gianluca transformed from a hateful villain into a formidable opponent worthy of respect.
I think Tune's bow and say "Thank you" after the showdown is also a sign of that change in his feelings.

As Gianluca said, I think Tune was fortunate to have a clear opponent to defeat.

Yukimura

He is my mentor, my adoptive father, and my greatest enemy.
He was also the person who inspired Tune to take up the path of swordsmanship.
We can only speculate about much of what kind of person Yukimura was.
リクナーからテューンに剣の稽古を頼まれてもあっさり引き受ける辺り、多くのことに頓着しない性格なのかもしれません。
Thune's journey with the sword begins and ends at Yukimura, so although he's a modest character, he left a strong impression on me.