Tsukino Hito (Free RPG) Introduction, Impressions, and Strategy Notes

This is an article introducing "Tsukino Hito," an RPG Maker VX Ace game that I learned about on Twitter, found interesting, and decided to play.

The combat difficulty is somewhat high, and it's the kind of game where you overcome tough enemies through trial and error.
As for games I've played recently, I previously introduced..."Iris's Game"I felt a similar sense of gameplay.

The officially stated completion time is around 6-8 hours, which I think is a manageable length for a playable game.
In my case, perhaps because I earned a little money along the way, my completion time was 10 hours and 30 minutes.

Game Overview

The synopsis of this work, "Tsuki no Hito," is as follows:

This is the story of three people: Kaguya, a girl found in cryogenic sleep in a ruined lunar city, and Zeema and Ian, salvagers whose job is to search for valuables among the wreckage.
This story follows the player as they explore a dilapidated facility, uncovering the truth behind a past catastrophe and tracing Kaguya's past.

This game features a high difficulty level in both regular battles and boss battles.
Therefore, unless you are very confident in your skills, it might be a good idea to choose a lower difficulty level.

The game's difficulty can be selected from three levels: "Casual," "Venture," and "Lunatic."
The default difficulty level for this game, "Tsuki no Hito," is "Venture," which is the middle setting.
In "Casual" and "Venture" modes, losing a regular battle does not result in a game over; you are simply returned to the beginning of the area.
However, if you lose in a boss battle, it's game over.
"Casual" mode has a lower difficulty level in combat than "Venture" mode, and you can change it at any time during the game.

However, once you select "Lunatic," you cannot change it.
The combat difficulty is the same as "Venture," but if your entire party is wiped out in a normal battle, it's game over immediately.
In this game, where even regular battles are quite challenging, there's a great deal of tension.

In this game, "Tsuki no Hito," the gameplay involves repeatedly going back and forth between your base and exploring dungeons. Defeating the boss at the deepest part of the dungeon advances the story and unlocks new areas.

You'll acquire money and materials in dungeons, and then strengthen your party by crafting new equipment and learning new skills at your base.
In that sense, it has a hack-and-slash feel reminiscent of dungeon RPGs.
However, since the dungeons are not randomly generated, there are no roguelike elements.

Please note that you can return to your base at any time while exploring the dungeon.
If you activate a "portal," which is a relay warp point within a dungeon, you can choose that as your starting point for your next exploration.

The battles are turn-based command battles, where characters with high agility act first.
You'll fight by utilizing "skills" that consume MP, and "transformations" that consume TP accumulated through normal attacks and other actions.

Skills can be acquired by spending skill points obtained when leveling up, or by equipping specific items.
If you wish to reset your skill point allocation, you can do so at your base.
If necessary, set the optimal skills for each boss and fight.

After the battle ends, HP is fully restored, MP remains the same, and TP is reset to its initial value.
Even incapacitated characters gain experience points, so try to keep at least one character alive and defeat the enemy.

Another distinctive feature is the "Style" setting.
This is like each character's fighting style; you can choose from several styles, such as attack-focused or defense-focused.
The TP-consuming transformation techniques change, and unique passive skills are added, so choose the appropriate one depending on your opponent.

There are also various other features, such as a screen display that shows when enemies will appear, and a facility that allows you to turn weapon skills into accessories.
All of these systems are important for progressing through the game.

Review (no spoilers)

While the combat is challenging, the story itself is also very interesting as a science fiction piece.
It was a classic boy-meets-girl story set in a cyberpunk world.
The interactions between Jima, Ian, and Kaguya, along with the other boys and girls with their different personalities, evoke a wonderfully nostalgic feeling.

While the difficulty level is on the higher side, this game allows for a variety of strategies by making full use of styles, skills, and items.
For those who find combat unsatisfying, where you simply spam normal attacks, this combat balance offers plenty to think about.

Conversely, even if you find it a little tough, you can brute-force your way through to some extent by leveling up.
Therefore, for players confident in their skills, the key to showcasing their abilities will be how to clear the game at a low level and with a low number of battles.
There's a wonderful sense of accomplishment when you explore naturally without trying to earn money, and manage to defeat the boss at the last moment.

While regular combat is tough, the game is designed to make escaping easy, which was helpful when I wanted to focus on exploration.
The item that prevents enemies from appearing was also quite useful when I wanted to find a portal (relay point) just a little bit more!

I never had any financial difficulties throughout my time here.
It was convenient because I could buy new equipment as soon as I had the materials to manufacture it.
Since only a limited number of characters can use healing skills, I felt that the game's balance was such that using consumable items made battles easier.

Overall, I think this is a game I can recommend to a wide range of people, especially since you can change the difficulty level of the battles.
However, I feel that the true essence of this game's appeal lies in playing on difficulty levels "Venture" and above.
Even those who dislike difficult battles should definitely give this a try as an introduction to high-difficulty combat.

Strategy Notes (Contains Spoilers)

Basic Strategy

This game comes with a very comprehensive playing manual included in the game files.
The manual contains numerous hints and information on how to defeat bosses.
If you get stuck, you should refer to the contents of that document.

This game has a high level of difficulty in combat; you can't win just by fighting blindly.
In the early stages, Ian's skill, "Sensory Interrupt," is crucial.
序盤の敵の多くは「眩惑」状態に対して、耐性を持っていないことが多いです。
Therefore, using "Sensory Interrupt" significantly reduces the damage you take.
However, attacks are not guaranteed to never hit, so be careful not to become overconfident.

As mentioned in the player's manual, many of the status ailments in this game have effects unique to the game itself.
Let's try to remember, even if only roughly, what each thing does and what effect it has.
In this game, instead of the "poison" status effect commonly found in other RPGs, a new status effect called "weakness" is introduced.
This status effect inflicts significant continuous damage, so be sure to utilize it in regular battles as well.

If you're having trouble defeating the boss, leveling up is an effective solution.
Once you've progressed a bit in the story, instead of grinding in regular battles, you should rematch bosses from a few areas ago.
That way you can get a larger amount of experience points at once, which is easier.

Boss-specific strategies

#1

・Daiouweira
I leveled up a bit and defeated it with an average level of 5.
The roles are divided as follows: Zima is the attacker, Ian is the dazzler and healer, and Kaguya is the attacker and defense debuffer.
Since Zima is difficult to damage with normal attacks, we will focus on using Ignition, which includes sound attributes.
This should allow you to consistently deal around 100 damage.

Ian uses Sensory Interrupt consecutively on turns 1 and 2 to inflict the Dazzled status.
This will almost completely eliminate any attacks from the enemy.
Use the time when the boss is stunned to heal and do other necessary things.

Kaguya uses Mormo's Kiss to lower the enemy's defense, while normally attacking with something like the Regolith Spear.
If you know Crossfire, that would be more powerful and effective.
If Shell Boost is used, Zima's Ignition will also be less effective, so you'll want to conserve your MP for using Mormo's Kiss.

#2

Gradedrift
We defeated it with an average level of 8.
It summons more and more enemy minions every turn, but it's pointless to deal with each one individually, so the basic strategy is to focus your attacks on the boss, Greatdrift.

Ian uses sensory interrupts while also attacking the enemy and their companions with area-of-effect attacks such as healing and suppressive fire.
It's best to use Zima to damage the boss with abilities like Fang Breaker while simultaneously weakening its attacks.
Attack Kaguya with the Regolith Spear, which exploits her weakness, and if you have the opportunity, attack her minions with Lightning.

The enemy's individual attacks aren't particularly powerful.
My impression is that the Giant Weira in the previous area was a tougher opponent.

#3

Titan Vine
We defeated it with an average level of 11.
If Ian's sensory interrupts continue to land, you can defeat him with almost no damage.
Even if they charge up their power, if you can maintain the dazzled state, they won't hit you very often (though if they do hit you, it's almost an instant kill...).
It's a good idea to have resurrection spells or similar abilities ready in case your characters become incapacitated in battle.

Since sound is its weakness, Ian's Ignition followed by Smashing is a significant source of damage.
Additionally, if Kaguya attacks while being supported by Mormo's Kiss and Crossfire, you can defeat her relatively quickly.

#4

Vajra
We defeated it with an average level of 16.
If you hesitate while trying to defeat the Vajra Head, the Positron Cannon will come, and you also want to inflict as much damage as possible before the Vajra Head revives, so it's a hectic battle.
After taking measures to address the confusion and paralysis,Keep Kaguya's "Sagittarius Myth" to increase your damage output.
While you'd ideally want to save your strongest attack for after defeating the head, I ultimately found that quickly defeating the head was the quickest way to defeat it.
I think it's important to attack relentlessly without getting too hung up on the details.

If possible, it feels great to successfully land Zima's transformations "Feyelweerk" or "Ashes of Ashes" on the main unit.
If Kaguya has an opportunity to attack, she should earn TP with Crossfire and other attacks, and also aim to provide support with her transformation "Planet Eagle".
Ian's main role is healing, and when he has a free moment, he should use "Rapid Fire" to build up TP.

#5

Dragon Zombie
We defeated it with an average level of 20.
I equipped everyone with three types of perfumes that prevent instant death, weakness, and paralysis, as well as the Ripple Earrings.
The reason for Ren's earrings is that in long battles, she runs out of ways to recover MP, making it impossible to defeat the minions protecting the boss.

The styles are Assault, Oracle, and Relieve.
Zeema primarily inflicts damage by repeatedly using Ignition and "Ashes Return."
When the minions appear, instantly kill them one by one with "Spine Raid" while they are in a burning state.

Kaguya strengthens her defenses with "Draco Myth" and "Ataraxia," and if there's an opportunity, she increases her attack power with "Sagittarius Myth."
"Lightning" is surprisingly effective, so once you paralyze them, you'll have a lot more breathing room.

Ian's primary role is that of a healer.
However, if you can dazzle the enemy with "Sensory Interrupt," you can significantly reduce their attack power, so you should actively aim for that.
If you use "Sensory Interrupt" while the Dragon Zombie is paralyzed to lower its resistance to dazzling beforehand, it will be easier to dazzle it immediately after the paralysis wears off.

Buy plenty of Elixir II so that anyone can revive their characters.

#6

- Fairy of the Broken Moon
I found it challenging, so I farmed for experience points and defeated it at an average level of 27.
As hinted in the playing manual, this boss acts in a complete pattern rotation.
Status ailments can be dealt with using accessories, and it's a good idea to wear the Ripple Earrings to ensure you can endure a long battle.

Ian's "Delay Healing" should be able to deal with most of the enemy's area-of-effect attacks.
Galatine has high attack power and can be troublesome as it may defeat Kaguya, so either defend or increase your defense with "The Myth of Draco".
If the timing is right, you can even intentionally grant your allies four or more status buffs so that Galatine can use "Beautiful Melody" on her turn.

The "Celestial Sphere Manifesto" attack, which is used after a preparatory movement, is difficult to defend against with just defense.
In my case, I managed to get by using the transformation "Kremli's Carapace" which can be used with Zima's "Shield" style.
Since it's an "Enhancement Skill: Guard," you can activate it at the start of the turn, which is reassuring, but you need to make sure you have enough TP saved up by then.
"Burning back" might also work, but I didn't use it.

Incidentally, in casual mode, he doesn't use "Galatine," and he has many preparatory actions set up, making his behavior patterns easier to follow.

#7

Betelgeuse
We defeated it with an average level of 29.
Just like the boss in the previous area, it generally attacks in a fairly regular pattern.
Some behaviors may have a range of variation, but here is one example.

They will also use status-inflicting attacks, but these attacks bypass resistance, so there's no need to equip accessories that prevent status ailments.
In my case, I equipped everyone with "Pilgrim's Cloak" as armor.
The 25% evasion rate seemed to be working, as it dodged attacks quite a lot, making things much easier.

You won't be able to deal damage for the first three turns, so prepare by using buffs such as defense buffs.
Once the shield is removed, it becomes much easier to deal damage, so it might be easier to fight this boss than the one in the previous area.

The attack you should be wary of is, of course, the Supernova.
However, once you've leveled up to level 29, you can simply survive by having everyone defend.
I think the proper strategy is to use Zima's "Kremli's Carapace" or "Blazing Back" to survive.

After boosting his attack power, Ian's transformation sequence "Metamorphosis" ⇒ "Venom Bullet" ⇒ "Ghost Rave" allowed me to inflict tremendous damage.
I hadn't used Metamorphosis until now, but I felt it was a game-breaking skill that's effective against most tough enemies because it allows you to inflict status ailments other than instant death.

By the way, here's a rough outline of my behavior patterns in Casual mode.

Review (contains spoilers)

I cleared the game on "Venture" difficulty.
In the later areas, even the regular enemies were tough, so I ended up running away quite a bit to explore.

The most difficult one was #6, "The Fairy of the Broken Moon."
My opponent's opening move, Galatine, almost completely wiped me out, and I felt like victory was incredibly far away, thinking, "This is going to be tough..."

As a reaction to that, I ended up leveling up by repeatedly defeating the boss Vajra in the previous area.
Thanks to those efforts, we were able to defeat them with a fair amount of leeway.

Including these money-making activities, I think this was a game where you could fully enjoy the fun of "strategizing against a formidable enemy and defeating them."
(Free games where leveling up doesn't make things much easier)"Iris's Game"I got goosebumps because I could feel the creators' strong determination not to let me take it easy.

While the difficulty of the battles tends to grab the spotlight, the story and characters are also captivating, and I thoroughly enjoyed the game.
I particularly liked how Kaguya's foul language and insults when she got excited showed emotions that were appropriate for her age (?).
Because they live in such a harsh environment, everyone seems somewhat mature, so seeing Jima and Kaguya arguing made me feel relieved that they were acting their age.

At first, Ian seemed like a calculated, irresponsible person, but it turned out he was just naturally irresponsible.
However, since it ultimately saves Zima and Kaguya, I felt that he was the most magnanimous character.

In this work, Russian is frequently used as phonetic guides for the text.
The combination of "moon" and "Russia" tends to evoke images of tragic accidents (apologies if this is just my own impression), and I feel that it served as an element that permeated the entire story with an unsettling atmosphere.
(A free game I recently playedQualiaNext - Illuminating the Path -I got a similar impression from that as well.

Amidst that atmosphere, Ian's cheerfulness remained unchanged, making him perhaps my favorite character in this film.

Regarding attributes, they have their own unique classification system, so it was difficult to remember them at first.
While the word "Ignition" might bring to mind the fire element, there is no fire element in this game; Ignition is classified under the "sound" element.
However, there's also the attribute "light," which seems related to fire, so I was confused at the beginning, wondering, "Wait, is ignition related to sound or light?"

There are also other powerful status ailments such as "Weakness," "Dazzlement," and "Curse," which require you to read the player's manual.
Games that heavily utilize status effects generally seem to have interesting combat.
Ian's "Sensory Interrupt" ability, in particular, was incredibly powerful from the very beginning, proving invaluable in both regular battles and boss fights.

As the number of bosses susceptible to status ailments gradually decreases, Ian's "Metamorphosis" can forcibly reduce their resistance to zero, making it a very powerful transformation.
As I mentioned in the strategy guide, inflicting status ailments on enemies and then using Ghost Rave after boosting your attack power can deal a considerable amount of damage.
Combined with his character type, he reminds me of Camus from Dragon Quest 11, who unleashes maximum burst damage.

I've written a lot, but I'm glad I was able to play a game that gave me such a great sense of accomplishment.
Everyone has their own preferred difficulty level, but for me, the best is when it's "somewhat challenging but still manageable to clear."

If a game has a difficulty setting, I like to adjust it to my liking and play accordingly.
In this game, the standard difficulty level, "Venture," suited me perfectly, which made me happy.