I played "Yamato no Hime," an RPG created by "Atora Soft" using the WOLF RPG Editor.
I thoroughly enjoyed the previous film, "Mad Princess: The Magnificent Warriors," so I decided to buy this latest installment as well.
It's shareware costing around 2000 yen, but I'm thinking of writing an introduction and strategy guide for it.
Mad Princess: The Magnificent Fighters (RPG) - Introduction, Impressions, and Strategy Notes
As of May 2020, the price is 1980 yen including tax.
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Game Overview
The game is an RPG characterized by its card-based combat system.
The story follows the protagonist (default name: Himiko), a battle shrine maiden, as she uses talismans to liberate various regions from the demon kingdom.
By clearing dungeons on simplified maps, new areas will be unlocked.
At various locations, you can receive rewards by completing petitions (essentially quests).
Additionally, at the "Shrine Maiden Villages" located throughout the country, you can use the "Spiritual Power" you receive as a reward to create and enhance talismans.
Basically, you repeat this process to clear the newly appearing maps.
Game System
Basically, you select your destination from this overall map and then travel there.
If you're in a dungeon, the exploration begins. If you're in a city or town, you can use the inn, report quests, and create and enhance talismans.
dungeon
The dungeon is explored through a screen like the one shown in the image above.
You progress by clicking on unexplored areas adjacent to areas you have already explored.
Each time you move, you will consume "food" equal to the number of party members.
Be careful, as you will take damage every time you move if your food supply runs out.
Food resources increase or decrease depending on how you defeat enemies and the outcome of events.
You can also end the search by right-clicking.
In that case, the exploration progress will be carried over to the next step.
However, since you get a bonus to the "spiritual power" you gain by continuing your exploration for a long time, you'll want to try to complete it in one go if possible.
The location where an event occurs is represented by "?", and various common events will occur there.
Depending on the outcome of the event, four parameters—"Courage," "Mercy," "Ruthlessness," and "Demonic Way"—will increase.
These parameters determine which characters can join your party and which endings you can reach.
Battle
The battle screen looks like the image above.
Players can use talismans, draw cards from the deck, and use items.
Even though it's a card battle, it's not that complicated.
You can think of it as actions being represented by cards.
Since the actions of enemies and allies, and the timing of those actions, are always displayed, it's important to choose talismans that anticipate these moves.
Explanations of divine power, protection, and other concepts are written in the Readme file, so please refer to it if you are unfamiliar with the terminology and mechanisms.
fellow
As you progress through the story and Himiko's parameters increase, various characters will join your party.
Characters may be added to your party while you're exploring the map, or they may be added when you enter an inn after meeting certain conditions.
Although you can't control your allies directly, they are incredibly reliable in battle.
Many characters from previous works will also appear.
Allies have various strengths, such as those who excel at offense, and those who excel at support and assistance.
The type of party you assemble will affect the difficulty of the later stages of the game.
thoughts
I'm not entirely sure, but I think it took me a little less than 10 hours to complete the game.
If you can devise a winning strategy, you can fight with ease for a while.
However, I think the fun part was in the process of repeatedly improving the patterns, as they would eventually stop working.
Most battles are either a battle where we can easily crush the enemy, or a battle where we are easily crushed.
However, the occasional battle against an opponent of similar skill level is as interesting as solving a chess puzzle, and is extremely enjoyable.
The type of battle where you carefully consider each move and slowly build up your strategy is my favorite.
This sometimes happened in regular battles where there were tough opponents mixed in, or when fighting the final boss.
If you have high expectations for this game, like a card game such as "Culdcept," you might be a little disappointed.
All of the previous works by this circle have featured a unique and ingenious combat system, which has been what makes them interesting.
This game, too, can be enjoyed if you approach it as a game that adds a unique twist to its combat system.
Once you get past the halfway point of the game, you might start to feel a little bored, perhaps because you've already seen all the common events while exploring the map.
The map progression itself is basically the same for every map, so it can easily become repetitive and monotonous if you get bored.
However, there are plenty of elements to keep you engaged, such as strengthening talismans and "Dream Training," which allows you to replay completed maps in a special way.
While you can unlock multiple endings by fulfilling certain conditions, you probably won't see them all in a single playthrough.
Even after clearing the game, you can carry over your talismans and start playing from the beginning, making it easier to use your favorite companions.
As of May 2020, the price is 1980 yen including tax.
Strategy Notes (Contains Spoilers)
In the early stages of the game, the most important thing with talismans is firepower.
The key is to strike before you get struck, so aim to cripple the enemy halfway right at the start of the battle.
Strengthening elements like fire, flame, and purgatory early on will make battles much easier.
The most useful skill from the beginning to the end of the game was "Foxfire," which has the "Heavenly Blessing" effect and can perform area-of-effect attacks.
Having this card in your hand right at the start of combat allows you to deal damage to all enemy units.
Additionally, "Contract with the Underworld," which is useful in the mid-to-long term, is recommended in the early stages.
Each time you use a disappearing talisman, your hand is replenished from the deck, saving you the turn you would otherwise spend drawing cards from the deck.
I avoided the "Forbidden Spell," which affects all talismans, because it consumes a large percentage of stamina.
Here are some other talismans that have been helpful.
Kagura
This is a talisman that you'll find useful from the beginning and can use until the very end.
It's very easy to use because it doesn't consume a turn and expands your strategic options.
·prayer
You can increase your divine power and draw one card from your deck.
Using it before using an area-of-effect attack allows you to effectively utilize your divine power, especially against multiple enemies.
- A pacifying blow
This is the picture taken when I delivered the final blow to the last boss.
Since your power increases with each red talisman you use, it's extremely effective in long battles.
While the status of talismans that don't disappear after use steadily declines, this card remains invincible because it has been deified.
In fact, the damage increases with each red talisman you've used so far, so eventually you can inflict an enormous amount of damage.
Thanks to this, even though both of my companions were defeated, I was still able to fight the final boss.
・Storm, Mad Wind Blade
Both of these proved subtly useful because they were effective against the enemy's defenses.
Having teammates is an important element for success.
While we don't have many options when we don't have enough people, we can start to carefully consider our choices once the number of people increases.
Hashiru is a character who joined my party relatively early on and stayed with me until the very end.
Since everyone will use Guardian as their first move, it increases the party's stability.
Furthermore, it also has area-of-effect attack skills, so you can pretty much handle normal battles with ease.
Another teammate was using Maisie, who has high offensive capabilities.
If you can defeat one of the enemy party members immediately after the battle begins with Himiko's preemptive attack and Maisie's attack, you will have a significant advantage.
To be honest, I had almost no complaints about these two, so I hardly ever changed any of my teammates.
There might be some allies with extremely powerful abilities, so I'll try out various things in the second playthrough.
You should primarily collect items with "permanent" effects, and you can sell everything else.
I managed to complete the game without ever using an item in battle.
Focusing on items that permanently increase your maximum health, defense, and divine power will allow you to fight with confidence.
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