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(4 edits) (+1)

Now that I actually did finish the game, comments time. There are some spoilers here, although nothing severe. Still, I'm glad I went into this game without much foreknowledge, so if that's your approach, you might want to not read this.

This game was honestly kind of a masterpiece. Excellent characters and story of course, and with a really good combat (which was nice). However, the thing that really first drew me into the game was how the game was deliberately frustrating in a fascinating way. The start of the game is quite difficult, and in no small part that's just because you don't know how it works yet (I died a lot of times before I realized that resting after I got through the beginning part was, in fact, worth raising the rent). Even beyond that, there's also the little things. Every single way to save "costs" in some sense (even just sleeping, since it raises the rent), traveling around the city costs at least 1$ (and quite a bit more if you don't want to lose things randomly, so until you have more money, you probably can't afford to be using it constantly), and no matter what you do, there's always a chance that you'll just lose a piece of equipment. In my game, I lost the Strength Scarf that was literally my strongest piece of equipment to an overnight theft, and I was never able to find another one. However, as I got into it, I just learned to roll with it. Lost the scarf, so I used something else. Carried some extra gear just in case, got used to spending a bit, etc. It complements the story the game tells so well, so it was really a fantastic experience.

Beyond that, the story was phenomenal (although I won't get into it too much since Spoilers), and the ending I got was very satisfying (for which one it is: I had to go through the full Tower to get it). I really liked all four party members, but I also liked all of the background characters (the ones who were intended to be likeable anyways, I can't say I liked Ramona's landlord, but that just made something in the ending all the more satisfying). I made sure to use the Small Talk option several times (and to do so after getting more characters) just because there was interesting dialogue for the characters.

The combat is also really fun. I ended up with three of the characters' Tarot card gear, which was extremely helpful (regen is really good in this game), but just the set of skills available to each character were interesting and fun to use. I didn't get all of the Spiritual Healing skills (except for Kyrie's), but the ones I did get were all useful and interesting (Dodge Roll is great).

Tragically, I played the majority of the game with the sound off because of the times of day I had available to play it, but late game I ended up listening to some of the music, and it's fantastic (seriously, I was missing out). I need to replay it at some point just to listen to the music some more (plus to see some of the content I missed, like a certain arcade machine).

Also, as much as the art for the game is described as not great (literally in the description of this game), it works with the tone of the game, and I actually liked it just fine. Also, Kyrie's walk cycle is great. No other comment on that necessary.

I did not end up beating a certain bonus boss against the (non-canonical) "ruler" of Engel, although now that I've done everything else, I'll probably take another try. The problem for me wasn't even the boss's damage (which was honestly not that high, although I also had a lot of defense on all my characters other than Kyrie, who just dodged things that vast majority of the time), but the fact that I literally could not outdamage the boss's regen + the one draining skill. I'll have to give it another try now that I'm about as powerful as I can get without just grinding Model Employees for stat-up items (which I sort of did, but that was just because I was enjoying the fights while doing the things I needed to do to get into the final floor of the Tower). I did beat most of the bounties that I didn't accidentally lock myself out of (although I think I forgot one of the four Heavenly Rat Kings, so I should really do that too). Combat in the late game got pretty easy, but I did make a lot of use of stat-up items and had very good gear.

Edit: Fight done. Huh, that was a lot easier this time. I guess all those stat-ups really did help, given that I was able to just do overwhelming damage and end the fight quickly. I don't seem to be able to leave though, as the looping hallways occur in both directions?


I did run into one bug worth reporting, but thankfully it did not break my game or anything:

For the Rank 3 quests, I did Lighthouse Reclamation, then Lonely Hearts, and after finishing Lonely Hearts, it sort of never stopped. I turned it in, but now all of the characters have kept their dialogue associated with it. This is mostly notable with Sheya, who always refers to me doing it. Some of the other characters sort of refer to it, but most of them are more in reference to it being finished, so that was fine. The core bug part was that when I picked up the Casino Investigation quest later and left the building, I ended up with both quests at once in my reminders, and, if I talked to Uzbek again, I could go and turn in Lonely Hearts again, getting the short scene and reward. I did not attempt to do Casino Investigation (partially in fear of breaking my save and partially just because it seemed unlikely that turning it in would work at all). It didn't stop me from completing The Tower stuff, so I can still normally end the game that way, thankfully though (that would have hurt a bit).

Edit: I did go on to finish that quest, I was able to turn it in (... alongside Lonely Hearts, both of them turned in at the same time) and have everything get a bit more back on track. Some of the dialogue in Casino Investigation was off since I did things in what seems to have been an unintended order and characters didn't know about things they probably should have, but everything worked fine so I'm just glad I could see everything in that.

Edit: Oh, right, additional minor bug: Kyrie's Cool Down does not end the "Killing Harmony" Assassin stance, so you just get a full heal and the CDs trigger, but your stance does not change.


Anywho, that's the longest response I've written to a game in a while, but I had a lot to say about this one. I'm still not really sure whether it's Itch standard to leave reviews in the comments or reviews, so I'm just going to copy the review-y portion of this over to that too.

Thank you for the review! I think some of those problems were addressed in the Steam build, but dang it reminds me that I should update the itch one on my day off. 

But now, you gotta fight that last rat king and head to the graveyard for one last reward that I say is worth chasing.


But of course, there’s also that alternate route to chase…

(1 edit)

Oh, makes sense. I'll pick it up on Steam then (especially since I got it from a bundle this time), and then when I get to playing it again I'll know I have the latest version.

I did defeat the graveyard fight, although unfortunately, it seems like I can't use the Bleeding Heart because I can't access the apartment anymore (after a certain boss fight). When I get to replaying it, I'll make sure to do that first instead.

I'll have to consider the alternate route. I saw the statue with the start of it after beating the bonus boss, and I think perhaps I would not want to see it through after seeing everything through on a good ending, but also it seems interesting so... shrug. Time will tell I suppose. Can always do it, then do a normal route replay.