Neverspring Chronicles: Phoenix Down

Features:

- A classic 90's era style JRPG adventure from humble origins almost 20 years in the making.

- 100% developed without AI or anything artificially generated. Show your support for the little guys and see the hard work of multiple independent artists and musicians come together to form a strange and fantastic world.

- Traditional sideview RPG combat with just enough modernization to keep things fun and engaging without losing that 1990's feel.

- Hand-crafted world maps and dungeons filled with secret passages and hidden rooms to explore.

- Interact with a cast of 10 playable characters through a well-paced story on a distant world.

- Character system lets you progress and customize your skills through the use of Magitech devices.

- Tons of loot and items to customize powerful builds.

- Side quests and optional content sprinkled throughout the world.

- New game modes planned for extra replayability (this part still in the works).

There are libraries in some of the towns that are supposed to inform curious players of things in the game world they might have questions about. Right now those libraries need to be updated so in the meantime I have posted this.

TIPS, TRICKS, & COMBAT MECHANICS

Active-Turn Combat - The combat in Neverspring Chronicles is based on the concept of a fast-paced Active-Turn system. No worries if you are a slow-paced thinker, though. The combat pauses whenever it's time for you to choose any action. It is designed to flow either as quick or as steady as your inputs.

Attack Chain Combos - The traditional generic "Attack" skill has been redesigned into a customizeable combo chain of quick-firing skills called the "Attack Chain". How short or long of an Attack Chain combo a character has is entirely up to you and how you build them. Activate your combo by pressing the OK or Confirm button after you have performed a regular attack. If you don't press the button to activate, the character will just perform their single generic weapon strike. If you happen to press the button at just the right time you will see a pop-up reading "Overpower!" signaling that you have earned another free attack. In that instance, you will start another Attack Chain after your first combo completes.

Tap-For-Power - Some skills (mainly direct offense ones) will prompt you to charge up the power for your skill. Power up by by pressing the OK or Confirm button repeatedly until the power gauge is full. You only have a short time to power up so mash that button! If you do not press anything the power gauge will empty out and your spell will fizzle weakly. The more you power up during a skill cast, the more damage it will do.

Exceptions - Some skills do not fizzle if you do not power up your cast. With skills like "Blaster" from your Blaster MK-I device you will instead perform a different attack depending on how much power you charged up. Charging up half-way, for example, will perform a regular "Blaster" shot. A full power bar will instead overcharge the Blaster MK-I and cause it to perform a powerful "Piercing Shot" that melts the target's armor to apply the "Low Def" debuff. Likewise the Rifle MK-I can perform "Burst Fire" or "Magefire Cannon".

DAMAGE TYPES

Physical
Magic
Fire
Ice
Earth
Air
Water
Lightning
Ranged
Dark
Light
Poison
Psionic
True

MAGITECH VS TRUE MAGIC

True Magic - Skills are always known and can be used infinitely as long as there is enough Energy available to cast. Higher chance of applying debuffs and status ailments. Gets 100% extra damage bonuses for striking weakness vulnerabilities.

Magitech - Skills are only known as long as their device is currently equipped and have a certain number of uses are charges. Magitech charges can be restored by consuming a cartridge of Mana Extract. Lower chance of applying debuffs and status ailments. Gets 50% extra damage bonuses for striking weakness vulnerabilities.

STATUS BUFFS AND AILMENTS

Poison - Deals poison damage over time.

Blind - Reduces Hit Rate, Crit Rate, Dodge, and Crit Evasion.

Burn - Deals fire damage over time. Triggers firestorm when hit with Air.

Wet - Strengthens the next Lightning attack or weakens the next Fire attack. Whichever hits first.

Wither - Deals dark damage over time.

Vamp - Deals dark damage over time and drains it as healing to the original caster.

Shock - Actions have a chance to fail because of the lingering effects of electrocution.

Freeze - Unable to act. Incoming Fire damage will remove the effect early.

Bleed - Deals physical damage over time.

Wounded - Actions have a chance to fail because the wound is too painful.

High Def - Increased defense while active.

Low Def -  Increases power while active.

Regen - Heals health over time.

Berserk - Lose control of the character. They will attack automatically using Berserk skills for heavy physical damage.

Charm - Lose control of the character. They will fight on behalf of their enemies and target their own party.

Confusion - Lose Control of the character. They will swing wildly and target anyone. They may even target themselves.

Sleep - Unable to act. Any damage can cause the effect to end early.

Haste - Increase speed while active.

Slow - Decrease speed while active.

Reflect - Reflects magic back at whoever cast it. This includes healing magic. A spell can only be reflected once.

Amnesia - Cannot use skills while active.

Silence - Cannot use magic while active.

Reactive - Increase counter-attack while active.

Evasion - Increase dodge while active.

Fairy Fire - Reduces defense, dodge, and crit evasion and makes the character more likely to be targeted by enemies.

Disarm - Drops weapon while active. Results in temporary loss of stats and no weapon for weapon-specific skills.

Amplify Magic - All sources of magic and elemental damage are increased while active. Magical and elemental status ailments more likely.

Dampen Magic - All sources of magic and elemental damage are decreased while active. Magical and elemental status ailments less likely.

Share Pain - Damage received is split between self and party members.

Curse - Causes random magic debuffs and magic status ailments over time. The longer it persists, the more it will cause.

Virus - Causes random poison debuffs and physical status ailments over time. The longer it persists, the more it will cause.

Thorns - Returns 50% of damage to enemy.

Chains of Fate - Links two targets so that if the caster dies then the linked target dies too.

Doom - Sets a timer on the target. When the timer ends, so do they.

Inner Fire - When a charcter's TP guage is full this state will activate. Allows character to use their Ultimate attack.

Exhausted - If a character's Energy gets too low they will become Exhausted until they recover some Energy. Reduces all stats.

Scared - Wants to run away. Next turn they just might.

AURA TYPES

Health Aura - Increase maximum HP for self and party.

Regen Aura - Apply a Lesser Regen to self and party. Does not stack with Regen.

Defense Aura - Increase defense for self and party.

Reflex Aura - Increase dodge and counter-attack for self and party.

Thorns Aura - Apply a Lesser Thorns to self and party. Does not stack with Thorns.

Energy Aura - Increase energy regeneration for self and party.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

Rainy Weather - Acts almost like a permanent Wet state. Lightning damage is increased and Fire damage is decreased. Air damage triggers storms.

Caves & Deep Dungeons - When in a cave or deep dungeon there is a chance to trigger a Cave-In when using Earth type skills. Cave-Ins deal True damage.

EXPLOITS AND TRIGGERS

Burn - Use an Air attack on a burning target to trigger a Firestorm.

Wet - Decreases the next Fire attack received but increases the next Lightning attack received.

Poison - Poison attacks deal more damage to already poisoned targets.

GUARD FUNCTIONALITY

Guard - Increases the user's defense. If a target is selected other than self, they will try to take hits for that target when low health.

Defend - Increases the user's defence, parry, block, and counter-attack. If a target is selected, they will take hits for that target.

CAST TIMES, INTERRUPTS, AND INSTANT CASTS

Instant - An instant cast skill is executed immediately and does not use up the caster's turn.

Cast Time - Some of the most powerful spells have a "cast time". They have a longer charge up time to execution.

Interrupt - All skills and abilities (except instant ones) have a charge up period after selection. If hit with an interruption during this short window of time, the skill will be canceled before it can execute. Most skills have a very short charge up period.

BLUE MAGIC ABILITIES

Blue Magic - Monsters sometimes have unique skills that can be learned by characters that have Blue Magic (like iwth Ellessidel's Blue ELF-II device).

Learning Spells - Some spells are harder to learn than others but all Blue Magic spells are learned by either witnessing the ability happen or having the ability happen directly to the character equipped with Blue Magic. There is a much higher chance of learning the monster's skill if it actually hits the character.

Blue Magic Tip - Rare monsters and sub-boss monsters often have a learnable Blue Magic skill in their arsenal. For completionist-type players it might be wise to pick and choose when you decide to actually engage any rare monsters or optional sub-bosses you might find. If you leave and come back later they will usually still be there.

BLOCK, PARRY, DODGE, & COUNTER-ATTACK

Block - Only works with Shields and Light Shield devices. Chance to block incoming magic spells and attacks. Blocked damage is totally negated.

Parry - Only works while holding a weapon. Chance to parry attacks. Parried damage is totally negated. Only attacks can be parried. Cannot parry magic spells.

Dodge - Chance to dodge out of the way and evade magic spells and attacks. Dodged damage is totally negated.

Counter-Attack - Chance to strike back after being struck. The basic counter-attack is a simple weapon strike but various types of counter-attack skills can be used depending on available skills and equipment. For example, the Blaster MK-I device adds "Return Fire" to a character's list of possible counter-attacks. A character must be hit and take damage to trigger a counter-attack. Dodging, blocking, parrying, or being hit for zero damage will not do it.

Exceptions - Some skills and magic spells cannot be blocked. For example, the spell "Quake" cannot be blocked.

TIPS & TRICKS

Make Your Own Builds - This game was made to build characters in different ways. Try dedicating one character as a champion defender. Stack as much defense, parry, block, and counter-attack as you can and give them equipment to change Guard into Defend and watch them brawl on behalf of their allies.

Attack Chain vs Skill Casting - The Attack Chain combo can be built up into a long string of offensive skills or you can focus on upgrading singular moves. A decked out Attack Chain can cause a lot of damage but the longer your Attack Chain, the less control you have over which elements and damage types are being applied. Enemies have strengths and weaknesses and sometimes they may even absorb or react to certain elements.