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[Parakeetman]

Small disclaimer before we begin. Since there isn't much interest or resources for the title this is pretty much a barebones OT just meant for general discussion / impressions. Current schedule also does not allow for much time to be spent with piecing together what little there is to make something fancy.

Title: Coven and Labyrinth of Refrain
Platform: PlayStation Vita (PSVTV Compat)
Genre: RPG
Players: 1
Release Date: 06/23/2016
Price:
Normal - 5,980 JPY (6,458 JPY w/tax)
Limited - 7,980 JPY (8,618 JPY w/tax)
Digital - 4,762 JPY (5,143 JPY w/tax)
Age Rating: CERO C (15 and up)

Coven and Labyrinth of Refrain is set in Refrain, a town where there is a cursed underground labyrinth where people cannot survive very long. A certain witch comes along and volunteers to explore the labyrinth. The player is a legendary book called “Youro Rekitei.” Together with the witch, your owner, you’ll challenge the dungeon. The player cannot fight, so the witch will make dolls (which you’ll customize in character creation to form your adventurer party) to fight instead.

• Detailed Dungeons to explore filled with traps and gimmicks
• Lots of options available for character creation that relate to the dolls stats, growth rate when leveling and extra perks.
• 3 Portraits total per class. 2 default and 1 hidden?
• 2 voices per class (for now?) *Might be 1 voice per portrait type.
• Narrative based story with fully voiced events
• Lots of loot to find both from enemy drops and from junk or treasure chests in the dungeons
• Doll parts can break when critically hit in combat. Called (Gore Hit?) I think it was. When parts are broken Doll's maximum HP and various stats decrease. Parts can be repaired if proper materials are available and you return to the base wagon.
• Dolls can be permanently lost if all parts break. (Perma-death) basically. Considering there are 5 parts - Head / Torso / Arms / Legs it should not be something too worry about that much yet... If your doll's head is broken and you take damage, your doll will die instantly it seems.
• Finding more rare soul bottles allows for the creation of dolls with higher base stats.
• Up to 40 members can fight in battle. Each of the 5 main party slots can have 8 additional dolls attached to them to form squads.
• Create new items with the alchemy pot.
• Spend mana for various effects with the Witch Petition system.
• Collect too much mana and be chased by "Death"!
• Able to switch your dolls growth style in their status menu at any time. Growth occurs during level up with the values of stats raised.
• Skills / Additional character & support slots are connected to Covens, so find more Covens to broaden the variation of your party setup and abilities.

*More info will be added as I progress further

Long story short you are a magical book called "Youro Rekitei" who just so happens to be traveling along with the Witch Dronia, her Apprentice Ruka. Due to being rather useless as a book you make use of the Doll Soldiers to do all the heavy lifting during your dungeon travels. (basically the same info in the setting section lol)

The Aster Knight is balanced in defending and attacking, and specialize in wielding two-handed weapons.

The Shinobushi are sword-users that are characterized by their speedy movements and ability to dual-wield swords.

The Theatrical Star Facet use weapons called “Spell Bells” in both hands and use them for using attacks with a side of effects as supporters of the party.

The Peer Fortress are the tanks that use their tough armor to defend allies while creating an opportunity to strike back.

The Marginal Maze is a mage class that uses spells calls “Donam” to provide power and consumption buffs. They use weapons called “Eclipse Stands” to perform flame, mud, and fog-based attacks.

The Mad Raptors use weapons called “Hyakka Yumi,” a weapon that shoots out flame, mud, and fog-based attacks. You’ll want to keep these guys in the back row to perform a variety of powerful attacks and status ailment hits from behind.

The Gothic Coppelia and Demon Reaper are two of the hidden Doll Soldier selections. Which are unlocked through story progression / spending mana.
*Credits to Siliconera

http://www.4gamer.net/games/315/G031540/20160603084/
4gamer link for those who want to see more screenshots (JPs finest potato quality that is...)

Coven and Labyrinth of Refrain - Promotional Trailer
Coven and Labyrinth of Refrain - Introdution to Classes
Gameplay w/JP commentary semi-potato quality

*Recorded footage "might" make a banner for this to separate it
Tutorial / First Dungeon Gameplay
Doll Soldier Creation
More First Dungeon Gameplay 1 of 2
More First Dungeon Gameplay 2 of 2

#0:

Q: Is this game going to be localized for the West?

A: Seeing how Nippon Ichi Software sends over the major titles to NISA be localized would imagine this will be eventually announced also. That and its a "Takehito Harada" project in the sense that it has his character designs yeah Id say this would be showing up in the West in some form.

#1:

Q: What type of game is this?

A: Dungeon Crawler RPG. First time NIS has gone and done their own first person dungeon crawler.

#2:

Q: Im new to the Dungeon Crawler Genre would this be a title for me?

A: Since have not had hands on with the game yet it is hard to say. Though since NIS generally does a good job with having a narrative with their titles those looking for a game with a story I would imagine that this title will have an amusing story to go with the dungeon crawling. Though in terms of difficulty will have to play for a bit and then update this answer.

#3:

Q: Do I need to know Japanese to play this game?

A: Generally if you want to understand the story and know what the game mechanics and skills do then yes. As this isn't an action game bumbling around blindly is not something I would suggest. This game also has questions where the player is required to respond to dialog with 3 choices of answers, which basically are Yes, No, No Response. Depending on the choices made can change events and such, also lead into fights. So being able to understand what is being talked about in the dialog would help ones enjoyment with the title itself. And save you from potential death in the event if your choice of answer causes a battle you are not ready for.

#4:

Q: Does this game have any review scores?

A: While in general nobody takes Famitsu scores seriously the game got the following marks.
Coven and Labyrinth of Refrain (PSV) – 8/8/9/7 [32/40]
*Credits to Gematsu

AmiAmi
Nippon-Yasan
CD Japan
HMV Japan
*Disclaimer: Neither GAF nor myself has any sort of affiliation with the following sites above. These are just the most common ones members frequently speak of when it comes to online import shops and these links are for the convenience of the members who are still interested in importing the Japanese version of the game. Mods if you feel this is inappropriate let me know and will remove this section.

• Thanks goes out to Nippon Ichi Software for the resources used to make up the graphics in this OT.
• Thanks to the dafont website for having an awesome selection of fonts to download and use.
• Thanks to Jonathan Stephen Harris for his Imagination Station font
• Thanks to Gematsu for various information.
• Thanks to Siliconera for various information.
• Thanks to 4gamer for the screenshots.
• Thanks to DualSHOCKERS for the screenshots. (Forgot linking to them is still banned lol)

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Another J-Dungeon Crawler, another slew of monsters drawn to look ready to fuck your shit up.

The mud dragon is especially nasty.

 

[Parakeetman]

Another J-Dungeon Crawler, another slew of monsters drawn to look ready to fuck your shit up.

The mud dragon is especially nasty.

The monster designs do look good that is for sure. Am curious to see how varied the dungeons are also. But from screenshots does look like there might be a good selection. Plus other story scenes look quite nice too.

Got the LE sitting here on my desk along with Caligula though no time at the moment to play either. As have a mountain of paperwork to go through. In the evening I hope to fill out the features section as mechanics and whatnots should be a bit more clarified with hands on.

 

[ranmafan]

Looking forward to the impressions. I really want this game but I can't get it at the moment. Way too much else to get right now. But will get later this year.

 

[Parakeetman]

Looking forward to the impressions. I really want this game but I can't get it at the moment. Way too much else to get right now. But will get later this year.

Am glad its PSV compat since means I can record stuff. As there hardly is any media of the game itself. Kinda weird as does not look like NIS put that much into marketing it with how little media there is. Wonder why as the game does look solid from that recorded livestream.

In anycase will update the media section once recorded footage is added.

 

[robotnik]

Nice OT! Looking forward to impressions too.

 

[Parakeetman]

Nice OT! Looking forward to impressions too.

Thanks, do hope to finish the features section later in the evening.

 

[Dorarnae]

they shipped my copy yesterday, so it's on the way. hoping that it is alright, I don't want another faith paradox cross thesis or whatever it was called lol.

 

[Parakeetman]

they shipped my copy yesterday, so it's on the way. hoping that it is alright, I don't want another faith paradox cross thesis or whatever it was called lol.

So far it seems that the reception has been fairly positive with this game which is good to hear.

Am actually running both this and Caligula at the same time.

 

[Saphirax]

Hopefully this game plays as good as it looks. I, too, find it weird how little NIS bothered to show.

 

[OniBarubary]

Want this to be good, was excited hearing about it when they showed stuff.

 

[Parakeetman]

Hopefully this game plays as good as it looks. I, too, find it weird how little NIS bothered to show.

Yeah am not sure why either since it looked solid and they are using the big guns with the disgaea artist Harada-san doing the character designs.

---

As expected good VA work and music is what you would expect of a mainline NIS game.

Though man seeing the artwork "blown up" on the PSVTV makes me really wish that there was a PS4 version also as this artwork most def would look great crisp. Though guess thats not much of an issue if you just play on your Vita instead.

Ruka's VA / personality is pretty great fits well with the polar opposite of personality Dronia.

One thing though with this games sound settings you will want to set the music lower than the default slightly. Since even with the voice volume for events maxed out, music at default will still be slightly too overpowering to the voices if you are sensitive to that sort of stuff. So bringing it down a notch or two helps. Can imagine what the default event voice volume vs the default music would be then...

Hilarious that this would be a 2nd game where the player is considered a "book". First one being Phantom Kingdom granted Zetta was not always a book, but you get the idea.

 

[Parakeetman]

Oh dear god can see myself spending a ton of time with this game. So far so good quality wise with the dungeon and graphics. Mechanics am sure will be interesting too. Its nice to see that it seems like a lot of effort went into things so far.

Really is odd now that I have a chance to play this for myself, see the quality and effort put in and yet how the marketing push does not seem to be too strong. Granted its on the cover of this weeks Dengeki, that only really matters if you buy the magazine. Others would be wandering around looking for videos or whatnots.

Anyways the game itself so far seems quite good and am looking forward to unlocking more of the mechanics.

This and Caligula I can see taking up a lot of my free time most def. Though Id see more play time going into this vs Caligula just due to the difference in game design / progress.

But man I really dig how the dungeons are a treat to look at. Can see why the early reception is positive if this is an example of the quality at the start.

One thing though am not sure if it was just a preset one time encounter as there was no indicator, but you will have to pay attention to enemy levels. As I ran into one enemy type that while it looked the same it was a whole nother class of its own strength wise. Dealing out 1/3rd the amount of life in damage to my characters per hit. You will be able to see it in the video that is currently uploading. So Ill just keep that in mind in the future to make sure to look at the level of enemies before going and attacking. Though it has only happened once, will see once I hit the normal dungeon. Am currently going through more narrative bits at the moment.

Tutorial dungeon footage

 

[Saphirax]

Oh dear god can see myself spending a ton of time with this game. So far so good quality wise with the dungeon and graphics. Mechanics am sure will be interesting too. Its nice to see that it seems like a lot of effort went into things so far.

Really is odd now that I have a chance to play this for myself, see the quality and effort put in and yet how the marketing push does not seem to be too strong. Granted its on the cover of this weeks Dengeki, that only really matters if you buy the magazine. Others would be wandering around looking for videos or whatnots.

Anyways the game itself so far seems quite good and am looking forward to unlocking more of the mechanics.

This and Caligula I can see taking up a lot of my free time most def. Though Id see more play time going into this vs Caligula just due to the difference in game design / progress.

But man I really dig how the dungeons are a treat to look at. Can see why the early reception is positive if this is an example of the quality at the start.

One thing though am not sure if it was just a preset one time encounter as there was no indicator, but you will have to pay attention to enemy levels. As I ran into one enemy type that while it looked the same it was a whole nother class of its own strength wise. Dealing out 1/3rd the amount of life in damage to my characters per hit. You will be able to see it in the video that is currently uploading. So Ill just keep that in mind in the future to make sure to look at the level of enemies before going and attacking. Though it has only happened once, will see once I hit the normal dungeon. Am currently going through more narrative bits at the moment.

Tutorial dungeon footage
https://youtu.be/UZvu773osy8

Oh man, that looks good. The enemies can hit hard too . Coven levels are the same as normal levels? Does that mean that the max level is 10?

 

[Parakeetman]

Oh man, that looks good. The enemies can hit hard too . Coven levels are the same as normal levels? Does that mean that the max level is 10?

I think the coven level is like the dolls loyalty. Which will go up or down depending. It goes down if they get KOed not sure what else can cause it at this time would have to look in the help section. It goes up on its own for successful combat and such.

Levels are their own separate category.

Character creation is pretty detailed also as lots of choices with the extra skills / growth rate for stats. Portraits of the classes seems to be 3 total, but from the start you can only select 2. And 2 voices per class for now it seems.

This will most def be a min / maxers game I think.

Other interesting mechanic is due to these being dolls which you are using they can have parts broken upon critical hits. Which lower their maximum HP till repaired along with lowered stats. Worst one apparently is if the head is broken you can get KOed in 1 hit after I think is what it said. Accidentally skipped the message a bit too fast.

To repair the dolls you need to exit the dungeon and if you have the proper resources you are able to fix broken parts.

Dolls are created with a combination of specific items. Base item + Doll Body. Apparently there are different quality levels of items which will help make stronger dolls the better items you use.

---

Features section has been updated. And with that for the most part the OT is complete. Tomorrow night will have to spend time finishing the Caligula OT.

 

[Saphirax]

I think the coven level is like the dolls loyalty. Which will go up or down depending. It goes down if they get KOed not sure what else can cause it at this time would have to look in the help section. It goes up on its own for successful combat and such.

Levels are their own separate category.

Character creation is pretty detailed also as lots of choices with the extra skills / growth rate for stats. Portraits of the classes seems to be 3 total, but from the start you can only select 2. And 2 voices per class for now it seems.

This will most def be a min / maxers game I think.

Other interesting mechanic is due to these being dolls which you are using they can have parts broken upon critical hits. Which lower their maximum HP till repaired along with lowered stats. Worst one apparently is if the head is broken you can get KOed in 1 hit after I think is what it said. Accidentally skipped the message a bit too fast.

To repair the dolls you need to exit the dungeon and if you have the proper resources you are able to fix broken parts.

Dolls are created with a combination of specific items. Base item + Doll Body. Apparently there are different quality levels of items which will help make stronger dolls the better items you use.

Makes sense. 10 levels would be too low. I'm glad the character creator is detailed. I love EXP's drpgs, but their characters usually have the same skills throughout their games. Gets a little stale after a while.

Not sure if doll repairing is a nice addition or if it'll end up being annoying. Depends on how easy it is to get said resources.

 

[Parakeetman]

Makes sense. 10 levels would be too low. I'm glad the character creator is detailed. I love EXP's drpgs, but their characters usually have the same skills throughout their games. Gets a little stale after a while.

Not sure if doll repairing is a nice addition or if it'll end up being annoying. Depends on how easy it is to get said resources.

One of mine the tank actually got its arm broken due to a pretty bad crit hit for 100 dmg. The footage I was recording got all screwed up due to technical issues of programs conflicting.

So will see what repairing is like. I think its an interesting system though, as it forces you to consider going back or pressing on. Though this game has perma-death in it with the dolls if all parts break so going too overboard with pushing the limits seems to be a bad idea lol.

I think I like the character creation in this game better as while I dont distribute the stats myself I can dictate how I want overall growth to be. Its pretty cool.

Just got another soul bottle and doll frame so can make a new doll soldier which am looking forward to doing. Might go for a caster as the higher DP "MP" rating they would have and sticking them with the healing skill would help greatly. As right now none of my dolls with the way I have them set up have large DP pools.

What is interesting is how in depth the stats are. I appreciate the fact that finally someone else has brought back the separation of Dexterity and Agility. What is interesting too is the new stat ERS (Eros) which dictates how much attention from the enemy they will get. The higher it is the less chance enemies will target them. Lower and more chance to be targeted. So for tanks its better to have their rating low and trying to get the squishy folk higher. Digital manual confirmed what it does.

Do really dig this game and am real glad to see NIS trying all sorts of stuff with the genre. They most def put $$$ and effort into the project as this does not feel like some cash in on the fad game.

Doll Soldier Creation

Ok doll parts repair is done through the use of "wood" resources, which have varying quality levels. These can be found / dropped in the dungeon. Apparently if you do not have the proper amount of required resources for repairs you can spend the silver currency to automatically purchase the required resources for repairs. No idea how hard it is to earn cash since its not like enemies drop it. Though you start with what seems like a decent amount, which has me worried lol

Wood is sold in the town store.

 

[Dorarnae]

One of mine the tank actually got its arm broken due to a pretty bad crit hit for 100 dmg. The footage I was recording got all screwed up due to technical issues of programs conflicting.

So will see what repairing is like. I think its an interesting system though, as it forces you to consider going back or pressing on. Though this game has perma-death in it with the dolls if all parts break so going too overboard with pushing the limits seems to be a bad idea lol.

I think I like the character creation in this game better as while I dont distribute the stats myself I can dictate how I want overall growth to be. Its pretty cool.

Just got another soul bottle and doll frame so can make a new doll soldier which am looking forward to doing. Might go for a caster as the higher DP "MP" rating they would have and sticking them with the healing skill would help greatly. As right now none of my dolls with the way I have them set up have large DP pools.

What is interesting is how in depth the stats are. I appreciate the fact that finally someone else has brought back the separation of Dexterity and Agility. What is interesting too is the new stat ERS (Erase I think it was) which dictates how much attention from the enemy they will get. The higher it is the less chance enemies will target them. Lower and more chance to be targeted. So for tanks its better to have their rating low and trying to get the squishy folk higher. There is some other odd rating that comes with equipment which basically translates into Eros (Erotic) do wonder if the higher the rating there is a chance you can charm an enemy or something. Will have to look that up in the help section as do not think there was a tutorial that talked about it. At least not yet anyways. Had noticed the stat when I found some new pieces of armor in the 2nd dungeon.

Do really dig this game and am real glad to see NIS trying all sorts of stuff with the genre. They most def put $$$ and effort into the project as this does not feel like some cash in on the fad game.

Doll Soldier Creation

Ok doll parts repair is done through the use of "wood" resources, which have varying quality levels. These can be found / dropped in the dungeon. Apparently if you do not have the proper amount of required resources for repairs you can spend the silver currency to automatically purchase the required resources for repairs. No idea how hard it is to earn cash since its not like enemies drop it. Though you start with what seems like a decent amount, which has me worried lol

interesting and encouraging. can't wait to get my copy. I do like the part with the quality of item ect for creating character, I think Makai/phantom kingdom was like that?
and perma death <3

can we use the alphabet for entering character name or it's japanese only? (at least there's a random name generator)

 

[Parakeetman]

interesting and encouraging. can't wait to get my copy. I do like the part with the quality of item ect for creating character, I think Makai/phantom kingdom was like that?
and perma death <3

can we use the alphabet for entering character name or it's japanese only? (at least there's a random name generator)

I think you should be able to use alphabet only saw the option in the name entry. Since I didnt bother to make anything original yet as am still experimenting Ive just been using the select button? I think it was for the random name generation.

 

[kunonabi]

I'm really interested in this one since it's giving me The Witch and the Hundred Knight vibes and that turned out to be one of my favorite games of all time. Do we know if any of that staff worked on this or is it just the art that they have in common? Either way, I'm totally grabbing this if it makes at way stateside as these gameplay impressions are sounding great.

 

[robotnik]

Checked tutorial video and I'm really liking what I saw.

 

[OniBarubary]

Thanks for the impressions, they're giving me the good feelings.

 

[Parakeetman]

I'm really interested in this one since it's giving me The Witch and the Hundred Knight vibes and that turned out to be one of my favorite games of all time. Do we know if any of that staff worked on this or is it just the art that they have in common? Either way, I'm totally grabbing this if it makes at way stateside as these gameplay impressions are sounding great.

Id have to look up info on the dev teams, but same character designer.

 

[Kresnik258]

Thanks for the impressions again. Watched the tutorial video and yeah, this definitely has my interest. Kinda flew under the radar before now though, didn't see much promotion for it.

 

[Parakeetman]

More dungeon footage from the same starting dungeon 1 of 2 Though this time I have the ability to actually see the enemies in the Labyrinth from progressing the story. Enemies were always present in a "physical" form on the map just not visible when you first did the tutorial exploration. The gauge at the top middle shows how close you are to one and a chime lets you know that an enemy has detected you.

Pressing square lets you "wait" turns allowing for the enemy to move around while you stay stationary giving you the chance to perform sneak attacks (go first in battle with a free turn) on the enemy by colliding with the enemy icon from the side or back. Attacking from the side is not a 100% sneak attack as there are occasions where the enemy icon will face you right as the battle starts. Do imagine from behind the icon is 100% sneak attack.

Also in regards to sneak attack to enemy or enemy performs one on you by colliding with your character from the side or behind? am not 100% certain on this but I do believe the one that has been ambushed has an increased chance of taking a critical / gore hit. On the Doll Soldiers Gore Hits is what breaks parts it seems, so would suggest paying attention so you do not get ambushed.

Found some good equipment too pretty early on which is why my Aster Knight is dealing so much damage. In the other video that Ill upload later the I find a rare weapon for my Shinobushi so they start to slaughter stuff also.

Also in the first video linked here notice how like a fucking idiot I fall into the pit behind the door yet again. That makes it 3 times total. 2 on camera and 1 off.

 

[maouvin]

Nice OT
Good to hear that there's more to look forward beyond Harada's and Sato's works. Hopefully this one makes over.

 

[Parakeetman]

Thanks for the impressions again. Watched the tutorial video and yeah, this definitely has my interest. Kinda flew under the radar before now though, didn't see much promotion for it.

Game is solid so I really do not understand why they did not put more effort into promoting it. Its not as if too that currently NIS has anything major that would have been taking budget away from the marketing. If anything now though due to the positive feedback from players this is going to be one of those titles that sells by word of mouth.

Nice OT
Good to hear that there's more to look forward beyond Harada's and Sato's works. Hopefully this one makes over.

Would imagine so since its another new IP that has $$$ put into it similar to Witch 100. Wonder when they plan to announce it? You would like to think that they have been working on a localized version already considering that this was an internal project. Though I kinda wonder too at the same time if they are going to do a PS4 version for the west...since here in Japan its a Vita only title. Then again NISA still does Vita only stuff and would do a LE that should ensure sales for them right away as usual.

More dungeon footage from the same starting dungeon 2 of 2

I really need to find a better way to keep my Shinobushi from getting hit as it messes up their special ignore 20% of enemy defense at 100% health. (At least I think that was the skill I put on lol)

 

[Parakeetman]

With the enemy icons on the map it seems that they will sometimes move directions right before a battle starts depending on the direction they were initially heading. So on the occasion if you initiate the attack from the side, them facing you is just bad luck? Since have seen the icons face other directions right before the battle starts. So its not that it will randomly face you, but more just follows its own movement pattern.

One thing for sure is this game allows you to enjoy dungeon exploration. Dungeon designs are nice though some things like pit traps or being stupid and walking off the edge of a ledge fall damage will really fuck you up good. As it seems to pretty much ignore defense, though not sure how the damage is exactly calculated. Each time you leave the dungeon and come back, item points and random lootable junk items (crates, barrels, etc) along with mana locations / walls will respawn at random. Treasure chests for the time being there does not seem to be types which will relock. So already opened ones will remain opened for now. One thing you need to watch out for is "pit trap" type of tiles will also not show the pit trap icon until triggered again so you need to remember the location of those on the map.

You can potentially be dropped multiple floors also which will most likely kill a good number of members in your party.

Combat is not too complex yet and skills are attached to the covens you set your doll soldiers to.

I made a mistake what that coven star level thing is, is the level of the coven your doll is attached to when creating the covens (groups). Need to pay more attention to if the coven level rises then new skills are learned for it.

The quick battles with triangle is appreciated too as helps blast through trash mobs fast.

One other thing and am not sure what caused it is I destroyed an enemy icon without going into the actual battle screen, then got an item from it. Which told me that it was one of those early onion enemies. Only happened once and am fighting the onions normally now so there must be some sort of condition I missed an explanation for which can trigger this instant resolution.

Ive dropped down multiple floors, from the 2nd to the 4th, 3 dolls died. Revived them only to have everyone die again in a battle with enemies waaaaaaay over my level. As we took more damage than health lol. Repairs were a bit expensive too thankfully only 2 dolls were damaged, but the bill for the wood resources came out to around 1200 silver pieces.

The ranks of the wood for doll repairs are separated by levels. So the higher level your dolls are the more expensive wood you will need to repair them. Should be in the item description the level spread.

Am not sure if this is exactly a bug but its a real minor aesthetic thing. During dialog scenes it seems random when a characters moutb will be animated or not when they speak. Quite odd.

---

One important point with the game is the amount of mana you collect, if you go over the limit which is displayed for each map floor a monster that is pretty much equal to being "death" shows up and will attempt to kill you. Thankfully so far it seems to follow the same rules as the normal enemy icons and is not able to pass through doors and such. But trying to run from it in battle does not seem to be easy either. My party is lv 11 / 10 and we get 1 shotted by its special all party attack. Only reason why I made it out alive was due to it missing my dancer then next turn she was successfully able to run.

So basically this teaches you to not go around collecting tons of mana lower down in the floors then having to return upwards. So far there are no items that allow for you to quickly escape the dungeon which means you will have to hump it all the way back to the exit and try to avoid getting attacked if you are crazy enough to attempt to go over the mana limit.

Reason to stock up on mana while adventuring is higher the mana value the higher chance for item drops. So its a huge risk vs reward thing. Plus bringing mana back out from the dungeon will give you an exp bonus and go towards your overall mana pool that is used for the Witches Request or whatever the system is called where you spend it on changing your dolls name, raising / lowering the difficulty, buying skills for yourself (the book). One example of a skill you can buy early on is it will allow you to see harvesting points which are sparkles on the ground. Items found from that later on will be used as ingredients for alchemy.

Once again the dungeon designs are fantastic. Really do enjoy this game and it is most def going into my list of favorite dungeon crawlers. As it is something quite different from the norm and they put a lot of effort into the dungeons and gameplay itself. I need to get lucky and find another soul bottle since need another magic type of damage character in the party. As am running into physical resistant enemies on the 3rd floor. Damage panels and poison are no joke either good lord.

One example are those rocks on the L / R in this pic. Physical attacks do very little damage to them and their charge attack will hit your characters multiple times. So its pretty unpleasant if you run into multiples of them due to how long it takes to kill one depending on your party setup. Exp from them is not exactly good in particular so makes you wonder if its worth finishing a fight against em or not. But for the potential item drops you kinda just follow through with it lol

Later as you progress in the story you will be able to destroy walls too.

 

[Dorarnae]

I was hoping to get the game today but looks like it'll be tomorrow or in 2 days.
I just checked the review on amazon.jp and the game is having very good review so far.

 

[Parakeetman]

I was hoping to get the game today but looks like it'll be tomorrow or in 2 days.
I just checked the review on amazon.jp and the game is having very good review so far.

2ch also is reacting favorably to the game. Lots of folks seem to be impressed that this is NISs first DRPG with how well made it is.

Though this title over combat, its more about dungeon exploration. That and there are choices to be made during events in the dungeon that can change how things play out.

One thing with this title is to get the most out of all the features, its not really recommended to hang around grinding out early on. As you need to progress in the story to open up the other abilities and features while in town. One of the more useful and cool ones being the ability to break down walls which is a pretty important mechanic. Also the other which is being able to "stack" exp after battles which gives it a multiplier bonus that increases till the multiplier cap is reached. So you can pile on exp a bit faster that way. Problem is if you die or exit the dungeon without claiming it after a battle you lose that stored exp. Also during that period the auto-heal after battle skill does not take effect.

Game really does have some fantastic looking enemies also. Didnt post any pics as do not want to spoil things for folks. Though they should be available on the net if you look around.

 

[Dorarnae]

just got the game. I was expecting the box to be much bigger hehe. glad it's not huge.

 

[Parakeetman]

just got the game. I was expecting the box to be much bigger hehe. glad it's not huge.

Yeah the LE itself isnt that large considering. Which as you said is a good thing indeed.

Am sure you will find the game to be quite different as the combat itself is not overly complex outside of the rock paper scissors type of damage / resistance type of action going on. Though you can brute force your way through it if your equipment is good enough.

Basic Physical damage types are Crushing, Piercing, Slashing. Then for magic there seems to be like explosion?(fire), Mud, Mist? Then those can be combined with the various stats ailments also.

In short dont go making your initial party of all physical damage types. Would suggest the theatrical star as one of your characters due to the fact they can heal a small amount of their lost HP after each battle and their standard attack if you have them equipped with a bell will hit all enemies in the same row. Plus usually their attacks work against enemies that are slashing / piercing resistant. Might be due to the bell being crushing damage along with magical I think. Thought always check the weapon types as sometimes some weapons have a different attribute to them. Such as the Marginal Maze Ive seen a staff with crushing and another with slashing. So need to be careful about that.

The peer fortress you can get it taunt skills if you find a coven item which has the skills attached to it.

The classes on their own their "skills" are more like passive abilities. Active abilities are all attached to the various covens in the game. Which you find in the dungeons. Its basically the item you set first that has character slots in it which you attach the dolls to. The higher level the coven gets the lower the cost of the coven becomes. Which helps you have a higher pool of power to use while in the dungeon.

Overall the game is quite different than a lot of DRPGs though what is presented here is very well done for the most part making for a unique experience. Also most of the challenge so far comes not from the combat but from the actual exploration itself.

In regards to inventory, not sure if there is an actual cap to how much you can carry. So far I have not run into one yet, but at the same time Im also selling a lot of garbage equipment that I dont need. Basically non-colored stuff. Which is just standard "rarity". All money is made through selling junk back to the store, though for the most part resources for alchemy or expendable items is what makes the most money when sold. Equipment for the most part not as much. Though some like accessories can be worth a bit of money, but you would much rather hang onto those to equip on later characters.

[PSV] Coven and Labyrinth of Refrain (NIS, 06/23/16) &#8211; 17,573 (New)
*credits to gematsu

Granted the sales seem low we have no idea of how much the initial shipped numbers are. The positive is the word of mouth is very good and am sure it will be selling for a while just based off of that. As I will add also that this is perhaps one of the more original and refreshing DRPGs out there at the moment. Am quite impressed for a title that is NIS's first attempt at the genre.

 

[Dorarnae]

[PSV] Coven and Labyrinth of Refrain (NIS, 06/23/16) – 17,573 (New)
*credits to gematsu

Granted the sales seem low we have no idea of how much the initial shipped numbers are. The positive is the word of mouth is very good and am sure it will be selling for a while just based off of that. As I will add also that this is perhaps one of the more original and refreshing DRPGs out there at the moment. Am quite impressed for a title that is NIS's first attempt at the genre.

yeah, so far it doesn't seem too hard, got some new weapon and the monster aren't really hard now hehe.
but the exploration seems fun.
I just made my 4th character so I am still in the beginning, also going a bit blind with it. I didn't check any faq or anything for skill ect. maybe I will a bit later just to know what I am doing... lol.
at least I know how the formation works (how to put someone in the rear)

and yeah sale are a bit low, but I also wonder how much they spent on it. there seem to be quite a lot of text and almost fully voice?

 

[Parakeetman]

yeah, so far it doesn't seem too hard, got some new weapon and the monster aren't really hard now hehe.
but the exploration seems fun.
I just made my 4th character so I am still in the beginning, also going a bit blind with it. I didn't check any faq or anything for skill ect. maybe I will a bit later just to know what I am doing... lol.
at least I know how the formation works (how to put someone in the rear)

and yeah sale are a bit low, but I also wonder how much they spent on it. there seem to be quite a lot of text and almost fully voice?

With all of what Im seeing Id imagine this was not exactly a cheap project. Since they spent a lot of effort with the various mechanics, designs, dungeons etc. While its not like Disgaea levels its not ClaDun either.

Btw worst thing that you can generally encounter is fall damage. As early on healing items are a bit rare / expensive unless you run the dungeon a lot and constantly collect items. Even then you will want to keep them for real bad incidents such as falling down a hole.

In combat what you will have to worry about is having poor luck combined with low resistance to Critical Hits. Reason being is am pretty sure that the Gore Hit is also related to the Critical Hit family and that is the one which breaks doll parts and puts you on the way to permadeath of that character. Its pretty bad too how much HP gets sliced off your max HP when you have broken parts. If you go crazy and overlevel you basically put yourself at a huge disadvantage $$$ wise as if some weak enemy gets lucky and Gore Hits you breaking a part the repair costs can become insane. So keep that in mind. For the time being if you really want $$$ you will have to make some hard decisions on what to sell. Any you wont really know what is valuable and what isnt until you get the alchemy pot which is still a while out. For example am on the

Spoiler

3rd Dungeon

and still do not have it. But should soon seeing how the narrative is progressing.

Am sure you wont do it early on, but do not go over the mana cap for the dungeon you are in. As until you have the

Spoiler

wall breaking skill

it will be hard to try to navigate away from death efficiently / quickly without it. Keep progressing through the story till you get that skill and the ability to store EXP for the multiplier effect as its a huge help. Max multiplier is 2.99 forget how many fights that is.

Thanks to my party being excessively overleveled and equipped with all sorts of rare shit that I got lucky to find am being an idiot and fighting enemies waaaaaaaay out of my class on purpose. Exp wise this isnt really worth it, but the idea is to try and net myself some rare items from the drops. Need to pump up my mana pool first as that raises the chance for rare drops.

Some character designs aside, I think this game would do very, very well in the West with DRPG fans. Since it has an amusing cast and the dungeon exploration and overall quality of the title is excellent. Also the game itself is not something so daunting that you are unable to recommend it to people new to the genre. Would imagine this title scoring decently with reviewers who spend their time with it and enjoy the genre. Even folks new to the genre should have a good time I think, though there are a lot of little things to learn / figure out which are not all exactly explained to the player. So there will be the dumbass reviews popping up of people whining that shit isnt explained to them every single step of the way.

 

[Dorarnae]

With all of what Im seeing Id imagine this was not exactly a cheap project. Since they spent a lot of effort with the various mechanics, designs, dungeons etc. While its not like Disgaea levels its not ClaDun either.

Btw worst thing that you can generally encounter is fall damage. As early on healing items are a bit rare / expensive unless you run the dungeon a lot and constantly collect items. Even then you will want to keep them for real bad incidents such as falling down a hole.

In combat what you will have to worry about is having poor luck combined with low resistance to Critical Hits. Reason being is am pretty sure that the Gore Hit is also related to the Critical Hit family and that is the one which breaks doll parts and puts you on the way to permadeath of that character. Its pretty bad too how much HP gets sliced off your max HP when you have broken parts. If you go crazy and overlevel you basically put yourself at a huge disadvantage $$$ wise as if some weak enemy gets lucky and Gore Hits you breaking a part the repair costs can become insane. So keep that in mind. For the time being if you really want $$$ you will have to make some hard decisions on what to sell. Any you wont really know what is valuable and what isnt until you get the alchemy pot which is still a while out. For example am on the

Spoiler

3rd Dungeon

and still do not have it. But should soon seeing how the narrative is progressing.

Am sure you wont do it early on, but do not go over the mana cap for the dungeon you are in. As until you have the

Spoiler

wall breaking skill

it will be hard to try to navigate away from death efficiently / quickly without it. Keep progressing through the story till you get that skill and the ability to store EXP for the multiplier effect as its a huge help. Max multiplier is 2.99 forget how many fights that is.

Thanks to my party being excessively overleveled and equipped with all sorts of rare shit that I got lucky to find am being an idiot and fighting enemies waaaaaaaay out of my class on purpose. Exp wise this isnt really worth it, but the idea is to try and net myself some rare items from the drops. Need to pump up my mana pool first as that raises the chance for rare drops.

Some character designs aside, I think this game would do very, very well in the West with DRPG fans. Since it has an amusing cast and the dungeon exploration and overall quality of the title is excellent. Also the game itself is not something so daunting that you are unable to recommend it to people new to the genre. Would imagine this title scoring decently with reviewers who spend their time with it and enjoy the genre. Even folks new to the genre should have a good time I think, though there are a lot of little things to learn / figure out which are not all exactly explained to the player. So there will be the dumbass reviews popping up of people whining that shit isnt explained to them every single step of the way.

yeah I thought the same about doing well over here. the game seems to explain everything you need to know.

 

[Dorarnae]

heh like you said, falling 2 floor really hurt lol. I thought I could jump on the other side. at least I didn't die but the monster down there, when I saw their hp I was like ''WTF'' lol.

I can finally break wall. fun so far.

 

[Parakeetman]

heh like you said, falling 2 floor really hurt lol. I thought I could jump on the other side. at least I didn't die but the monster down there, when I saw their hp I was like ''WTF'' lol.

I can finally break wall. fun so far.

Yeah this game will tell you when you can jump

Also when you get further remember to spoiler tag things. Its why i have not talked about the other areas lol

Falling down there had to waste 2 of my 3 revive items then attemped to make my way out which ended poorly lol. I can fight those things now at lv 34 but its still pretty risky with the damage output they do

 

[Dorarnae]

I am starting to get some formation that let me have more than 1 character. managing all those characters with the shit tons of items and stats... hehe.

 

[Ephidel]

Smashing through walls is entirely too enjoyable.
I had some fun trying to see how much of the fourth floor I could navigate avoiding those slimes before I couldn't escape them anymore. Unlocked some doors, found a couple of passages, and found the stairs to the fifth floor (and a ledge I could jump off, though I didn't jump off it) but couldn't find the stairs up to the third before I ended up getting cornered x_x

Some of the art is gorgeous. I actually stared for a moment when I stumbled across... erm... Dario and his friend ^_^

Spoiler

Seriously, she looks great

I haven't gotten very far yet though, and I only have four dolls at the moment; a Fortress, a Shinobushi, a Star and a Mage Maze.

The Fortress is the tank I expected him to be, but he also works far better as a damage dealer than I expected as well. The Shinobushi isn't really pulling his weight at the moment. The Star is probably my MVP, she has a rare bell and just utterly destroys things with it. The Maze is pretty good, but I wish I had a coven with both damage and healing spells to dump him in (maybe later?). At the moment I have him in a damage one most of the time with my Fort in the healing one, then swap them around when I need to do more healing.

 

[Dorarnae]

Smashing through walls is entirely too enjoyable.
I had some fun trying to see how much of the fourth floor I could navigate avoiding those slimes before I couldn't escape them anymore. Unlocked some doors, found a couple of passages, and found the stairs to the fifth floor (and a ledge I could jump off, though I didn't jump off it) but couldn't find the stairs up to the third before I ended up getting cornered x_x

Some of the art is gorgeous. I actually stared for a moment when I stumbled across... erm... Dario and his friend ^_^

Seriously, she looks great

I haven't gotten very far yet though, and I only have four dolls at the moment; a Fortress, a Shinobushi, a Star and a Mage Maze.

The Fortress is the tank I expected him to be, but he also works far better as a damage dealer than I expected as well. The Shinobushi isn't really pulling his weight at the moment. The Star is probably my MVP, she has a rare bell and just utterly destroys things with it. The Maze is pretty good, but I wish I had a coven with both damage and healing spells to dump him in (maybe later?). At the moment I have him in a damage one most of the time with my Fort in the healing one, then swap them around when I need to do more healing.

hehe yeah destroying those wall is fun, in particular the first dungeon. the second dungeon in the beginning was kinda meh a bit, but later floor are good.

 

[Parakeetman]

I am starting to get some formation that let me have more than 1 character. managing all those characters with the shit tons of items and stats... hehe.

Yeah you really want to keep a lot of the junk items too once you get the alchemy pot. Otherwise you wont have equipment to combine.

So stupid of me not to realize that money isnt to bad in this game considering all of the other items are meant to be sold. Though its suggest you hold onto them for the requests first. For some reason I kept thinking those were to be used for the alchemy pot also.

Later on you will be able to spend mana

Spoiler

30,000? about to turn it into an item that you can sell for a decent amount of cash. Its not that hard to collect 30,000 too so its not that bad.

Smashing through walls is entirely too enjoyable.
I had some fun trying to see how much of the fourth floor I could navigate avoiding those slimes before I couldn't escape them anymore. Unlocked some doors, found a couple of passages, and found the stairs to the fifth floor (and a ledge I could jump off, though I didn't jump off it) but couldn't find the stairs up to the third before I ended up getting cornered x_x

Some of the art is gorgeous. I actually stared for a moment when I stumbled across... erm... Dario and his friend ^_^

Seriously, she looks great

I haven't gotten very far yet though, and I only have four dolls at the moment; a Fortress, a Shinobushi, a Star and a Mage Maze.

The Fortress is the tank I expected him to be, but he also works far better as a damage dealer than I expected as well. The Shinobushi isn't really pulling his weight at the moment. The Star is probably my MVP, she has a rare bell and just utterly destroys things with it. The Maze is pretty good, but I wish I had a coven with both damage and healing spells to dump him in (maybe later?). At the moment I have him in a damage one most of the time with my Fort in the healing one, then swap them around when I need to do more healing.

Yeah in my party I got lucky with the Shinobushi finding some pretty strong weapons early on. Same with my Knight. Though due to how I set up my Shinobushi growth it has almost the lowest HP out of everyone. Highest damage I can deal with it is around 1000 on crits lol. Also have that ability on where at full life attacks will ignore 25% of damage.

I keep messing with their growth settings later on. As originally had a lot of things specifically set to be glass cannon damage dealers or the tank for pure defense / hate pulling

Will look into doing a short vid showing the current party tonight.

 

[Dorarnae]

interesting, didn't know there was an alchemy pot...will probably unlock that soon...

and yeah I've clearing a few quest before selling some stuff. money isn't really problem now. I wonder if it'll become possible to get more bottle for creating new characters via shop or alchemy. they're kinda rare.

 

[Parakeetman]

interesting, didn't know there was an alchemy pot...will probably unlock that soon...

and yeah I've clearing a few quest before selling some stuff. money isn't really problem now. I wonder if it'll become possible to get more bottle for creating new characters via shop or alchemy. they're kinda rare.

Yeah bottles are made from artifacts &#12450;&#12540;&#12486;&#12451;&#12501;&#12449;&#12463;&#12488; so dont sell those. You will need the alchemy pot and purchase the ability to break down items on top of the chemical needed for it which will be sold at the shop. I think the artifact icon in the item menu is some sore of rainbow colored cube. Cant check at the moment.

Also for getting the 3rd portrait / voice for the classes you need to find the drawings in the dungeons. Seems to be random from respawning treasure points. Ive gotten 3 so far kniight female, maze male and raptor male

The alchemy pot is for breaking down items ir strengthening equipment with the use of combining other equipment with the selected base item. Though am not sure what dictates the growth yet as have only upgraded a few items at the moment. So with that being said you will most def want to not sell your garbage equipment items. Your storage can eventually be upgraded past 2000 i think it was and even starting out with the default limit packrat me was unable to fill it up before the space upgrades lol

With spending mana later on you will be able to increase you doll creation limit and the various types of formations for use during battle. Hope you saved up mana as it gets pretty crazy expensive with each upgrade.

Also max out the healing after battle ability as fast as you can.

Might cost around 45000 mana for everything? Possibly more or less. The skill is useful for when you need to stop the exp chain and get in some free heals from the next few battle(s)

 

[Dorarnae]

Yeah bottles are made from artifacts &#12450;&#12540;&#12486;&#12451;&#12501;&#12449;&#12463;&#12488; so dont sell those. You will need the alchemy pot and purchase the ability to break down items on top of the chemical needed for it which will be sold at the shop. I think the artifact icon in the item menu is some sore of rainbow colored cube. Cant check at the moment.

Also for getting the 3rd portrait / voice for the classes you need to find the drawings in the dungeons. Seems to be random from respawning treasure points. Ive gotten 3 so far kniight female, maze male and raptor male

The alchemy pot is for breaking down items ir strengthening equipment with the use of combining other equipment with the selected base item. Though am not sure what dictates the growth yet as have only upgraded a few items at the moment. So with that being said you will most def want to not sell your garbage equipment items. Your storage can eventually be upgraded past 2000 i think it was and even starting out with the default limit packrat me was unable to fill it up before the space upgrades lol

With spending mana later on you will be able to increase you doll creation limit and the various types of formations for use during battle. Hope you saved up mana as it gets pretty crazy expensive with each upgrade.

Also max out the healing after battle ability as fast as you can.

Might cost around 45000 mana for everything? Possibly more or less. The skill is useful for when you need to stop the exp chain and get in some free heals from the next few battle(s)

hehe yeah it's getting quite expensive in mana to buy everything, but I have the healing ability, really useful.

I just unlocked the alchemy pot. oh boy powering up those items is going to be crazy, it already did increase my dmg quite a bit, but this is really going to help to keep the game interesting.

Also I created a new character recently and there seem to be new kind of stat growth you can select? I had like SSS for str, never seen that before hehe.

I am kinda hoping to get some formation that allow more member and have spell/AOE ability.

 

[Ephidel]

Yeah in my party I got lucky with the Shinobushi finding some pretty strong weapons early on. Same with my Knight. Though due to how I set up my Shinobushi growth it has almost the lowest HP out of everyone. Highest damage I can deal with it is around 1000 on crits lol. Also have that ability on where at full life attacks will ignore 25% of damage.

I kind of realised I was being an idiot with my Shinobushi. Once I gave him a weapon with a different affinity he actually started doing damage.

I keep messing with their growth settings later on. As originally had a lot of things specifically set to be glass cannon damage dealers or the tank for pure defense / hate pulling

I have all of mine set to sharp so far, though I switched my Fort back and forth between sharp and natural a few times. I haven't been able to bring myself to give anyone flat yet, it just feels so wrong to hamstring their 'important' stat growth on purpose (I know it's meant to be a jack of all trades kind of thing, but still). Maybe when I get around to making a Knight, their stat priorities look relatively balanced.

hehe yeah destroying those wall is fun, in particular the first dungeon. the second dungeon in the beginning was kinda meh a bit, but later floor are good.

I just reached the second area and oh my god, the enemies are so

Spoiler

adorable, little knights on caterpillars and snail cannons and hot air balloons <3

. Clambering over the hedges is fun but I

Spoiler

felt a little mean stomping on the houses, and noooooo I had to splat a little person to open a door what sort of monster am I

.

Spoiler

I couldn't resist taking a screenshot of the 'sky' though. That was... a little less

Spoiler

adorable

.

Spoiler

Also for getting the 3rd portrait / voice for the classes you need to find the drawings in the dungeons. Seems to be random from respawning treasure points. Ive gotten 3 so far kniight female, maze male and raptor male

Huh, looks like I actually have another portrait for the female Knight available. I wonder when I found that. She looks pretty cool actually, but then so does the long blonde haired one.

The alchemy pot is for breaking down items ir strengthening equipment with the use of combining other equipment with the selected base item. Though am not sure what dictates the growth yet as have only upgraded a few items at the moment. So with that being said you will most def want to not sell your garbage equipment items.

... oops.
Ah well, I'm sure my stock will replenish before long. It's not like I have the pot yet to use them with anyway ^^;

I meant to start GEResurrection tonight but Coven has me hooked x_x

 

[Aselith]

Wow, this has some really great art. Definitely on my watchlist for a localization.

 

[Parakeetman]

hehe yeah it's getting quite expensive in mana to buy everything, but I have the healing ability, really useful.

I just unlocked the alchemy pot. oh boy powering up those items is going to be crazy, it already did increase my dmg quite a bit, but this is really going to help to keep the game interesting.

Also I created a new character recently and there seem to be new kind of stat growth you can select? I had like SSS for str, never seen that before hehe.

I am kinda hoping to get some formation that allow more member and have spell/AOE ability.

Yeah Im still trying to figure out whats what with the alchemy pot. As dont want to waste resources as its getting harder to get new pieces of equipment.

The newer stats growth options is due to advancing the options. It explained that to you with those tutorial messages that pop up during that point in the game when they were added to the characters stats

 

[Parakeetman]

I kind of realised I was being an idiot with my Shinobushi. Once I gave him a weapon with a different affinity he actually started doing damage.

I have all of mine set to sharp so far, though I switched my Fort back and forth between sharp and natural a few times. I haven't been able to bring myself to give anyone flat yet, it just feels so wrong to hamstring their 'important' stat growth on purpose (I know it's meant to be a jack of all trades kind of thing, but still). Maybe when I get around to making a Knight, their stat priorities look relatively balanced.

I just reached the second area and oh my god, the enemies are so

Spoiler

adorable, little knights on caterpillars and snail cannons and hot air balloons <3

. Clambering over the hedges is fun but I

Spoiler

felt a little mean stomping on the houses, and noooooo I had to splat a little person to open a door what sort of monster am I

.

I couldn't resist taking a screenshot of the 'sky' though. That was... a little less

Spoiler

adorable

.


Huh, looks like I actually have another portrait for the female Knight available. I wonder when I found that. She looks pretty cool actually, but then so does the long blonde haired one.

... oops.
Ah well, I'm sure my stock will replenish before long. It's not like I have the pot yet to use them with anyway ^^;

I meant to start GEResurrection tonight but Coven has me hooked x_x

Yeah this game the position front / back and weapon type / affinity of said weapon will have a difference in how much damage is dealt.

Bout the growth know what you mean. Am considering making some middle of the road characters just for filler within the party. Though I really should just focus on their strengths instead. But most def want to fix my main Shinobushis issue with how low her health is. Not sure how that happened lol

About the 2nd dungeon just wait

Spoiler

till you find the switches lol

 

[Dorarnae]

Yeah Im still trying to figure out whats what with the alchemy pot. As dont want to waste resources as its getting harder to get new pieces of equipment.

The newer stats growth options is due to advancing the options. It explained that to you with those tutorial messages that pop up during that point in the game when they were added to the characters stats

When I rendered my video, I notice that the mana cost can decrease..like it was about 400-450 ish mana then I added a legendary item(probably a low one) and it dropped to 300 or something like that. so I guess you try to have the highest mana cost when upgrading items?

 

[Parakeetman]

When I rendered my video, I notice that the mana cost can decrease..like it was about 400-450 ish mana then I added a legendary item(probably a low one) and it dropped to 300 or something like that. so I guess you try to have the highest mana cost when upgrading items?

No idea. Since its the outcome which am concerned about with the stats added to the item. Not the mana cost as we both know mana isnt really an issue with how easy it is to be collected.