The kids are as casual about murder as South Park characters, save points and humorous examine text are reminiscent of Undertale.

I find it amusing that monsters sell food cheaper than humans. Sure, they want to rip you apart but at least they're not ripping you off.

The Hornet Factory was the funniest section so far. The Hornets made me feel like I was dealing the the incompetent antics of Team Rocket's trio

Upon defeating the Factory's boss (which I chose to grind a ton to level 6/7 in Desolate Wastelands):


Guy: I'm glad Posh is back in town. She's pretty. Probably the prettiest girl in town. Much prettier than you!

My thoughts: Bold words to say to someone who can boil your blood.

Tilda realizing how harsh jobs are for females. This game suddenly became too real:


G-1000 is a weapon that costs 100 and gives +2 PK Power. But Torch-Buddy gives +2 Atk/+2 PK Power for 60. It's a more expensive downgrade but considering it looks like a helmet, I'm assuming it was incorrectly classified when it's supposed to be a head equip.

AL-15 (110 Creds) is only +1 Atk from Phede's starter weapon. So not really worth it. Speaking of Phede, I like how after you do his 2nd bonding event, Tilda's Burn Book entry on him updates with I thought that was a cute touch.

Also, as I mentioned before, I did a ton of grinding. Well, since two characters had temporarily left the party beforehand, they are now 3-4 levels below everyone which is really upsetting as if a character had died in battle and made their exp meter go out of sync with everyone else.

If you could make it so that even characters that left the party (but aren't in reserve) gain exp, that'd be lovely.

West of Loathing! That's what I forgot that it reminded me of. It's an RPG where characters have simple graphics (stickman figure), there's a running gag where you stick your hand in gross spittoons (the process always described in horrifying detail) for special equips, and resources/money are scarce so you have to use them wisely.

I really like that you can kill Merchants to steal their stock. It's really satisfying since NPCs with that sprite tend to be sleazy or rude. I've played some roguelike games so I'm quite fond of the 'Shoplift and die' concept. I know the Merchant guy on the world map of the Desolate Wastelands is supposed to roadblock you until you reach that part of the story but man, he really made me want to kill him for saying 'I'm not moving; too bad for you!'.

Buster though, I'm cool with. He may be a store owner but that 'Thieves killed: 14, Don't be next' sign is badass and unlike the Bar Manager, he doesn't cheap out on job payment.

The Luck stat, from my understanding, affects dodge/hit rate and maybe a slight chance in getting initiative (surprise the enemies). Sick/Fire/Freeze are all HP DoTs, though Anxiety's (or rather, Rumor's Fluster skill) description 'makes it weaker' is vague compared to Trash Talk which directly says it reduces enemy Atk.

Tilda's Dark Gore description says 'Does damage!' I think 'dark' is missing?

Phede's catchphrases when he uses his guns made battles more entertaining since there's so many lines he can say. There's some references in them like 'Garbage Day!'.

The worldbuilding is great and also how the faction leaders are alluded to by their actions in the world and NPCs. It really builds up the tension and mystery for when you finally encounter them.

I'm playing Normal Mode and through careful save scumming/restarting battles, I minimized consumption of food by spreading out dmg on my entire party. After defeating the first boss, I carefully exterminated all the enemies where the Hornet guys used to block and finally took on the Merchant (who you can kill easier after you've leveled up/bought Buster equips) before triggering the game's first full heal event.

Bought Torch Buddy for Tilda, Power Glove for Huppa. Bought the Mind Tattoo in Gateway City which is the best option (boost her skills). The HP Tattoo is the worst since stats have a lot more value. HP just sits there. It doesn't increase your overall dmg or reduce dmg taken.

In the Desolate Wastelands, the nastiest enemy is actually the Spider Can. Its fast, its bite attack deals higher dmg than Wizard or Junker, and it also can inflict Sick on top of all that. Maybe have it drop something to compensate? Like 'Acidic Soda' one-use item that inflicts Burn and also temporarily melts their defense. Would give you more options in battle.

After fighting the boss in Gateway City, you get another full heal. So I squeezed out as much exp grinding as I could in the Desolate Wastelands beforehand (without consuming food) by reloading til enemies primarily attacked Phede or Huppa. Limiting myself to 2 Blood Spurts/1 Trash Talk/1 Skullcrack each battle to conserve MP.

Posh and Phede's normal attacks are enough until they get

While you can board the cruise ship immediately, fighting sea monsters has worth since they have a good chance to drop Ribbon Meats, saving you lots of Creds. There is a full heal on the ship but it costs all your Creds. There is however a shop on board so what you do is blow all your money on food and then you use the full heal.

Side note: I like the running gag of rifling through trash only to find disgusting things or disappointment. The slot machine is one of the best ones yet. Examining things will subtly tell you how these children grew up not knowing what beds, slot machines, or elevators are. They may be presented in a humorous way 'Posh says you give money to slot machines and they sometimes give your money back. You don't see a point in them' but it's quite horrifying when you think of how much general knowledge was lost due to pollution, the apocalypse, and many children having no one to teach them these things. This is a world where might makes right. Where kindness is a good way to be taken advantage of or killed. Only the strong can afford to be kind. It reminds me of Scrappy's bonding event where she said "People might piss me off but I don't want us all to be wiped out. And for every 5 awful people, there's 1 good one out there.'

After the cruise ship, new characters join

Tilda's Decoct isn't useful until the miniboss in Mushroom Forest and the boss where they start having enough HP that Boiled deals enough dmg to become an efficient use of her MP. Although, that boss is a special case since they have Regeneration, prolonging the battle enough where you will run ouf of MP if you spam Blood Spurts. So use Decoct and then start firing Blood Spurts.

The bonding events are really great. They give surprising depth to some party members like Huppa and Posh. You think they're just dumb muscle and a snobby girl but there's more to them than that. Posh's rudeness is charming in its own way and I've come to realize that her backstory is pretty messed up. Her parents—the people who are supposed to be trustworthy and love you unconditionally—threw her out into the Wastelands like yesterday's trash to fend for herself. She went from never having to work a single day of her life to struggling to survive. She had to (partially) grow up from her entitled attitude, redirect her rudeness and hone it into a weapon as sharp as her rapier to defend herself. If you look beneath the surface level, you'll find she's an interesting character with abandonment issues and that her desire for a boyfriend is partially because she wants someone trustworthy; who will love and protect her.

Hope you're not getting annoyed by my semi-frequent progress reports.

Some typos

Posh's Passata Sotto should have a status icon indicator to show when it wears off.

What does the Drunk status do?

Went to Smash City and got another character to join my party. Are we Gucci? No, but she is! Now we've got an energetic character oozing with positivity. She even makes a Gurren Lagann and Naruto reference at the same time. Must be into anime.

Bought the Cigar (for Rumor), AirGun for Sloppy because she really needs the speed boost, and the bonding time gifts of course. The Belle dress and Stabomatic aren't worth getting unless you do a lot of grinding in Desolate Zone.

Save scum the clown's gambling game so that you get the 1-time prize with minimal cred spending. Talk to the green haired cowgirl in the tournament lobby for 50 creds after you've done some battles there.

I managed to defeat the Tournament boss:


The Hornet Base

New person to hate

The monsters on the snowy part of the map are actually weaker than the ones around the Hornet Base.

A candy store run by Hancel and Gertel... that's clever. I'm not seeing their alleged creepiness that the townie outside said. Besides the Gingerbread, their candy is nothing special. Brat Bar is especially weak. Food that give status effects when eaten would give more variety than different aesthetics/cost efficiency.

You can't work at their store during break time which is kinda a shame cause I'm sure they'd pay me much more fairly than that nitpicker Mary.

It's funny how the winter gear for Huppa is... just a hat.

New party member! ...But they're kinda underleveled. Even if you don't grind, you should still be level 6/7 at this point. So it's disappointing that they join at level 5.

Phede already has high speed so no need to buy Punishoes. Especially since

Huppa's 3rd bonding event provided a much needed laugh


These are some great quality bonding events. Sloppy in particular has come far from the quiet girl she was at the start.

The Covid reference was nice. Later on at the Mall, we even get to

Typo
Lady:

Mendy was quite unexpected. Her bond event was amusing, as was her comment that she's 'fresh, never frozen' when asked if she was cold.


Grinding 500 creds to get the Hammer of Truth was kind of annoying. Worth it though since it severely boosts Sloppy's mediocre normal attack damage.

The Finny boss fight

I will say that Mendy is the weakest character. Her strongest attack is Frosting. It deals 30-ish dmg and applies 3 turn DoT. She later learns Food Fight which does about x1.5 that. And Smug Reply does single digit dmg. She has tons of MP so you could increase the cost of these skills to raise their dmg.

I feel like she could have more defensive utility like Sloppy's skills considering she has high Armor/Haven/Speed. De/buffs and status effects would also work. Besides her heal, she doesn't offer anything to the team except pure dmg.

Handguntula (Mendy): Torch Buddy gives the same atk boost but with PK too.

Liberty Shirt (Mendy) doesn't increase max HP when worn.

Goth Pants (Omen) adds +5 max HP instead of the stated 10.

Buster's shop sells B-Fly Knife but you already get a free one from the Hornet guy behind the tournament building in Smash City. Gucci also has Squirt Gun which is the same but gives her a Water skill.

EDIT: Okay, so Smash City gets a new gun for Gucci after the carnival. Twisty Gun, which is an unnecessary expense cause it's not any stronger than Squirt Gun and the extra 10 MP is negligible at this point with your surplus of food.

Sunshine City's music is definitely one of my favorites

You finally get to fight Body Squeezers, which were shown multiple times as being death sentences once they spot you

Monica boss battle

So one faction eliminated, one repelled for the time being, a third that you're tentatively allied with.

It would have been nice if House Centipede (inflicts Sick) were available earlier. Hope the patch adds more status/buff/debuff items.

Maxing a bond and unlocking that character's Ultimate skill is a really nice feeling.

Utopia

Final Dungeon

Final Boss

Typo

I'm really glad I saw and played this game. The art style might turn people away but this was a masterpiece of storytelling and character development. The credits song was beautiful~

I just finished, and It's hard to believe that this game does not already have its own fandom. It reminds me of Undertale but I consider this in a league way above that game since the darker feel and realistic progression makes it feel a lot more serious. I went with normal difficulty (I had to use the save editor after a certain point) and found the story was something great even on its own. Rather than being linear the game's story feels great with many different factions, political leaders, and personalities clashing to bring a story that comes together well.

The only things I would have disliked was
1. Currency balancing. I'm not sure if this was intentional but on normal difficulty it felt like I never had enough potions. Maybe I suck at the game but I found myself with no potions before one of the hardest bosses in the game, leaving me little recourse but the save editor. I think there should be potions before every boss fight, because in one area specifically there are no food items you can collect before the fight and this can leave some players completely stuck.
2.
3.
4.

Overall it's a great game and I would love a sequel. The unique sci fi setting felt perfect for this sort of game.