Bite-sized Pokémon-like JRPG starring characters from other Orange Juice games (i.e. Suguri, Sora, Flying Red Barrel, QP Shooting, 100% Orange Juice, etc.), with turn-based battles with teams of up to 3, an amusing excuse plot, a fun 8-bit chiptune soundtrack, an extensive but not too long single-player campaign, and multiplayer (with level limit options if you so choose). And there's a twist in what you can do with the characters!

Like Pokémon, you'll be collecting characters and using their abilities to battle. Characters have three types in a rock-paper-scissors scheme, and each character has generally two or three attacks which may be of any of these three types (there is no same-type attack bonus), and maybe a support/debuff move. Differs from Pokémon in that speed is determined by attack type -- so dual KOs are actually very common, and the strategies to consider are quite different. (Specifically, the fastest-acting type tends to be least accurate and relatively weak, while the strongest type is the slowest.) There's really a surprising amount of strategic depth in this game.

The battles are very quick compared to pokémon battles, partly because there are fewer units, and partly because attacks deal pretty significant amounts of damage compared to the size of HP pools. This makes the game great for quick play, and even mindless grinding when you're doing something else like listening to a podcast.

You get new characters by drawing from an in-game gacha machine, using in-game currency. Thankfully, no real-world money is involved! Also you get to sell back your unwanted cards to get some money back, and besides, the probabilities are actually not that bad, particularly considering that you'll probably end up with piles of stars to blow on the gacha. It may take some time to get those last few characters in the postgame, though, just because you need really specific draws.

The game can require a little grinding, particularly in the lategame, to make it past some bosses, because you start to need more strategy. If you're just fighting everything without much strategy, as I first did, you may find your progress increasingly rough. But once you start paying attention to strategy, you'll have an easier time -- though you may need to level up characters you hadn't used much. Grinding is actually pretty quick -- in the endgame, the mook opponents are around level 20, and most mook battles will give you enough XP to make level 1 characters jump several levels, and even level 12-20 characters will tend to gain levels about once every one or two battles (depending on which battles you pick).

I won't spoil the big twist, but...hmm, I wonder if you can make pigs fly by mixing pigs with pilots...?

Disclosure: I was given the game as a gift, via the Humble Store, from a friend, in return for me previously doing a favor for them.

Bite-sized Pokémon-like JRPG starring characters from other Orange Juice games (i.e. Suguri, Sora, Flying Red Barrel, QP Shooting, 100% Orange Juice, etc.), with turn-based battles with teams of up to 3, an amusing excuse plot, a fun 8-bit chiptune soundtrack, an extensive but not too long single-player campaign, and multiplayer (with level limit options if you so choose). And there's a twist in what you can do with the characters! Like Pokémon, you'll be collecting characters and using their abilities to battle. Characters have three types in a rock-paper-scissors scheme, and each character has generally two or three attacks which may be of any of these three types (there is no same-type attack bonus), and maybe a support/debuff move. Differs from Pokémon in that speed is determined by attack type -- so dual KOs are actually very common, and the strategies to consider are quite different. (Specifically, the fastest-acting type tends to be least accurate and relatively weak, while the strongest type is the slowest.) There's really a surprising amount of strategic depth in this game. The battles are very quick compared to pokémon battles, partly because there are fewer units, and partly because attacks deal pretty significant amounts of damage compared to the size of HP pools. This makes the game great for quick play, and even mindless grinding when you're doing something else like listening to a podcast. You get new characters by drawing from an in-game gacha machine, using in-game currency. Thankfully, no real-world money is involved! Also you get to sell back your unwanted cards to get some money back, and besides, the probabilities are actually not that bad, particularly considering that you'll probably end up with piles of stars to blow on the gacha. It may take some time to get those last few characters in the postgame, though, just because you need really specific draws. The game can require a little grinding, particularly in the lategame, to make it past some bosses, because you start to need more strategy. If you're just fighting everything without much strategy, as I first did, you may find your progress increasingly rough. But once you start paying attention to strategy, you'll have an easier time -- though you may need to level up characters you hadn't used much. Grinding is actually pretty quick -- in the endgame, the mook opponents are around level 20, and most mook battles will give you enough XP to make level 1 characters jump several levels, and even level 12-20 characters will tend to gain levels about once every one or two battles (depending on which battles you pick). I won't spoil the big twist, but...hmm, I wonder if you can make pigs fly by [i]mixing[/i] pigs with pilots...? Disclosure: I was given the game as a gift, via the Humble Store, from a friend, in return for me previously doing a favor for them.