THE COOLER KYOUGAME
Last Updated: October 24, 2025
This is not a complete design doc, and will be updated over time, probably. Seriously, it's gonna take a while.
Led by Posterchild, your guild is set to spread its influence over the entirety of New North City, for better or for worse.
Your guild's members are comprised of Mahous, who can be recruited to fight alongside you; discern who looks like a good fit with limited on-screen information and your own observations, then hand them an invitation after defeating them. Certain Mahous outside of your guild can also assist you, after completing the necessary objectives and story beats to do so. You navigate the city with a team of two (with Poster tuning in for decisive moments); you're granted two recruits at the start with preset stats, but random names and appearances.
As you progress, you'll be able to establish new base locations, which raises your maximum recruit cap, among other things. You'll also progress how the city is affected by your presence and past actions, such as dismantled guilds continuing to fall apart after you're done with them, or older bases becoming an unremarkable and familiar part of the area.
It's the numbers! They generally add up to a stat total that doesn't diverge from the average too much, unless they have certain qualities, such as having a Condition. For now, let's consider "baseline" totals to be 100.
A recruit's Subset is essentially their class, and as such, it can influence many things. However, the most important factor determined by Subset is the recruit's Abilities. Abilities are what form the recruit's potential moveset; every move is associated with at least one Ability, and a recruit with at least one of said abilities can learn that move (or can start with it from the get-go). Do note that a decent chunk of moves– notably, lighter attacks that may see frequent use– don't require an ability, and are available to anyone.
Small note here: in example movesets, only Ability requirements relevant to the character will show up in move descriptions. If someone with Corrosion has the move Contact Burn, knowing that Light Manipulation or Pyrokinesis can also grant Contact Burn isn't exactly necessary.
However, that isn't the only thing that can affect a recruit's moveset. The recruit's level shows how much they've refined their power, raised through getting experience out in the field. (...plus some other methods maybe, because personally I'd like to reduce the necessity of grinding experience– just doesn't feel right for this game. Feel free to ask more about that, I guess?) In addition to Abilities, moves are assigned a level at which they can be obtained. This is decently lax, with many moves being available immediately, but moves locked behind higher levels can yield interesting play styles, even if they may be less straightforward. Note that abilities can also come in "Strong" and "Weak" forms, which can buff or nerf your options (e.g. if a level 30 recruit has Light Manipulation and Weak Pyrokinesis, moves gained through the former Ability are available as usual, but moves gained through the latter are only available as if the recruit is level 20).
...yes, this is all to say that a recruit has access to what is basically a randomized skill tree. When I say it like that, it sounds absolutely nightmarish! It probably is absolutely nightmarish! But hey, that's what playtesting and iteration is for. With that being said, recruits are able to change out moves at a base, so if you aren't feeling the current moveset, you have the entirety of what's available to your level and Abilities to work with. Also, be aware that some moves are exclusive to certain characters. Where an ability should be listed, the move will be labeled "Unique".
Other things Subsets can affect includes:
Every recruit has a Behavior, a passive feature of the recruit that can change how they play. (Think Abilities from Pokemon.) Behaviors typically align with a Subset, indicated by color; this means a recruit of that Subset is more likely to have it. However, it isn't too difficult to find one with a disparate Behavior.
Recruits also have Stress, because there wasn't enough in the hypothetical budget for a proper sanity mechanic. Stress is denoted by a meter in the HUD, and is mainly generated by getting up-close to bullets and other attacks. In other words, this is The Obligatory Graze Mechanic™. A recruit's Stress Response determines, well, the effect of Stress on them– essentially a context-specific Behavior that isn't necessarily a passive effect. This also changes the amount of Stress needed to fill the meter, and even the way Stress itself behaves. For example, some Stress Responses allow the meter to build up before quickly draining alongside an effect, while others constantly drain the meter over time. Much like Behaviors, Stress Responses are also usually associated with a Subset and can be found more frequently in recruits within it.
Certain Behaviors and Stress Responses can also be "Unique" and limited to special characters.
Some recruits have a Condition, which can greatly alter the qualities of their subset, among other things. These recruits are far and few between– use them well!
Recruits with an Improper Subset have more variation in their Abilites; they're able to obtain powers not normally available within their subset, or ones that are simply just rare. Additionally, they're more likely to have Strong or Weak Abilities. However, they always have noticeably lower stat totals.
Recruits with a Former Subset have noticeably higher stat totals, but have an Uncontrollable Stress Response. Uncontrollable Stress Responses are double-edged swords, with one thing in common: every action taken by the recruit will now generate Stress. Mitigating the drawback is important.
All recruits can focus, which slows down their movement and reveals their hitbox. They can also dodge, which briefly prevents damage and quickly moves the recruit a short distance. Movement can be redirected somewhat mid-dodge, and cancelled out of by focusing. Recruits can potentially have variant focus and dodge options, though this is rare. Some features, such as moves and Behaviors, can interact with movement options (such as an action changing depending on whether or not the player is focused or not).
Certain information, such as stuff related to level, has been omitted.