- Return to Mystical Chain
Gameplay
Controls
The game is played using the keyboard or gamepad.
Default keyboard controls are as follows:
- Arrow keys: Movement and aiming
- Z: Attack
- X: Jump
- A: Spellcard
- C: Switch master and slave
Basic Gameplay
Mystical_Chain is a fighter game set in Gensokyo. Every stage has five levels. The first four levels of any stage feature a growing number of small opponents that need to be defeated for the level to clear. The final level is a boss fight, featuring two characters with many spellcards that need to be defeated before moving on.
There are three main characters. You may choose any two of them. The two characters have to work together to defeat some enemies that would be difficult if not impossible to defeat alone. Ways of using the two characters effectively will be discussed in the strategy section below.
There are four levels of difficulty: Easy, Normal, Hard and Lunatic. The harder difficulties' opponents do more damage, and their attacks feature more danmaku. Additionally, the harder difficulties have fewer glowy things (what are those?) which represent the ability to use strong attacks repeatedly.
As you advance through the stages, you are awarded additional glowy things. Otherwise there is no difference between your characters in the advanced levels.
Characters share glowy things as well as magic charge. When one character uses a strong attack, the other character has one fewer glowy thing to work with. However, they regenerate when not in use rather quickly.
Spell cards use magic charge to fire. Under the player's health bar is his magic charge meter. It is divided into three sections. When casting a spell card, at least one of the three sections needs to be filled in. Spell cards consume one of the thirds. Magic charge regenerates over time, at a pace of about one third every regular level, and one or two every spell card in boss levels.
Screen layout
- A Master character's health bar. The slave character's health bar is behind it.
- B Boss health bar.
- C Magic charge meter.
- D Chaining indicator (appears when landing hits)
- E Boss spellcards remaining.
- F Master character. Note the orange spell circle.
- G Slave character in ambush mode. Note the blue spell circle.
- H Gems.
- I Glowy thing. (Really need to figure out what those are called.)
- J An understandably happy phoenix.
- K NEET.
Scoring
Scoring is based on four factors:
- The time it takes to beat the level/spellcard
- Health when the level is completed
- The number of gems collected in this level
- The maximum chain achieved this level
There is also a "coupling points" level which isn't entirely understood yet. If and how it relates to scoring is unknown.
Strategy
Ambushing
Pressing down and swap at the same time will cause the slave character to stay where she is. The master character can move about freely. Pressing down and swap together again makes the slave character return to following mode.
While in ambush mode, the slave character will slowly regenerate health. This is terribly useful in situations where the characters take a lot of damage.
Ambushing is mostly useful in dealing with opponents who block. Using the master character to distract an opponent who blocks frontal attacks, you can quickly switch to the slave character and attack from behind. A very useful strategy.
It's also useful in dodging spellcards, since the slave character is invincible.
Interference
While an opponent is the target of one character, if the other character strikes it, the game calls it "interference". Doing many of this type of paired attack seems to increase the coupling point level faster, but it's just a speculation at this point.
Spellcard use
Spellcards can be used against bosses even when they are not vulnerable (i.e. when their spell circles turn red). They can be used to easily bring boss health down to the point where one normal attack can finish them off when vulnerable.
Additionally, using a spellcard can be used to cancel an attack against a character. If your current character is attacked, pressing the spellcard button quickly results in the other character saving her life. The spellcard is not cast as normal, but your character won't take any damage.
Specific strategies
Remilia + Flandre's last spellcard
This spellcard is very difficult to deal with, since the characters can't be struck while attacking, the window of vulnerability is short and the characters are hard to approach.
If you have Patchouli as one of your characters, it's a good idea to leave her in ambush mode in the very center of the screen where Remilia and Flandre strike and become vulnerable. The other character has to dodge the normal attacks. As soon as Flandre and Remilia strike the center, switch to Pathouli and activate her spell card. It will deal enough damage to them to bring them below half health.
Marisa's spellcard doesn't work well at close range, and Alice's only attacks one of the two enemies, so neither of them work well this way.
Character attacks
Alice
| Attack | Fires a doll directly forward |
| Attack, repeatedly | After the initial attack hits, Alice repeatedly attacks the target with dolls, then smashes the target away. |
| Up or Down, Attack | Fires a doll diagonally up or down |
| Forward + Attack | Fires a doll in a chargeable smash attack that sends the enemy flying. Breaks most guards. |
| Up + Attack | Uses a barrel to trap an enemy and fire it into the air. Useful to initiate chains. |
| Down + Attack | Alice sends out a doll along the ground that continues to run until it is off-screen. Any enemy it touches is hit hard, breaking their guard. |
| In the air, down + Attack | A flip-kick that is chargeable to all enemies just below Alice. Breaks most guards. |
| Down, forward + Attack (236A) | Alice throws out a doll that will begin spinning when an enemy enters its threatened area. If the attack button is held, Alice throws it further. When an enemy is struck by this attack, it is thrown towards the BACKSIDE of the doll. Lining these up and standing behind them can deal some serious damage, as the enemy is thrown from one doll to the next, until you have a chance to melee it at long last. This attack does not break guard, but it can send enemies flying clear across the screen. It requires one magic charge to use. |
| Up, forward + Attack (896A) | Alice reaches out with a straw doll, which initiates a savage beating if it contacts a non-guarding enemy. The number of hits dealt during the attack is dependent upon the player rapidly pressing the attack button. This attack dispenses gems, and requires one magic charge to use. |
| Down, up + Attack | One of Alice's most abusable attacks, Alice sends a doll to retrieve an enemy that has recently been knocked down. How is this useful? If you do not hold the attack button down when initiating this skill, the doll will forcefully fling the acquired enem(ies) into another surface of the screen, usually the far wall. If the player holds down the attack button when initiating this skill, however, the doll actually retrieves the enem(ies) and deposits them directly in front of Alice, without touching the ground. Alice can then initiate a whole new string of attacks that count towards the previous combo's hit count. This skill uses one magic charge, and can be reapplied every time Alice smacks an enemy away (it has been confirmed to be used 8 times, for a combo of over 40 with Alice's melee combo alone). |
Marisa
| Attack | Marisa swings with her broom. Very short range. |
| Attack, repeatedly | Marisa swings with her broom three times. The third swing smashes the enemy. |
| Forward + Attack | Marisa smashes with her broom |
| Up + Attack | Marisa smashes upward with her broom |
| Down, forward + Attack | Forward-shooting laser, spanning the entire screen |
| Up, forward + Attack | Marisa tosses a blue jar, which smashes any enemies it hits and extracts gems |
| Down, up + Attack | Marisa flies diagonally upward, landing multiple hits on the way up, then smashes down |
Patchouli
| Attack | Shoots some stars forward |
| Attack, repeatedly | Shoots multiple stars forward, followed by a gear, followed by a smashing rocket |
| Forward + Attack | Shoots a smashing rocket forward with very long range |
| Forward + Attack, up or down | Shoots the same rocket, diagonally upward or downward |
| Down + Attack | Patchouli summons some wind around her, pushing her upward and smashing nearby enemies |
| Down, forward + Attack | Patchouli calls forth a heavenly light that lands 25 hits against a nearby target |
| Up, forward + Attack | Patchouli shoots a bubble in front of her which incapacitates an enemy temporarily. Extracts gems. |
| Down, up + Attack | Eight stars fly away from Patchouli in a circle. If she has a target, they converge on that target. |
| Back, down, forward + Attack? | Four rocks grow from the ground around Patchouli's feet. This combo is not confirmed. |
