Part 2

Learn about the Memory Diary, Shop, Battle, and Alchemy systems in As Dusk Falls. Maximize your CP for synthesis!

Memory Diary System

Various actions including completing tasks, requests, synthesis and even speaking to people can grant memory points. These points can then be used to write memories into a diary at any of your workshops. Diary entries must first be obtained by completing story events, then they can be written into the diary for an additional bonus. Most of the bonuses are stat increases for Ayesha, but some are alchemy recipes or other effects such as equal experience for characters not in battle or additional items from syntheses. Requests will be a constant source of memory points, but tasks later in the game will also provide a good amount as well. Keep up with requests and pick up any flyer you come across and you shouldn't have to worry about points very much.

Shop System

There are various shops in this game and they each have a unique inventory of items to sell. Party members also have their own shops but are only available during the Bazaar event held on the 10th through the 19th of every month. Some shops also allow you to register specific categories of items that they will then be able to sell back to you. Since shops restock their items every 1st, 11th and 21st of every month, you can effectively duplicate your items. Each shop has a level associated with it that raises as you buy from them. As you raise the shop level, additional slots will become available for registered items. Overwriting a registered item is slightly bugged because you can't overwrite an item that is sold out, meaning you'll have to wait until the next restock. As you complete characters' events, their shops will expand their inventories. Sometimes this will allow you to obtain some items that you won't be able to synthesize or find for a while, and other times they'll sell extremely rare ingredients.

Battle System

The battle system in As Dusk Falls is turn based with some character positioning for an added strategic element. Each character has the Attack, Move and Flee commands plus unique Skills except for Ayesha who can use Items instead. Battles take place on a field where enemies stand in the center and each party member stands in one of four surrounding zones. Attacking an enemy from behind will guarantee a critical hit, so that is the best way to win battles. When using area attack skills, only the primary target has to be facing away in order to gain a back attack bonus against all enemies in the area of effect. Characters' attacks are also short or long ranged which will provide a bonus indicated in the upper-right corner of the screen if the target is at the correct distance. Press up on the right analog stick during targeting to get a better view of the field.

Items and Skills

Ayesha can use items in her basket and all other characters have their own set of skills. Items will be consumed after use so you must restock your basket whenever you have a chance. Ayesha's MP might seem useless early on, but some high level items have an effect that drains her MP. If she doesn't have sufficient MP, the used item will have a reduced effect. Other characters will use their MP for skills and many are area attacks that make it easy to clear out groups of enemies.

Active Commands

When you perform an action with one character, another character can support them with an Active Command. The support gauge below a character's HP/MP is built up with any action and consumed when using an active command. Each character has Pursuit and Back Attack which are basic follow-up attacks that can only be used if the supporting character is in the same zone as the initial attacker. The Defend command is also available to all characters and is usable from the same or adjacent zones the character being attacked is in. Each character also has two unique active commands that can only be used if the initial and supporting characters are in separate zones.

Super Moves

Each character except for Ayesha learns their Super Move at level 30. A new gauge below the support gauge will increase during any action or when receiving attacks and will allow the super move to be performed once it reaches 100%. Super moves do large physical damage, and if one is used to finish a battle, a unique song and animation will play.

Alchemy System

Alchemy! In the beginning, synthesis will be very basic as all you can do is choose your ingredients and how many copies of the item you want to create. As Ayesha raises her alchemy level, she will gain new synthesis skills that will give you more control over the process. Press Start during synthesis to see explanations about the synthesis screen and press Select to read descriptions of stockyard traits or properties. Unlike the previous games, alchemy no longer consumes MP, which renders Ayesha's MP stat almost useless. Instead, Ayesha has a certain amount of CP to be used for each synthesis which is two times her alchemy level. An extra 20 points can be gained from the History of Alchemy diary entry (Keith's Events) and alchemy goal (synthesize 150+ unique items) allowing you to reach a maximum of 120 CP. Each time an ingredient is added during synthesis, CP equal to the ingredient's level is used and if you run out during the process.