You play as Togawa, a woman driven to the brink by the crushing demands of her employer. On the verge of ending her life, she’s saved by an unexpected savior, a cat, who offers her a mysterious second chance: expose the corrupt company and fight back.

Gameplay is divided between two realms: the real world and the midnight world. Together, they represent one full day, and you can choose how much time to spend in each. In the real world, you explore various office floors, gather temporary boost from sparkly spots, and unravel the personal struggles of fellow employees that will earn you permanent boosts. However, this can only be done if you pluck enough hair from other minor characters. These characters regenerate their hair daily, allowing for repeat interactions.

Sparkling spots on the map give temporary bonuses, and while these are randomly placed, you can reset them by changing rooms. The hair mechanic ties into a unique system where you can help people suffering from stress. Importantly, the game is forgiving in progression because you won’t permanently miss out on content if you skip a day or choose to dive straight into the midnight world.

The midnight world serves as the game’s combat zone. Here, you face a series of strategic battles that must all be completed to progress the story. While fights need to be cleared in one run, you can always return to the real world to strengthen and try again. You can choose the type of upcoming battles, access peaceful recovery zones, or stumble upon surprises. Of course, there are also boss fights that unlock even more options in both worlds.

Combat is straightforward but clever. You don’t directly control the attacks; instead, outcomes depend on your stats. You can speed up or skip battle animations, which is helpful since the combat is more about planning than active control. The main mechanic revolves around pushing enemies into lines—a line of three damages enemies and boosts your stats, while a line of four wipes them out instantly.

As you progress, you unlock perks called "policies" that give passive bonuses—like extra damage for environmental interactions. Policies are unlocked by collecting ID cards and buying them in the real world. Another powerful mechanic is a special push skill earned after defeating three enemies, which allows you to clear multiple foes in a line. However, it's limited to one use per battle and doesn’t work on all enemy types. You don't have to beat everyone, but you'll get more hair if you do.

Combat is not randomized, and each enemy’s stats and health are known ahead of time. A helpful handbook keeps track of them, and the game clearly marks when an enemy is stronger than you, reducing guesswork and rewarding strategic planning. For players more interested in the story than the challenge, there’s a Story Mode that minimizes combat difficulty.

This is just the good old time RPG maker styled game I've been longing for. Despite its clear core idea of criticizing toxic corporation culture, it's essentially a nice puzzle game with just the right amount of tutorial, level design and dialogues. It keeps giving me a warm feeling of the old style JRPG that I played in my childhood. Among the heavy AA/AAA games, this is a v. amazing surprise as a light-weighted game that is ready to provide you some straightforward jrpg vibe and puzzle solving.

有玩魔塔的感觉，要长脑子了