Gameplay Mechanics

Magical Warrior Diamond Heart, utilizes a combination of stat points and event flags in order to unlock routes and progress with the game.

Choices and Stats

In order to progress in routes, Val needs to collect status points during the story. Status points are collected throughout the game as you make choices.

The stats that you can collect are Affection, Friendship, Guts, and Nightmare points. Routes, certain scenes, some endings and event CG images are all dependent on the various stats Valerie has collected throughout the game. All stats outside of affection points are hidden from the player.

Affection Points

Relationship meters

Affection points, or heart levels represent Valerie's relationship toward her friends and love interests. Routes, certain scenes, some endings and event CG images are all dependent on the affection level Valerie has with the other characters.

The player can view their relationship with Valerie's friends by clicking the contacts button in the phone. Each heart color represents 10 affection points. 0-9 points is zero hearts, 10-19 is grey, and so on. Rainbow hearts represent a maxed out relationship meter. Many routes require the player to have at least 50 points of affection (yellow heart level) in order to unlock them. And some characters, such as Alex and Liam require rainbow hearts in order to unlock.

Friendship Points

Friendship is a hidden stat in the game that increases and decreases based on how kind and considerate the player is toward the other characters.

Valerie can lose FP when behaving unkindly in front of other characters, even if the character witnessing it is not personally offended. Most routes should require at least 70 FP to unlock.

Guts

Guts are a reflection of how bold and active Val is. High guts represents a more steadfast and firm Valerie, while lower guts influence her to be a more passive and docile person. High guts will also cause Val to refuse more submissive and passive player choices in certain scenarios.

Nightmare Points

A hidden stat that represents Valerie's more dark and impulsive behaviors. It increases and decreases when Val acts recklessly or unkindly, and affects Val's behavior on certain routes.

Event Flags

During the course of the story, certain event flags set up that effect the rest of the story. Characters remember the choices Valerie makes and will reference conversations they've already seen later on. Certain choices are required in order to open up scene variations and some routes require specific choices to have been made in order to unlock.