Tokyo Xanadu

• You can usually get an S-Rank (or at least a high A) on a first attempt at a stage just by collecting all treasure chests and killing as many enemies as possible with the person they’re weak against (You’ll see “Element Kill” pop up).

• A high chain bonus influences your stage score. The crates littered everywhere are intended for you to keep your chain alive in-between monsters. In many stages, you’ll need to dart into side rooms to get treasure chests or hit switches. Leaving some crates – or enemies - intact in rooms with a path split will let you continue the chain when you pass back through the room again. The chain bonus caps at 200, though, so if you get that high, don't worry too much about losing it.

• A well-timed dodge not only makes you invulnerable briefly, but it also recharges your meters faster. It sounds counter-intuitive, but sometimes dodging INTO an attack is the best thing to do.

• Even if you normally dislike locking on to enemies, it's very handy when trying to use ranged attacks, like Asuka's, and the Steel and Shadow-element character's ranged attacks.

• Early on, don’t neglect purchases of healing items whenever you get the chance. Bosses have a lot of HP and can whittle yours down faster if you’re not used to their patterns. This becomes less important as you get better.

• The special attacks are confusing because they’re named similarly (EX skill, X-Strike, X-Drive).
  • X-Strike is your super screen-clearing portrait attack. The HUD indication you have one ready is the yellow hexagon with the curvy lightning bolt in it. Perform one by pressing your “Lock-on” and “Dodge” buttons at the same time.
  • EX Skill is another powerful attack, the nature of which varies based on the character. The HUD indication you have one ready is the red circle with an E in it to the right of your health. You are invulnerable when performing one.
  • X-Drive temporarily summons your active partner to the field to assist you for a short period of time. The HUD indicator you have one is the bar labelled X-Drive that fills up to 100%. Don’t worry about getting the right partner to hit weaknesses, as ALL attacks during that period are considered to be weaknesses.

• Money will be a little tight in the game at first until you can replay stages. There are recipes you can get that produce items that sell for more than you can buy their ingredients, but redoing a stage doesn’t take that long and gives you item rewards, so that's usually the better option.

• Certain foods nullify trap damage - keep a few handy. That includes damaging floors which start to appear in later stages. The damage from floors is good at tanking your stage score. The Shadow-element character's Power attack also produces a short-lasting invulnerability field which has the same protection.

• At the arcade, there's a decent "Prevent all status ailments" accessory for 20,000 Arcade medals. Getting that many is a pain though. Fishing has the highest potential payout, but it requires somewhat of a bank of medals to play, as the higher levels are increasingly difficult to break even on. Other games are easier, but pay out less. Some games give notes for the character profile pages, though. Later in the game though, you can buy a better one for 10,000 Yen at the Antique Shop.

• Don't worry too much about trying to fill in the character profile pages on your first playthrough, it requires at least two, so just pick who you want to spend time with.

• Be sure to keep an eye on the Main > Store Info tab. It tells you what new items to look for in stores - most notably yellow and red items.

• Get items to decorate your apartment and you get bonus scenes that boost Kou's stats and those of party members (these will automatically trigger once you have the appropriate items). Also get items specifically mentioned as something to give to a party member. Those give short dialogues and boost stats for Kou and party members.

• There are collectibles you can turn in to certain characters for good rewards (you'll know who if you talk to one of them with at least one in your possession). Make sure to collect the entire lineup of the capsule toys both series of Kageumaru and Magical Girl Alisa. Some saving and reloading might be needed to get the secret toys. Also get all the plush toys from the arcade cabinet. It takes a few chapters for everything to become available, though.