Grief Syndrome

Grief Syndrome is a doujin game by Twilight Frontier (known as Tasofro) which was released at Comiket 80 on August 13. It is a side-scrolling beat-em-up featuring the characters of Puella Magi Madoka Magica. 1 to 3 players can play with local (all gamepads/keyboards connected to the same computer) multiplayer.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Online multiplayer where?

The game doesn't support online play. Earlier Tasofro games have had online multiplayer, so there may be some hope of an update if the game is successful.

• Do I need an English translation?

No, many things are already in English and the game is playable with no knowledge of Japanese.

• Error: d3dx9_43.dll not found

Open the directx folder that comes with the installer and run DXSETUP.exe or download the dll and place it into game folder next to griefsyndrome.exe

• It still won't run.

Try setting your system locale to JAP in the Region and Language Settings, then restart.

• How do you save the game?

The game saves your lap and some statistics when you defeat Walpurgis Night. You can't save in the middle of a run or keep levels unlocked between runs.

• How do you use full screen?

Alt+Enter. You can use the configuration program to enable the full screen feature.

• The kyubey icon/configuration program won't open even though the game is not running

Set the compatibility mode to NT 4.0 and running the program as Administrator

Gameplay

Players begin a new game in Gertrud's level. They must fight through each level in sequence, defeating Gertrud, Charlotte, Elly, Elsa Maria, and Walpurgis Night. A bonus Oktavia level is unlocked if Sayaka dies. Magical girls cannot be resurrected when they run out of soul limit, except by restarting the game from the beginning and discarding unsaved progress.

Magical girls have health bars and soul limit counters. Permanent death occurs when the soul limit reaches zero. The health bar is recharged by consuming soul limit after taking damage. When the health bar becomes empty or the girl falls down a deadly pit, 2000 soul limit points are consumed to construct a new body for her. Using special abilities turns part of the health bar blue. No soul limit is lost if it recharges while still blue, but taking any damage during this period will turn the blue area into additional damage.

Defeating enemies causes the girls to level up, increasing their damage output and survivability. The maximum level is 99. The soul limit is fully recharged after defeating a witch.

Defeating Walpurgis Night completes a lap. One of many ending screens is displayed depending on which girls remain alive, and your game is saved. You can start a new game from the next lap. The game's difficulty increases as the lap number increases, but the girls will also level up more quickly. Unlike the girls, the bosses can have levels over 99. On the higher laps, their levels will even be in the thousands, if not tens of thousands.

The highest lap known to be unlocked so far is 458330. Lap numbers are unlocked based on the square of the lap beaten plus one, so unlocking 6401 requires beating 80:
lap 1^2+1=2:
lap 2^2+1=5:
lap 5^2+1=26:
lap 26^2+1=677:
lap 51^2+1=2602:
lap 70^2+1=4901:
lap 80^2+1=6401:
lap 677^2+1=458330:

Controls

• Left, Right: Move sideways
• Up, Down: Aim or use alternate attacks in combination with the Z and X keys
• Z: Quick/Weak attack
• X: Strong attack
• A: Special Ability
• C: Jump. Hold down and press C while standing on platforms to drop through.
• Q: Menu

Some players use a number pad mapping terminology to name moves. For example, "8Z x2 j.6X" The first number is a position on the number pad: 8=up, 6=right, 2=down, 5=neutral, corresponding to how a joystick would work. The letter after it is the default key for that ability. x followed by a number means repeat it that many times. "j." means to do it while jumping.

Characters

Madoka

Madoka is a ranged attacker who relies on charging up abilities. She can use cheap tactics to rain destruction on enemies without allowing them any opportunity to fight back, and possesses a huge soul limit, but she is vulnerable to being interrupted while charging attacks, has a limited set of abilities, and her main attacks require precise aiming.

Status Base:

• Vitality: 92
• Power: 10
• Special Cost: 45
• Soul limit: 28875
• SL lost in revive: 9,6%

Growth Per level

• Vitality: +4
• Power: +1
• Soul limit: +128

Abilities:

• Strong Attack: Fire a piercing arrow horizontally. Holding the key down causes Madoka to charge up for more power. Charged version has unlimited piercing and will knockback into a wallbounce.
• Quick Attack: Fire a barrage of arrows. Holding the key down increases the number of arrows fired. Holding up or down while starting the attack causes Madoka to aim upwards or downwards. Pushes back both large and small enemies.
• Special: Arrows rain from the sky, damaging all enemies near Madoka. The shower will knock down enemies.
• Charging: While charging up attacks, Madoka can float in the air. She can do this indefinitely, staying out of an enemy's reach.
• Idle: Madoka looks super cute.

Review/Tips: Madoka has the most SL out of the characters, both starting and growth rate. Don't take her charging shots for granted, they are very effective in stunning/controlling mobs of enemies, especially with their knockback. All her moves essentially put the enemies in a stun state and do quick and rapid damage. To get out of a crowded situation you can fire her special as a canopy of safety, while it rains death on the enemy you are being protected at the same time. Not bad eh? When she fires her bow in midair, it creates a magical platform where she is suspended for a few seconds. Madoka can store a charge of the quick attack by jumping after charging it, or by fully charging a strong attack. If a quick attack is used next, it will start charging from level 2. Therefore, alternating between strong and quick attacks maximizes damage.

Homura

Homura is a ranged attacker who uses combinations of explosives and gunfire to attack. She's deadly and versatile, but has a very low soul limit and requires tactical play to set up combos.

Status Base:

• Vitality: 88
• Power: 10
• Special Cost: 50
• Soul limit: 17460
• SL lost in revive: 16,5%

Growth Per level

• Vitality: +4
• Power: +1
• Soul limit: +102

Abilities:

• Quick Attack: Fire a rather weak handgun. Can be fired 7 times. Bullets will disappear before reaching full screen.
• Standing Strong Attack: M249 Machine gun. If used midair, the gun will change to a Howa Type 59 but do the same damage. Will slow your fall in mid-air. Bullets do not disappear. Slightly pushes Homura back.
• Left/Right Strong Attack: AT-4. May be jump-canceled anytime after the projectile is fired. May miss close grounded enemies.
• Down Strong Attack: Jump and drop a grenade. Pushes Homura back a little. Holding left or right will throw the bomb farther.
• Up Strong Attack: Mortar. May be jump-canceled any time after the mortar appears, even before it is fired, making this move effective for setting up high-damage combos.
• Up Strong Attack(mid-air): Throws a pipe bomb upwards. Moves Homura forward slightly. Holding left or right will throw the bomb farther.
• Special: Freeze time for a few seconds.
• Idle: The wind be blowing back and forward a lot.

Review/Tips: Homura is a great character to have for multiplayer. Not only does her special (time freeze) stack with other character's moves, but she has quite a few defensive maneuvers as well. While weak in the soul limit and life department, she does have the fastest growth of soul limit per level. Though her Soul Limit is quite low and drains quickly and she lacks the jumping abilities of the other girls, she makes up for it with fast projectiles and a time-freezing special. It's worthy of note that Homura and her allies are completely invulnerable to enemy attacks during a time stop and can walk into projectiles and enemies without consequences.

Mortar/Nade Spam: Hold up/right or up/left then tap XC repeatedly to rain down explosions to your enemies

Homura rocket-cancel: Hold right or left direction then X followed by CX then followed by CX, if done correctly you should fire 3 rockets in one go

A decent combo for her is to freeze time, throw a grenade, then shoot the bazooka and finish off with a standing strong attack. This should generally launch them up and use the bazooka to push them while the bullets are hitting them.

Mami

Mami is a hybrid melee-ranged fighter who is widely regarded as the most difficult character to play. Her muskets have a very short range, her damage is low, and her truly powerful move, Tiro Finale, turns an enormous amount of the health bar blue.

Status Base:

• Vitality: 110
• Power: 10
• Special Cost: 100
• Soul limit: 22278
• SL lost in revive: 14,8%

Growth Per level

• Vitality: +5
• Power: +1
• Soul limit: +84

Abilities:

• Quick Attack: Summon and fire muskets in succession with very low range, but AoE damage. Can be pressed 8 times.
• Standing Strong Attack: Multiple Muskets. The longer you hold it the more muskets will appear. This can hold you still in the air.
• Left/Right Strong Attack: Step forward and strike the enemy with muskets, followed by a very strong dual musket shot with a little movement in the direction you are pressing. Hits behind Mami as well.
• Down Strong Attack: A cloth whip that will hold enemies still. You can continue holding the button down to keep them still longer. Will not hold bosses down.
• Up Strong Attack: Mami's hands turn into cannons and fire upwards diagonally to either side. Does not hit directly above her, though it has good vertical range.
• Dive Hop: Down and jump on enemy for no damage.
• Special: Tiro Finale. Summons a very large musket and fires a strong laser. Considering the subtraction from the health bar, this move is extremely risky, and is best used to punish bosses when they present an opening. The button can be hold down for a longer duration, but consume more in the process. (i.e. Impossible to perform when the move can drain nearly all of the bar)
• Idle: I can almost see them! ALMOST! ALMOST!

Review/Tips: Mami has a sizable SL supply but takes a considerable hit when reviving as well (nearly double the cost of some other characters) making her large pool quite deceptive as you will see your reserves run dry if you are not careful. While extremely vulnerable if enemies get the upper hand, her evasion skills are unsurpassed. Jumping and shooting the rifle leaves her nearly invulnerable while floating airborne. Her hitbox is near her feet at this state. The same goes for the dual cannon move which does big damage to boot. Her special is a boss killer but be aware you need to back up more since the gun takes a large portion of the screen and only hits in front. I would say you need to back up nearly full screen distance for it to hit. Repeatedly jump-canceling her forward-strong attack allows her to advance across the screen while attacking. Using her up strong attack during the rising part of a jump causes her to do the attack during the jump. Using it during the falling part of a jump causes her to do an extra small jump and then the attack. This attack can be used as a third jump in tight situations. Also, a good way to do damage against high up or large enemies is to do an up strong attack on the ground, and then jump cancel it and do a rising up strong attack and repeat when you land. Using her down strong attack causes a quick jump forward, and if you cancel it right after the whip comes out with a jump, you can move forward quickly.

Sayaka

Sayaka is a mobile melee fighter who uses charges and aerial attacks. She is an extremely powerful solo character whose diving attack can destroy enemies easily. Her strong attacks can chain into each other, making her extremely mobile while attacking.

Status Base:

• Vitality: 138
• Power: 10
• Special Cost: 20 (+20 if Strong Attack is added)
• Soul limit: 19935
• SL lost in revive: 6,2%

Growth Per level

• Vitality: +6
• Power: +1
• Soul limit: +82

Abilities:

• Quick Attack: Swing her sword back and forward. Can be pressed 8 times with the 8th being a step froward and slash.
• Standing Strong Attack: Lunge forward. Chargeable.
• Left/Right Strong Attack: Forward slash attack. Will knock back small enemies.
• Down Strong Attack: Jump backwards and then diagonally attack the way you were facing.
• Up Strong Attack: Jump forward diagonally. Can be done twice. Beware using this move in the air, it incurs a long recovery time.
• Dive Hop: Down and jump on enemy for no damage.
• Special: Forward dash. Press Strong Attack during the beginning to add a powerful attack with not much extra cost to your bar. During the dash you do not take hit stun, but you can still take damage.
• Idle: Bouncy. Well, except for her chest. Why so flat, Sayaka?

Review/Tips: Sayaka is the definitive powerhouse that can tank it out with little to no effort. Her attacks are very strong and fast and is probably the most powerful character in the game (at least for lower Laps). Her left/right strong attack will stun enemies and send them flying into the wall. A good way damage enemies, especially those on later laps with lots of hp, without fear of retaliation is to continuously hit them into the wall. This works on larger enemies, as well. Just hit them as they're bouncing off the wall to negate their super armor, and then the next hit will slam them into the wall, again. You have to really try hard to die on the first few laps of the game. I wonder what happens if she does die...

Kyouko

Kyouko is an offensively oriented melee fighter who has high damage attacks that cover wide areas. She is an extremely powerful solo character who can destroy waves of enemies easily in the early laps, but she can't handle taking very much damage.

Status Base:

• Vitality: 95
• Power: 10
• Special Cost: 35
• Soul limit: 23742
• SL lost in revive: 12,5%

Growth Per level

• Vitality: +5
• Power: +1
• Soul limit: +87

Abilities:

• Quick Attack: Swing her spear. 2 pokes 6 swings. Can be pressed 8 times.
• Standing Strong Attack: Lunge forward. Chargeable.
• Left/Right Strong Attack: Spinning double hit.
• Down Strong Attack: Jump and slash down. While in midair her attack changes to a charge downward.
• Up Strong Attack: Use her spear like a pole vault bending it and causing it to spring upward. Even in the air...
• Dive Hop: Down and jump on enemy for no damage.
• Special: Create a barrier to block the enemies.
• Idle: No Pocky?

Review/Tips: Kyouko is no pushover and is excellent at crowd control and melee combat. Although the slower of the two tanks, Kyouko's spear launch move deals great damage and is particularly effective at evading attacks. The spear charge is her damage-dealer. Her Spear twirl grants invulnerability frames. Her special has limited use, such as projectile evading but usually hurts more than helps her because it ironically leaves this tank in a vulnerable state.

The most useful attack for Kyouko at lower levels (i.e., Lap 26) is her Up Strong Attack. This attack is her third strongest attack (behind the Charged Lunge and Downward Strong attacks), covers an enormous area (including behind her) and can be spammed quickly, juggling enemies with ease. At lower levels , this attack will OHKO small enemies rendering even the largest crowds a trivial chore.

Kyouko combo: Zx5 + 5X + 6X + j2X + j2X or j8X

Stages

Gertrud

Gertrud boss fight

Small Anthony enemies (the ones with mustaches) spawn indefinitely during this boss fight. Gertrud, grounded, will slowly moves about the stage. She will alternate between these attacks at random:

• Body slam forward. Be careful, this move has farther range than it appears. Hits on the ground where her body impacts.
• Jump forward, up, or back and hit you where she lands. Only hits around her feet.
• Back up quickly and hit you by her feet. This is typically followed up by one of her other attacks.
• Jump straight up into the ceiling and position herself above where you are. After a time she will fall straight back down and do a body slam.
• Send out a large scissor attack that has pretty large range in front of her. Both the scissors and the vines they're connected to can hit you.
• Summon Adelbert enemies (the small white enemies) from the ground at spaced intervals. After a brief time, the Adelberts will turn into spikes to form walls. After the summoning Gertrud will typically do her ceiling jump attack if you're far away, or her other moves if you're close by.

Considering her attacks, it's pretty safe to do air attacks since most of Gertrud's attacks only hit near the ground. The Adelbert enemies she summons can be destroyed in one hit by strong attacks, unlike those found in the stage, so you can easily destroy them and run away instead of being trapped waiting for her to fall on you.

Charlotte

This stage is pretty linear like all the other stages but you'll come across a maze half way through, its best to follow the doors that have a blue hue(not the door color itself, but the light shining out of it) do this until you reach a room with the two staircases on either side, then head to the pink one(it should be after the one room filled w/ two giant rat enemies and their small minions). Though the game will take pity on you eventually and head you onward to the correct path, if you do mess up repeatedly. Though in later laps, it becomes beneficial to mess up and redo these rooms to grind for levels but this loop(the 2 big mice room and double staircase room) will only lasts four times, since starting the fifth one, the game will correct you to the path to Charlotte.

Charlotte boss fight

Charlotte initially appears in her first form and never moves or attacks you. To begin the true boss fight, you must defeat this first form. In the mean time, small enemies spawn indefinitely throughout the stage. Once you've defeated the first form, her second form appears from above in the center of the stage and bites downward. This can hit you for large damage. Don't be intimidated by her large size. The actual area where she can damage you is generally centered around her face when she attacks. She will alternate between these attacks at random:

• Bite forward and downward or upwards towards where you are.
• Jump forward and slams down on the ground in front.
• Charge up for a bit before moving forward for while, biting low at ground level or high at platform level toward where you are. High version can end with a body slam that hits the ground in front.
• She will back up several times, typically followed by another attack.
• Jump upward off the screen. She then appears above you and bites downward. This move is very powerful so do your best to avoid it.

Considering her attack pattern, it is fairly safe to stay near her, as long as you're behind her. She backs up much faster than most of the characters can move, though, so when she does, it's usually best to stay away.

• On later laps, a good way to grind levels is to, during Charlotte's first form, ignore her and just attack her minions.

H.N. Elly (Kirsten)

Kirsten boss fight

The setting of this boss fight is different from usual. There's no ground, only six floating TV's, the bottom four of which you can use as platforms. Falling off a platform just causes you to fall through and then appear above where you fell. If you fall off the sides, you'll land on the side platforms. If you you fall through the middle, you will probably drift towards one of the lower platforms. You can fall indefinitely, and steer yourself using the left and right arrows. Kirsten takes the form of four TV's which constantly rotate in a circle at the center of the stage. The main body, and the only place she can be harmed, is the TV containing the blue silhouette. Green blood spurts out of the TV to show that you're doing damage. The other TV's will contain one of three different images that have different effects:

• Lightning - periodically shoots lightning outwards.
• Minion - periodically spawns small minions.
• Exclamation point - if this TV is hit, three electrical orbs will fly out.

The initial configuration of the TV's is one of each image and Kirsten. Every so often, Kirsten and all the TV's will whirl around in place for a short time during which she's invulnerable. After, they will resume rotating with some changes:

• Kirsten's position amongst the TV's may change at random.
• The images on the other TV's may change at random.
• The direction that TV's rotate may change at random.
• The TV's may change to rotate in a circle with a small diameter (all of Kirsten's TV's touching), a large diameter (the TV's can reach the platforms), or a medium diameter (half way between) at random.

This fight is mostly made difficult by the spawning of enemies that will interrupt you while you try to attack Kirsten. Don't expend too much effort trying to take them out before attacking Kirsten, however, because it's likely that more will spawn before you get a chance to attack her if you pay too much attention to them. Try your best to attack the main body while taking out or avoiding enemies.

Elsa Maria

Elsa Maria boss fight

Elsa Maria is a grounded, generally stationary boss. She will only move after each attack where she will idle for a time before disappearing and reappearing again somewhere at random. Small and medium sized enemies of every kind from this stage will spawn at random indefinitely. She will alternate between these attacks at random:

• Hands extend out of her body and home in on you in a straight line.
• Hands extend straight out of her body at random angles and then turn once to home in on you.
• Note for the above two hand attacks, at low health she will do another volley of hands after the first.
• Hands extend straight out of her body radially like spokes of a wheel.
• Note that for all the hand attacks, only the hand can hit you, not the arm, so that's the only part you have to dodge.
• A large tree extends out of the back of her head and covers that entire side of the screen. This move is extremely powerful and hits many times. If you get hit by it, it will one hit KO you. An easy way to dodge this move is to pay attention to Elsa Maria's form when she appears. If it's any other attack, her body with morph into a blob like shape before attacking, But if it's this attack, her body will not change; the tree will just start extending out. This move also has fairly long start-up time, so it's not hard to get out of the way if you see it coming.

Taking her OHKO move into account, it's safest to attack Elsa Maria from behind at all times. Her other attacks are best to deal with at a distance. The homing hands you can avoid by staying in place and running and jumping away as they approach. The radial hands you need to look for an opening between the hands. And the tree you can avoid completely simply by being behind it. She will never appear so close to the edge of the screen that you can't avoid it.

Oktavia von Seckendorff

You obtain this boss fight after Sayaka dies at any time. There are no enemies present on this stage except Oktavia.

Oktavia boss fight

This is the only boss fight where enemies don't spawn. Oktavia will slide back and forth across the stage. She will alternate between these attacks:

• Summon four wheels that bounce across the screen. This occurs when Oktavia raises both her arms high. Her arms are raised higher than when she usually raises both arms during her idle animation. These wheels are destructible, and hitting them delays their descent.
• Summon many wheels in the sky that, after a short time, fall straight down and then roll off to the sides. This occurs when Oktavia raises only her sword arm. These wheels are destructible.
• Dash very quickly around the stage. She doesn't attack during this, nor is she invulnerable.
• Big sword slash that causes a large shockwave along the ground that goes in both directions from the impact of the sword. The sword slash can hit you. Both the slash and the shockwave do tremendous damage and will one hit KO you. The shockwave, though, only hits near the ground, so you can jump to avoid it. Try to be behind her or far from her when she does this move to avoid getting hit by the slash. An indicator that she's about to use this move is if he raises her sword arm and slides back and forth quickly.
• Retreat to the background where she is invulnerable and summon wheels to fall randomly from the sky. The wheels will disappear after hitting the ground once. After many wheels fall, she will return to the foreground. Kyoko's super has very good application here. Any wheel will be destroyed if it touches her barrier. One usage is enough to be safe for the entire duration of this move.

Walpurgisnacht

Walpurgisnacht boss fight

• This is another boss fight where there are platforms instead of solid ground. Unlike Kirsten's fight, though, if you fall here you die. Again, enemies spawn indefinitely. Walpurgisnacht has 2 main phases of attack.
• In her first phases she will float about the stage in random directions and let her minions attack you. Occasionally six blue orbs will appear in a hexagon formation and fire blue lasers out radially. The lasers are the same as the ones her minions fire and will first shoot a thin beam showing the direction they will shoot before actually shooting, so you have some time to dodge.
• After some time, Walpurgisnacht will enter her second phase. During this phase she retreats to the background and she is completely invulnerable. If you have not destroyed her enemies they will remain. However, during this phase they will not re-spawn once killed. To start this phase, debris will fly up and then fall from the sky, rotating as they fall. The debris cannot be destroyed so you must dodge. Each piece does large damage. After the debris finishes falling, Walpurgisnacht will shoot fire from her mouth that covers large portions of the stage as it arcs about. This fire is extremely powerful and will one hit KO you, so do your best to avoid it. A good strategy is to wait at the top platform in the center of the stage so you can watch the fire and see which direction it will move in so you can effectively dodge. After the fire attack finishes, Walpurgisnacht will return to the foreground and resume her first phase. At low health, after the fire attack, she will drop an enormous building from the sky centered where you are. You will know when it's starting when the screen shakes. This move is also a one hit KO, but it's not too hard to outrun. Also, Sayaka can super dash away, while Homura can stop time.
• Walpurgisnacht is enormous, so it's extremely easy to hit her. Using Madoka's super attack can result in all of the arrows hitting for enormous damage.

Configuration

The program with a Kyubey icon allows you to configure the game. Make sure the game is not running when you use it.

One popular modification is changing the jump key to space. The configuration program also allows you to mute the sound or enable full screen.

If the controls menu does not open, and you're not in Windows 7, try activating NT compatibility mode in properties. There has been a report of a bug that only allows one key to be changed at a time.

Trophies

• Silver Trophy: Clear game once
• Silver Trophy: Clear the game without any downs (Deaths?)
• Obtain all endings
• Silver Trophy: Use everyone a total of 100 times
• Silver Trophy: Use Madoka a total of 100 times
• Silver Trophy: Use Homura a total of 100 times
• Silver Trophy: Use Mami a total of 100 times
• Silver Trophy: Use Sayaka a total of 100 times
• Silver Trophy: Use Kyouko a total of 100 times
• Gold Trophy: Use everyone 100 times each
• Silver Trophy: Defeat 1000 familiars
• Gold Trophy: Defeat 10000 familiars
• Silver Trophy: Defeat 100 witches
• Gold Trophy: Defeat 1000 witches
• Silver Trophy: Reach level 30
• Gold Trophy: Reach level 99
• Silver Trophy: Use magic ability 100 times
• Gold Trophy: Use magic ability 1000 times
• Silver Trophy: 100 hit combo
• Gold Trophy: 500 hit combo

System Requirements

• OS: Windows 7, Vista, or XP
• CPU: 2GHz or higher
• RAM: 1GB
• Hard drive space: 1GB
• Graphics: DirectX9.0c compatible with 256MB VRAM
• Display: 800x600 resolution
• Input Device: Game pad recommended, keyboard supported

Threads discussing Grief Syndrome

Gallery

• 
• 

  Everyone survives

• Grief Syndrome 14.jpg

  Everyone survives v2

• Grief Syndrome 02.jpg

  Everyone survives close-up

• 

  Only Homura and Madoka survive

• 

  Only Kyoko and Sayaka survive

• 

  Only Mami lives, she's all alone

• 

  Homura dies and Madoka lives. There are other possible ways to get this ending, like if only Kyoko and Sayaka die.

• Grief Syndrome 11.jpg

  Homura in hospital, bottom half

• Grief Syndrome 12.jpg

  Homura in hospital, top half

• 

  Only Kyoko lives. There are other possible ways to get this ending, like if only Sayaka dies.

• 

  Only Mami dies

• 

  Only Kyoko dies

• 

  Only Madoka dies

• 
• 

  Stage Select screen

External links

• Twilight Frontier website
• Grief Syndrome website
• Trailer video
• About Tasofro