Stella Glow

Stella Glow CIAs, ROMFs, and Saves:
https://mega.nz/#F!sFdxAaCK!PeSD8PPbtqz1DJf7ibDISQ

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Why use a NG+ Save?

After the game ends, you're given the option to choose which character-specific epilogue you want to view. To unlock them, you must max that specific character's affinity level. A first run of the game generally gives you enough Free Time slots to max 3 or 4 characters. While a new game plus run gives you enough Free Time slots to max all characters.

The trade off is that you gain more exp and gold in a NG+ run, making the game easier. You also keep the gold from the previous run, but I've included two NG+ saves; one that includes enough gold that you'll never run out, and one that has pretty much no gold left.

If you're planning to play a normal run, I suggest you choose 3-4 characters you like the most and focus on maxing their affinity as soon as they join to unlock their ending.

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(IMPORTANT/ NO SPOILERS) Getting the true ending on first playthrough:

-Raise Alto's affinity level with Klaus to the 2nd level (so that Klaus learns the Magic Shield ability) before Chapter 8's free time events are up.

-In the final battle, halfway through the fight a character will make a request of Alto. Refuse to grant their request.

General tips (no spoilers):
-"continue" in the title screen is for suspend saves, which are saves during a battle.
-You can turn off attack animations right before you launch an attack in battle by pressing x
-You should always make maxing affinity priority (by talking to characters in barracks during free time), that includes tuning.
-When you get to the final boss, suspend save right before the final hit. That way you can immediately load it up to see every character ending with no hassle.

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Resource rips (Sprites, CGs, Backgrounds):
https://www.reddit.com/r/StellaGlow/comments/41hoef/dump_of_busts_and_cgs/

Soundtrack:
https://www.reddit.com/r/StellaGlow/comments/3yxtlk/stella_glow_complete_ost_320kps_mp3/

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If you need convincing to try this game out, read this well-written review by JRPGReview.com:

Stella Glow is the swan song of game developer Imageepoch. The tagline on the back of the box is 'Last Song for You', and it's true, with their company's bankruptcy this is likely the last game we'll ever see from them. Sega was kind enough to take command for the last steps and get it out for release after Imageepoch went under.

Have you played a lot of JRPGs? If so, here's a fun experiment to do while playing Stella Glow: before you start playing, print out a blank bingo sheet and fill the spaces in with all the JRPG cliches and stereotypes you can think of. I'll give you the 'free space' slot: the protagonist has amnesia. See how long it takes you to call bingo from the time you start playing, and how full your sheet gets by the end. I would suggest a drinking game instead, but you'd pass out before the end of the first chapter.

****STORY SYNOPSIS - IF YOU WANT TO GO INTO THE STORY COMPLETELY BLIND AVOID THIS PARAGRAPH****
Stella Glow tells the story of a world where God took away the power of song from rebellious humans thousands of years ago, and now the only people who can sing are five chosen girls, known as Witches. The Witch of Time, Hilda, is assaulting innocent towns with her disciples and laying waste to the kingdom. In order to stop her, a boy named Alto from a small village sets out with the Royal Knights to gather the other four Witches (the Witches of Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind) so that they can sing a quartet with the power to undo the damage Hilda's song is causing. Alto has a special power - as the Conductor, he has the ability to 'tune' the Witches, basically entering their minds to help resolve their worries, trauma, and other problems. If you've played Ar Tonelico, this probably sounds very familiar - a game about song magic and diving into spirit worlds to strengthen it.
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As a Strategy RPG, battles are turn-based and take place on a grid. They involve the usual staples of SRPGs such as terrain obstacles, character positioning and movement, physical and magical attacks and resistances, everything that someone familiar with the genre would expect. This is all quite well-polished and smooth, but the distinguishing characteristic in Stella Glow that sets it apart is song magic. A song gauge slowly fills over the course of a battle by various character actions, and when the gauge is full, incredibly powerful song magic can be unleashed in battle. This was by far my favorite mechanic in the game - many of the story battles are well-balanced in difficulty so that your party will be hanging on by a thread until the song gauge is filled and song magic completely turns the battlefield on its head. Songs can do such powerful things as healing every ally on the field of HP and SP, debuffing every enemy on the field, buffing all your allies, and dealing huge damage at the same time. It's a very satisfying mechanic to plan around setting up to activate your songs. To top it off, many of the songs themselves are wonderful to listen to, as well. Stella Glow's difficulty is relatively well-tuned, there's a primary objective and usually two bonus objectives that people who enjoy the extra challenge can attempt to complete as well. Completing the bonus objectives is not necessary for any endings or story components, but it can net you some nice bonus items.

The game itself is broken up into two main parts - free time and mission time. When you're not on a mission, you'll be given a limited amount of free time actions, which can be spent talking to your party members to raise Alto's affection with them, or can also be spent doing tasks in the city for extra gold or searching for items. By far the most effective use of your time here is talking with your party members - raising Alto's affection with the Witches is necessary to progress further in their spirit worlds and unlock stronger song magic. It's not just the witches you can spend time talking to, though, all of your party members get more combat abilities as their friendship deepens. Unfortunately on your first playthrough you won't have enough time to see all the character events for each member of the party, so it's best to choose 3 or 4 of your favorites and focus on them.

I mentioned at the beginning of this review that this game is full of overused JRPG cliches. The story has a lot of silly things that don't make a lot of sense which a more realistic plot wouldn't have just hand-waived away. Despite it all, Stella Glow is an earnest JRPG that ends up having a very classic, exciting and epic feeling plot. The tone is consistent from start to end - it's the classic JRPG hero's journey played completely straight, and it's a great ride. The characters are endearing, the dialogue is entertaining, the voice acting (in the Japanese version, which this review is based on) is great. Playing a second time in New Game+ is highly recommended because you're given enough free time to talk to all of your party members to get to know them better. This is a meaty 50-70 hour adventure that any fan of strategy JRPGs should adore.