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Regions
Azuma has four season-themed regions filled with people to meet, places to see, and monsters to fight. You start off in the Spring Region and more will become available as you advance the story.
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Villages
Every region has a village which serves as your base of operations for that locale. Revitalize each one by increasing its population and building new infrastructure in order to restore the powers of the village's patron god.
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The Sky
As you advance the story, you'll gain access to Azuma's skies. Here you can explore floating islands or travel quickly between the various regions.
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Foraging
Gather crops or sparkling grass by approaching them and pressing the T button.
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Mining
Gather material stone, iron, and other materials by approaching an ore deposit and holding the T button.
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Logging
Gather lumber and seeds by approaching a tree and holding the T button.
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Sleep
Interact with the bed found in any Dragon Shrine to rest for a few hours or turn in for the day. Going to sleep will advance time to the next morning.
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Staying Up Late
Staying up past midnight will gradually deplete your HP/RP. You'll automatically fall unconscious once 5:00 AM rolls around, but if your HP hits zero before then, you'll faint and wake up back at the closest Dragon Shrine.
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Sacred Treasures/Kamiwaza
Advance the story to gain sacred treasures from Azuma's gods. Each one harbors a unique power. Use them to revive nature, unleash devastating attacks, or drive away any Blight plaguing the land.
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Dance of Bonds
The Plum Branch lets you use the Dance of Bonds. Perform this dance to pay your respects to save statues and frog statues, or even deepen your bonds with other villagers.
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Save Statues
Perform the Dance of Bonds before save statues to save your game. You can warp to any save statue you've activated by selecting them on your map.
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Bonfires
Interact with bonfires to cook food.
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Rune Lanterns
Interact with rune lanterns to restore your RP.
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Secret Springs
Take a dip in a secret spring to recover your HP and RP. Some will even boost your stats. You can only use a secret spring once per day.
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Frog Statues
Perform the Dance of Bonds for frog statues to receive recipes in return. Croakie, the Frog Fanatic in Spring Village, will also reward you depending on how many you've found.
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Wayside Shrines
Perform the Dance of Bonds at these small shrines to gain new recipes.
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Jizo Statues
Clean up any Jizo statues you come across to receive onigiri. Do this enough times and the Jizo themselves may leave you a gift overnight.
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Fishing Holes
If you spot shadows in the water, that means you can fish there. Choose where to drop the bobber with the Left stick, then press the T button to cast your line. When the bobber gets pulled underwater, press the T button to reel in the fish.
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Monster Barriers
While exploring, you may suddenly find yourself surrounded by an impassable barrier that spawns monsters. Defeat all the monsters within to make the barrier disappear.
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Blighted Land
Ominous plantlike organisms may block your path as you adventure across Azuma. Use the powers of your sacred treasures to destroy them for good.
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Changing Equipment
Access the Gear menu to change your weapons, armor, and accessories. You can also set your primary and secondary weapons, as well as change your armor's appearance.
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Short Swords
While these lack range, their speed lets you keep enemies pressured.
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Long Swords
Slow but powerful. Perfect for dealing with large groups of enemies.
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Dual Blades
These make up for their short range with double strikes in every hit. Unleash a barrage of blows to overwhelm your foes.
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Bows
Fire a hail of arrows to attack enemies from afar or snipe flying foes out of the air.
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Talismans
While not especially powerful, these come imbued with homing magic, which makes them especially effective against airborne enemies.
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Elements
Everything from weapons to sacred treasures is connected to one of seven elements: earth, wind, fire, water, light, darkness, and love.
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Elemental Interactions
Every element does more damage to its opposite. These opposing elements include earth/wind, fire/water, and light/darkness. Attacking something of the same element will deal reduced damage or even negate it altogether.
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Earning XP
You earn two kinds of XP: all-purpose and skill-specific. Gain skill-specific XP by using weapons, cooking dishes, and performing other skill-related actions. Acquire all-purpose XP through general gameplay, such as by defeating monsters or harvesting crops.
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Unlocking Skills
Use skill-specific XP in the Skill Tree menu to unlock new skills. You can only spend skill-specific XP in its relevant skill tree, but can invest all-purpose XP wherever you please.
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Combat Basics
Press the S button to attack with your equipped weapon. Press the Left directional button to swap between your primary and secondary weapons.
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Dodging
Press the R1 button without moving to dodge normally, or press it while moving to dodge in a specific direction.
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Evasive Attacks
Press the S button while dodging to perform an evasive attack.
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Perfect Dodges
Press the R1 button right before a monster's attack hits to perform a perfect dodge, which also slows down time.
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Countering Attacks
Press the S button during a perfect dodge to perform a powerful counterstrike.
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Stun Gauges
The Stun Gauge will appear when facing a powerful foe. Fill up this gauge to stun them and temporarily lower their defense, then attack repeatedly for massive damage.
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Befriending Monsters
Before defeating a monster, perform the Dance of Bonds for a chance to befriend them. Gift them an item and they may join you, assuming you have enough space in one of your village's barns.
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Monster Gifts
Give a monster their favorite items for a better chance at befriending them.
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Transformed Villagers
Some monsters are actually villagers transformed by the Blight. Defeating these monsters returns them to normal, which means they can work in your villages.