The three customization systems
Game Freak has confirmed three interlocking systems that let you "customize your playstyle" and "define your own playstyle through your preferred loadout":
| System | What it does |
|---|---|
| Skill trees | Emma and Koo progress through separate skill choices: Emma develops katana, mobility and ranged tools, while Koo learns commands and passive modifiers. See the launch-tested priorities in the best early build. |
| Gear | Officially detailed at Developer_Direct: new katanas for Emma and Charms for Koo, both found through exploration, each carrying unique specialized bonuses. |
| Spirit stones | Official: equippable stones that grant effects based on your actions during battle — parry-heavy, aggressive or evasive play will trigger different stones differently. |
On top of these, every Boss you defeat yields a captured power — meaning build options expand with each major victory across the ~40-hour campaign.
The three supported playstyles
Aggressive (melee)
The default souls-like path: Emma's katana up close, spending Koo's techniques on stagger and punish windows. Likely the highest skill ceiling against bosses, rewarding pattern mastery over stats.
Ranged
Officially supported as a full playstyle. Expect ranged armaments and blight-power projection to let you fight bosses at distance with Koo running interference — historically the most popular "get me past this wall" respec in hard action RPGs.
Stealth
The most unusual confirmation: a stealthy loadout path in a souls-like. That implies meaningful enemy-avoidance and ambush mechanics in exploration zones — potentially the fastest way to route through regions in the walkthrough.
Best builds now live
Our first launch build is based on the overlap between GamesRadar's tested early-skill recommendations, IGN's launch-day skill route and Game Freak's official parry-to-command combat loop:
- Best early-game build — a balanced parry-control setup for Emma and Koo
- Best Koo commands — first command picks, passive modifiers and the parry-to-Bloom-Art loop
- Best boss-killer build — the punish-window maximizer (launch week)
- Best ranged build and best stealth build (launch week)
- Endgame builds around late captured powers (post-completion)
Sources
- Xbox Wire — Developer_Direct deep dive by director Kota Furushima (difficulty modes, parry system, Nushi, Spirit Stones/katanas/Charms; Jan 22, 2026)
- GamesRadar — best Emma and Koo skills (tested launch-day skill recommendations; Aug 4, 2026)
- IGN — Best Skills to Unlock First (early Emma/Koo route and passive modifiers; Aug 3, 2026)
Launch build advice
- Buy high-frequency fundamentals first. A reliable counter, mobility option and reusable Koo command affect more encounters than a narrow damage bonus.
- Explore before over-investing. Weapons, Charms, Spirit Stones and Bauera upgrades all widen your options; early materials are more useful when you know which tool you actually use.
- Match Koo to your style. Koo's command list is a build axis of its own — an aggressive Emma with a support Koo plays very differently from the reverse. See the Koo commands guide for the first priorities.