When the game begins the player chooses from eight characters to be the lead; additional characters can be found and recruited to the player's party throughout the game. The gameplay is similar to other console RPGs of the era, but with several notable differences. For example, instead of 'level ups', character stats increase individually depending on their participation in a battle. Also, a character has a certain amount of 'LP', which decreases when the character's HP is reduced below zero or when they are hit while their HP remains at zero. If the LP of a character is zero, they are removed from the party, but they can be recruited again with the exception of the main character of the current game; if the main character reaches zero LP, it results in an automatic game over.