triggered through both random and scripted encounters. Each player character has hit points (health), skill points (magic), and sanity points (SP). SP ordinarily decrease once per turn, and when a character runs out of SP they go berserk and cannot be controlled by the player. Each character has two basic attack types; single attacks which range from normal attacks to powerful "Hard Hit", and double attacks which allow one character to take two actions in a single turn. Characters, including enemy groups, can use combos with two or more characters. Characters link up to perform a succession of compatible attacks. There are two combo types; standard combos and double combos, which are mechanically similar to double attacks. Double attacks and all combos draw from a "Stock" gauge which is filled by attacking or being attacked. After each battle, the party gains experience points which raise their level, permanently raising health, magic and SP. Greater experience and more valuable items are awarded for good battle performance. New skills are attained by each character through story-driven side quests. Central to combat is the Judgement Ring. Represented as a disc with colored areas on its surface, the player's aim is to hit those areas as a pointer passes over them. If the player fails to hit an area, the attack can either be shortened or cancelled altogether. Small red-colored "Strike" areas boost the power of an action, while magic attacks have increasingly dark hues near the end of a hit area, with hits in those areas making the spell more powerful. The Judgement Ring is used for every battle action, from standard attacks and special abilities to using items. Players can choose to automate the Judgement Ring, but this removes the Strike option and decreases action power. During combos, missing a hit area on the Judgement Ring breaks the rest of the combo and removes any subsequent character's turns. After a certain point in the game, the Judgement Ring can be customised for each character, potentially easing the difficulty. The Judgement Ring is also used in other gameplay areas, such as gaining discounts from shops and in some mini-games. A power unique to main heroine Shania is Fusion; during the course of the story, Shania unlocks the ability to transform into different monstrous forms, altering her stats and giving her unique abilities. Each Fusion costs SP, and while in a Fusion form SP