Stranger Maidens Please Protect Me!

Squad combat drives this one: you assemble a team of Stranger Maidens, throw them at waves of enemies, and see who's actually worth keeping. It's a roguelite, so runs end, teams die, and you start over with whatever you learned.

There's a loose thread of a story running underneath the fighting, but the real hook is building a working squad and watching your companions warm up to you as the runs pile up. Battles are tactical rather than button-mashy, with positioning and team composition mattering more than raw stats. Between fights, the affection side kicks in, and the maidens who survive tend to get friendlier.

Combat and connection are tied together rather than separated into distinct modes, so losing a favorite unit stings for more than one reason.