River City Girls Beginner Tips - Combat, Shops, and Boss Prep

River City Girls, developed by WayForward and published by WayForward and Arc System Works, is a 2019 River City beat-‘em-up starring Kyoko and Misako. This guide covers the first River City Girls, not River City Girls 2 or River City Girls Zero.

Content warning: River City Girls is rated Everyone 10+ with fantasy violence, mild blood, language, and suggestive themes. This guide stays focused on combat, progression, shopping, and boss preparation.

Difficulty caveat: this is a beginner guide, but the game can punish careless fights. Boss losses cost momentum, enemies scale up as you progress, and slow attacks can leave you open if you mash without watching enemy positions.

Essential Tips

1. Use the Phone Before You Wander

The phone menu is your main planning tool. Check the map when you lose the route, review the movelist when a new technique appears, and use the character screen to keep track of your status. Side objectives and quest steps are easier to manage when you stop guessing and check the information the game already gives you.

This matters most when River City opens up between linked rooms. If you keep walking in circles, pause, read the map, and look for the next objective marker or newly opened path before fighting another screen of enemies.

2. Learn Your Moves Instead of Mashing

Kyoko and Misako can punch, kick, throw, use special attacks, and expand their options as they level or buy moves. New moves are useful only if you know when they are safe. A strong attack that locks you into a long animation can get you hit if several enemies are still standing nearby.

Use early fights to learn which moves start quickly, which ones launch enemies, and which ones finish combos cleanly. When a move feels powerful but risky, save it for isolated enemies or after a parry instead of throwing it out in the middle of a crowd.

3. Parry With Space Around You

Parrying is easier when you can see the attacker. If enemies are surrounding you, reposition until most of them are on one side, then watch for the incoming hit. Blocking at the right moment can turn a dangerous exchange into a counterattack, but trying to parry three enemies from different directions is a bad beginner plan.

When a room gets messy, do not stand in the middle. Move toward an edge, separate one enemy, and rebuild the fight from there.

4. Buy Food and Gear as You Go

Shops are not just set dressing. Food, items, accessories, and gear help you survive longer, improve stats, and expand your options. Because money drops from defeated enemies and quests, spend with purpose instead of hoarding everything until late game.

Food is especially important for new players. If a boss or enemy type feels unfair, the problem may be underprepared stats and healing rather than pure execution.

5. Visit Dojos When New Moves Matter

Some moves come naturally through leveling, while others need to be purchased at dojos. Check dojos when you have money and feel your basic string is no longer enough. More moves mean more answers: safer approaches, better crowd control, and stronger punish options after a parry or knockdown.

Do not buy blindly if you are short on cash before a boss, but do not ignore dojos for half the game either. A small move upgrade can save more money than it costs if it prevents repeated defeats.

6. Do Not Fight Every Backtracking Screen

River City uses linked rooms, and you will revisit areas for quests, shops, and progression. You do not need to clear every enemy wave every time you pass through. If you already handled the first wave and are only traveling, keep moving unless you need money, experience, or room access.

This keeps the pace cleaner and limits unnecessary damage before bosses. Fight when the room locks you in, when you need rewards, or when the enemy group blocks a practical route.

7. Prepare for Bosses Before Entering

Bosses are pattern fights, not ordinary crowd brawls. Bring healing, spend money before you risk losing it, and take a moment to watch how the boss moves before committing to long combos. Some bosses add hazards or summoned enemies as their health drops, so winning the first phase does not mean the fight is solved.

If you lose, treat the next attempt as information. Ask which attack hit you, whether you were too greedy after a punish, and whether you entered with enough healing.

8. Use Weapons, But Do Not Rely on Them

Objects can be picked up and used as weapons, which gives you extra reach and damage in regular rooms. They are excellent for controlling space, interrupting enemies, or making a crowded fight safer. They also break after repeated use, so treat them as temporary advantages.

When a weapon breaks, do not chase another one across the screen while enemies attack. Return to your basic movement, parries, throws, and combos.

9. Recruit New Enemy Types

Some defeated enemies can beg for mercy. When that happens, grab them and recruit them instead of automatically finishing the fight. Recruits can be called in to assist, and building a varied recruit list gives you more backup options as enemies get tougher.

Try to recruit each new type at least once. If a room introduces a new enemy, slow down enough to notice whether the recruit prompt appears.

10. Treat Collectibles as Route Bonuses

Sabu Statues and cats reward careful exploration, but they are not the best first priority during a difficult stretch. Break statues and note cats when they are on your route, then save dedicated cleanup for later if you are pushing story progress.

This keeps collectibles from draining healing items or money before a boss. The map and room structure make more sense once you have seen the surrounding area.

Combat Priorities

Situation	Best Habit	Why It Helps
Several enemies surround you	Move to one side of the room	Makes attacks easier to read
A heavy move keeps getting punished	Use faster strings first	Reduces unsafe recovery time
A weapon is nearby	Use it for crowd control	Adds reach without spending cash
A boss changes phases	Stop mashing and observe	Later phases add new dangers
You keep losing money	Spend or prepare before risky fights	Protects progress from repeated defeats

Shopping and Progression Habits

Activity	When to Prioritize It	Beginner Benefit
Food	Before bosses or after rough rooms	Restores health and supports stats
Dojo moves	When basic attacks feel limited	Adds safer and stronger options
Accessories	When you have spare cash	Gives passive help for your style
Quest objectives	When the map points you there	Opens paths and awards progress
Collectibles	While already passing through a room	Builds completion without derailing the route

Co-op and Recruit Habits

In two-player local co-op, do not split the screen into two separate fights unless both players are comfortable. Stay close enough to help, call out healing needs, and make revives a priority. When one player is knocked out, the other can save the run by quickly reviving them before the timer finishes.

Recruits serve a different purpose. They are quick assists, not replacements for learning combat. Use them to interrupt pressure, add damage during a tough room, or create breathing room when enemies are grouped too tightly.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Mash long attacks into crowds - Slow follow-through leaves Kyoko or Misako open when several enemies can counter.

2. Ignore the phone map - Wandering without checking objectives wastes time and creates extra fights.

3. Skip food before bosses - Entering a pattern fight without healing makes every mistake more expensive.

4. Hoard money forever - Cash helps only when it turns into useful food, gear, accessories, or moves.

5. Clear every backtracking room - Repeating low-value fights drains health and slows the route.

6. Forget newly learned moves - Level-ups and dojo purchases matter only if you review and practice them.

7. Stand between enemy groups - Fighting from the middle makes parries and movement harder than they need to be.

8. Finish every begging enemy - Recruiting new enemy types gives you more assist options for later fights.

9. Chase collectibles while underprepared - Cleanup is easier after you understand the area and have better tools.

10. Treat co-op revives as optional - Saving a partner quickly can prevent a room from turning into a lost attempt.

Summary

Category	Top Tip
Navigation	Use the phone map and objective markers before wandering
Combat	Keep enemies on one side and avoid unsafe heavy attacks
Defense	Practice parries against isolated attackers first
Shopping	Buy food, useful gear, and dojo moves as you progress
Bosses	Enter prepared, watch phases, and spend before risky attempts
Co-op	Stay close enough to revive a knocked-out partner
Recruits	Recruit each new enemy type when the prompt appears
Collectibles	Grab nearby statues and cats, then save heavy cleanup for later