The core features are different for the characters given how different they are, but the placement of them is similar. At the top left of the screen, there are two bars; 1 that measures health, and the other measures the thing that fits best for the character.
Vester has a bar that measures moral
Parkash has a bar that measures credibility
Costine has a bar that measures how many allies she has
Mavrock has a bar that measures how many people he has under his sway
The secondary bar doesn’t have to be full in order to win, but it does affect the game play a bit. For example, if Parkash’s credibility bar is low, then he’ll be unable to trade in certain areas, while if it’s high, he can have more maneuverability. If Costine’s ally bar is low, she’ll have a more difficult time convincing people to ally themselves to her and have a hard time getting into certain areas, while if it’s high, it’ll be easier for her to access high courts and convince others to join her. Depending on where the bar is by the end of the game, the endings are affect. If Vester’s moral bar is high, then she will get a Good ending as her people will view high in a positive light. If it’s low though, she’s more likely to get either a Peaceful or Bad ending depending on why that bar is low.
Depending on who is traveling with them, the hero can view the health of their allies as well at the top left.
When the player plays as the hero, they’ll be able to see the character and move them around accordingly to interact with the environment and other characters. If they want to equip anything to them, or level up certain stats, or use an item, they can press the L1 button that allows them to pause the game and interact with these features, rather than having them all over the screen.
At the bottom right is a small map that can be expanded to help the player locate where they are and where they have/can go.
At the bottom center is a menu that allows the player to see what abilities they have and which items they have on hand (items can be switched in the quick menu) to use in battle or wherever they are at that moment.
Items can be used for multiple purposes, such as raising moral, swaying people, improving relations with certain ally or enemy characters, completing missions and repairing something. They can also be bought and sold for certain sums of money, and can be upgraded if taken to a scientist, inventor or weapons expert.
Money can be gained through selling items or completing missions accordingly, though it gets complicated.
If you play as the Commander, you can get personal money for doing side missions, but when it comes to upgrading your brigade you only have a certain budget.
In the side menu, you can see what the relations between the hero and certain characters is, and depending on who you relate to the most, you can romance them. If you romance a certain character, you get certain pros and cons. Like romancing someone from an enemy country might improve relations between those countries, but might make your own people think of you in a lesser light. If you romance a scientist, certain technology a hero possesses will be upgraded, but highly religious areas will dislike you more, and so on.