Also, to anyone running into the dll issue, while I'm not perfectly in touch with tech to know the exact fix you might need, I was taught a bootleg fix by someone a few years ago. (If I could thank them directly again, I absolutely would, but I can't for the life of me remember what game it was that the fix was for. I think it was Buzama...?)
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Instead of downloading the C++ files directly, what you can do is download this game above, The Legend of Jump Jump, that's also made in Pixel Game Maker MV. It will allow you to play this and any other game in PGMMV in the future, because the problem shows up in all of them if it shows up in one. When you run the installer for Jump Jump, it'll automatically check if you have the C++ files it needs to run and install/update them if it can't run. It's super useful and kinda strange how no one else has done it, but eh. It is what it is. Anyway, the files it'll install or update are the same ones needed to run any other game in the same engine, so you should never run into this specific issue again after you download it. You can safely delete Jump Jump after it has installed without losing the C++ files, but it is a fun game, so you should try it anyway.
Best of luck to all of you, and I do apologize if this no longer works somehow.