Been quiet on Asterika lately while I work on the essential under the hood stuff. Just finished an in-game calibrator, super useful for timing sync! More to show later 🛠️
hey! i know its been a while since you worked on it, but i just beat silver in phantom rose 1, and i gotta tell ya- you've made a phenominal little game there! im looking forward to playing more as i write this. its really fun and in-depth!
i had no real intention behind this other than just saying u really like your game :) please keep making games :))
Thanks! You should also check out Phantom Rose 2 afterwards.
Happy New Year! 2026 is going to be an exciting year for Asterika.
Recently, I finished the main story script for the game. The beginning, middle, and end are now fully locked in.
While Asterika is primarily a rhythm action game, the story is bigger in scope than my previous Phantom Rose titles. I wanted to create a narrative that tells a bigger tale with a wider cast, featuring our main three: Klare, Iris, and Vignette.
1. Presentation
To present this narrative, I explored several formats: From the log system of Phantom Rose to the visual novel style of Phantom Rose 2. You might've seen some of these explorations and evolutions in screenshots or teasers if you've been following as well.
Ultimately, I decided on a presentation format that is more prose-focused, accompanied by full-screen artwork in major moments like the following:
The UI and the visuals will continue to change as development progresses but the fundamental way of storytelling will no longer change as the story is finalized.
There are several factors I’ve considered when deciding to move away from the more traditional, character-driven visual novel style:
Pacing: The script is introspective. A full-page layout allows the writing to stand and flow naturally without being chopped up.
Structure: Since the story is independent of the gameplay loop, I don't need to force the narrative to 'fit' within the environment of the game. I have the freedom to write a more continuous, expansive tale.
Focus: The experience is not only more focused for reading but also allows me to put greater energy in the writing.
While this format leans heavier into reading, I believe it allows me to deliver the best version of this story. I hope you look forward to the adventures of Klare, Iris, and Vignette.
2. Next Steps
There’s still a lot of work to be done, including localization and completing major artworks for each chapter. Although I can’t reveal many of them further, I hope that what I’ve shown so far in this devlog and other materials has piqued your interest in the story.
Thank you for reading. Asterika is available to wishlist on Steam. I also have a dedicated channel in the Phantom Rose Discord if you have any questions!
The first demo for Asterika: Phantom Rose Refrain is wrapped, and I need to start by saying thank you to everyone who participated. My main goal with the demo was to validate if the core "move-on-beat" mechanic was actually fun to play.
At the same time, I wanted to see what's broken on my first attempt. Here's a breakdown of what I learned and next course of actions.
1. The Good: "A Rhythm Bullet Hell"
There was a flurry of positive feedback from the in-game survey calling the game unique and "unlike anything they've played before". That's the best thing I could hope to hear from my pursue of creating an untraditional rhythm game.
My favorite comments were the ones that said it felt like bullet hell game and the game had a similar "one more try" hook. These were thrilling feedback.
2. The Challenge: Data doesn't lie
At the same time, data was clear: The difficulty ramp wasn't a curve, it was a wall.
Around half of players landed in B rank with a tiny fraction managed to achieve S rank. Further on, the average Mastery percentage, which represents their overall beat accuracy was around 79%.
While I believe this distribution works for competitive rank play, it shows me that the game is just too harsh, too fast for ALL players.
Finding the Why
Feedback and data showed it wasn't necessarily the complex obstacle patterns, in fact most players handled those well. The issues boiled down to two factors:
UI Visibility: Changes in gimmick was not clear at the direct line of sight
Tempo Change mechanic: A big one. In game, there are moments where player needs to move twice as fast per beat. The game didn't do a good job preparing players for these shifts, nor have them get familiar with the concept.
The first issue is a winnable battle. Even in the middle of the demo period, I pushed a UI update to improve visibility so that mechanism timings are visible in the player's line of sight.
The responses and the data returned were very positive after this but I will continue to brainstorm ideas to improve upon it. Second issue, however, needs more careful consideration.
The Signals
What stood out from surveys was that most players said the tutorial was easy to understand but the game needed "more onboarding".
I realized the tutorial successfully taught players the rules but it failed to teach them the strategy and the familiarity needed to react to advanced game mechanics. I taught players how to swim and immediately threw them into the ocean.
Conclusion
Based on this, I have few paths in mind.
First, I'm planning to add a new difficulty level in between the current ones to create a smoother, more gradual ramp between the existing levels.
Second, I plan to create separated gameplay modes: rank play and free play. Players should be able to experiment with any assist features and find the 'vibe' they like while rank remains as more high-pressure mode for those that want it.
Lastly, there needs to be a new set of curated, "warm-up" songs that I can recommend to players. A collection of curated songs that's not a tutorial but legitimate levels designed to train players on few specific mechanic at a time so that they can build the skills they need before they face them all at once at harder songs and difficulties.
The above reinforced with improved gameplay loop should be able to create a better onboarding experience even for those less familiar with rhythm games.
3. Next Steps
There's still plenty of unfinished features I need to build and unmentioned feedback that I need to improve.
A better timing calibrator, reinforced game loop, assist features for more casual players, and of course, the story element. But progress will continue and I hope you look forward to the next updates. I will be happy to share more soon.
Thank you for reading. Asterika is available to wishlist on Steam. I also have a dedicated channel in the Phantom Rose Discord if you have any questions.
It’s been a moment, but progress on "Asterika: Phantom Rose Refrain" has been moving at a steady pace! This time, I’ve been focused on building the core player experience: From the first moment you open the game to how you interact with its music.
Here’s a look at what’s new.
1. Main Menu and Song Selection
I've completely revamped the menu screens from the initial version that's been showcased on Steam. The goal was to create a cleaner, more aesthetically impressive interface that's also very keyboard/controller friendly.
Left is the old version while the right is current. Rather than having a complex menu screen where you not only have to select a song, then toggle which difficulty you wish to play, I decided to streamline the experience so that it's simply a matter of selecting a song first.
Afterwards, a difficulty selector will appear with the last played difficulty selected. My plan is to expand the usage of this screen so that it not only displays the difficulty levels, but also displays custom maps created and shared for the selected music.
2. Map Editor
Here's a sneak peek to what the map editor will feel like. Some features will be omitted or be added in the version released with the game but this is an actual functioning tool that I currently use to create maps for the game.
You will be able to pick any of the game's songs and start crafting your own rhythm challenges.
3. Score Screen
Score screen is what makes arcade games like rhythm games feel exciting. While I'm still deciding on the exact scoring methods and calculations, the objective of the screen will be to highlight not just your latest performance but easy comparison to your top performance as well.
4. Timing and Animation Calibrator
A rhythm game is only as good as its timing, so I’ve implemented a necessary calibration helper. This feature will help you perfectly sync your inputs and visuals to the beat, while advanced users that know their setup's timing will be able to manually input them.
Next Steps
There are still plenty more features and views I need to build and a preliminary localization for all the interfaces I've shown is required. But progress is being made and I hope you look forward to the next updates. I look forward to sharing more progress soon.
Thanks for reading. Asterika is available to wishlist on Steam. I also have a dedicated channel in the Phantom Rose Discord if you have any questions.
kianamaiart
prguitarman
dailybridgerton
2087
turnnoffyourmind