Phantom Rose Devlog

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.

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.

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.