Saga of Yurina 2.0: Metroidvania Overhaul Update

Developer Notes

Hello. I am TEXAS, the PD of Saga of Yurina.

After launch, the team that made this game with me disbanded. We had poured two years of care into it, but sales fell short of what we had hoped, and the reviews settled at Mixed. To be honest, I began to wonder whether I simply lacked the talent to make games, and I thought seriously about giving up development.

Among all the reviews, the one that stayed with me most was the comment that this could not really be called a Metroidvania. I have played and loved games like Hollow Knight and Touhou Luna Nights, but when I actually tried to build one myself, designing a non-linear world as a whole was far harder than I expected, and I think I ended up focused only on getting the game finished somehow. I believe that criticism was fair.

Even so, this is a game full of characters I love, one I cared for like my own child, and I did not want it to end as a disappointment. So over the past two months, working alone, I rebuilt the level design, story progression, and game systems from scratch, and drew all of the new art it needed myself.

This is work that professional artists and level designers used to handle, so I am sure there are many rough edges. A Metroidvania does not follow a single fixed path, and testing all of these levels by myself was not easy either. If you find shortcomings, I would be grateful for your patience.

If you run into any problems while playing, please email cs@fiveduckgames.com with a subject line such as Feedback, and I will look into it and fix it as quickly as I can.

Thank you.

About Existing Saves

The new world has a completely different map, so saves from the previous version cannot be continued in 2.0. Your previous saves will not be deleted, however.

• Start 2.0 from the beginning: When you launch the game, a message will tell you that a previous save was found. Select Confirm to start 2.0 from the beginning. 2.0 saves are stored in a separate file and will not overwrite your previous save.
• Continue in the previous version: In your Steam Library, right-click Saga of Yurina and open Properties. On the Betas tab, select legacy under Beta Participation, then launch the game once the update finishes. To return to 2.0, select None in the same place.

Achievements you unlocked in the previous version are kept.

Key Changes in 2.0

One Connected World

• The old maps have been replaced entirely with 70 rooms rebuilt from scratch. With the Amane estate at the center, the northern village of Mifuyu, Tatsunomiya Castle in the south, the deep forest to the east, and the ninja village to the west are all connected.
• The order of the story chapters is unchanged, but you can now travel freely between regions and explore.
• New abilities open closed paths and shortcuts. Look for ice blocks that only Falling Flower can break and seals that only your ultimate can release.
• Every region has new backgrounds, terrain, interiors, and props, including the stone walls and tiled roofs of the southern castle, the misty western bamboo grove, the eastern cedar forest, and the ice caves of the snowy mountains.

Exploration

• World Map: Hold Tab (Select on a gamepad) to view the world map. You no longer need to buy it from a shop. It shows the rooms you have visited, save altars, portals, and shops.
• Fast Travel: Touch a torii gate in each region to unlock it as a portal, then travel between any unlocked torii.
• The name of your current location now appears in the upper-right corner of the screen.

New Abilities and Equipment

• Wall Jump: Cling to palisade walls and leap upward.
• Iai: Learn it from your father at the estate after defeating the Chapter 1 boss. On the ground, hold left or right and press the Skill button to gather your strength, then release it to draw your blade in a long forward cut. It requires a full Flare gauge. While gathering, you cannot be staggered and take reduced damage. Pressing the Skill button without a direction still heals you with Ukifune Serene, as before.
• Afterimage Charm: While equipped, you are invincible during dashes.
• Mark of the War God: Collect the three Marks scattered across three regions to open the way to Zanka's shrine.

Combat

• Boss Lives: Many reviews said boss fights were too short and could be won by parrying alone. Bosses now have multiple lives. Attacks other than executions cannot reduce a boss's health below its current life, and once a life is emptied the boss collapses and can be executed. After losing a life, a boss gathers its strength and rises with a shockwave. Remaining lives are shown as dots below the health bar.
• Mid-Bosses: An aura-clad mid-boss awaits in each region.
• Backstab Executions: Strike a regular enemy from behind to defeat it in one blow.
• Arrows and throwing blades fired by enemies are now stopped by walls.

Other Changes

• Added a tutorial at the start of the game that teaches attacking, guarding, parrying, and Ukifune Serene step by step.
• Removed the difficulty selection when starting a new game. You can change the difficulty from the cheat menu in Settings.
• After the ending credits, the game now saves and returns to the title screen.
• Breakable blocks and seals stay broken once destroyed.

Games We'd Like to Share

A friend of mine who develops games solo has released a demo. They say they drew a lot of inspiration from the recent film about Odysseus and wove it into the game's world. Please give it a try.

And this is the new game I am working on. Adding it to your wishlist would mean a lot to me.