The Taiwanese Indie studio, 7Quark, has announced a release window for Yasha: Legends Of The Demon Blade on Steam, which was previously revealed at the yearly Taipei Game Show. The game is set to be delivered in Q3 of 2023, and will have Japanese voices along with English for text and subtitles.
Yasha is an isometric Action RPG with roguelike elements developed by a team of only 11 members. Players can equip demon blades with special abilities, use light and heavy attacks to repel and slay demons, and collect even more special blades during their journey. As players can observe from the video down below, the simple slashing of your sword can cause snow particles to scatter like cherry blossoms in the wind, and different swords will have varied aesthetic screen effects just like that.
According to CEO Ping-Chun Kuo (via gamebase), the plot design will have 3-5 characters in total, and 12 weapons to collect. In the early development stages, the developers considered adding long ranged weapons and special gimmicky ones, but it is not clear at the moment how far they have gone with the variety in the weapons. The game was also set to feature dual-player support, but the Steam page only reveals single-player mode, so we are expecting more information to be revealed about that at a later date.
The Yasha (Or Yaksha in Indian Myths) is a benevolent spirit that was considered a demon and was incorporated into Japanese folklore as such, until it was reinterpreted as its own deity later and was given the power to protect and see the future of others. Now the Yasha are considered a high-ranking race of powerful warriors in Buddhist cosmology, who are tasked with guarding the treasures of the earth. Shigure, the heroine of the story is a human Kunoichi (Japanese Ninja), but she is stranded in a never-ending war between humans and demons where she has to fight to keep the balance disturbed by the outrage of the Nine-tailed demon fox king.
7Quark is a developer known for its cute art style and focus on mobile development, and this is the first time it will be releasing a game for PC. It also has a different genre from anything they have released before, so it can be said this is their most ambitious project to date.