The latest game from atelier mimina, HARUKA: Beyond the Stars, was a showcase title at Playism’s booth during PAX West 2024. The company is best known for their cozy adventure game Giraffe and Annika which was released on PC and Switch in 2020. We had an opportunity to chat with the developers about their latest, spare-faring adventure game and more following PAX West 2024!
Translated by Kami Palett
HARUKA: Beyond the Stars shares a lot of the mechanics and the manga art style from Giraffe and Annika. What makes Haruka different from that title?
The biggest difference is the addition of a battle system, since Haruka is an RPG. On the other hand, both titles share a similar manga-like art style and cat picture-collection system, among others. Also, for Haruka, we’ve rendered the characters in an anime-style to minimize the difference between how they look in-game and during the comic book-style cutscenes.
Giraffe and Annika didn’t have a conventional battle system, so can you tell us about the decision to place a greater emphasis on combat in Haruka?
One of the biggest reasons was that I wanted to make a traditional action RPG game. I knew that it would be a monumental challenge to create an RPG battle system that is fun and engaging. But with the experience gained and lessons learned during Annika and Giraffe’s development, it felt like the right time to take on this challenge. Also, since we are using a large map instead of a compact field, our aim is to have battle encounters scattered all over the map to prevent gameplay turning stale or boring.
What was the most influential feedback you received from Annika that impacted the development of Haruka?
In Giraffe and Annika, one of our failure’s was that the characters’ walking speed and animation did not match, so for Haruka, we took precautions to make sure that we didn’t make the same mistake. Additionally, we got quite a lot of comments saying that players suffered motion sickness when playing Annika and Giraffe, so for Haruka, we’ve retracted the camera to create more space with the characters to prevent motion sickness.
What makes HARUKA: Beyond the Stars stand out from other adventure games?
Haruka is unique in that you can switch between both main characters, Yuuki and Miiya, anytime during the game. During battle, you can strategically switch between both characters to switch between melee and ranged attacks. Some conversations on the field will also change depending on which character you are in control of.
Is there a particular character design you’re most fond of?
I’m particularly fond of the mascot character Mukumuku. I also like the fact that Mukumuku seems like a pet at first, but as you’ll find out as the game progresses, Mukumuku is in fact on equal footing with the protagonist.
What aspect of the game are you most excited for players to experience?
I want players to experience the romantic adventure of traveling through space together with the characters.
Like its predecessor, Haruka has a very warm, picture book quality to its overall presentation. Was world-building the first point of emphasis in developing Haruka?
Yes, and it was the same for Giraffe and Annika too. For both games, we started by building the world and its characters first, before formulating game mechanics that suited those elements. A lot of fans of Giraffe and Annika have high expectations for Haruka’s story, characters, and world, so we want to make sure we meet those expectations.
Can you tell us more about the music and vocal tracks used in Haruka?
One of the main themes of Haruka is traveling between planets, so the environment and music will differ significantly between planets. We have two composers working on Haruka’s music, and the idea is to have each of them work on different parts of the music to take advantage of their respective specialties. Also, we’re striving to make music that is memorable and we hope it will stick with the players. I feel like a lot of games these days don’t put much attention into environmental sound effects. In that sense, we want to buck the trend with Haruka and place an emphasis on all audio elements in the game. This might be considered an old or outdated view, but it is the one I like and will follow.
What advice would you give to a first-time player?
The battle system is not designed to be difficult in any way, so repeated attacks will defeat most enemies. However, when you get the hang of it, try using the command menu too for more varied and expansive gameplay.
Given your history with games such as Ouendan! and Elite Beat Agents, have you considered creating a full-fledged rhythm game with a story? As a fan of Gitaroo Man, I have to ask if you’d ever consider creating a spiritual successor to that game. Or are you more interested in creating other types of games?
For both Ouendan! And Elite Beat Agents, I was involved as a designer so even though I did have a hand in the characters and world-building, it wasn’t from the position of a director. Furthermore, I am not an audio specialist, so even if I had any hopes of making a rhythm game, it would be extremely difficult without help.
Annika and Giraffe does have a simple rhythm game-element to it, albeit with only 5 tracks, so I could kind of say that I’ve made a rhythm game. Although it isn’t something that I’ve included in Haruka, it is definitely something I want to revisit down the road.
If you could create a new game in a completely different genre, what would it be and why?
For my next game, I’d love to make a heartful horror game. Apart from that, I’m also interested in making short animation videos that are around 10 minutes long.
Giraffe and Annika had a clean, definitive ending. Do you intend to do the same with Haruka? Or are you open to creating sequels/spin-offs within the same universe?
Yes, I do plan to have a clean and definitive ending for Haruka as well. That said, I still haven’t completed the script yet, so I don’t know how it’s going to turn out in the end yet. I’d like to develop Haruka in a way that would make sequels and spin-offs possible, but I do have ideas for other different titles that I’d like to work on too, so I think it would be ideal if I could entrust the development of sequels and spin-offs to another team. In the end, all of this depends on Haruka performing well, so I’m not giving sequels or spin-offs too much thought right now.
Can you tell us what atelier mimina has in store “beyond” HARUKA: Beyond the Stars?
We are also working on a compact adventure game called いるかの絵本 (iruka no ehon) at the same time as Haruka. This is a project directed by SHIMO, one of our staff at mimina. If all goes well, we plan to release it shortly after Haruka.
