TSURUGIHIME Opens a 100-Player Combat Beta Before Entering Full Production

Fate/Grand Order Veteran’s New Action RPG Tests Its Combat With a Five-Minute Survival Challenge

Director Yosuke Shiokawa, whose previous career includes work on major titles such as Fate/Grand Order and Kingdom Hearts II, wants the game's combat to be properly tested before the small development team moves into full production.

For a game built around a 100-day countdown to a final battle, getting the moment-to-moment action right could be one of its most important development milestones.

TSURUGIHIME's Closed Beta Starts August 25

The closed beta will run from August 25 to September 6, with applications closing on August 23.

The test is being conducted through Steam Playtest and is capped at 100 participants worldwide. If applications exceed the limit, players will be selected through the developer's process and notified by email.

Players interested in participating need the required accounts and must follow the game's beta-registration instructions.

The extremely small participant count makes this a genuine limited test rather than a broad public demo.

That also explains why the developers are focusing the experience so narrowly.

Instead of trying to collect general opinions about the entire game, Fahrenheit 213 wants concentrated feedback about the part that will ultimately define whether TSURUGIHIME feels good to play.

This Beta Is Only About Combat

The most unusual thing about the test is what has been removed.

The beta does not contain the game's story, exploration or progression systems.

Players are instead given the core battle actions and placed directly into a survival scenario. Enemies continue appearing while the player attempts to defeat as many as possible within five minutes.

This turns the beta into something closer to a combat laboratory.

Players can focus entirely on questions such as:

Does movement feel responsive?
Do attacks connect naturally?
Are enemy patterns readable?
Are defensive actions satisfying?
Do attack combinations feel meaningful?
Does combat remain enjoyable when enemies arrive continuously?

Those questions may sound simple, but they are crucial for an action RPG.

A beautiful world cannot compensate for combat that feels repetitive or unresponsive.

The Five-Minute Survival Mode Is Also a Leaderboard Challenge

The developers have added another reason for testers to keep experimenting.

The combat test uses a five-minute survival mode in which enemies spawn continuously.

Players are scored according to how many enemies they defeat before the timer expires.

That creates a natural feedback loop.

Players enter the test.

They experiment with attacks.

They discover combinations.

They try to improve their score.

Then they repeat the process.

For the developers, that repetition is useful because players are likely to encounter weaknesses that might not become obvious during a single playthrough.

For players, it provides a competitive element even though this is fundamentally a development test.

Why the Developers Are Testing Combat Before Full Production

The timing of the beta is particularly interesting.

Fahrenheit 213 has described the test as taking place before the team moves into full production.

That means the feedback gathered during these two weeks could influence the direction of the game's combat system while development is still flexible.

This is different from a late-stage beta where the majority of mechanics are already locked.

At this point, the studio can potentially identify problems and make larger adjustments.

If players consistently struggle with an attack, the developers can investigate why.

If a particular mechanic dominates every encounter, it can be rebalanced.

If the combat does not feel satisfying after repeated sessions, the team has an opportunity to rethink the system before the game becomes more deeply committed to its existing design.

Yosuke Shiokawa Is Leading the Project

TSURUGIHIME is especially interesting because of the experience behind it.

Director Yosuke Shiokawa is known for his work on Fate/Grand Order, while his previous credits also include Kingdom Hearts II and Dissidia: Final Fantasy.

TSURUGIHIME represents a different kind of project for him.

Instead of working on a large established franchise, he is developing the game through his own studio, Fahrenheit 213.

The studio is deliberately small, with fewer than 10 developers according to recent coverage.

That makes the beta particularly important.

A small team cannot necessarily absorb large amounts of wasted development time.

Testing the core combat before committing to full production can help the team identify the most important problems early.

A 100-Day Countdown Defines the Game

Combat is only one part of TSURUGIHIME's larger concept.

The game is built around a 100-day countdown leading toward a decisive final battle.

Players decide how they spend those days.

The developers describe the game as an RPG in which players can shape combat, growth, exploration and story while influencing the eventual outcome.

That creates a much broader structure than the closed beta suggests.

The beta may be nothing more than five minutes of combat, but the final game is intended to give players considerably more freedom.

You will eventually have to decide how to use the limited time available before the final battle.

Do you focus on combat?

Do you explore?

Do you develop your character?

Do you spend time with other characters?

Those decisions can influence how the overall adventure develops.

The Game Lets Players Shape Their Own Fate

The game's central concept goes beyond traditional character progression.

TSURUGIHIME is designed around the idea of crafting fate.

Rather than simply collecting stronger equipment, players can influence events and determine how their 100-day journey develops.

That philosophy could give the game a strong replayability advantage.

If different decisions produce different outcomes, players have a reason to return after completing their first run.

The developers have also indicated that the game will contain multiple endings.

This makes the countdown system more meaningful.

The 100 days are not simply an artificial timer.

They are intended to define the player's journey.

Arche and the Final Battle

The story follows a heroine named Arche, who must survive the 100 days before humanity faces a final battle against the Kugutsu, described as mindless puppets threatening humanity.

Arche uses the Tsurugi, a powerful sword connected to the game's fate-changing mechanics.

The premise gives the game an unusual combination of action combat and time-based decision-making.

Players are not simply moving from one level to the next.

They are managing a limited period before an inevitable confrontation.

How much of that system will affect combat remains to be seen.

The current beta intentionally removes those other systems so the developers can concentrate on the fundamentals first.

TSURUGIHIME Has an Impressive Creative Team

The game's creative credits extend beyond its director.

Character designs are being handled by Kuroboshi Kouhaku, known for work including Kino's Journey and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online.

The soundtrack is being composed by Takeharu Ishimoto, whose previous work includes The World Ends with You, Kingdom Hearts and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII.

That combination gives TSURUGIHIME an interesting pedigree.

It is not simply another small indie RPG attempting to enter a crowded market.

The project has veterans from major Japanese RPG franchises working on its presentation, music and gameplay design.

The Side-Scrolling Format Makes It Different

TSURUGIHIME is a side-scrolling action RPG, rather than a conventional third-person or top-down RPG.

That immediately changes the way combat has to work.

Movement takes place primarily across a horizontal plane.

Enemy positioning becomes particularly important.

Attack range, timing and spacing can become more significant than they would be in a conventional 3D action game.

This is another reason why a combat-only beta makes sense.

The developers need to know whether the basic movement and attack systems feel satisfying before building the larger game around them.

Why This Beta Could Be Important

The test may look small on paper, but its timing makes it significant.

The developers are not testing the game because it is nearly finished.

They are testing the combat because they want to get it right before committing to full production.

That means feedback from just 100 players could potentially have a meaningful effect on the final game.

It also provides the wider gaming community with an early look at a project that has previously received relatively limited exposure.

For players searching for upcoming action RPGs outside the biggest AAA franchises, TSURUGIHIME is becoming a particularly interesting title to watch.

Early Access Is Planned for 2026

Fahrenheit 213 currently plans to launch TSURUGIHIME in Early Access on PC through Steam during 2026.

There is no final Early Access release date yet.

That means the August beta should not be interpreted as confirmation that the full game is launching immediately afterward.

Instead, the test is part of the development process.

The studio will first collect feedback, refine the combat and continue building the rest of the game.

That approach could ultimately produce a more polished Early Access version.

What Players Should Watch After the Beta

The most interesting information will come after the test concludes.

Players should watch for developer updates explaining what feedback the team received and what changes it plans to make.

Some of the biggest questions include whether the combat system will remain as shown in the test and how the final progression system will interact with it.

The eventual Early Access build should also reveal much more about the 100-day structure.

That is where TSURUGIHIME could really separate itself from other side-scrolling action RPGs.

Conclusion

TSURUGIHIME is entering a crucial stage of development with a highly focused closed beta beginning August 25.

Only 100 players worldwide will get access, and the test is intentionally stripped down to combat.

There will be no story, exploration or progression.

Instead, testers will fight endless waves of enemies in five-minute survival sessions while the developers gather direct feedback on the game's core battle system.

The timing matters because Fahrenheit 213 plans to move into full production after this testing phase.

That makes the beta more than a promotional demo.

It is an opportunity for the development team to identify problems while there is still time to make meaningful changes.

The project is also backed by an experienced creative team, including director Yosuke Shiokawa, character designer Kuroboshi Kouhaku and composer Takeharu Ishimoto.

The final game promises something considerably larger than the beta: a 100-day countdown, customizable combat and growth, exploration, story decisions and multiple possible outcomes.

For now, however, everything depends on one question:

Is TSURUGIHIME's combat actually fun?

That is precisely what the developers are trying to find out before they take the next major step.