Mahou Arms Updated Roadmap, Release Date, and Scope Changes
Thank you all for your support and for following Mahou Arms development! We have some announcements to make about our release roadmap and the scope of the game.
We are nearing version 1.0 of Mahou Arms, however Mahou Arms 1.0 will look different from what we had promised at the outset. This is certainly disappointing, but games change as they are developed. We're a small team with limited resources, so we can only make so much game, even if we want to do more. In some ways, the game has already grown bigger than we expected thanks to your support.
There are three main differences:
We will have two playable characters instead of three (more on this later).
There will be no base building mechanics. We prototyped the feature, but it didn't fit in the game well so we scrapped it.
Socialization mechanics will be scaled down in favor of romance quest lines, which we feel is a better fit for how the game has evolved.
On a brighter note, there are things in the game now that we hadn't promised, like increased gameplay variety (drone racing, cyberspace battles, rail shooter sections), combat spells, and settlements with side quests.
So what does 1.0 look like then? Since Mahou Arms is a single player game, we will consider it to be done when the main story quest is playable from start to end. However, we do plan to continue working on the game after release to fix bugs, make refinements, and add extra content. In particular, we would like to add additional side quests, voice acting, translations, and any other in-progress content that doesn't get finished in time for 1.0's release.
As for the reduction in the number of characters, a third character is still a possibility (Seiko is still a part of the story), but two will be our base case. If we add a third playable character, we want to make sure they are refined, fun to play, and well integrated into the story with unique story missions. At this stage we aren't certain we can deliver that with our current resources, but we will see.
In terms of a timeline, we just released version 0.5 and there are three more major planned releases (excluding bug fixes and minor releases). The first release (0.6) will be available in Q4 2025 and will include chapter 6. The next release (1.0) will be available in Q1 2026 and will contain chapter 7, 8, and 9 (the final chapter). We will follow 1.0 with 1.1 sometime in Q2 2026 which will contain the previously mentioned extra content to enhance the game.
Thank you all for being patient and supporting the game. We know it's taken longer than expected, but we're still proud of what we've created and we sincerely hope you will enjoy it.
Comments (5)
It's good to see the team decide they would rather focus on some aspects and do them well rather than try to risk do a lot of things and making them suffer because of it. It might be a bit disappointing for some, but I personally appreciate knowing one's strengths and trying to make the best of them. With that said, there's a few questions I have regarding this. I understand if they cannot be answere in case they spoil a surprise, just thought I would ask. 1) Are there plans to implement a "combat arena" of sorts, something that leaves you in a themed room and has you fight enemies with no exploration or story to it, just for some fun bot stomping? These modes used to be in a lot of old games, and I kinda miss them. 2) What about the character edition menu? Will that still be in for 1.0, or will it make it for 1.1 instead? 3) Will Seiko be romanceable, or is it just the playable characters and thus she will only be when/if she is added? 4) About H scenes, although maybe this one's cheating a bit, because it's more like several questions. How many more would there be left? Will they be affected by the character editor? What does "not canon" on the gallery mean? And would Seiko have some of them despite not being playable at launch? Anyways, that's all. Wishing the team all the best, and hoping for a great launch!
1. Yes, there's already assets for it but we are missing UI. Probably 1.1 2. I'm guessing you meant cosmetic customization, that will probably go in 1.1. 3. She will have a route as she will be playable when added in 1.1 (hopefully) 4. I feel the game could use a handful more, but technically more of these right now don't push us closer to 1.0, so we're holding off on adding more until we hit 1.0. Seiko's will come when she is a playable character (hopefully) -softmode/paperbag
Thanks for providing an updated roadmap after the past few years. I know the original scope of the game was really ambitious, and while it's sad to see it gradually scale back, I'm glad that you guys are trying to be realistic about what you can do instead of letting things stall forever or wasting resources on stuff that can't be realistically accomplished. I do hope Seiko or a third character does eventually get added. I personally would be fine with just Amelia, but if you're focusing on the dating sim/romance aspect, a third character would be a major selling point since the player already has a choice between Amelia and Susan. Will the romance options/quests affect the story? If it does will there be a harem ending?
Romance quests will have a minor effect on the story, but no harem ending is planned. We're thinking minor changes to the ending.
exciting! I agree that romance quests as story are better than dating mechanics, I always liked the game for being the hack and slash platformer that it is, I'm not disappointed by any of these changes. having a timeline for 1.0 also gives me hype :)