Arc System Works America has launched Qliphah in Providence's Shadow, a tactical counter-timeline role-playing game (RPG), on PlayStation 5 (PS5), Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store.
According to a release, the game takes place in Tokyo after an event called the World Collapse. Reality in the city is breaking down, and monstrous creatures known as Anomalies roam the streets.
Players control two protagonists. Soma Hoshigami is a young part-time courier who is attacked by an Anomaly and left 'Half-turned', meaning he is now partly human and partly Anomaly. He is then taken into custody as 'Lost Property' by Rena Hizuki, an investigator with a police unit that deals with Anomaly cases. Its official title is the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Public Safety Bureau, Foreign Affairs Fifth Division, though it is more commonly called the Public Safety Anomaly Response Division.
The pair investigate a drug called 'Tiny True' that has spread across the city. They also look into 'Stigmas', markings on the body that are appearing among young people and eating away at their flesh. A cult working in secret is also part of the story. The publisher has also released an opening movie for the game.
How the Timeline combat works
The release describes the battle system as 'exhilarating and unique'. It says the game may look like an action RPG at first glance but is in fact built on new command-battle mechanics.
Skills used by both the player and enemies appear on a Timeline in the middle of the screen. The Timeline shows when each skill will activate and what type it is. The bar stretches out evenly to the left and right, and a skill goes off when it reaches the centre.Counter Skills are split into three colours: red, blue and yellow. When a player lines up one of their skills with an enemy skill of the same colour on the Timeline, it triggers a counter.
These skills have cooldowns. If a skill is used before its cooldown is over, it deals less damage and has a smaller window to land a counter. Some enemy attacks have to be countered by both characters at the same time. According to the release, certain Buddy Counters only work if both characters use skills that have fully recharged. Others add special effects when the two protagonists use them one after the other.
A successful counter can knock weaker enemies into the air, where either character can hit them with follow-up attacks. Tougher enemies have a Down Gauge, which counters wear down. Once an enemy is knocked down, every hit it takes is a critical hit until it gets back up. Players can then finish with a special attack called a Secret Art.
At the start, only Rena can use a Secret Art. Soma gains the ability later in the game. According to the publisher, simple counters are enough to beat enemies on lower difficulty settings. On higher settings, enemies use layered attacks that counters alone can't deal with, so players need to switch between the two characters and use support skills, such as healing or raising attack speed.
Story, voice acting and Mystic Passes
The story moves forward as players pick locations to visit on a map of Tokyo. Different events happen depending on where they go and at what time. The game is also fully voiced.
New skills unlock as the story progresses through the Relationship Chart, a screen that tracks how the investigation is going. Some skills are locked behind passwords called Mystic Passes.
Players can find Mystic Passes through an in-game social networking service (SNS) feature, or at random on the results screen after a battle. The release calls them 'quite difficult to discover' and encourages players to share them with each other on social media. Arc System Works America is the North American branch of Arc System Works. The company publishes and develops the Guilty Gear and BlazBlue franchises.
