Manjuu Games' open world RPG, 'Azur Promilia,' participated in Bilibili World, a premier Chinese subculture festival held at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai from July 10 to 12. The booth showcased an exciting fantasy world featuring Kibo and pretty girls, while also announcing a third closed beta test (CBT) in China to coincide with the event.

'Azur Promilia,' which will be published by Nexon in Korea, received positive feedback during its Korean CBT in May for its open world and content that blends fantasy sensibilities with the pretty girl design expertise honed through Azur Lane, as well as its fast-paced combat. With growing interest in Korea, INVEN visited Manjuu Games during Bilibili World to speak with co-CEOs Lin Shuyin and Chen He.

Q. You celebrated your 10th anniversary this past January. What is Manjuu Games' vision for the next decade and beyond?

Chen He = I am happy that our company has been able to build this level of experience so far. All of this is thanks to the support from our users. I want to express my gratitude to them. Our goal is to create fun subculture games that bring happiness and satisfaction to all our users. To achieve this, we will dedicate ourselves further to game and IP development. Once again, I would like to thank our users.

Q. The genre and style are completely different from Azur Lane. What do you consider to be the strengths and advantages of Azur Promilia?

Chen He = As with Azur Lane, the art quality we have showcased in Azur Promilia is being recognized by users worldwide. I believe that art quality and design are our strengths. With the rise of 3D, we wanted to evolve further based on that foundation, and Azur Promilia is the result of our efforts to present that quality and design in 3D.

Because Azur Promilia features a vast worldview, rich story, and deep lore, we are focusing on character design and world-building to provide greater immersion for players. Highlighting the Promilia continent is a priority. Maintaining our strength in high-quality design while ensuring the game is fun is always our top task. Furthermore, we intend to work broadly on optimization and content development.

Q. You chose Nexon as your Korean publisher. Is there a special reason for this?

Chen He = I have been playing Nexon games, especially Dungeon & Fighter, for a very long time. While that is one reason, I was impressed by Nexon's exceptional professionalism and sincerity during our collaboration. Nexon is also a company with a very long history. They have accumulated significant know-how in long-term operations, and I trust that they understand Korean users better and will provide superior localization and promotion. In fact, they are doing a great job with localization. We are satisfied with our collaboration with Nexon and look forward to continuing our close partnership to provide a satisfying experience for Korean users.

Q. Azur Promilia held a CBT in Korea last May. What feedback stood out to you?

Chen He = First of all, I am glad that the CBT concluded smoothly. We received a lot of feedback from users, and the praise for our art quality was truly the greatest achievement for our development team.

Another takeaway was that the types of characters preferred by users vary by country. I believe this feedback will be helpful when designing stories, direction, and characters that users worldwide will enjoy in the future.

Q. The modeling and design, which faithfully implement the art, as well as details like dormitory outfits and fabric textures, were particularly impressive. What do you focus on or describe most meticulously when designing characters?

Lin Shuyin = Our team goes through several stages to enhance the perfection of our characters. We already had strengths in character design from Azur Lane, but we check everything in detail, including the texture, thickness, and transparency of various fabrics. We also set body posture, motion, and center of gravity with great precision.

In particular, Messa's dormitory skin was very popular, and we plan to put more effort into dormitory skins for other characters as well. Our goal is to make them instantly captivating, incorporating the unique traits of characters who have been with us for a long time so that their charm is immediately apparent.

Chen He = Whenever we design a character, we believe they must become a living, breathing entity in the game. That is why we put effort into the detailed movements and expressions of characters in their daily lives. Understanding the texture of clothing and such details has been something we have been researching and refining for a long time with that purpose in mind.

Q. It may not have been intentional, but there are an increasing number of monster-catching games on the market. What are your thoughts on this trend? Do you have a strategy to highlight the unique strengths of Azur Promilia?

Chen He = To start, I don't think Azur Promilia is just a simple monster-catching game. In terms of game content, there are charming characters alongside the monsters, and we wanted to create a world where both they and the monsters can live together peacefully. We put a lot of effort into that worldview, and the core of Azur Promilia is to fully utilize our know-how in pretty girl design to create a diverse world.

Q. During this CBT, monsters that cannot be 'Starlinked' and a hostile faction called the 'Evolution Cult' appeared. Who are they, and how do you plan to tell their story in Azur Promilia?

Chen He = As a development team, we are truly moved that you have delved so deeply into the game's worldview. In the Promilia continent, Starlink originated from the concept of a 'link' based on understanding and recognition. We named it this because we wanted to express it as a process of understanding each other, building bonds, and connecting, rather than just collection.

As such, not every Kibo can link with a Star-bearer. We plan to explain through the story why a Star-bearer can link and build bonds with some Kibo, and why they cannot with others. We also plan to gradually unfold the story regarding the Evolution Cult through various storylines, boss battles, and character narratives.

Q. The detail where characters seem to look at the player's gaze during conversation was impressive. You mentioned focusing more on storytelling and direction than in previous works; how are you approaching this?

Chen He = As mentioned earlier, we do not think of characters as mere digital data when we create them. Our philosophy is that to the player, the character must be perceived as a living being. We are constantly researching how to provide immersion through details, including eye contact and other aspects. These fine details are actually the foundation that makes them feel more intuitively like living beings.

For example, the sequence of actions where Luluka meets the player and gives them medicine is a scene where we refined the details significantly. We didn't just express the character through words; we researched every detail of how she would act when meeting the user for the first time, considering her personality. We believe that only with such details can we breathe life into a character, rather than just ending it with a few lines of dialogue. We plan to continue refining these details.

Lin Shuyin = When setting up a character, the details don't stop at design; we also think about what they say and what actions they take. We believe that immersion can be experienced more genuinely through gaze, gestures, and interactions beyond just dialogue or design, and that this must be supported to convey the true feeling of being together.

Q. How are you dividing roles and collaborating with Nexon?

Chen He = Nexon is a veteran that has been managing companies and operating games for a long time. As such, the cooperation is proceeding very smoothly. In particular, they have organized and delivered feedback on various issues such as optimization, and we plan to adjust character dialogue, motion feedback, and tone details based on this data.

Lin Shuyin = We are still a relatively small company and have less experience in the Korean market. So, Nexon provides a lot of advice on UI, localization, and how to be mindful of promotion and cultural differences.

Q. In recent subculture games, the story is an important point alongside characters. What is the core of the story you want to convey in Azur Promilia?

Chen He = There are so many subculture games on the market these days, and creating history is very important in subculture. To make a character a living, breathing entity, you must provide the context that allows players to understand the character's personality and background.

The keywords we want to convey to players in Azur Promilia are harmony and companionship. We wanted to provide an experience of growing together while accompanying characters throughout the game, and living alongside various other beings. While the main and side stories will gradually unfold tales intertwined with the world, we hope you look forward to the larger worldview as you move forward with the characters and Kibo.

Q. You mentioned improvements to combat for the CBT. From the developer's perspective, what were the problems, and how did you intend to fix them?

Chen He = There was feedback from the last test that the entry barrier was somewhat high. The first issue was that too much information was being delivered to the user at once, making it difficult to process. We also identified that the impact could feel somewhat weak due to the amount of information displayed on the screen and issues with camera work.

Our top priority is lowering the entry barrier. We have also modified the combat rhythm, and significantly improved not only the combat rhythm and numerical feedback but also the screen direction and camera work. We look forward to users enjoying the combat of Azur Promilia more comfortably and having a better experience in the future.

Q. When do you plan to release Azur Promilia?

Lin Shuyin = Our most important goal right now is to make the best possible improvements based on the feedback from the CBT. We started recruiting for the CBT yesterday, and we want to receive additional feedback from users in this test and complete the improvements as quickly as possible. Our producer is working very hard to prepare for this, and we will do our best to meet our users as soon as possible.

Q. Another indispensable part of Azur Promilia is the 'Kibo.' How did you design them to encompass both cuteness and an ecosystem?

Chen He = Many of the developers on the Promilia team really love monster-catching games. Since they are deeply immersed in them, they thoroughly researched games already on the market.

In fact, people who love monster-catching games naturally have a romantic desire to create such monsters themselves—whether it's their own taste or a desire to create monsters that many people will love. Based on the desire and impulse to fulfill that romance, we came up with a lot of ideas. Of course, harmony cannot be achieved if only one's own desires come first, so we hold many discussions after coming up with ideas. The most important thing we prioritize is: "Would everyone want to get this Kibo?" After selecting them, we check market feedback and user preferences to reconfirm the direction. Through this process, the final plan is created, and the art is produced.

Lin Shuyin = The important thing is that we think of Kibo, not just characters, as living, breathing entities rather than digital data. In other words, we believe every Kibo must have a personality, background, and history. We put a lot of effort into concept setting, which allowed us to complete Kibo that are both cute and part of an ecosystem.

Q. Are there any other contents you plan to add to the dormitory besides what is currently prepared? Also, I expect that some low-grade characters might not get skins; how do you plan to handle this?

Lin Shuyin = First, we will increase the variety of dormitory furniture, which we will reveal later. We also want to satisfy users who like low-grade characters by releasing skins for them, but we will likely be able to disclose details regarding skins later. In addition to the dormitory, we plan to reveal various elements later, such as allowing users to decorate their own circles as they wish.

Q. You have great pride in your visuals and art. If you had to describe the art philosophy of Azur Promilia in one word? Also, the graphic visuals of Azur Promilia feel like they take cute characters to the extreme of cuteness and sexy characters to the extreme of sexiness, just like in Azur Lane. And I see a significant obsession with bare feet; I would like to hear your opinion on this as well.

Lin Shuyin = The most important thing when creating a character is that we see them through a screen. Our philosophy is that the character's personality and features must be immediately recognizable at a glance. We put a lot of effort into this, and the character's history is also important. We put a lot of effort into personality and concept assignment.

As the market is changing rapidly, we are diligently conducting research on user preferences. We form a consensus from the user's perspective by not only conducting research and interviews but also by watching many other games to see what makes a character attractive and which characters are popular. This is because character completion can only be achieved when supported by exploration and effort.

Q. Please share your thoughts on participating in this Bilibili World and explain what you focused on when designing the booth.

Lin Shuyin = The popularity on-site was truly intense. For Bilibili World, we had been preparing for a long time, from the booth setup to the advertisements visible on-site. The key was to maximize our strengths and ensure that visitors could quickly recognize them. Event merchandise, exhibits, and events were all designed with that purpose in mind.

We have consistently worked to highlight our unique characteristics, and I believe users felt our sincerity and dedication. I feel that is why we received such a positive response at the booth this time.

Q. Lastly, please say a word to the Korean users who are waiting for Azur Promilia.

Lin Shuyin = Thank you to all our Korean users. We haven't known much about the Korean market until now, but we will continue to work hard and improve, and move forward together with you. We ask for your continued support for Azur Promilia.