Varlet isn’t just an RPG about your self-discovery, but Furyu’s as well

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Taking my seat to delve into the new Furyu RPG titled “Varlet”, I was unsure of what lay ahead. In the past decade, Furyu’s releases have been distributed through different companies such as Atlus, Aksys, NIS America, Spike Chunsoft, and so on. This implies that their games were somewhat elusive, with an uncertain future regarding where they would be available. However, it appears that things might be shifting with Varlet.

Furyu initiates self-publishing their games in the west for the first time, and this Varlet is more than just another Furyu game. Instead, it signifies the game that the company chose to introduce themselves as a game developer in the western market. This change doesn’t affect the actual gameplay, but it does bring a new feeling compared to previous Furyu projects I’ve experienced.

This year at Anime Expo, we got a chance to chat with Hideaki Ito, the producer of Varlet, a role-playing game where you command a team of high school students belonging to the Student Support Services. The popularity of an Mixed Reality social network called “Johari” has caused students to crave peer approval excessively, with some eventually vanishing into system “Glitches”, which are thought to be born from their distorted desires.

When asked about the sources of inspiration for the game, Ito was reluctant to avoid the apparent similarities. “I believe it’s quite clear that people will initially compare the game’s main visuals with Persona,” he said. “It seems fair to say that many, though not necessarily all, Japanese games today are influenced by Persona in some way or another.

As a devoted admirer, I must admit that the team’s genuine passion for their sources of inspiration left me momentarily astounded. Granted, upon even a casual observation of Varlet, it becomes evident that Persona served as a significant influence. However, it quickly becomes apparent that Varlet transcends being just a replica and draws inspiration from other sources as well.

In my opinion, the game that sparked the most creativity for us during development is reminiscent of Gunparade March. This tactical RPG, originally released by Sony in Japan on the PlayStation, shares some similarities with Persona, as both games emphasize a balance between academics and battle scenes.

In a similar vein, Varlet is divided into two distinct parts: periods where players navigate their school and accomplish tasks, and instances where they delve into dungeons – Glitches – to safeguard their peers. Your actions are said to influence your advancement through what the developers refer to as the Triad System. Unfortunately, during our brief, 45-minute demo, we couldn’t fully understand how it operates in practice. However, we did get a sense of the combat system.

Unlike Monark, Furyu’s earlier endeavor with a comparable idea, Varlet features a conventional turn-based combat system devoid of Tactical RPG elements. In contrast, players are entrusted with strategizing their moves on a visible timeline positioned on the game screen’s left side; different actions consume varying amounts of time and may alter the timeline in diverse manners. For instance, an action capable of interrupting an enemy’s special attack can be valuable – if executed promptly. Another strategy hinges on party member Noa, who functions as a Tank due to her affinity; she draws aggro from enemies, thereby safeguarding the rest of the party from attacks.

In the long term, it’s uncertain if the system will measure up, but what I’ve tried so far seems to offer a great deal of potential. The combat feels fluid, which often indicates a distinctive identity for a turn-based battle system; however, whether this feeling persists throughout an RPG’s entire duration is unclear, yet it certainly piques my curiosity.

Wrapping up our discussion, I had some remaining queries for Ito, primarily focusing on the concept of self-publishing in relation to Furyu and their game Varlet. For players outside Japan, this self-publishing means that a physical copy won’t be available; however, the Japanese physical release will provide English language options for those who wish to import the game physically. Regarding the PC version, since we saw the demo on a laptop with an integrated Intel GPU, the team is prioritizing a PC port because of the global audience for RPGs on PC and the increasing number of PC gamers in Japan, surpassing PlayStation users in recent years.

Furyu, as a company, made the decisions to launch Varlet globally and release it simultaneously on day one for PC. Ito attributes some of this decision to his past experiences at Capcom, where he emphasized the significance of simultaneous, multiplatform releases while working on Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. This means that players all over the world will be able to play Varlet on its release date, regardless of platform. So far, Varlet looks promising, but we’ll have to wait until August 28 for the official release on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC (Steam and Epic) to see if Furyu’s self-publishing venture starts off with a strong impact.

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2025-07-12 20:26