harumakigohan is a japanese indie music producer/illustrator that is mostly known for creating rock/ballad rock vocaloid tracks. he creates an intriguing and perplexing narrative throughout his works using talented animations and songs, which have caught my eye for the past several years now. this time, he is telling the story of his work through a mobile game that references several of his previous tracks. this game is apart of a promotion project for his new album "Gen'ei EP-Envy Phantom-"
if you are someone who has not seen the series before, i recommend watching or listening to his content before taking a dive into this game. however, it isn't necessary. you can still enjoy this game without context, but it hits a lot harder if you know the source material beforehand.
as a long time fan of harumakigohan's works, this game was an absolute delight to play! you get to take a trip through the world of harumakigohan's music; admittedly a nostalgic journey for some of us. it's a short little game that you can finish in one sitting, but gives a lot of insight into the lore of his work and the characters within it.
the english translations blew me away, and are accurate to the original japanese game as well. movement and controls are very straightforward, you could even play this game one handed if you like! the artwork is beautiful with a mix of harumakigohan's artstyle and ozumikan's, and i honestly couldn't imagine a better team to work on this game.
this game isn't anything extraordinary on the surface, but to long time fans this game is truly a gift. my heart was so full while playing, and i even started tearing up towards the end. thank you to the amazing team that worked on this game, i am so thankful that english fans can enjoy the game too!