TSURUGIHIME combat-focused closed beta test set for August 25 to September 6

Fahrenheit 213 will host a combat-focused closed beta test for side-scrolling action RPG TSURUGIHIME from August 25 to September 6, the developer announced. The test will be capped at 100 players worldwide. Applications are available now until August 23 at 7:59 a.m. PT / 10:59 a.m. ET / 23:59 JST.

Rather than a slice of the finished game, the beta will ship on a purpose-built combat-only build meant to gain feedback on the battle system before the development team commits to full production.

“We move into full production soon, and before that happens I want the combat to be airtight,” director Yosuke Shiokawa said in a press release. “That is the whole reason this test is as narrow as it is—it is only the battle system, because that is the part I need people to be honest with me about.”

Shiokawa continued, “I want to get this to a place where people say the combat in TSURUGIHIME is genuinely fun. Every piece of feedback we get will be read by the entire team, so I would rather hear what is wrong than what is polite.”

Here is an overview of the test, via Fahrenheit 213:

A Build Made to Answer One Question

The beta contains no story, no exploration, and no progression systems—only combat. Players get the full set of core battle actions that define the game, isolated so that the moment-to-moment feel can be judged on its own terms.

The test build wraps that combat in a five-minute survival mode. Enemies spawn without end, and the run scores you on how many you can put down before the clock runs out. Scores climb sharply once players find the right combinations, so the mode doubles as a feedback instrument and a leaderboard chase

About the Game

The last battle is in 100 days. How the player lives until that day is entirely up to them. TSURUGIHIME is a side-scrolling action RPG built on the shape of the genre’s classics, in which combat, growth, exploration, story—and even the protagonist’s little sister—can all be crafted. The studio describes it as an RPG that crafts fate itself. How those hundred days are spent determines which of the game’s multiple endings the player reaches.

Character design is by Kuroboshi Kouhaku (Summon Night, Kino’s Journey, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online). The score is composed by Takeharu Ishimoto (The World Ends with You, Kingdom Hearts, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII). The game is being made by a deliberately small team.

TSURUGIHIME is due out in Early Access for PC via Steam in 2026.