"We have 1000 playtesters... we didn't even expect to get 100 testers" - Yosuke Shiokawa on Lunar Pulse, the Tsurugihime closed beta test, and why he chose the name Fahrenheit 213
At PAX West 2026, I got the chance to speak with Yosuke Shiokawa about his new studio, Fahrenheit 213, and the current status of his projects, Lunar Pulse and Tsurugihime. Previously, Shiokawa worked at DelightWorks as the first Director on Fate/Grand Order.
Lunar Pulse was first announced back in April. It's a single-player roguelite card battling game that is being co-developed with GIANTY. Meanwhile, Tsurugihime was first unveiled in December 2022 and has gone through several delays. At the time of this interview, Fahrenheit 213 has been conducting a small, limited-time closed beta test for the title as the developers aim to improve the title before its release.
RPG Site: Thank you for meeting with me today, Shiokawa-san. It’s been several years since the founding of your new studio, Fahrenheit 213. It was formally revealed to the public in early 2022.
Can you share with us a bit about the journey to forming Fahrenheit 213, and how the studio has developed since its formation?
Yosuke Shiokawa (Founder & CEO of Fahrenheit 213): Previously I was at DelightWorks, but I had a strong feeling of wanting to create original games instead of working on an existing IP. That’s the main reason I decided to go independent and start my own studio and now really focused on producing a variety of original games, instead.
With that intention, we’re currently a pretty small studio with only 3 employees. It took four years to come to that point. Lunar Pulse is our newest game, but we’re also working on a game called Tsurugihime. With these two games, we’re slowly, gradually working towards those goals of creating original works and bringing those kinds of indie games to the mainstream.
Can you share with us a bit about the journey to forming Fahrenheit 213, and how the studio has developed since its formation?
Yosuke Shiokawa (Founder & CEO of Fahrenheit 213): Previously I was at DelightWorks, but I had a strong feeling of wanting to create original games instead of working on an existing IP. That’s the main reason I decided to go independent and start my own studio and now really focused on producing a variety of original games, instead.
With that intention, we’re currently a pretty small studio with only 3 employees. It took four years to come to that point. Lunar Pulse is our newest game, but we’re also working on a game called Tsurugihime. With these two games, we’re slowly, gradually working towards those goals of creating original works and bringing those kinds of indie games to the mainstream.
RPG Site: You’re here at PAX West showing off Lunar Pulse, one of Fahrenheit 213’s upcoming titles that’s being co-developed with developer GIANTY. This made its hands-on playable debut just recently at Gamescom. What has the initial reception from the audience been like, and what have you already observed or learned based on those reactions from players?
Yosuke Shiokawa: Our original intention has always been to create Japanese games that are imbued with a kind of Japanese quality. So far, the wishlist on Steam for Lunar Pulse has been over 80% from foreigners.
Even though we are creating this very Japanese game, we weren’t expecting the interest from foreign audiences to be so high. It’s something we really appreciate, and it’s been a really pleasant surprise for us.
Yosuke Shiokawa: Our original intention has always been to create Japanese games that are imbued with a kind of Japanese quality. So far, the wishlist on Steam for Lunar Pulse has been over 80% from foreigners.
Even though we are creating this very Japanese game, we weren’t expecting the interest from foreign audiences to be so high. It’s something we really appreciate, and it’s been a really pleasant surprise for us.
RPG Site: Lunar Pulse is a peculiar kind of game in the roguelite card-battling genre. It focuses on quick 60-second battles with no concealed cards, and turns are executed simultaneously from both players.
How did the concept of this game come about, and how has it continually evolved since its initial conception phase?
Yosuke Shiokawa: We originally wanted to make a soulslike action game, and that turned into something that was turn-based. We originally debated whether we would make it a RPG, or an action game, or so on. After thinking about wanting to make it the most simple and accessible version of a kind of soulslike, we realized that a card game would be the most accessible way of creating that kind of game.
Soulslike games right now are popular; there’s 3D ones and 2D ones. I’m not very good at action games. When thinking about that, I figured there are probably other people in the world who maybe aren’t so good at those kinds of action-based combat games - but would like to have this experience themselves. That’s why I decided to adapt Lunar Pulse in this manner.
How did the concept of this game come about, and how has it continually evolved since its initial conception phase?
Yosuke Shiokawa: We originally wanted to make a soulslike action game, and that turned into something that was turn-based. We originally debated whether we would make it a RPG, or an action game, or so on. After thinking about wanting to make it the most simple and accessible version of a kind of soulslike, we realized that a card game would be the most accessible way of creating that kind of game.
Soulslike games right now are popular; there’s 3D ones and 2D ones. I’m not very good at action games. When thinking about that, I figured there are probably other people in the world who maybe aren’t so good at those kinds of action-based combat games - but would like to have this experience themselves. That’s why I decided to adapt Lunar Pulse in this manner.
RPG Site: There’s a significant narrative element to Lunar Pulse. It revolves around 13 witches that battle one another. In its debut trailer, there are deliberately redacted portions of the text, the decision to absolve or take from an enemy, and multiple endings.
How do players interact with those elements in Lunar Pulse, and approximately how long does a playthrough run take on average?
Yosuke Shiokawa: Because it’s a roguelite system, the whole point is that you’ll keep dying and reviving and dying and reviving and restarting. Then slowly as you progress through this cycle of death and rebirth, you’ll unveil more and more of the story and characters. That’s how we wanted to design that mechanic.
So far, we haven’t determined how long it’ll take. We want this to be a very gradual process.
How do players interact with those elements in Lunar Pulse, and approximately how long does a playthrough run take on average?
Yosuke Shiokawa: Because it’s a roguelite system, the whole point is that you’ll keep dying and reviving and dying and reviving and restarting. Then slowly as you progress through this cycle of death and rebirth, you’ll unveil more and more of the story and characters. That’s how we wanted to design that mechanic.
So far, we haven’t determined how long it’ll take. We want this to be a very gradual process.
RPG Site: Fahrenheit 213 is also working on the side-scrolling action RPG Tsurugihime. I’ve personally kept my eye on this project since its announcement in December 2022, and followed the monthly Steam blog posts about the title.
There’s an ongoing closed beta test for its battle system at the time of this interview. How has the reception been so far? I understand that you also had to expand the capacity of entrants, since it unexpectedly received so many applications too.
Yosuke Shiokawa: There’s about a thousand playtesters right now for Tsurugihime, and it’s still in that playtesting phase. It’s only a five minute demo, but we’ve found out that several people are playing it for hours, which is really surprising because it’s only about five minutes worth of gameplay.
Because of that, we’ve gotten some really good feedback. We’re excited to see that feedback, and it’s been very helpful for us. Getting that back and forth communication is helping us update the game.
There’s an ongoing closed beta test for its battle system at the time of this interview. How has the reception been so far? I understand that you also had to expand the capacity of entrants, since it unexpectedly received so many applications too.
Yosuke Shiokawa: There’s about a thousand playtesters right now for Tsurugihime, and it’s still in that playtesting phase. It’s only a five minute demo, but we’ve found out that several people are playing it for hours, which is really surprising because it’s only about five minutes worth of gameplay.
Because of that, we’ve gotten some really good feedback. We’re excited to see that feedback, and it’s been very helpful for us. Getting that back and forth communication is helping us update the game.
RPG Site: The Tsurugihime developers have been closely collaborating with the community as they updated the closed beta test multiple times in response to the feedback they’ve received.
Due to the rapid speed of the updates, was the player feedback received somewhat anticipated and inline from internal testing at Fahrenheit 213? And if not, what has the studio learned from the testers, in regard to what they’ve discovered from trying Tsurugihime?
Yosuke Shiokawa: We originally didn’t even expect that we could get 100 testers. We really weren’t expecting this many people, and that they would be this passionate. We believed that 100 number would be a sort of goal number that we didn’t think we could achieve.
In regards to the back and forth communication and what we’ve been learning from users, the thing that has been a big surprise is that the current playerbase has been half Japanese and half English speakers. However, they’ve actually been giving pretty much the exact same feedback on both sides, which made us realize the game can go global as it is.
Usually, it’s often common to think that when making something, we may want to potentially take it in a direction that is more focused for Japanese players, or sometimes you kind of want to change it to cater more to an English audience. But the fact that both sides were really giving similar feedback - that made us realize that Tsurugihime is a game that can go global, and be one product that is accepted universally.
Due to the rapid speed of the updates, was the player feedback received somewhat anticipated and inline from internal testing at Fahrenheit 213? And if not, what has the studio learned from the testers, in regard to what they’ve discovered from trying Tsurugihime?
Yosuke Shiokawa: We originally didn’t even expect that we could get 100 testers. We really weren’t expecting this many people, and that they would be this passionate. We believed that 100 number would be a sort of goal number that we didn’t think we could achieve.
In regards to the back and forth communication and what we’ve been learning from users, the thing that has been a big surprise is that the current playerbase has been half Japanese and half English speakers. However, they’ve actually been giving pretty much the exact same feedback on both sides, which made us realize the game can go global as it is.
Usually, it’s often common to think that when making something, we may want to potentially take it in a direction that is more focused for Japanese players, or sometimes you kind of want to change it to cater more to an English audience. But the fact that both sides were really giving similar feedback - that made us realize that Tsurugihime is a game that can go global, and be one product that is accepted universally.
RPG Site: What are some of the benefits you’ve observed with this closed beta test model, and is it something you’ll consider with other titles from Fahrenheit 213?
Yosuke Shiokawa: Yes, we’re also thinking of doing a closed beta test for Lunar Pulse, as well. We actually want to do another test for Tsurugihime too, though we aren’t sure what form that will take, yet.
Yosuke Shiokawa: Yes, we’re also thinking of doing a closed beta test for Lunar Pulse, as well. We actually want to do another test for Tsurugihime too, though we aren’t sure what form that will take, yet.
RPG Site: Those that have been eagerly anticipating Tsurugihime are a bit worried about the title’s development timeline. Does holding this closed beta test mean that the release of Tsurugihime is still far off?
Yosuke Shiokawa: That’s a good question. That’s very true. I think the next step would probably be having a version that we can demo at an event like PAX or Gamescom - something that people can experience in person. Then, add a demo to Steam, and slowly and gradually from there progress until it’s ready.
Yosuke Shiokawa: That’s a good question. That’s very true. I think the next step would probably be having a version that we can demo at an event like PAX or Gamescom - something that people can experience in person. Then, add a demo to Steam, and slowly and gradually from there progress until it’s ready.
RPG Site: Back in December 2023, Fahrenheit 213 released a text-based adventure game titled Murder Mystery Paradox: Fifteen Years of Summer (Steam).
Although it’s been a few years, what has the development team learned from this title as they carry it onto their current projects of Lunar Pulse and Tsurugihime?
Yosuke Shiokawa: Murder Mystery Paradox was a novel text-based, story-based game. We aren’t really sure if this type of game is popular in the west, but there’s a lot of interest in taking something that’s analog and turning it digital. For instance, adapting a tabletop game into a video game. In Murder Mystery Paradox, we wanted to adapt a murder mystery game into a video game.
In terms of how it went, we felt some things went well and some things didn’t go as well. It was a learning process for us.
What we really learned is that if a game is really unique, which was our original challenge we set for ourselves for this title - if you go too unique, it can be hard for new players to gather interest and dive into it. Especially when you’re creating an indie game, thinking about the balance between creating a unique product that’s still recognizable, approachable, or understandable is tricky.
After Murder Mystery Paradox, we decided that’s something we have to keep in mind.
RPG Site: I know it’s not your decision to make, but I’d like to express my desire to see that title eventually receive an English release in the future.
(Shiokawa nods and laughs)
Although it’s been a few years, what has the development team learned from this title as they carry it onto their current projects of Lunar Pulse and Tsurugihime?
Yosuke Shiokawa: Murder Mystery Paradox was a novel text-based, story-based game. We aren’t really sure if this type of game is popular in the west, but there’s a lot of interest in taking something that’s analog and turning it digital. For instance, adapting a tabletop game into a video game. In Murder Mystery Paradox, we wanted to adapt a murder mystery game into a video game.
In terms of how it went, we felt some things went well and some things didn’t go as well. It was a learning process for us.
What we really learned is that if a game is really unique, which was our original challenge we set for ourselves for this title - if you go too unique, it can be hard for new players to gather interest and dive into it. Especially when you’re creating an indie game, thinking about the balance between creating a unique product that’s still recognizable, approachable, or understandable is tricky.
After Murder Mystery Paradox, we decided that’s something we have to keep in mind.
RPG Site: I know it’s not your decision to make, but I’d like to express my desire to see that title eventually receive an English release in the future.
(Shiokawa nods and laughs)
RPG Site: More and more people in the video game industry have continually decided to establish, or join, a smaller-scaled studio from bigger organizations in recent years.
Do you have any words of wisdom or advice you’d like to share with them, based on your own experience? What are some of the advantages in working with a smaller team?
Yosuke Shiokawa: Right now more than ever, it’s become a lot easier for people to get started with game development, if they don’t have as much experience or if they’re trying to start it on their own. There are, for instance, a lot of AI tools for game development.
I do recognize that AI is also a very sensitive topic. There are lots of people that are for it or against it. Regardless, I’m saying there’s a lot of tools, whether it’s AI or not, that make it easy for people to get a start that maybe weren’t available back when I was getting started in my career.
The most important thing is to get started now. Start dipping your toes sooner, rather than later.
If you’re young, the sooner you start, the better - regardless of how you do it and how you expect the product to turn out.
Do you have any words of wisdom or advice you’d like to share with them, based on your own experience? What are some of the advantages in working with a smaller team?
Yosuke Shiokawa: Right now more than ever, it’s become a lot easier for people to get started with game development, if they don’t have as much experience or if they’re trying to start it on their own. There are, for instance, a lot of AI tools for game development.
I do recognize that AI is also a very sensitive topic. There are lots of people that are for it or against it. Regardless, I’m saying there’s a lot of tools, whether it’s AI or not, that make it easy for people to get a start that maybe weren’t available back when I was getting started in my career.
The most important thing is to get started now. Start dipping your toes sooner, rather than later.
If you’re young, the sooner you start, the better - regardless of how you do it and how you expect the product to turn out.
RPG Site: Where did the name Fahrenheit 213 come from?
Yosuke Shiokawa: There’s two reasons. The first is that in Japan, we don’t use Fahrenheit; we use Celsius. So over in Japan, they don’t really know what Fahrenheit means.
Of course, both Fahrenheit and Celsius are units of measuring temperature. So I thought even if you’re technically referring to the same exact temperature for both measurements - just by changing how you write it, it changes how you view it and how you perceive something.
As for what 213 refers to, 212 is the boiling temperature of water, which is 100 degrees Celsius. I wanted to go one above that, so the idea is that I’m exceeding the boiling point by a little bit.
Yosuke Shiokawa: There’s two reasons. The first is that in Japan, we don’t use Fahrenheit; we use Celsius. So over in Japan, they don’t really know what Fahrenheit means.
Of course, both Fahrenheit and Celsius are units of measuring temperature. So I thought even if you’re technically referring to the same exact temperature for both measurements - just by changing how you write it, it changes how you view it and how you perceive something.
As for what 213 refers to, 212 is the boiling temperature of water, which is 100 degrees Celsius. I wanted to go one above that, so the idea is that I’m exceeding the boiling point by a little bit.
RPG Site: Lastly, do you drink coffee and if so, what kind?
Yosuke Shiokawa: Yes, I drink Starbucks latte a lot!
Yosuke Shiokawa: Yes, I drink Starbucks latte a lot!