Here comes the first Japanese game heavily inspired by Chinese games

Recently, a pixel-art game titled *HYKE: Northern Light* (hereinafter referred to as *HYKE*) was released on Steam and has received "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews for nearly a month.

The game was produced by Hiroaki Iwano, the creator of the *Million Arthur* series, and is co-published by Japanese anime powerhouse Aniplex (*Fate/Grand Order*) and Akatsuki Games (*Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Super Saiyans*).

I never would have guessed that Aniplex—which has made a fortune from anime, *FGO*, and music—would venture into the indie game publishing business. However, a few years ago, Aniplex did launch a visual novel publishing brand called “ANIPLEX.EXE” and released *Atori: My Beloved Time*."Atori: My Beloved Time" was later adapted into a TV anime, which aired last July.

Yatoli: My Beloved Moments

Since Aniplex took notice of it, *Haike* must have something special about it. Plus, since it’s the latest work from a renowned producer, I decided to give *Haike* a try.

"The White-Haired Witch" + camping—the game feels way too anime-ish.

Set in a modern magical world, *Hai Ke* follows the protagonist, Hai Ke, as she drives the off-road vehicle left to her by her father through a post-war, desolate world, searching for traces of her witch mother and continuing her journey across the globe.

Does the story’s setting seem a little familiar? Actually, many isekai works follow a similar road-movie-style narrative structure.

In my view, what makes *Hai Ke* unique is that, set in a modern-day setting, it seamlessly blends popular elements such as witches and camping, giving the game a strong anime-style vibe.

The witch genre is truly a timeless favorite. In the world of animation, there are classics like *Puella Magi Madoka Magica* and *The Journey of the Witch*, while the gaming industry has seen titles such as *The Witch's Spring*.

"The Witch's Journey": A Return to the Classic Witch Archetype

In an interview, Hiroaki Iwano noted that the "witch" is a symbol of the elegant, combat-ready woman, and few characters blend cuteness and coolness as masterfully as the "witch." At the same time, interpretations of the witch have evolved with the times; in the latest July anime series, *The Silent Witch*, the witch’s image has returned to its traditional roots.

Camping has emerged as another popular trend in recent years. Guided by the premise that “cute girls look good doing anything,” the Japanese anime industry was among the first to embrace the camping craze. Examples include Houbunsha’s *Yurucamp△*, which focuses on camping and food, and *Let’s Go to the Mountains*, which centers on friendship and personal growth.

Lily Sway Camping

About five years ago, Hiroaki Iwano took up camping as a hobby. At that time, he sought to capture the beauty of nature he experienced while camping and the sense of escape from daily life through the medium of video games.

Combining all these elements led to the creation of *Hai Ke*.

When I actually played *Hai Ke*, it felt quite a bit like a roguelike. Overall, players guide Hai Ke through multi-level mazes and use magic to fight. The forest-themed mazes feature numerous branches and dead ends, with important upgrade materials hidden within certain paths.

As players explore the maze, enemies will spawn along the way, sometimes in large numbers. At these times, players will need to skillfully use Haike’s melee and ranged abilities.

As the game progresses, additional playable characters are unlocked, enriching tactical options and adding a fresh twist to the experience. It’s clear that Hiroaki Iwano has intentionally incorporated a touch of yuri into the storyline.

After defeating the boss on each floor of the maze, Haike will return to camp with the various materials collected during the dungeon run to set up the campsite. For example, she’ll bring out pots, pans, and utensils, buy ingredients from the store, and cook up some delicious meals. As evening falls, the campfire and lights come on, creating a truly cozy, idyllic atmosphere.

Overall, however, the camping mechanics in *Hai Ke* feel somewhat superficial; after all, they can’t overshadow the game’s core RPG gameplay centered on navigating mazes. Based on my hands-on experience, there seems to be a disconnect between the camping and maze-solving elements—they don’t feel fully integrated. It’s truly a shame.

New Game Developed in Partnership with NetEase Fails Spectacularly

Hiroaki Iwano is considered one of the first producers in Japan to experiment with mobile games.

During his time at SE, he led the team in developing the groundbreaking mobile game *Diffusion Million Arthur*. The game achieved impressive market performance in both Japan and China. In China in particular, it introduced domestic players to the gacha gameplay mechanic and gave them their first taste of anime-style mobile games.

Around the time when *Diffusion Million Arthur* was at the height of its popularity in China, players gradually began to adopt the Japanese term “kakin” instead of the Chinese term “chongzhi,” referring to in-game purchases as “kakin.”

Following the success of *Diffusion Million Arthur*, the series spawned sequels such as *Divergence Million Arthur*, *Rebellion Million Arthur*, and *Symphony Million Arthur*. Although the number of new titles has continued to grow, the sequels have seen a steady decline in performance, and the IP’s influence has gradually waned.

In China, every time a new title in the *Million Arthur* series was released, a different publisher took over distribution, leaving players adrift like water lilies. Later, some domestic companies secured the *Million Arthur* license in hopes of making a quick buck, further eroding the IP’s influence. But that’s a story for another time.

Perhaps due to the series' initial success followed by a decline in performance, Hiroaki Iwano stepped down as producer in 2019 and left Square Enix.

In 2019, Hiroaki Iwano announced his resignation during a live stream for *Million Arthur*

After leaving SE, Hiroaki Iwano joined Akatsuki, another major Japanese mobile game developer. By the time I heard about Hiroaki Iwano’s latest moves in the domestic media, it was already the second half of 2024.

Hiroaki Iwano is back with his new game, *The Witch’s Hot Spring Life* (he’s truly passionate about witches). This match-3 game, developed in collaboration with NetEase Games, was launched on November 26 of last year, with Hiroaki Iwano and NetEase’s Li Leiming (producer of *Shadowverse*’s Chinese server) serving as co-producers.

From the art style and central theme of *The Witch’s Spa Life*, it’s clear that the game aims to convey a sense of relaxation and comfort. However, the gameplay isn’t particularly deep—it’s essentially a run-of-the-mill match-three puzzle game—which limits its monetization potential. On the other hand, the graphics feel somewhat dated and don’t hold a candle to the promotional art, resulting in characters that lack expressiveness.

"The Witch's Hot Spring Life"—The Game Isn't as Good-Looking as Its Artwork

"The Witch's Hot Spring Life" was released and peaked at No. 20 on the App Store's Free Chart, but never made it into the Top 100 of the Top Grossing Chart. Coinciding with NetEase's internal anti-corruption crackdown, "The Witch's Hot Spring Life" was quickly abandoned and its servers shut down.

Along with *The Witch's Hot Spring Life*, *Open Space* by Inu-chan Group was also taken offline. However, thanks to Inu-chan Group's persistence, *Open Space* has returned to the domestic market and is currently operating smoothly.

However, *The Witch's Hot Spring Life* wasn't so lucky—it didn't even get a chance at a revival.

Inspired by Chinese games

Interestingly, Hiroaki Iwano’s new game, *Hai Ke*, was heavily inspired by the Chinese game *The Land of the Wind*.

Hiroaki Iwano noted that the pixel art in *The Land of the Wind* is exquisitely detailed and highly immersive. The game’s color palette features muted tones to evoke a retro feel, yet the main visuals employ vibrant colors, giving the packaging a very modern look. This creates an interesting contrast that made him fall in love with it at first sight.

*The Land of the Wind* is a pixel-art adventure game developed by the Shanghai-based indie studio Pixpil, which was featured at Nintendo’s IndieWorld presentation. The game has received widespread acclaim since its release, with PC sales exceeding 560,000 copies in its first year (according to the Chinese game sales charts).

The Land of the Wind, Exquisite Pixel Art

During the development of *Haike*, Hiroaki Iwano’s team aimed for the same refined pixel art quality seen in *The Land of the Wind*, while also adjusting the color palette to make the overall pixel art vibrant.

However, judging by the number of reviews on Steam, sales of *Haiko* may not have reached 10,000 copies. The market performance of Hiroaki Iwano’s latest title is likely to fall short of expectations once again.

Despite a string of setbacks, Hiroaki Iwano has stated that he will continue creating games. His next project will be an indie game on a similar scale to *Haiko*, though he has not yet decided whether it will be a single-player or multiplayer title.

Now that he has achieved success and recognition, Hiroaki Iwano may be approaching game development with even greater authenticity. As he himself notes, in today’s development environment, it’s actually quite rare for developers to drive a project forward based solely on their intuition—simply because “I think this is great!”