Edelweiss is a Japanese independent video game developer that was founded in 2005. The company is a doujin soft circle whose primary member is Nal, who collaborates with various artists, 3D modelers, sound designers, and composers from game to game. The circle specializes on action video games, particularly of the Stylish Action and Shoot 'Em Up Sub-Genre, and creating games with gorgeous scenery and jaw-dropping visual effects. Many of their titles are original works, but they also have collaborated with souvenir-circ.'s updated re-release of Cröixleur Sigma and the Touhou Project fangame Azure Reflections. Many of Edelweiss' games were initially released through Comiket, but over the years their games has been published overseas and re-released through digital distribution between publishers such as Nyu Media, Active Gaming Media, and XSEED Games. Nal has also been promoting upcoming doujin soft titles from various circles during Comiket on his own YouTube channel as well as trailers and from his works and development of 3D video game graphics.
Edelweiss' website can be viewed here
, and Nal's personal YouTube channel can be found here. Not to be confused with the visual novel Edelweiss by Overdrive, nor to be confused with the German wheat beer of the same name.
Works created by Edelweiss:
Video Games:- Fairy Bloom series:
- Fairy Bloom (PC, 2005)
- Fairy Bloom Freesia (PC, 2012)
- Fairy Bloom Ultra Encore (PC, 2014, remake of Fairy Bloom)
- ETHER VAPOR (PC, 2007), ETHER VAPOR Remaster (PC, 2011)
- Astebreed (PC, 2013)
- Cröixleur Sigma (PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, 2015; Switch, 2018; PC, 2019; co-developed with souvenir-circ.)
- Azure Reflections (PC, PlayStation 4, 2018; co-developed with souvenir-circ.)
- Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, 2020)
Soundtracks:
- Fairy Bloom Freesia + ETHER VAPOR Remaster Original Soundtracks (2012)
- Astebreed Official Soundtrack (2013)
Tropes associated with Edelweiss' works:
- 2½D: Most of their games are made in a 3D engine, but their gameplay are played in 2D play field with the exception of Cröixleur Sigma's 2015 updated re-release, which is a a fully 3D game. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin features a mix of 2D and 3D styles of gameplay.
- 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Fairy Bloom is a 2D game with hand-drawn sprites, but the environments (save for the background) and effects are made in 3D. Their later games since ETHER VAPOR has been leaning towards using more 3D graphics than 2D.
- April Fools' Day:
- Edelweiss released a short Gradius-like parody of ETHER VAPOR under the name of Ether Viper from the game's website, which plays similarly to Gradius with the Ex-Tio's bits functioning as Options and a box of pocky as a boss.
- In 2014, they made a parody of Astebreed on YouTube as SUPER ASTEBREED.
- Art Evolution: Their games have been gradually advancing in terms of 3D modeling, effects, and shaders.
- Combos: The Fairy Bloom games allow players to string together a series of basic attacks to fight their enemies, even moreso with Fairy Bloom Freesia which introduces special attacks players can use for various situations and upgrade their basic repertoire of moves.
- Gameplay Grading: Many of their games feature end-stage results that rewards bonus points based on the player's performance in various criteria depending on the game.
- Scenery Porn: Edelweiss' games has earned a reputation of presenting some beautiful visuals and lush scenery, especially with their later titles with Astebreed and Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin.
- Scoring Points: Many of their games feature a scoring hook in their gameplay.
- Sprite/Polygon Mix: The original Fairy Bloom uses 3D graphics but also features 2D hand-drawn sprites. ETHER VAPOR has some bullets that are made in 2D sprites along with the game's 3D graphics, as does Astebreed.
- Updated Re-release: ETHER VAPOR Remaster is one to the original ETHER VAPOR, Astebreed received one when it was ported to PlayStation 4 and Switch (with the original PC version receiving a Definitive Edition upgrade), and Cröixleur Sigma received one when it was ported PlayStation 4 and Switch versions (was later ported back to PC as Deluxe Edition, replacing the previous version).
