Yohane the Parhelion -BLAZE in the DEEPBLUE- is a 2D Hack and Slash Metroidvania developed by Inti Creates, based on the Yohane the Parhelion -SUNSHINE in the MIRROR- illustration series and anime series from the Love Live! franchise. The game was released on November 16th, 2023 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.
Sometime after the events of SUNSHINE in the MIRROR, a mysterious underwater labyrinth emerges off the coast of Numazu, perplexing its local residents. In the midst of the confusion, all of Yohane's friends mysteriously vanish, prompting her and Lailaps to assume that it is related to the dungeon's appearance. With her trusted partner at her side, Yohane sets out once more on an adventure, and together, they must brave the secrets of the labyrinth, rescue her friends, and unveil the truth behind the underwater ruins.
Trailers
This game provides examples of:
- Anthropomorphic Food: A rare enemy that only appears in certain rooms is a massive car-sized sushi that "attacks" by jumping around. If you kill it with fire damage, it will cook and turn into something else: The tamago nigiri turns into a giant cooked block of tamagoyaki, the ebi nigiri turns into an ebi tempura, and the ikura sushi turns into a cooked salmon steak.
- Assist Character: After clearing a boss battle, Yohane rescues one of the other eight Aqours members, whom she can call upon to use attacks. For example, Chika can use her Justogun to push objects or to stun enemies, You can shoot Yohane out of her mailperson cannon, and Dia can slash enemies with her sword, among other things.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The first boss Yohane encounters is a massive angler fish. It also happens to control lightning.
- April Fools' Day: Much like the anime adaptation of Yohane the Parhelion, this game was also originally announced as an April Fools' Day joke before being later announced properly the same year.
- Auto-Revive: An Inti Creates classic. If Yohane's HP is reduced to 0 while a Score is in your inventory, the Score will automatically be consumed and Yohane's HP and DP will be immediately restored to maximum while granting her temporary Super Mode.
- Autobots, Rock Out!: Any time Yohane fights against a boss is accompanied by heavy rock music playing in the background. This even applies to the Infernal Altar boss and both phases of the final boss.
- Boss Rush: In the final area, Aqours Memoria, Yohane must battle every boss in the game sequentially, although you are allowed to leave between fights if you need to stock up. Once all of the bosses are defeated, the stone tablet in the preceding room will deactivate, allowing you to re-fight the bosses at your leisure.
- Boring, but Practical: Lailaps, your starter ally. She doesn't do anything special, but she is the only attack available to Yohane that costs 0 DP to use. She also attacks quickly, deals fair damage and has a big hitbox, letting you outrange and block some enemies and attacks at no cost. She cannot obtain an upgrade, but Yohane can craft two unique Accessories that increase her damage to keep pace with other characters.
- Car Fu: Dia's upgraded attack causes her to spawn as Scarlet Delta and charge forward on her Cool Bike, dealing massive damage to everything in a straight line in front of her.
- Cast from Hit Points: If Yohane lacks sufficient DP to summon her weapon, her HP will be consumed as a substitute. It is still possible to attack even if you don't have enough HP to pay the cost, although this assumes that you're probably going to get KO'd regardless.
- Combos: Dia's gimmick is that she can chain her attack up to three consecutive times in a row by pressing the Attack button repeatedly, making up for her otherwise lackluster Power stat.
- Death from Above: When summoned, Kanan and Tonosama spawn above Yohane a certain distance ahead of her and fall straight downwards, dealing massive damage to anything they barrel through until they hit a solid floor. Their weight also enables them to smash cracked blocks.
- Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: If Yohane's HP reaches 0, she is knocked out and escorted back to her fortune parlor by Lailaps. This has no consequences besides being forced to restart from the last checkpoint.
- Discard and Draw:
- The Tranquil Foliate halves the damage Yohane takes in exchange for halving the damage she deals.
- The Hot-blooded Bell, conversely, doubles the damage Yohane takes in exchange for doubling the damage she deals.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: Aqours performs the game's theme song "Deep Blue". Said song also serves as the game's Theme Song Power Up.
- Double Jump: An upgrade allows Yohane to perform a double jump by using black wings to gain additional height.
- Equipment-Based Progression: Yohane does not gain EXP or levels from defeating enemies. Instead, she must rely on her Item Crafting abilities and materials dropped from slaying foes to craft progressively stronger and more powerful equipment to bolster her stats and attack capabilities.
- Evolving Attack: The friend summon attacks can be upgraded by completing quests while exploring the dungeon. For example, Chika's upgraded attack summons all three sisters as Million Dollar, instead of just Chika.
- Indy Escape: One of the section in Ruins has giant rock boulders rolling downwards that Yohane must traverse and avoid getting crushed between the boulders
. - Item Crafting: One of the features is an expansive crafting system called Casting, where Yohane can create new items to progress through her quest. The website claims that there are over 90 crafting recipes to discover.
- Joke Item: The † Fallen Angel's Cloak † Accessory, which requires the Fortune-Teller's Veil and an endgame drop called the Umbra Rag to craft, is the worst item in the game with a measly 1 HP and 1 DP. However, it is a prerequisite for crafting the Fallen Angel's Cloak, which is one of the most powerful items in the game, boasting a whopping 300 HP/DP, damage reduction, and Regenerating Health.
- Mana Meter: Yohane has Darkness Points, which are used to summon both her Cast weapon and any of her friends besides Lailaps. DP can be restored with an item or at save points.
- Mythology Gag:
- Riko's upgraded attack callout is "Riko beam!", a variant of the "Riko-chan Beam" line from Love Live! Sunshine!! Season 2.
- Hanamaru's upgraded attack is a reference to Love Live! Sunshine!! Season 1, where she pushes a button on a laptop and gets an unintended result. In this case, the laptop explodes and deals damage to enemies.
- Unlocking Mari adds the Stewshine (called "Shinestew" in this game) and Fallen Angel's Tears to the Fortune Parlor shop, Mari and Yoshiko's signature dishes from Love Live! Sunshine!! Season 1 Episode 10.
- Mari in this game inherits some character elements from Mari Ohara that were otherwise omitted from her appearance in SUNSHINE in the MIRROR, such as her Gratuitous Foreign Language and "Shiny!" Character Catchphrase.
- Ruby's ability summons a massive wad of cotton candy to defend Yohane, alluding to Ruby Kurosawa's famous solo song "Cotton Candy Ei-Ei-Oh!".
- The final area, Aqours Memoria, contains a replica of the playground that Chika Takami, You Watanabe and Kanan Matsuura grew up playing on as children in Sunshine!!.
- No Body Left Behind: Defeated enemies disappear in a puff of smoke. This is pointed out by both Riko and Mari, who reason that this is likely because of the undisclosed nature of the creatures.
- One-Hit Kill:
- The Victory Medal Accessory grants a 3% chance to insta-kill enemies.
- Ruby's upgraded ability causes her cotton candy wad to grow out of control and suck in all nearby enemies like a black hole, instantly killing everything nearby short of boss enemies.
- Playing with Fire: Riko's power is to cast a fire spell from her tome, which arcs toward the ground and explodes into flaming pillars on impact. When upgraded, Riko can perform a more powerful variant that shoots three flame walls forward, which deal heavy damage three times and pierce through terrain.
- Randomly Generated Levels: Parts of the levels called Randomized Area are randomly generated and change upon each visit. In the game, these take the form of white portals that link parts of the normal overworld together.
- Recurring Boss: The boss of the Ruins area is a giant isopod armed with a lance and a shield. It is encountered in three separate boss rooms in the area, with each subsequent encounter having slightly more challenging geometry with which the boss can use against you.
- Rolling Attack: Hanamaru's ability is to trip and fall forward, transitioning into a roll attack that strikes through enemies in her path until she hits a wall. The gameplay trailer reveals that she can also destroy Spikes of Doom by rolling through them.
- Stamina Meter: The Wall Crawl ability is limited by a gauge called Guts, which drains while using the ability and will only replenish when not using it. Releasing from a wall will cause the gauge to start refilling extremely slowly, but touching the ground will immediately make it refill to full. The Motivation Headband Accessory will stop Guts from depleting whatsoever when equipped.
- Super Mode: Enemies can randomly drop a Score, a consumable item that Yohane can pick up and use at a later time. When used, the game's title theme "Deep Blue" will kick in and Yohane will temporarily gain guaranteed critical hits and all of her DP costs will be reduced to 0. If your HP drops to 0 during a dungeon while you have a Score, a Score will automatically be used to save you, similar to how Anthem works in the Azure Striker Gunvolt Series.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: One of Yohane's upgrades allows her to traverse underwater, rather than being forced to tread water. When doing so, a magical water bubble surrounds her to allow her to breathe.
- Under the Sea: The game centers around a magical labyrinth offshore from Numazu. Yohane starts her adventure on the top layer, where she encounters a variety of hostile giant aquamarine life.
- Utility Weapon: Yohane's friends have uses beyond just hurting enemies, such as:
- Hanamaru's Rolling Attack can destroy Spikes of Doom she bowls over.
- Dia's lightning-infused katana strike can activate machines.
- Chika's Justogun can be used to push large objects. It also stuns small enemies it hits, making them easier for Yohane to deal with using other means.
- You's mailperson-launching cannon can be used to travel large distances in midair. Yohane also flies horizontally when shot, allowing her to low-profile through tight spaces that would otherwise be inaccessible.
- Kanan and Tonosama use their combined weight to smash breakable objects beneath them, such as cracked floors. They also serve as an additional body that can be used to activate floor switches that require the use of more than one person.
- Riko's fire magic can be used to melt solid ice.
- Mari's Wave-Motion Gun hits the entire area ahead of her instantly with ice damage. This is used to trigger switches in certain rooms that require two triggers to be hit simultaneously on the other side of a wall.
- Time Stands Still: Mari's upgraded ability allows her to freeze time for several seconds. While very powerful, it is the only ability in the game that cannot be used if Yohane does not have sufficient DP to cast.
- Walking Techbane: Hanamaru's upgraded power has a laptop fall into her hands. She presses a button, and it explodes in a giant area attack, leaving her dizzy. It also serves as a Mythology Gag to the first Sunshine anime, though there she just shuts it down by mistake.
- Wall Crawl: A permanent upgrade Yohane can acquire is a pair of magic gloves that allow her to cling to walls and climb them if the player presses against a wall. However, Yohane's climbing ability is limited by a Stamina Meter and will automatically release if it runs out.
- Wave-Motion Gun: Mari's power is a giant demon laser beam.
- You Have Researched Breathing: Yohane must obtain permanent upgrades from treasure chests to unlock her second and third accessory slots.
