Retla is a cat-eared girl who fights with dual blades, and she stars in the 3D action game Eternal Palace Sakura. The person who animated her in 3D is the head of the roughly five-person team making the game. It launches on PC via Steam on November 4, 2026.

It is a roguelite. The palace’s corridors change with every attempt, and abilities and weapons unlock as the attempts add up. Retla enters a palace said to hold a relic of the gods, and ends up trapped inside. On each floor, you make for the stairs, and beating the boss on the final floor clears the run.

It is single-player, with English text and Japanese-only voices. A free demo is available now on Steam, covering everything from a controls tutorial to a boss fight.

Retla mid-attack, a slash of light across the screen

Why did the circle’s head do the animation?

The developer, Denneko Yuugi, is a doujin game circle, a Japanese term for a group that produces its own games. Its motto is to make the games it wants to play, and it has been building the Machina of the Planet Tree series, a set of games connected by a shared world. Eternal Palace Sakura belongs to that series too.

As of summer 2025, the circle’s head said the game had been in development for about four years. The previous game in the series was the circle’s first 3D work. According to the head, that game left plenty to reflect on, and Eternal Palace Sakura is the rematch.

The head explained that because keeping visual quality high in 3D takes a considerable budget, the head took on the action and animation personally, and that this decision gave the game its current form. The head’s work now covers main-character 3D animation, effects and shader development, as well as the scenario and game planning.

SHOCHIKU GAMES is publishing the game alongside Denneko Yuugi. The head also said development was able to continue because Shochiku had stepped forward as publisher.

The core of the game, according to the circle, is the fun of controlling a cute character and making her pull off cool moves yourself. The head wants players to find Retla’s gestures and moves cute and satisfying as they play.

Combat against slime-like enemies, with the HP, AP and special attack display

What do you chain together with the dual blades?

Retla has a regular attack and a heavy attack, and mashing a button strings attacks into combos. Battle rewards teach her special attacks, which the demo has you assign to four buttons. A special attack can cut into a regular attack, a heavy attack or even another special attack, canceling it partway through.

When an enemy attacks, do you dodge, block with your shield, or force your way through on the offensive? You switch between them as the situation calls for. A well-timed dodge, among other things, refills the gauge that special attacks draw on.

Fill the tension gauge to 100%, and you can unleash a finishing move that clears out the enemies.

The room-selection map with the depth display

How does one run through the palace play out?

Each floor is laid out as a top-down map, and you work your way to the stairs by choosing which event to enter next. Alongside battles with enemies, the events include treasure chests that hand out rewards for free, rest areas and more.

Linger too long, though, and it works against you. In the palace, a depth value climbs as you take various actions, and once it passes a certain point, random effects are applied. The deeper you go, the more harmful effects land on Retla, and the stronger the enemies become.

How much do you level up and improve your gear before heading for the stairs? That is the call every floor asks you to make.

Retla lunges in combat, with AP 4/4 and the Burst display

What carries over to the next attempt, and what changes every time?

After battles and while exploring the map, you pick up enhancement items that strengthen Retla’s stats and special attacks. There are more than 50 kinds. Which ones you end up with is down to luck, so you pick the strongest build you can from whatever that run has handed you.

Abilities, weapons and upgrades, on the other hand, unlock as you keep going back in, and they carry over to the next attempt.

The head’s aim is to make a game that is easy to pick up and has you reaching for one more run before you know it.

Between the mix of special attacks and the luck-driven lineup of enhancements, the same dual blades look set to offer a different way to build combos on every attempt.

In summer 2025, the head said the goal was to keep working until the game was finished, hoping it would become a hit outside Japan as well.