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From Doijin to Indie: The Shinyuden Story of How Heroes Trials Came to Be

Being based in Japan, Shinyuden is a developer and publisher, focused on RPGs and adventure games. We started as a game development circle, also known as Doujin Saakuru in Japan in 2013. During our first years, Shinyuden was all about creating fun games with no commercial purpose, only to distribute at events such as Comiket, the biggest fan-made manga and video game expo in the world.

After releasing several short and free games for phones, spanning from visual novels to action games, we decided to finally take a chance on our favorites: adventure games with RPG elements. We set a new goal, releasing a game for the first time on traditional video game platforms, starting with PC. For this first commercial endeavor, we knew we would have to keep a day job at video game companies as contract-based staffers to fund our own game. I (Luis Garcia) kept working on the localization of Final Fantasy titles for the Spanish market as a freelance translator (a job I had been doing for more than 10 years) and Mariano, the other original member of the team, as a programmer for several Japanese companies, in the hopes of making this new project happen.

One morning in June 2014, we sat together at a Shinjuku cafe and defined the scope and goals of a project that was originally called Adel: Path of a Hero. A year passed and a working demo had been created, but it started to become clear that the project was way too ambitious for just two people and an illustrator. Our team started to get attention in personal circles and soon other colleagues I met during my time working for other video game companies, joined the team. The biggest boost to the project was given by the collaboration of the talented composer Benedikt Grosser, who elevated the game with a full original soundtrack that motivated the team to finish the project. To put credit where credit is due, we also do owe thanks to AI programmer, Sean Stach, and a second programmer, Antonio Escanuela, as both helped to finalize (or should I say save?) the project after a complicated period.

After hearing feedback from players and other developers, and also realizing Adel was a way too ambitious game, but not a very fun one, we decided a transformation was in order. Adel: Path of the Hero would be abolished and in its place was Heroes Trials, a dynamic and fast-paced adventure game with a trial system that will take you through more than 10 different tests preparing you for the final challenge. If you are able to clear them, you shall rise to the position of defender of your homeland. If you fail, you will forever remain as a trainee and no one wants that!

Naturally, we do have an island for you guys to explore, but the clock is ticking, so always be sure to clear the trials in time. Talking of time, Heroes Trials features the ability to keep track of all your times, but if speedrunning and fast times aren’t your thing, we also have items hidden all over the island. Then on top of that, there are two heroes to control, puzzles to solve and boss fights with a strategy twist.

We have been working very hard on Heroes Trials and our dream is nearly a reality. A reality we can’t wait to share with all of you. So, thank you for taking the time to read and I hope you have a few hours to check out Heroes Trials, especially if you like RPG and adventure games, as we feel it is something fans of these genres will enjoy greatly.