KAZORYU ONLINE is a 2D online action-RPG set in an Asian-fantasy world of sakura, lanterns, pagodas, waterfalls, torii gates and jade dragons. The art, the audio and the code are our own, so every map is built to feel like a place you could live in, not a stage for combat.

The palette is deliberate. Parchment cream and gold frame everything you can read, jade teal belongs to water, sakura pink to spring, deep indigo to night and lantern amber to anywhere warm. Once you notice the pattern, the world starts explaining itself.

Nobody starts in the capital. There are 31 opening islands, each with its own residents and a five-quest tutorial chain. The chain ends at level 10, and then a ferry carries you to Lantern Harbor, the main harbour town.

Treat the islands as a prologue you would not want to skip. They are small enough to learn in an evening, and they set the tone before the world opens up.

Lantern Harbor is the hub: a harbour town where your journey branches out. From there the map opens into regions with their own moods.

• ▸Lantern Harbor: the main harbour town and your first stop after the opening islands.
• ▸Ember Pass: autumn cliffs ablaze with red leaves, where fire-foxes live.
• ▸Bamboo Vale: a green valley of quiet paths.
• ▸Sunken Shrine: an old shrine reclaimed by water.
• ▸Storm Bridge: a high crossing built for weather.

Every weapon family has its own academy, a start area built around that family. There are eight families and eight academies, and the first one you walk through says a lot about how your character will move through the rest of the game.

Travel is part of the world, not a loading screen. Ferries, cranes and airships run on schedules between regions, so a crossing has a timetable and a platform, and sometimes a short wait you can spend with your quest log.

Two tools keep you oriented. The minimap sits in the corner while you play, and the world map atlas gathers the regions you have seen together with a bestiary of the creatures you have met.

If you have not played yet, start with the getting started guide. If you want to know how the weapon families differ, read the next post. The world will make more sense once you have swung something in it.