"Showa American Story," developed by Lingkong Games, completed its first domestic offline demo at the 2026 Nuclear Fusion Game Festival in Beijing. The event featured a highway bus-themed installation, attracting large crowds of players waiting in line to try it out. This demo was part of a closed "Black Room" test, where photography and recording were prohibited.
Four independent demo segments were available on-site, allowing players to freely choose from story and combat, rest and progression, level exploration, or boss battles. According to feedback from players who tried the demo, the actual in-game visual quality surpassed what was shown in promotional videos, and the completeness of the combat system exceeded many people's expectations.
The combat in "Showa American Story" features a complete loop mechanic. Basic attacks consume stamina, while dodging accumulates energy orbs. Once the energy is full, it triggers an "Orb Burst" state, allowing players to deal massive damage, break enemy defenses, and execute finishers. Activating Orb Burst also fully restores stamina, creating a continuous combat cycle. Since basic attacks have limited damage output, the primary source of damage comes from special moves and combo inputs. Weapon switching also has unique design considerations: under normal circumstances, switching weapons involves a cumbersome animation, making it difficult to swap directly during combat. Players must rely on specific skills to instantly switch weapons and deal significant damage.
The demo version still had several issues needing optimization. The number of available demo stations was limited, resulting in long wait times. Frame rate drops were quite noticeable, indicating room for improvement in optimization. Additionally, the overall combat difficulty was not very forgiving, with some players dying immediately when surrounded by zombies.
Currently, "Showa American Story" is in the testing and polishing phase, with the final quality depending on future iterative updates. The game is scheduled for release within 2026 on PC and PS5 platforms.