Good news: my wife Cyki has finally won her resurrection match.
The bad news is that this is still not the official public beta. If you want Cyki's alternate timeline counterpart to join us in the current timeline, you may need to wait a bit longer.
As an anime-style "Musou" hack-and-slash game featuring a "dual narrative," Dual Spiral did something major in the previous "Night Hunt Test": they "killed off" the female protagonist of Chapter 1, who was also the first character in the initial banner—Cyki.
This news shocked everyone, nearly scaring Cyki's fans to death.
Fortunately, the developers quickly cleared up the "misunderstanding." In the preview program for the "Tomorrow Test," they explicitly informed all Moon Hunters that Cyki, as a member of the Charon people, temporarily resides in the legendary Mist Sea after leaving the mortal world. Journeys into the Mist Sea will open in the near future. This means that Charon characters who might sacrifice themselves in the story, including Cyki, essentially have resurrection coins ready to meet everyone again.
Although the main storyline in the third test—the "Tomorrow Test"—remains largely similar to the previous "Night Hunt Test," the overall player experience has improved significantly.
Speaking of the "Tomorrow Test," Dual Spiral's narrative changes don't stop there. The "dual protagonist narrative," heavily promoted during previous marketing cycles, has finally opened up gender selection for both protagonists, allowing players to experience the story their way.
The mysterious girl from dreams is now a playable protagonist in this test. Furthermore, the two protagonists' storylines will intersect and influence each other as the plot progresses.
Of course, preferences regarding story and presentation vary from person to person. However, compared to the previous "Night Hunt Test," the "Tomorrow Test" has clearly put significant effort into improving model detail and scene optimization. The game has also greatly enhanced the handling of mobility mechanics like spiral leaps and ground-shattering attacks.
Moreover, Dual Spiral shows considerable ingenuity in its story progression. While completing typical RPG-style fetch quests, players can collect various clues and documents, then synthesize the information on a dedicated deduction interface. Successfully deducing the truth even triggers the classic "Insight" expression flash. The entire system is neither overly cumbersome nor formulaic, making it clean, lightweight, and genuinely fun.
At least in terms of visual presentation, the improvements in the "Tomorrow Test" are obvious.
Additionally, after a three-month break, the "Tomorrow Test" added 7 new characters, 11 new weapons (including 2 new weapon categories), 3 new skins, 1 chapter of main story, updates to 3 permanent game modes, 3 casual modes, and 16 new magical pets.
This level of production sincerity is truly impressive.
The new character Lise features立体机动 (vertical maneuvering), balancing exploration and crowd-clearing for a highly satisfying experience.
Speaking of new characters, the "Tomorrow Test" continues the generous gacha model from previous tests. The first 90-pull guarantee on the character banner ensures you get the featured character, and players can select specific starter characters for targeted recruitment in the beginner banner. Whether you're a completionist collector or just chasing meta strength, you can quickly secure the characters you want.
From this perspective alone, Dual Spiral has maintained a very positive momentum.
In terms of "signature weapon freedom," Dual Spiral's "Tomorrow Test" has made a great start. Players can obtain blueprints for limited characters' exclusive weapons for free by completing specific commission missions, then craft them in the forging system. This means the only thing players actually need to spend money on is the characters themselves.
What's more interesting is that this "farmable signature weapon" system ensures mid-to-late game motivation, indefinitely postponing the dreaded endgame slump where players have perfected their Musou builds but have nothing left to do. From both player experience and long-term operational perspectives, this is a multifaceted and excellent design.
When it comes to builds, Dual Spiral has clearly solidified its core gameplay around Magic Wedges and dual weapons during the two tests, allowing players to freely construct builds around character skills.
If you haven't heard of Magic Wedges, think of them as Dual Spiral's unique take on the Relic system. However, most Relics in Dual Spiral require no stamina or other precious resources, can be obtained infinitely, and are usable by all characters.
Even the substats on Relics—known here as Magic Wedges—are fixed numerical boosts. Players can max them out simply by spending resources gathered from exploration and quests. For gacha gamers who have suffered under "old-school" relic systems, this is nothing short of a blessing.
In fact, beyond being "free to farm without cost" and "universally usable by all characters," the greatest advantage of Magic Wedges is their flexibility. Combined with the ability to switch freely between melee and ranged weapons, players can freely construct different battle builds based on character roles and their preferred playstyles.
Some characters, like Rebecca, have skills that summon stationary turrets, which can be paired with Magic Wedges such as "Expand Skill Range" or "Increase Mana" for defensive DPS. Players can then equip cluster grenade launchers and Spring Jade Halberds—the former deals large-area high damage, ideal for blasting grouped enemies in one spot, while the latter has a special heavy attack mode that leaves a lingering damage wheel on the ground, further enhancing stationary defensive output.
But this doesn't mean Rebecca is limited to defensive play. In fact, players can equip weapons with different damage types—such as high-damage assault weapons or fast-hitting melee weapons—and compensate for Rebecca's lack of elite enemy DPS by equipping Magic Wedges that boost "Skill Power" or "Character Attack."
Alternatively, players can opt for mobile combat, using jellyfish turrets with decent damage as rear-guard tools. With the right Magic Wedge configuration, most playstyles players can imagine offer interesting and viable builds.
This is precisely the systemic freedom and build advantage brought by Magic Wedges and dual weapons.
In fact, during this "Tomorrow Test," the development team specifically prepared Magic Wedge missions, a Magic Wedge catalog, and recommended Magic Wedge configurations to help players quickly understand the advantages of the Magic Wedge system and find their preferred playstyle sooner.
Moreover, the Magic Wedge mission system provides newcomers, who might be confused about where to farm key "Relics," with a breakthrough point to delve into the core gameplay of Dual Spiral.
Of course, the "Tomorrow Test" of Dual Spiral also exposed several issues, such as the widely criticized steep difficulty curve of the main story, unreasonable stamina resource cycles, and excessively long dungeon stages. However, overall, the development team has been actively listening to community feedback since the last test, admitting mistakes and making corrections promptly. This earnest attitude is truly commendable.
Even though the "Tomorrow Test" still had some stumbling blocks and areas for improvement, the excellent soundtrack, beautiful art, increasingly smooth experience, and positive community atmosphere all demonstrate the developers' respect for players and confidence in the game's future.
As long as this momentum continues, the journey ahead in Dual Spiral is sure to become even more exciting.