Only available for iOS devices.

A small team of Chinese graduates working under the Project Kepler training program by Tencent Games has announced the upcoming release of its musical storytelling rhythm game, Nishan Shaman.

Developed by NEXT Studios, Nishan Shaman is heavily inspired by the Tale of the Nishan Shaman, an old piece of Manchu literature wherein a female shaman resurrects the son of a wealthy landowner.

Stephen Wu, Shenzen department manager at NEXT Studios, spoke about how the development studio wanted to shine some light on Chinese mythology, something that’s not really been explored in the gaming industry.

“We wanted to shed some light on traditional Chinese mythology, which is relatively unknown in the gaming world,” Wu said. “One member of the development team is a real Manchu person so this personal relation with the tribe’s mythology really helped create a meaningful adaptation of the Nishan Shaman epic poem to a mobile game that is both fun and informative.”

You can see for yourself the paper-cutting art style, as well as hearing the game’s traditional music in the official trailer below.

Nishan Shaman will be available to download for free at the App Store on 19th July.

Update: NEXT Studios has been in touch to clarify that while it still hopes to release the game on 19th July, there could be a delay since a revised version of the game has been submitted to Apple for review. Stay tuned to Gaming Audio News to find out when Nishan Shaman will be available.

This article was last updated 17th July, 2018.