Hello, everyone! Today is the day: Perfect Porcelain is officially released!
After a bit more than a year of hard work and constantly learning new things on our side, this labor of love is now in your hands. We really hope that you enjoy it!
Of course, as with all new releases, there may be some bugs that we as developers have missed. If you find any, don’t be afraid to make a post on the Steam forums or our Discord-server. We’ll do our very best to iron out any imperfections, just as Raiko would want it! We would love to hear your thoughts on the game in general, so feel free to reach out to us in whatever way is most comfortable for you! All of our social media pages are linked at the bottom of this post or on the game’s store pageView game pageAnd with that, I thought I should end this celebratory post with the condensed story of the game’s development. It has probably gone through more changes than you would expect…
The history of Perfect Porcelain
The story of this game starts back in the mid 2010’s, probably around 2014, way before either of us had even looked at a game engine. The concept of Raiko and her obsession with dolls was present, as was Himeko as her childhood best friend. I’m pretty sure it was mostly just a story at that point, not a game. But in 2016, we began to dabble in game development, specifically in RPG Maker VX Ace. At that point, we were quite inspired by a lot of the Japanese pixel horror games being played by content creators. Naturally, those games and the game engine itself was a source of inspiration for the original concept for Perfect Porcelain.
Some time passed after that. Then, around 2019, I felt the urge to make more pixel art and get back into RPG Maker. So, I picked up the story of Raiko again, turned it into a proper game concept and called it “The Dollmaker”. The story, all gameplay aspects and even a lot of the music was completed, and I started working on the pixel art, which was the only thing needed to start putting things together in RPG Maker. Then I encountered an outdoor scene which required trees and the like and I couldn’t be bothered to draw any more (it was too difficult at the time for me to draw organic things like that). That’s where “The Dollmaker” ended.
[I had finished drawing Raiko’s room. It was even implemented in the game engine, so that you could walk around in it.]
Many years passed. Then, in 2025, the development of our first game as a proper game studio, Mistwinter Bay, ended. We discussed what game to make next and agreed that it was a good idea to take up Raiko’s story again. After all, the narrative was finished, so it should’ve been easy to adapt it as a 3D game in the Unity engine so that we could explore our 3D-game development skills! Except for the fact that we decided to change basically the entire story…
We went from the original concept of a pixel art game with very branching stories and three playable characters, to a 3D-game with a more (but not completely) linear story, five playable characters and a bigger focus on gameplay mechanics. After all, we wanted the player to be able to do something other than just run away. The fact that we had just finished a 4-year mammoth game with only branching stories made us yearn for something more condensed story-wise as well.
As a result of these changes and a lot of brain storming for this “new” project, Raiko’s motivations as a character changed as well. She remained obsessed with dolls, as she always had, but her obsession was now also aimed elsewhere: at a certain storybook that you’ll familiarize yourself with throughout the game. This change also resulted in the original title feeling inaccurate, which among other reasons made us change it to “Perfect Porcelain” instead. Because if there’s something Raiko wants, it’s to have everything perfect, according to her standards. And porcelain dolls often are “perfect”.
Despite all these changes, we still wanted to pay an homage to the original idea. That’s why some things and characters have carried over from the original concept, even if they’ve changed a lot. Himeko is of course still the main character, but her design and dynamic with Raiko has changed quite a bit. Tarou, who was originally a playable character, is now a side character. Raiko’s parents were very important in the original concept, but are now only mentioned. Their names have remained the same, but their personalities have changed quite a bit (the original couple wouldn’t have protected their daughter in court). We even remade a song, which you can hear in the main menu, among other places. As for the additional 4 playable characters in Perfect Porcelain, they’re all brand new and had nothing to do with the original idea!
[The album poster in Teruko’s dressing room pays homage to two characters from the original concept who didn’t make it into the game in any other way.]
There are of course many more details to this game’s development, including differences and similarities to the original concept. But I believe I have said enough for now.
Thank you all for your support. We sincerely hope that you enjoy Perfect Porcelain!
//LevUNknown, 50% of the Swordlake Entertainment-duo