All things beautiful are deadly. note
Project Arrhythmia is an indie Bullet Hell game developed by Vitamin Games and published by Top Hat Studios. The game follows Anna Schroeder (a.k.a A-Tan) as she tries to find a cure for the Tokyo Flu, a virus that has ravaged the world, alongside the supercomputer Hal. It also comes with a Level Editor which can be used to create custom levels and upload them to the Steam Workshop for others to play. The game's levels all feature attacks that move to the music as a song plays.It was released in early access on Steam on June 14th, 2019. The game's website can be viewed here
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Project Arrhythmia contains examples of:
- Anti Poop-Socking: Newer versions of the level editor will have N-Chan appear in a small popup at the top left if you use it for long enough, where she'll remind you to drink water or take breaks.
- Boss-Only Level: A majority of popular custom levels focus on boss fights, particularly with level storylines as a means to include characters.
- Bullet Hell: You have to dodge bullets, beams, bombs, boss attacks, and the like.
- Confetti Drop: When you finish uploading a level from the level editor, confetti falls across it as N-Chan congratulates you in a popup.
- Content Warnings: The series of screens the game goes through on opening includes one with a warning about flashing lights and bright colors.
- Color-Coded Multiplayer: All players in multiplayer look exactly the same except for the colors of their "main" square. Typically player 1 is pink, player 2 is blue, player 3 is green, and player 4 is yellow. Notably, these colors can be individually changed when creating a level in the game's editor.
- Co-Op Multiplayer: Up to three other nanobots can join you in any level, including custom levels. Dead players respawn once a checkpoint is reached.
- Diegetic Interface: The game's main menu in newer versions resembles a glitching computer terminal, with the top half displaying in-universe information about the status of the facility the supercomputer setting is hosted in. The bottom half features standard menu buttons, but all of their text is in-universe (for example levels are referred to as "logs" and community members are called "researchers").
- Downloadable Content: Custom levels can be found and downloaded on the Steam Workshop.
- Gameplay Grading: At the end of a level, you’re graded based on how many hits you took. The options from lowest to highest are D, C, B, A, S, and EXC - with an S rank requiring you beat a level without dying and an EXC demanding a No-Damage Run.
- Hit Points: The three squares trailing the nanobot act as a visual representation. Whenever you take damage, one of them disappears in a burst of particles. Losing all three will send you back to the last checkpoint.
- Holiday Mode: Limited-time main menu themes have been added to the game via updates for summer, winter, and Halloween.
- Level Editor: A feature of the game, with level sharing and downloading included.
- Mickey Mousing: The main spin on the game's bullet-hell elements - all obstacles in levels appear or move to the music.
- Mascot: N-Chan acts as the mascot of the level editor. She greets you in the editor's main menu, and appears alongside most of its longer information text (implying she's the one telling you it).
- Nanomachines: You play as one designed to fight the Tokyo Flu, appropriately dubbed "Nano".
- No Plot? No Problem!: The game has included zero story mode content for the majority of its time in early access. Averted with custom level storylines, and as more content has been added over time such as lore-relevant level completion messages and the intro to the story mode.
- Rank Inflation: The highest rank you can earn is “EXC” (short for “excellent”), which is greater than an S. It requires beating a level with no damage.
- Shout-Out:
- The supercomputer the game takes place in, PA-MCP-02, is nicknamed "Hal" by A-Tan.
- One level complete message for performing well has A-Tan telling you that you did "over 9000% amazing!"
- Another complete message, for receiving the lowest possible rank, has her wondering if a set of cyan nanobots should be tried again.
- Year X: According to the Steam page, the game's story takes place in 205X.
