Qliphah in Providences Shadow Guide

Qliphah in Providence's Shadow is a Tactical Timeline RPG from Arc System Works and UnitePlus, published by Arc System Works on September 23, 2026 for Windows, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. Set in a Tokyo whose reality is collapsing, it follows two leads: Rena Hizuki, an investigator with the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Safety Bureau, and Soma Hoshigami, a delivery worker attacked and left half-turned into a mutant. Together they investigate a spreading drug called "Tiny True", a cult operating behind the scenes, and the phenomena tearing the city apart.

Combat is the pitch. Fights run in real time and ask you to match a colour-coded counter window rather than memorise fixed combos: when an enemy attacks, a blue, red or yellow inner circle expands toward a matching outer ring, and landing the right attack inside that window turns the attack back and opens a punishing follow-up. Buddy Counters, performed with both characters committed, hit hardest, and the timeline can be paused or played in slow motion so you can read the enemy's predicted move before you commit a skill string. RPGFan called the result an entertaining and contained VN/RPG hybrid with an altogether clever counter battle system.

Reception split sharply. RPGFan scored the game 81 out of 100, while RPGamer gave it 2.0 out of 5 and opened by calling it a slog from beginning to end, arguing that the counter loop repeats too often and that difficulty settings mostly add enemy health. The two reviews agree on the atmosphere and the premise and disagree on endurance, which is the useful way to read the launch verdicts. A PlayStation 5 review thread on r/JRPG sits between them at 7.3 out of 10, and no aggregated score has formed because too few scored reviews are indexed.