Muv-Luv Photonflowers Beta Released for Backers; Photonmelodies Localization “Well Underway”

Today Muv-Luv publisher aNCHOR announced with an update on Kickstarter that the visual novel shorts collection Muv-Luv Photonflowers is available in a beta version to those who backed the campaign a few years ago at the appropriate tier.

If you’re not familiar with Photonflowers, it’s a collection of short visual novels that expands greatly on the Muv-Luv universe, originally released in Japan for PS3.

It comes with stories from both the original Muv-Luv universe and the Alternative universe.

This includes Before the Cherry Blossoms Bloom, Best Friends Forever!, The Case of the Missing Tail, Learning to Love, Never Judge a Book, The Yakisoba Festival, and Learning to lead for the original Muv Luv world.

The sci-fi alternative universe gets Atonement, Rain Dancers, Confessions, Chicken Divers, and Inheritance.

While we don’t have a precise release date for non-backers on Steam, the fact that the beta is playable means that it shouldn’t be far.

On top of that, we also hear news about the second part of the “Photon” pair, Muv-Luv Photonmelodies. According to Localization Director Evan Ward, work on it is “well underway” with several months of laboring on translations under the team’s belt.

Incidentally,  Muv-Luv Photonmelodies includes Kagayaku Toki ga Kienumani, which most consider the direct sequel to Alternative (even if series creator Kouki Yoshimune did not confirm or deny in our recent interview).

If you’re unfamiliar with the Muv-Luv series, you can find Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv: Alternative on Steam, and on PS Vita. They’re considered by many among the best visual novels of all times, and I wholeheartedly recommend them.

Below you can check out the opening cutscenes of both Photonflowers and Photonmelodies.