The Hunt is Complete: Final Major Anniversary Update is LIVE!

Dear players and wanderers,

Exactly one year ago, SATORI opened the gates to the Boundless Palace. Today, on May 20th, marking our first anniversary, I'm incredibly proud to present our final and most massive content update.

This patch is the culmination of a full year of development, community feedback, and our ultimate vision of gothic madness. The world has shifted. The rules have changed. Are you ready to cross the threshold one last time?

MAJOR CHANGES & PATCH NOTES

👁️ Visual Overhaul: Atmosphere & Lighting

Global Light Rebake:

• The lighting across the entire game has been completely reworked and baked from scratch. Alongside it, the sky rendering has been fully fixed and replaced.

• Dynamic Act Cycles: The sky and lighting environments are now entirely unique to each act of the game. Your descent begins under the rays of a warm "golden hour" morning and concludes under a menacing, blood-red night sky, reflecting the protagonist's fading sanity.

• UI & Interface Polish:The user interface has been significantly updated. I’ve added fluid animations to various UI elements to make menus and HUD interactions feel much more responsive and immersive.

🗺️ World Expansion: New & Reworked Locations

• Playable Intro Scene: A fully realized starting area has been added, accessible right before the main game begins. It reveals the real, desert world outside the gates, right before it was completely consumed by the now-boundless palace.

• Bridge Beast Approach Redesign: The starting zone leading up to the Bridge Beast boss fight has received a massive visual overhaul. I discarded the old stair flights and replaced them with monumental spiral staircases, heavily emphasizing the gothic architecture.

• Tears District Expansion: This zone has been significantly expanded. Direct pathways now lead straight from the Tears District into the Flooded City, Palace Vaults, and Edinburgh. Each passage is sealed and will only unlock once its respective major boss is defeated.

• Boundless Palace Generation Architecture: I have fully updated the tile art design for the procedural palace generation. Environmental assets have been polished, dense foliage has been added, and new house variations have been introduced to make the Palace finally feel truly infinite and alive.

⚔️ Gameplay & Mechanics

• New Sanity Mechanic & Tutorial: I have deeply expanded the game's core "Sanity" system, complete with a new introductory tutorial. Beware of the light: stepping under most lanterns will now actively drain your sanity, triggering a psychological decay identical to staring directly at the "Ghost of the Girl" within the palace. Stepping back into the shadows allows your sanity to gradually recover.

• The Berliftzing Mount: Your loyal steed has officially moved from the beta branch to the live game! You can now summon and ride Berliftzing in specific story-driven and open areas for much faster traversal.

• Improved Target Locking: The targeting system is now sharper and more intuitive. You can seamlessly switch between multiple enemies in a crowd with a natural, subtle mouse movement.

• Fall Damage Overhaul: Fall damage calculations have been completely fixed and rebalanced to prevent unfair deaths during vertical exploration.

• Fluid Character Movement: Character traversal mechanics have been completely rebuilt and fixed-controls feel much more responsive, and clipping or snagging on map geometry has been eliminated.

⚙️ Technical Breakthrough, Sound & Localization

• Performance Optimization: I have done a colossal amount of work optimizing the procedural generation algorithms and the core engine code. On minimum configurations, the game now targets a stable 30 FPS (with minor drops to 25 FPS). On high-resolution setups with maximum settings, it delivers a smooth 70+ FPS (dipping no lower than 60 FPS).

• Audio Balance & Sound Design: Sound effects have been thoroughly polished across the board, and music volume leveling has been fixed to ensure a well-balanced, atmospheric audio experience.

• Localization Fixes:Translation and localization issues have been successfully resolved in the vast majority of cases, ensuring proper text rendering and immersion.

• Bug Squashing: Dozens of minor mechanical and visual bugs have been permanently squashed.

A Word From the Developer: It has been an unforgettable year. Thank you to everyone who submitted bug reports, shared lore theories in the community hub, and supported SATORI. Without your presence, this final patch wouldn't be nearly as monumental.

Be sure to check out our adjacent community post to read the official digital prologue mini-comic, formatted in a unique vertical scroll!

The lanterns are lit. The hunt has begun. Good luck in the Palace.

And thank you for playing!