METASLA has announced Mana Alchemy, a new open-world bullet-heaven RPG coming to PC via Steam in 2027. The indie developer describes the project as a combination of Survivors-like combat, seamless exploration and a spell-building system centered on alchemy. Players control Merlin, a girl abandoned by her family for being born without magical talent, as she travels across the island of Shudal seeking revenge.
Merlin is one of eight daughters born to the Great Witch Dawed, but unlike her seven sisters, she possesses no natural magical ability. Dawed abandons her on the night of her fifth birthday, leaving her to die until she is saved by Harley, a mysterious talking grimoire. Years later, Merlin sets out against the family that rejected her, with her seven ruling sisters becoming major targets throughout the story.
Shudal itself is designed as a large interconnected world rather than a sequence of isolated combat arenas. METASLA says players will be able to move through environments ranging from open plains to waterways without loading screens separating the major regions. Exploration and combat are closely connected, with monster hordes occupying the island and forcing Merlin to fight as she searches for materials, objectives and routes forward.
Combat follows the bullet-heaven structure popularized by Survivors-style games. Merlin’s equipped spells cast automatically while the player concentrates primarily on movement and positioning, allowing large groups of enemies to be attacked simultaneously without requiring complex input combinations. The developer is aiming for an accessible core combat loop while building additional strategy around how players construct Merlin’s spell setup.
That customization is handled through Harley. Spells placed inside the grimoire determine Merlin’s attack patterns, while additional magic can be created through alchemy by combining collected materials with abilities the player already possesses. Newly forged spells must then be arranged within Harley like puzzle pieces, making the physical organization of the grimoire another part of building an effective loadout.
METASLA says that system is intended to support a large number of possible combinations rather than funneling players toward one fixed progression path. Different spell arrangements can change how Merlin’s automatic attacks behave, while gathering new materials opens further alchemy options. Unique staves also provide access to powerful ultimate magic capable of clearing large groups of enemies.
Exploration includes objectives beyond simply travelling between boss encounters. Players can locate ancient Mana Crystals around Shudal and cleanse them to restore polluted areas of the island. Doing so can stop monsters from continuing to spawn in those locations, giving progression through the world a direct effect on the environments Merlin visits.
The seven sisters form another major part of the campaign, both mechanically and narratively. After defeating one of them, players are given a choice between executing or forgiving her rather than receiving a predetermined outcome. METASLA says these decisions will significantly affect how the story develops and ultimately determine the ending Merlin receives.
That branching structure ties directly into the game’s revenge premise. Merlin begins her journey after being stripped of her family and magical status, but the player can decide whether that experience pushes her toward vengeance or forgiveness as she confronts each sister. The developer is therefore using repeated life-or-death choices as part of the main narrative rather than limiting different outcomes to a single decision near the finale.
Mana Alchemy is being developed and published by METASLA, the indie team also associated with Sea Fantasy. The Steam listing currently confirms single-player support, achievements, Steam Cloud and controller support, with interface and subtitle options planned for English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.
The PC version currently has a broad 2027 release window, with no specific launch date announced. METASLA has opened the Steam page for wishlisting and says development updates will continue as work progresses. For now, Mana Alchemy’s central combination of open-world exploration, automatic bullet-heaven combat, customizable spell alchemy and branching decisions gives the RPG several distinct systems around which its revenge story is being built.
