DRAINUS

Drainus is a 2022 scrolling shooter video game developed by Team Ladybug, co-published by Playism and WSS Playground for Microsoft Windows. A Nintendo Switch version was released on February 2, 2023. It follows Irina, daughter of an ill slave from planet Halpax under rule of the Kharlal empire led by general Izumo, joined by the humanoid soldier Ghenie on a journey to save her father by stealing a starfighter and overthrow the empire to prevent a galactic war. Controlling the titular fighter ship, the player must fight waves of enemies and bosses, while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. The Drainus ship is equipped with a "reflector" that absorbs enemy shots for a brief time period to launch counterattacks and its functions can be enhanced via energy tanks. Drainus was created by Team Ladybug, a division of Japanese online magazine DenFaminicoGamer which had previously developed Shin Megami Tensei: Synchronicity Prologue (2017), Touhou Luna Nights (2019) and Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (2021). Character art was handled by Zou Nose, who worked on illustrations for the Pokémon Trading Card Game and Magic: The Gathering. The music was scored by a member under the pseudonym "peposoft", who also composed for Luna Nights and Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth. Unveiled at the Indie Live Expo 2022, the game released the same day it was announced and its launch was supplemented by a soundtrack album. It garnered generally favorable reviews from critics.