Newsflash! Obscure Japanese MMO changes its name after Beta Test

In news that is of interest to exactly 0.00001% of the English speaking world, Koramgame has announced a name change for their heartwarmingly cute Japanese MMO that just ended its first week of beta testing.

Originally known as ‘Heartwarming Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, feedback through the beta test has led the publisher to change the name to ‘Heartwarming Muguu Diary’. The reason I took an interest in this game is because of its original title and connection to the Three Kingdoms period. The artwork is incredibly cute but the character design of heroes like Liu Bei and Lu Bu are such a dead-on match to those of Tecmo Koei’s Dynasty Warriors series that I was ready to watch the litigation fly.

It’s unclear if the name change is due to any kind of conflict with Tecmo Koei but the Google translated explanation does make sense. As popular as the Three Kingdoms is, not everyone in Japan is crazy about it and by focusing on the Muguu — the cute, blue bunny invaders, ever-present in the game — they could appeal to an even wider audience. The ‘diary’ refers to the player having daily adventures alongside the Muguu whose story is pretty fresh compared to the centuries-long chronicling of their Three Kingdoms co-stars.

I spent quite a bit of time stumbling through the beta and will hopefully have a shoddily produced video up soon as I desperately wait for the next one to start.