Chiyo manifests on Windows PC

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

First-person 3D haunted house thriller in historical Japan available now for download on Steam

If you thought the haunted houses in works like Ringu (or The Ring remake) were scary, wait 'til you get a load of the supernatural domain in Chiyo, the newly released horror game from indie Malaysian developer Nimbus Games.

Set sometime during Japan's Edo period (seventeenth to nineteeth centuries), the game stars the eponymous Idate Chiyo, a "newly recruited paranormal investigator of the Tokugawa Shogunate's Magical Arcane Division." Her first assignment is to investigate reports of ghostly apparitions and mournful wails emanating from the Hon'iden family mansion in "the forested interior of the small coastal city of Gōtsu in Shimane Prefecture," where a "malevolent misama has descended on the area; a deep, festering wound that will blight the surrounding areas" if it cannot be stopped. Once there, she must uncover the dark secrets of the family who once resided in this place, but it won't be easy as she'll be confronted by a host of challenging puzzles and "strange and malevolent forces ... that will threaten her survival." Fortunately, Chiyo is not entirely defenseless, possessing paranormal abilities of her own.

Chiyo puts players directly in the action for maximum immersion, exploring the eerily gloomy manor and its surrounding environs from a first-person, free-roaming perspective. Unlike Malice, the developer's previous game set in the same universe, this one is a single-player adventure inspired by escape room puzzle games, intended to challenge both "your wits and your nerves." As you progress through the mansion by solving puzzles, you'll begin to unravel the tragic tale of the former residents' "dark dealings, and the consequences of love." At times it will be necessary to use your undisclosed supernatural powers, enabling you to "pierce and dive into the paranormal realm" to succeed where those less gifted could not.

Horror fans can take the plunge right away on Windows PC, as Chiyo is available now on Steam, while PlayStation 4 and 5 gamers will need to wait a little longer for the upcoming console version.

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