Sound novels are huge in Japan, so it comes as no surprise that Imabikisou, PS3’s first title of this type, has been in production for some time and will be creeping its way onto Japanese shelves on 25 October.
In essence sound novels are films, but instead of completely relying on live action, the story is told through text, images and, obviously, sound.
Gameplaywillfunction much the same way as the old "choose your own adventure" books,with the player being given anumber of choices atset points in the story, and these choices thenaffecting thestoryline and, ultimately, the outcome of the novel.
With the writers all having a strong background in crafting horror stories and the visual effects being handled by the team behind Siren 2, this will be a title you won’t want toplay alone. There’s no word yet on whether Imabikisou will get released outside of Japan, but given the recent influx in Hollywood-ised horror flicks such as The Ring and The Grudge there’s every possibility that it could reach these shores in the future.
Warning: the trailer below contains images somereaders may find disturbing.
