Psycho-Sleuth, developed by Taiwanese indie studio Phosepo and published by Thermite Games and Smilegate Stove, has launched on PC. The psychological mystery game, in which cognitive disorders bend the rules of murder, is available on Steam, Stove and Epic Games Store.
According to information Oyun Günlüğü obtained from Thermite Games and Smilegate Stove, Psycho-Sleuth sees a mysterious cult called Li trap thirteen “Afflicted Ones” inside a gothic cathedral. If any participant kills another without being caught, they ascend to godhood. Players gather clues, interrogate fellow participants and try both to expose the true mastermind and to stay undetected in the race for godhood.
Every character carries a reality-altering disorder
Each character has a contagious cognitive disorder that hides the truth in different ways. Players must catch inconsistencies between statements when obsessive-compulsive disorder makes lying impossible, deduce missing evidence when spatial neglect hides half of the crime scene, and examine faceless bodies when prosopagnosia conceals the identities of witnesses and killers.
In Psycho-Sleuth’s Debate Mode, players weigh competing claims, make decisive judgments and counter arguments on the fly with the right evidence. The game features full voice acting, hand-drawn Live2D animations, more than 40 illustrations and 50 music tracks.
“How does one solve crimes befuddled by cognition? In Psycho-Sleuth, we challenge players to make use of Disease Abilities to solve murderous cases in our distinct spin on the mystery visual-novel genre,” said Xiaolu, producer at Phosepo. Xiaolu previously said they loved mystery games like Danganronpa and Ace Attorney but wanted to build cognitive disorders directly into the mystery instead of following the traditional formula. The game debuted with a “Very Positive” user rating on Steam.
Price and Deluxe Edition details
Psycho-Sleuth costs $19.99 and is 10 percent off for two weeks. The Deluxe Edition, which includes the official soundtrack and artbook, costs $35.99 with a 15 percent discount for two weeks. The soundtrack is also sold separately for $6.99 and the artbook for $8.99, both 10 percent off for two weeks. The game supports English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
